January 6th Weekly Market Update
Sure, the holiday season is over, but it is still the stock market’s favorite season.
This week starts the earnings reporting season — the start of which is traditionally marked by the earnings report from Alcoa, no longer a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but still a well-known company. Alcoa’s report on Thursday, January 9, 2014 is joined late this week by reports from retailers Bed Bath & Beyond and Family Dollar. The earnings season tends to be a good period for stock market performance. Stocks posted gains during the six-week period that runs from two weeks before to four weeks after Alcoa reports since the bull market began around the start of the second quarter of 2009. In fact, nearly 80% of rise in the S&P 500 Index since the second quarter of 2009 took place during these quarterly earnings periods. Moreover, since the end of 2009, the entire gain in the index came during those quarterly periods, leaving nothing on average but volatility during the other seven weeks of every quarter.
Will the stock market again welcome the news this earnings season?
For the full article: The Stock Market’s Favorite Season