Seen just eight other days in this century, the S&P500 moved higher for a second day in a row, the NASDAQ increased after falling the previous two days while the DJIA fell after yesterday’s increase. Moreover, this happened just four times in recent times, while you have to go back to the early 2000′s to find the other incidents.
On the following day, in the past, prices moved higher as often as they declined.
Let’s focus today on prices changes between Labor Day and year end. Today’s diagram shows these from 1950 on, with each of the presidential election years in blue.
Given that stock prices reflect the economic fundamentals and the growth of population and output, it is not surprising that the S&P500 declined in only twelve of the past years.
The presidential election years mirror this same fundamental, with prices falling in just three years, the last occurring in the 2008 cycle.
DJIA -.24 percent
NASDAQ .21 percent
S&P500 .09 percent
