Year Of The Pig: Market Performance

The Chinese new year begins on February 18th and according to the Chinese Zodiac, it is going to be the year of the pig. As it turns out, I was born in a previous pig year (1971) and it seems like I do have the same personality traits as others who are born in pig years.

In case you're curious, the market's performance in previous years of the pig has been positive. The Dow has consistently gone up since 1935 and the S&P 500 has experienced only one down year in previous pig years. On average, the S&P 500 has gained +16%:

Year Of The Pig:  S&P 500 Performance

1935:  +41.37
1947:  -15.84%
1959:  +9.96%
1971:  +10.78%
1983:  +17.27%
1995:  +34.11%

Year Of The Pig:  Dow Performance
1935:  +38.53%
1947:  +2.23%
1959:  +16.39%
1971:  +6.11%
1983:  +20.27%
1995:  +33.45%

Along with the January barometer, super bowl indicator, etc. this also leads one to believe that this year will be a positive one for equities. Now as long as the December Low Indicator doesn't get triggered, we can just put everything on autopilot - right?