A Swimsuit Issue Bounce For Russia ETFs?

Sports Illustrated's annual Swimsuit Issue rolled out earlier this week and that gave traders the chance to once again soak in the humorous, but equally compelling "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Indicator," courtesy of Bespoke Investment Group. There's also a Super Bowl Indicator and Groundhog Day Indicator, both of which went the bulls' favor this year, but the swimsuit indicator may be the tonic the bears need to cool off this rally. Simply put, Bespoke data show the S&P 500 performs better in a year in which an American model is on the cover of SI's top selling issue. This year Irina Shayk becomes the first Russian to grace the cover. How's that for detente? The better question may be: Is Shayk's appearance going to be enough to jolt the Market Vectors Russia ETF RSX? It's hard to answer, because there is no precedent for the performance of U.S. or Russian equities with a Russian on the cover because, as we noted, Shayk is the first. Still, the "R" in BRIC has been the star in BRIC this year. Both RSX and its more thinly traded, newer rival the SPDR S&P Russia ETF RBL are just a tad lower since the Swimsuit Issue rolled out earlier this week. If we want to stretch the research a bit further, of all the countries that have a had models on the cover, Czech Republic and the former Czechoslovakia are closest to Russia. Models from those countries have appeared on the cover in six different years with the S&P 500 finishing higher in five of them. Problem is with this scenario is that RSX wasn't around when the Czech models made their appearances. Oh well. Just some Friday fun. Buy RSX because oil is going up, not because of who is on the cover of a magazine.