How Leap Day Broke a 52 Year Trend (DIA)

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
By Jon C. Ogg Published

On Feb. 28 we went back and took a look at all Leap Year trading days after the Feb. 28 trading day to look for any patterns.  We admit, this is something that we expected to be a fool’s folly but market statisticians will try to find a pattern in anything.  If you saw the movie ‘Pi’ you will get it that there are some guys out there who think there is a pattern in anything.  The one pattern we did find was that there had not been two ‘Leap Days’ in a row which had negative performance.  That changed on Wednesday after the DJIA (NYSE: DIA) fell more than 50 points.

Our thesis going in was that even there was a pattern that the gains were too small to chase after you factor in fees and commissions.  There is a theory that the market looks to cause pain to the most people under the same philosophy.  That ended up being the case yesterday as the DJIA now does have two consecutive ‘Leap Day’ losses.

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.

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