The Year of the Stock Market Cliché – Jeffrey Kleintop

My friend Jeff Hirsch, who writes the Stock Traders Almanac, will be thrilled to read this…

LPL Financial’s chief strategist Jeffrey Kleintop has a note out in which he explains that 2011 was a “textbook year” for those who follow the calendar-based axioms of stock market investing – all the cliches worked…

• The “January effect” (the market tends to rise in January attributed to individual investors putting money to work after taking tax losses in December) worked this year as the S&P 500 posted a 2.3% gain in January. The “January barometer” (stock gains in January often lead to a gain for the year) and the overlapping “first five days” indicator (stocks rising during the first five days of the year indicate a high probability for a gain for the year) have both proven accurate, so far.

• “Sell in May and go away” (suggests investors sell and avoid the summer months) worked with stocks peaking for the year on April 29.

• October, the “bear killer” month (stock market downturns famously end and reverse in the month of October), ended the 19% peak-to-trough stock market decline with stocks bottoming for the year on October 3.

Hilarious and true.  Head over below for Jeff’s take on how we close out and whether or not a Santa Claus Rally is in the cards.

Source:

LPL’s Jeffrey Kleintop: Are we set for a ‘Santa Claus’ rally? (Investment News)