The Best Stocks and Sectors During Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving week is always a low-volume trading week, with markets open less than four days (Friday is a half-day for U.S. stocks). This week, I'll look at what stocks have done in the past during the week of Thanksgiving, while also finding which stocks tend to do well during the holiday week.

Stocks During Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving week itself tends to be bullish. Over the past 50 years, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) has, on average, gained 0.68% during the week, with 70% of the returns positive. Other weeks have averaged a gain of 0.14%, while ending positive 55.6% of the time.

The tables below break down Thanksgiving week by day. Historically, Monday of the holiday week has been bearish. The SPX averages a small gain, but has been positive less than half the time. Monday, however, has been bearish other weeks too. Tuesday of Thanksgiving week has been uneventful.

Thanksgiving-week outperformance has been due to the day before Thanksgiving and the day after. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving has been positive 80% of the time, averaging a gain of 0.31%. The day after Thanksgiving has averaged a 0.27% return over the past 50 years, while being positive 70% of the time.

Best and Worst Stocks and Sectors Next Week

Below is a list of S&P 500 Index stocks that have performed the best during the week of Thanksgiving over the past 10 years. Since it's such a huge shopping week as well, the number of "Retailing" and "Textiles Apparel" companies are compelling. These two sectors make up about 6% of the SPX, yet nearly half of the stocks -- 12 of 25 -- come from these sectors. The bolded names at the top have been positive at least nine of the past 10 years.

Finally, here's a list of stocks that have the worst track record during the week of Thanksgiving, going back 10 years.