According to an article in the Wall Street Journal reporting on research by Jason Goepfert, there’s a decent chance of a good market year in 2012:
At last check, the S&P 500 was UNCH on the day, a fitting end to a dismal year in which the big-cap stock index has gained a whopping 0.4%, behaving more like a (unusually terrifying) checking or savings account than an investment.
But wash years like 2011 are typically followed by big gains in the following year, Jason Goepfert of Sundial Capital Research writes.
The median market move following a year in which the S&P gains or loses less than 3% is a 12.3% gain, according to his research, and the market is positive 78% of the time.
The full table of instances is below.
(click on chart to enlarge)
Source: Wall Street Journal, sentimenTrader
That’s good news we can all use!
Posted by Mike Moody 
