Going Beyond the January Barometer: A More Nuanced View of Monthly Versus Yearly S&P 500 Performance

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 3, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) With February providing the lift the S&P 500 (SPY) needed to reverse January’s losses, it is time to take a look once again at the January barometer. The big fear last … Read more

The Low Risk Pairs Trade on the S&P 500 Passes Its First Test

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 16, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) On December 1, 2013, I wrote a piece called “A Potentially Low Risk Pairs Trade Opportunity Using The S&P 500” where I used PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility (SPLV) and PowerShares … Read more

The Problem With the January Barometer

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 1, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) CNBC’s “By the Numbers” recently reviewed the predictive power of the January Barometer with the following observations: “The January barometer has been right in 62 of the last 85 years, or … Read more