Chart of the Day - Monday, April 12th, 2021

Today’s Chart of the Day was shared by Ryan Detrick of LPL Financial Research (@RyanDetrick). The S&P 500 marched higher throughout the first quarter, leaving the December lows untouched in the rearview mirror. Ryan highlights an interesting phenomenon known as the 'The December Low Indicator.' This little-known phenomenon was first discovered in the 1970s by Forbes columnist, Lucien Hooper. As you can see from the table, returns have been quite strong when the S&P 500 fails to violate its December low during the first quarter.  This has happened 35 times since 1950. The S&P 500 ended those years higher 94% of the time for a solid average gain of 18.4%.