Payne's Perspective: Already a Banger!

1/12/2026
By Charles Payne, CEO & Principal Analyst

It's early, but January has been a banger, and there is justifiable enthusiasm that we could be in for another opportunistic year.

According to work at Bluekurtic Market Insights, a positive first five trading days has seen the market rally on average 15.7% on a full-year basis 87% of the time. I like those odds.

Chart showing S&P 500 full-year performance when the first five trading days of January are positive and gain more than 1%. Historically, these years delivered higher average returns and smaller drawdowns than other market regimes, indicating stronger market performance and lower downside risk.

Bifurcated Economy

The gap between the super wealthy and the middle class is causing significant ripples in society, and even masking the fact that the bottom 50% of households have enjoyed a considerable boost in wealth.

And Main Street angst is going to become even more intense, as the economy continues to move toward what I call “Jobless Prosperity.” Third-quarter GDP was 4.3%, and the Atlanta Fed GDPNow currently sees the fourth quarter above 5.0%.

To read the full report, contact your account representative or email Info@wstreet.com.

Charles Payne
Wall Street Strategies

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