Another Amazing Fat Tuesday on Wall Street
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Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Tuesday at a new all-time high with a triple-digit surge of 123.57 points.
And it’s fitting that the Dow hit a new high of 15,215.25 on a Tuesday because it’s the 18th straight Tuesday that the industrials have finished the day higher than where they began. This 18-for-18 streak started all the way back on Jan. 15. The Dow since then is up more than 1,700 points. And, according to the statistical gurus at Bespoke Investment Group, over 1,400 of the 1,700-plus points gained since then on the Dow have come on, you guessed it, Tuesday. That’s 83 percent of all the gains in stocks since then coming on this one day of the week.
Asked why this is happening Bespoke’s co-founder Paul Hickey had this refreshingly candid response: “I have no idea why Tuesdays have been so strong. It’s pretty crazy.”
During the streak, none of the 30 stocks in the Dow has been up every single Tuesday. Materials manufacturer 3M has been the most consistent performer, up 16 of the past 18 Tuesdays, while Alcoa has been the worst performer, up only seven of the last 18 Tuesdays.
Jack Bouroudjian, CEO of Chicago trading firm Bull & Bear Partners, told ABC News he isn’t surprised that we are seeing strength on Tuesdays. ”Monday gives everyone time to digest all the news from over the weekend. By Tuesday everyone realizes that the news is not bad enough to stay in cash.”
Jack Ablin, the chief investment strategist for Harris Private Bank, laughed when told about the streak and said, “Can’t explain it, but it’s pretty impressive.” Perhaps, he added, the streak owes its strength to the underlying economy, meaning that lot of reports about the economy are released by the government on Tuesday. As to whether he would advise clients to buy on this trend he wryly said, “If we get to 30 weeks I might start telling people to do it.”
The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, gained 23.82 points, closing at 3,462.61 — its best session since October 2000. The S&P 500 rose 16.57 points, or one percent, closing at an all-time high of 1,650.34.
Energy stocks were the top advancers on the S&P index, with Marathon Oil Corp., whose shares were up 2.4 percent, and Valero Energy Corp. with shares up 2.3 percent, leading the sector gains, according to MarketWatch. Hess Corp. shares weren’t far behind, climbing 1.9 percent Tuesday.
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