From 2000 to 2009, the S&P 500 averaged a loss 0.82% after the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in the United States.

The S&P lost 0.68% in January 2000, the last year of the tech bubble that culminated in the March peak of 5132.52 for the NASDAQ.

In the post tech bubble years of 2001, 2002 (post 9/11 year), 2003, the S&P returned 0.61%, -0.73%, and -1.57%, respectively.

In the bull market years of 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, the S&P 500 returned -0.09%, 0.97%, -0.36%, and 0.082%.

The first two post-MLK Tuesdays of the financial crisis returned -1.1% (2008) and -5.3% (2009).

The large drop in January 20, 2009 occurred during a period of extreme market turbulence. Investment bank Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy in September 2008, and the S&P dropped to a low of 666.79 on March 6, 2009, before beginning its rally that continues into 2010. The S&P closed at 1,136.03 on Friday, January 15th.

Martin Luther King Day is the first stock market holiday of the year after New Year’s Day. It marks a three day weekend for the stock market, the bond market, and the futures market in the U.S.

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