On a whim and based on Darren Rovell's documentary on the with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, I did a quick scan on how the Dow and S&P performed in years that the magazine cover featured a blonde versus a brunette. I gauged hair color based on thumbnails on the SI Web site. Note: color of wet hair is hard to determine but here are the results...
>> Business Model: SI Swimsuit Issue
47 covers from 1964 until now:
- 24 Blonde covers (including this year's) — average annual return of Dow 10.0%, S&P 10.8%
- Note: The covergirl from 2008, Marissa Miller (see photo on right), is a blonde and the Dow and S&P fell 33.8 and 38.5% respectively that year
When I shared these findings with Darren, he pointed out that the models' nationality also has an interesting result. According to Bespoke Investment Group, since 1978 the S&P has returned an average 10.6% when an American is on the cover versus a 8.2% average return when a model from another country is on the cover.
Between the Saints winand Brooklyn Decker, are we in for a good year after all?
See the SI covers associated from the best market years on the following pages.
Top Swimsuit Issue Covers by Market Performance
1996 - Tyra Banks and Valeria Mazza
Dow: Up 26.0%
S&P 500: Up 20.3%
Vote for your favorite cover here
Comments? Send them to bythenumbers@cnbc.com