Here is a chart of the Dow in years ending from 0 to 9. Notice how years starting with 0 that starts the reverse downward and ending in 1 and 2 and 3 tend to be bad years economically as well. I've never seen a good one of these years yet. Recall 1981,1982 and 1983. Or 1991,1992 and 1993. Or 2001,2002 or 2003. So here we are again in 2011,2012 and 2013. Same old song. Never found a good reason for it as it doesn't line up with the Presidential election cycle but perhaps some 'cycle type' person could explain this phenomenon. After experiencing these tough economic years enough times and seeing this chart decades ago that kept repeating I retired in 2010 just to avoid another round of uphill business experiences. Glad I did too.