January was a good month for the stock market in the United States, which could be a sign this will be a good year.
According to data from the NYTimes, only once in the past 63 years did the Standard & Poor’s 500 rise more than 4 percent in January and then end the year lower than it was at the end of January. That was in 1987, which also was the best January in the history of the S. & P. 500.
Since the credit crisis low, the S. & P. 500 is up 121 percent, more than major indexes in most of the 20 largest markets in the world.
