Memorial Day and the Markets

This weekend, Memorial Day will mark the unofficial beginning of summer. The markets have historically been relatively flat going into the lazy, hazy days of summer. The Dow has been up ~50% of the time in the weeks that follow the holiday while the S&P and Nasdaq have been up ~60% of the time.

Dow Jones Industrial Avg

• Tues after Memorial Day - Avg loss of -.01%, Best of +4.69% in 1962, Worst of -5.75% in 1932
• 1 Week after Memorial Day - Avg gain of +.41%, Best of +10.76% in 1970, Worst of -7.60% in 1932
• 1 Month after Memorial Day - Avg gain of +.39%, Best of +22.94% in 1938, Worst of -18.95% in 1930

S&P 500

• Tues after Memorial Day - Avg loss of -.01%, Best of +4.65% in 1962, Worst of -7.45% in 1932
• 1 Week after Memorial Day - Avg gain of +.55%, Best of +10.80% in 1970, Worst of -8.96% in 1932
• 1 Month after Memorial Day - Avg gain of +1.12%, Best of +22.98% in 1938, Worst of -17.39% in 1930

Nasdaq Composite

• Tues after Memorial Day - Avg gain of +.03%, Best of +7.93% in 2000, Worst of -3.35% in 2001
• 1 Week after Memorial Day - Avg gain of +.89%, Best of +19.24% in 2000, Worst of -5.95% in 2002
• 1 Month after Memorial Day - Avg gain of +1.04%, Best of +20.97% in 2000, Worst of -12.18% in 2002

Here are the S&P 500's best performers YTD going into the weekend:

• Big Lots - up 69% YTD
• CSX - up 54% YTD
• EOG Resources - up 53% YTD
• Ryder - up 52% YTD
• Nabors Industries - up 51% YTD

bythenumbers.cnbc.com