Mr. Market to January: Let the good times keep rolling. The second trading day of 2012 saw two of three major indices up, while gold stayed above $1,600 an ounce and oil sat at $103 a barrel. For those who subscribe to "the January effect," the belief that a positive first month of an election year bodes well for the remaining 11 months, these first days are important. In fact, going back to 1945 a strong January has predicted solid annual market returns 86% of the time.
With that in mind, it is encouraging that not even negative news emanating from the E.U. could rattle the Dow Jones Industrial Average
The good times didn't keep rolling for everyone, though. Inside the Dow, the single biggest decliner was Verizon
Rounding out our bottom three we have Wal-Mart
All told, it appears the market is continuing a positive trend to kick off the year. It's worth watching with a close eye to see how the market closes this week and this month -- and to see whether past trends remain true.
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