Market Generally Better Before Martin Luther King Jr. Day than After

This year will be the 27th year that the stock market will be closed to honor Dr. King and his contributions to the world and civil rights. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day has only been observed since 1998 and market behavior around this holiday has not been added to the Stock Trader’s Almanac yet. We wanted to share with you the history of market performance around this holiday.

Overall the market has been more positive, on average, on the Friday before MLK day and weaker the Tuesday after. Though trading is rather mixed with a relatively even split of ups and downs on the day before and the day after. DJIA has been notably weak on Thursday, down 17 times in the last 26 years. This mixed and choppy performance is possibly due to the fact that MLK day can either land in options expiration week or the week after. Both weeks have been rather volatile and weak since 1999.