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The Reversal Tendency of Labor Day Week
Posted on September 1, 2025 by Rob Hanna
In the subscriber letter over the last several years I have demonstrated that the performance during the week of Labor Day has been impacted by the performance in the month leading up to it. Interestingly, is has been somewhat of a momentum reversal week. When SPX has rallied up to Labor Day, then it has struggled that week. And declines into Labor Day have seen positive performance. Below is an updated look at the two scenarios.
The 4-day numbers are basically inverted. So the Tues-Fri after Labor Day have not seen any consistency without the delineator. But the trend filter reveals a striking difference. Over the last several weeks the market has rallied nicely, so we are currently facing the 2nd scenario. Below is a look at the profit curve for the 4-day exit following the current setup.
Choppy but an obvious downslope. Traders may want to consider this for the upcoming trading week. Have a great Labor Day!
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First trading day of the month has generally been strong…except August.
Posted on July 31, 2025 by Rob Hanna
I’ve shown the chart below several times over the years. It breaks down by month the performance of the first trading day of the month. July has long had the strongest Day 1. But August is also notable for it’s lack of Day 1 performance.
As you can see it is the only month with a negative Day 1 return. Below is a look at how it has played out over time.
This doesn’t appear to be a bearish setup. Just a bunch of chop that has failed to generate gains over time. But while it doesn’t hint at a down day on August 1st , it certainly shows that August 1 has certainly not been seasonally bullish.
97 Years of Death Crosses
Posted on April 14, 2025 by Rob Hanna
The SPX is going to experience a Death Cross today at the close. I’ve written many times in the past about “Death Crosses”. A Death Cross is when the 50ma crosses below the 200ma. It is confirmation of a downtrend. Some people view it as a bearish signal. As you’ll see, it is not a great “signal”. My Norgate data goes back to 1928 for SPX (this includes its predecessor, the S&P 90, from 1928 – 1957 when the S&P 500 officially began). This made for an interesting starting point, because the 1st instance, in 1929, came shortly after the 1929 market crash that was followed by the Great Depression. It was also followed by the most substantial decline – by far. Let’s first look at a list of all the Death Cross formations and how the SPX performed while they were in effect.
Interestingly, 36 of the 49 instances (73.5%) actually saw the SPX realize gains while the Death Cross was in effect. The problem is the losing trades were very large. And even most of the winners saw a sizable round-trip lower before they were able to carve out some gains (like the last one in 2022). The average drawdown for these 49 trades would have been 13.2%. And there were 5 separate instances that saw drawdowns of at least 45% .
Even though the giant losers were relatively rare, their impact is large. And the fact that the 1st instance was the worst instance also provides a great example of how devastating large drawdowns can be. The profit curve below shows a hypothetical portfolio of only being invested in the market during SPX Death Crosses.
The 1st instance from 1929 – 1933 saw the portfolio rise to $120k before falling down as low as about $20k and then finishing that trade with a value of about $34k. And it has never managed to get back to breakeven. The 73.5% “win rate” on the Death Cross tells me it is NOT a reliable timing device. But the few instances of massive losses show just how valuable it can be to protect gains and avoid large portions of nasty bear markets. If we get into a big bear market, I won’t actually be sitting out of the market for several years. But it does allow us to adjust strategies, exposure and other risk parameters. The Death Cross / Golden Cross on its own is not a great system. But it can help us put the market into a context where we can better evaluate opportunities. And I have also found it helpful when combining with other timing indicators, as I’ve done in the Market Timing Course.
Note: The Quantifiable Edges Market Timing Course does look at the Golden Cross / Death Cross in combination with other timing indicators.
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Strong Selling The Day Before A Fed Day
Posted on March 19, 2025 by Rob Hanna
I have shown many times in the past that Fed Days tend to carry a bullish edge – especially when there is selling leading up to the Fed Day. Tuesday’s selloff saw SPX close down over 1% and in the bottom half of its intraday range. I looked at this combination in the study below.
Those are some impressive stats over the next few days. I also produced the 3-day profit curve.
That is a persistent move from lower left to upper right, serving as some confirmation of the upside edge suggested by the stats table.
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Market Returns With New Presidents
Posted on January 20, 2025 by Rob Hanna
In this weekend’s subscriber letters I examined some Inauguration Day ideas. I wondered whether a new president brought about new hope and optimism for the market.
I limited the instances to only those inaugurations where a new president was entering office. I don’t think re-elections carry a sense of “new hope” the way a new president does. I also eliminated inaugurations of Presidents that weren’t elected (Ford in ’74, Johnson in ’63, Truman in ’45, and Coolidge in ‘23). I just don’t believe the same sense of excitement is generated by a replacement as by a newly elected president. The remaining presidents and their inaugurations can be found in the table below.
First, I found it interesting that the wonderful speeches and overall positive vibes surrounding a new president did NOT translate to a strong Inauguration Day performance. (You could throw out Roosevelt and G.W. Bush here, since the market was not open on the days they were giving their speeches. Same with whatever happens Tuesday since Trump will be inaugurated with the market closed on Monday.) I’ll also note that Donald Trump could (and certainly would) claim he gave the greatest Inauguration Day speech of the last 100 years back in 2017, since the 0.48% rise on that day was the best of any president on the actual Inauguration Day. It could also be claimed that Obama gave the worst speech in 100 years, since the Dow tumbled 4% on the day of his inauguration.
I’ll also note that looking out over the next 10 and 75 days the market did often seem to embrace the new hope that comes along with a new administration. Harding in 1921 is the only one on the list that saw the market more than 3.5% lower 75 days out. Meanwhile, there were 7 instances where the market was more than 3.5% higher. Biden had the best 75-day performance since Roosevelt in 1933. It is tough to draw conclusions based on just 14 instances over a 100+ year period. Also, some might consider Trump to be a “2nd -term” president. While it is his 2nd term, and he is not eligible for another, he is elected, and it will be a new administration from the previous 4 years. So I’d view it more similar to a 1st term than a 2nd term from a seasonality perspective. With 11 of the last 13 instances showing gains, and most of them strong gains, we may have some positive seasonality helping the market along the next few months.
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