| wahyinghung | 06-03-2009 04:19 PM |
Why the Penguins should win, and other offbeat market predictors
Attention Canadian investors: You really want the Pittsburgh Penguins to win the Stanley Cup.
Brock University Prof. Ernest Biktimirov found that when an Eastern Conference team, such as the Penguins, wins the Cup, Canadian stocks (TSX-I10,290.12-298.67-2.82%) tend to post a gain on the year. A Western Conference win hails a down year. The data is far from complete – it only goes back to 2000. But it's been correct six out of seven times, giving it an 85.7-per-cent success rate this decade.
For the record – the Penguins trail the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in a best-of-seven series, as of Wednesday.
Prof. Biktimirov included the reference in a new finance textbook he authored, and acknowledged it's a pretty lightweight measure. But, he points out that Americans are fond of using the Super Bowl indicator (which says if a team from the old American Football League wins, then the markets will go down that year), and there's no reason Canadians shouldn't have a barometer of their own. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...rticle1166585/ | 