The two-day trading period around Thanksgiving—the Wednesday before and the Friday after—has traditionally been strong for stocks.

According to the Stock Trader’s Almanac, the Dow Jones has only suffered 16 losses in the last 66 years during this period. The best two-day performance in recent years was in 2008 when the Dow gained 350 points; the worst two-day performance was in 2011, and the Dow lost 261 points that year.

This year, however, U.S. markets have been closing at new record highs the week of Thanksgiving thanks to increasing expectations that the U.S. and China will reach a phase one trade deal.

This optimism has helped lift stocks in recent week. Year-to-date, the Dow is up about 20% year-to-date while the S&P 500 has gained almost 29%. Strong Dow performers in 2019 include Apple (AAPL Quick QuoteAAPL - Free Report) , Microsoft (MSFT Quick QuoteMSFT - Free Report) , Disney (DIS Quick QuoteDIS - Free Report) , and Visa (V Quick QuoteV - Free Report) .

Have a happy Turkey Day!

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