March And April Look Very Promising For Stocks - Here's Why

The Dow rose 1.8% in January 2017 and 3.3% so far in February. Whenever the DJIA goes up in both January and February, it has risen for the rest of the year in all but one case (2011), but that decline was a trivial 0.003%!  In the 27 times since 1945 when the Dow has gone up in each of the first two months of the year, the average gain for the entire year was 19.9%?

Written by Gary Alexander

On top of those historical parallels, we enter March today. Taken together, March and April are historically great months for stocks, even in the most recent dismal years of 2008 and 2009. The days get longer..., the snow is melting, heating bills decline, flowers start to bud, and the nation is transfixed with March Madness in basketball and baseball’s hopeful spring training season.

In stock market history, March is a good month and April is the best month in the last 20 and 50 years.

The Dow and the S&P 500 have risen in nine of the last 10 years during the March/April time period:

Short-term, we’re in one of the two sweetest spots in the calendar (November-December is the other).  Long-term, we’re in for more growth in global GDP – if the engines of growth can be unleashed again.