Key insights
- The analysis suggests a strong day-of-the-week effect in the S&P 500's 2026 performance, with Mondays and Wednesdays showing significantly positive annualized returns, while Thursdays and Fridays exhibit substantial negative returns. This pattern, if persistent, could inform short-term trading strategies, although its reliability and sustainability are questionable.
I found a study this morning that reviewed the annualized returns per day for the S&P 500 in 2026 and the numbers were pretty comical:
- Monday: +91.1% * Tuesday: +3.2% * Wednesday: +76.1% * Thursday: -113.4% * Friday: -46.4%
So what does this all mean to me?! Investors love to buy in on Monday, sell off on Tuesday, buy back in on Wednesday and sell of the rest of the week, with Thursday by far being the largest selloff day.
The big question that I have for you all, how can we build a strategy around this knowledge?