Investors see red on St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's Day is normally known for green beer, green shamrocks — and in the past 20 years stocks flashing green. But not this year, as the market closed slightly in the red.
Friday's tiny 3.13-point, 0.13% drop for the Standard & Poor's 500 index bucked the historical trend. Stock market statistics show the luck of the Irish normally spreads its good cheer to Wall Street on March 17, a celebratory day in which the large-company stock gauge has been up 80% of the time, LPL Financial data show. That ranks as the sixth-best day out of all trading days during the year.
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Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial, says the stock market's tendency to go up on St. Patrick's Day is "purely random." But investors, he says, have to "find some humor in the fact that a day that celebrates the color green is also historically a strong day for stocks. Luck of the Irish indeed!" This year, however, wasn't a lucky one.
What's the best day of the year? Sept. 16, which has been up 86.7% of the time in the past 20 years.
March overall has been a very strong month for the S&P 500. Its average gain of 2.7% ranks No. 1 since 2007, according to LPL Financial.
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