History shows stocks left for dead by the market tend to surge in December’s final two weeks and January, according to Wolfe Research. Come New Year’s, the same funds frequently buy the same stocks back, giving their share prices a temporary lift. Wolfe found the market’s 100 worst performing stocks outperformed the broader market by about 2.5 percentage points, on average, between Dec. 15 and the end of January in 2006 to 2024.