April 15th is famously know as Tax Day to Americans, meaning it is a day many taxpayers wish was not on the calendar, but there is a positive reason to embrace the arrival of April’s halfway point.
The technology sector enters its second period of seasonal strength from April 15th through July 17. The other seasonally strong period for tech stocks and ETFs is Oct. 9 to Jan 17. Dragged lower by biotech, Internet and social media names, the tech-heavy PowerShares QQQ (NasdaqGM: QQQ) is off almost 5% over the past month, but that decline could mean increased potential and potency for the long tech seasonal trade this year. [Internet ETFs Teach Hard, Old Lessons]
“Prospects for the April to July period this year are exceptional. April through June is typically the period when major technology companies hold their developer conferences, which are intended to build interest in new product developments and attract programmers to build the next generation of software and applications for smartphones, laptops, and wearable devices,” write Don and Jon Vialoux for the Globe and Mail.
Speaking of conferences, Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL) and Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG) hold their developers events in June. Those stocks combine for nearly 16% of QQQ. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLK) allocates over 22% of its combined weight to Apple and both classes of Google stock.
“According to EquityClock.com, returns from April 15 through to July 17 over the past 20 years have averaged 8.04 percent. Positive results were realized in 14 of the past 20 periods and the average outperformance versus the S&P 500 index was 4.96 percent,” reports the Globe and Mail.