The Final 50 Days of The Year: What To Expect

Yesterday kicked off the homestretch of 2016, as there were 50 trading days left in 2016. The good news is historically the end of the year has been strong for equities. In fact, going back to 1980, the S&P 500 was up 3.6% on average and higher 77.8% of the time during the final 50 days of the year.

Does it matter how the year is doing up to this point? In other words, if the S&P 500 is higher or lower year to date with 50 days to go, does that tell us anything about what could happen in the rest of the year? Since 1980, the S&P 500 was up year to date with 50 days to go 24 times, and the rest of the year was up 3.9% on average and higher 79.2% of the time. In other words, a slightly better than the average return. With…