28 Years Ago

It was 28 years ago today that the 1982-2000 bull market started. The Dow closed at 776.92 on August 12, 1982.
Just like this year, the following day was a Friday the 13th. In fact, two movies opened that Friday, Friday the 13th, Part 3 and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. As Gary Alexander points out, it was five years later, on August 13, 1987, that the Dow broke 2700 for the first time. That was a 250% rally!
Gary writes:

Since the big 1982-99 bull market began on Friday, August 13, 1982, there have been 46 trading days falling on Friday the 13th, with a historical record of more than 2-to-1 positive outcomes: We’ve seen 31 up and 15 down days (67% positive). More recently, six of the last seven Friday the 13th markets have risen, including a whopper (+165.77) on June 13, 2008, right before the financial crisis struck in October.
Basically, when we’re in a bull market, Friday the 13th becomes exceptionally lucky. During the 1990s bull market, stocks rose 13 times (vs. 3 down days) on Friday the 13th. However, there were four straight declining Friday the 13th trading days from 2002 to 2004, as the big bear market of 2000-03 ended.

Posted by on August 12th, 2010 at 11:05 am


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