« Reader Q&A | Main | Headline of the Day »

A few weeks ago, I ran the numbers of how well the stock market does for each day of the year. I looked at all of the Dow closings going back to the beginning of the index in 1896.

The best time of the year is a 17-day stretch from December 21 to January 7. Over the last 111 years, the Dow has gained an average of 3.39% during that 17-day period.

To put that in some perspective, the Dow’s annual gain is 8.32%. This means that more than 40% of the Dow’s yearly gain has come during this brief stretch which is less than 1/20 of the entire year.

Posted by edelfenbein at December 4, 2007 2:51 PM