"Best" Trading Days for the 2013 S&P 500

The "best" trading days this year might appear to be everyday since the market has been sloping upward with little to stand in its way. Of course, "best" is in the eye of the trader since "best" can be defined as volatile, or trending in either direction.   Even so, if you look at each day individually since January through yesterday, you can get a better idea about the market activity as it relates to gains, losses, and price volatility for each of the six point five hours of trading that occur five days per week.

The chart below, using S&P data, shows that the greatest average gains have occurred on Friday and Tuesday; Monday has underperformed, and Wednesday appears to be standing still with little change by the end of the trading day.

 

 

Now look at the day range for each day of the week.  This chart indicates which S&P days have the largest percent intraday swings between the highs and lows of the day.  Comparing both charts, Wednesday shows the greatest price swings during the day yet looking back on the first chart you can see that all of that price volatility results in very little gain or loss by the end of that day.

A more comprehensive year-by-year look (2008-2010) at the daily price and volatility comparisons can be found here.