Calendar Effects

A reader suggested looking at the strategy described in “Kaeppel’s Corner: Sector Seasonality” and updated in “Kaeppel’s Corner: Get Me Back, Clarence”. The steps of this calendar-based sector strategy are:

1. Buy Fidelity Select Technology (FSPTX) at the October close.
2. Switch from FSPTX to Fidelity Select Energy (FSENX) at the January close.
3. Switch from FSENX to cash at the May close.
4. Switch from cash to Fidelity Select Gold (FSAGX) at the August close.
5. Switch from FSAGX to cash at the September close.
6. Repeat by switching from cash to FSPTX at the October close.

Does this strategy materially and persistently outperform? To investigate, we compare results for three alternative strategies: (1) Kaeppel’s Sector Seasonality strategy (Sector Seasonality); (2) buy and hold Vanguard 500 Index Investor (VFINX) as an investable broad index benchmark (VFINX); and, (3) a simplified seasonal strategy using only VFINX from the October close through the May close and cash otherwise (VFINX /Cash). Using monthly dividend-adjusted closing levels for FSPTX, FSENX, FSAGX, the 13-week Treasury bill (T-bill) yield as the return on cash and VFINX over the period January 1987 through April 2012 (25+ years), we find that: More…

Several readers have inquired about the performance of Sy Harding’s Street Smart Report Online, which includes the Seasonal Timing Strategy. This strategy combines “the market’s best average calendar entry [October 16] and exit [April 20] days with a technical indicator, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD).” According to Street Smart Report Online, applying this strategy to a Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) index fund generated a cumulative return of 190.6% during 1999 through 2011, compared to 64.4% for the DJIA itself. As a robustness test, we apply this strategy to the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) exchange-traded fund since its inception. Using daily dividend-adjusted closing prices for SPY and the daily 13-week Treasury bill (T-bill) yield from 1/29/93 (the earliest available for SPY) through 5/7/12, we find that: More…

Many stock market experts cite the year (1, 2, 3 or 4) of the U.S. presidential term cycle as a useful indicator of U.S. stock market returns. Game theory suggests that presidents deliver bad news immediately after being elected and do everything in their power to create good news just before ensuing biennial elections. Are some presidential term cycle years reliably good or bad? If so, are these abnormal returns concentrated in certain quarters? Finally, what does the stock market do in the period immediately before and after a national election? Using S&P 500 Index data from January 1950 through April 2012 (over 62 years and 15 presidential terms) and focusing on “political quarters” (Feb-Apr, May-Jul, Aug-Oct and Nov-Jan), we find that: More…

We have updated the Market Models summary as follows:

• Incorporated estimated Standard & Poor’s earnings results for the first quarter of 2012 (revision likely).
• Extended regressions/rolled projections by one month based on data available through April 2012.
• Updated backtest charts and the market valuation metrics map based on data available through April 2012.

We have updated the six-month lagged momentum asset class, sector and style ETF winners for April 2012 on the home page.

We have updated the Trading Calendar to incorporate data for April 2012.

Do the hopes and fears of presidential elections in the U.S. affect the “normal” seasonal variation in monthly stock market returns? To check, we compare average returns and volatilities (standard deviations of returns) by calendar month for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) during years with and without quadrennial U.S. presidential elections. As a robustness check, we also check years with and without biennial U.S. congressional elections. Using monthly closes for the DJIA over the period October 1928 through March 2012 (about 84 years and 20 presidential elections), we find that: More…

Four years ago, a reader noted and asked: “CNBC’s Fast Money cited a ‘seasonal’ strategy described in Barron’s, as follows: Go long the market from Wal-Mart’s (WMT) earnings release until Alcoa’s (AA) earnings release and short the market from Alcoa’s earnings release until Wal-Mart’s earnings release (earnings season). Over the last six years, the market has been up nicely during the former period and down an average 8% during the latter. Any testing on this?” To test this strategy, we assemble AA earnings release dates and WMT earnings release dates since the beginning of 1997 (the earliest available for AA), estimating the date for one missing WMT release. This sample period is more than twice as long as that cited. Using these earnings release dates, daily dividend-adjusted closes for S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) as a proxy for the broad stock market and the daily 13-week Treasury bill (T-bill) yields over the period 2/25/97 through 4/9/11 (60 quarters), we find that: More…

Does the S&P 500 implied volatility index (VIX) exhibit systematic behaviors by day of the week? In their February 2012 paper entitled “Day of the Week Effect on the VIX: A Parsimonious Representation”, Maria Gonzalez-Perez and David Guerrero apply methodologies that minimize sensitivity to outliers to examine VIX day-of-the-week patterns. Using daily closes of VIX and the S&P 500 Index during 2004 through 2008, they find that: More…

The turn of the year (December-January) for the U.S. stock market reportedly includes the Santa Claus rally and the January effect. Some research indicates the latter is dead (and was driven essentially by small-capitalization stocks when alive). How does the stock market behave across the turn of the year for a recent sample? To check, we construct cumulative return profiles from 20 trading days before through 20 trading days after the end of the calendar year for the Russell 2000 Index, the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) since the inception of the Russell 2000 Index. Using daily and monthly levels of all three indexes from December 1987 through January 2012 (25 December and 25 January observations), we find that: More…

Investor mood may affect financial markets. Sports may affect investor mood. The biggest mood-mover among sporting events in the U.S. is likely the National Football League’s Super Bowl. Is the week before the Super Bowl especially distracting and anxiety-producing? Is the week after the Super Bowl focusing and anxiety-relieving? Presumably, post-game elation and depression cancel between respective fan bases. Using past Super Bowl dates since inception and daily/weekly S&P 500 Index data for 1967-2011 (45 events), we find that: More…

Does seasonal fear of stock market weakness or demand for jewelry drive gold prices? In his January 2012 paper entitled “The Seasonality of Gold – Jewelery Demand and Investor Behavior”, Dirk Baur examines calendar month seasonality of the price of gold. Using daily gold bullion spot prices (London fixing) and COMEX gold futures prices during 1981 through 2010 (30 years), along with contemporaneous stock market index and gold jewelry demand data, he finds that: More…