Dow gains 179 points in first trading day of 2012

Good economic data out of the U.S., China, and Germany might have put investors in a chipper mood. Plus, no real bad news. Dow gains 1.5 percent and is now at 12,397. By the way, stocks typically go up in election years, BUT if the third year of the cycle is weak (as it was in 2011) the odds of a down election year go up substantially, EXCEPT if the market is up during January, when the odds of an up election year go up substantially - ASSUMING that the year won't defy all previous patterns, in which case my advice is to flip a coin.