There are several ways to invest in the stock market. Some people like to buy and keep equities, while others trade them more often. There are a lot of various indications that day traders and other stock investors can use to see how well their investments are doing and when and how to invest. 6 Weird Stock Market Indicators That Sound Fake
There are also several strange indications for stocks and other strange ideas about how the stock market will go over time. I thought it might be fun to share a few that have worked out well over time (there are, of course, many of others that haven’t).
1. The Super Bowl Indicator
The Super Bowl indicator is the belief that if the AFC (American Football Conference) wins the Super Bowl, there will be a decline in the coming year (as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average performance), and if the NFC (National Football Conference) wins the Super Bowl, the market will be up. 6 Weird Stock Market Indicators That Sound Fake
The results of this are actually pretty surprising. Since the time it was first introduced back in 1978, it has been mostly right. As of the 2025 Super Bowl, the indicator has been right 42 out of 59 games. That’s a 71% success rate.
The Super Bowl is usually in January or February, so some believe the timing of it can be an indication of overall market performance throughout the year. 6 Weird Stock Market Indicators That Sound Fake
2. The Lipstick Indicator
This is a bearish indicator, first introduced by Leonard Lauder—the chairman of cosmetic company Estee Lauder. It suggests an inverse correlation between cosmetic sales and overall economic health. The thinking is that when individuals feel uncertain about the economy, they turn to less-expensive vanities such as lipstick rather than more expensive items like dresses and handbags.
While not as back-tested like the Super Bowl indicator, it was shown that after the September 11 attacks, Estée Lauder Companies had a 40% increase in sales, and other companies reported the same odd, uncorrelated trend. 6 Weird Stock Market Indicators That Sound Fake
3. The Wall Street Job Indicator
This indicator makes a lot of sense. The more appealing jobs on Wall Street are, the more likely the economy is in a bubble. Harvard graduates typically measure this indicator by accepting jobs in investment banking, private equity, and securities trading.
The indicator signals investors to exit the market if more than 30% of graduates go into these jobs, while investors should buy into the market if less than 10% of graduates take these jobs.
The results are hard to decipher. It has only given sell signals twice, and never a buy signal
However, in 1987, it gave a sell signal and the market crashed in the fall, and it gave another sell signal in the dot-com boom of 2000 when the market dropped 9.8%. 6 Weird Stock Market Indicators That Sound Fake
4. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition Cover Model Indicator
Just as it sounds, this is an indicator based on what country the cover model originates from in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. It suggests that when the model is from the U.S the S&P 500 will outperform its historical returns versus when the model is not—the S&P 500 underperforms.
The result has been holding true with some notable exceptions. The average annual return of the S&P 500 has been 10.7% over the last 30 years. When it was an American model gracing the cover, the returns spiked to 13.9%, and with non-American models, the returns lagged at 7.2%. 6 Weird Stock Market Indicators That Sound Fake
However, the worst-performing cover model was American Marisa Miller, who debuted in 2008 and oversaw a market drop of 38.5%. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition Cover Model Indicator is getting harder to track these days, since SI now usually has multiple Swimsuit Edition cover models each year.
5. The Cardboard Box Indicator
Almost everything in the world ships in a cardboard box, which forms the basis of the cardboard box indicator. Basically, the more demand for cardboard boxes, the more the economy is growing because factories are shipping goods.
