The weeks leading up to these triplewitching days have become more bullish in recent decades, while the weeks following have become more bearish, Mr. Hirsch says.
But all that will just be a warm-up for what promises to be an awful year-end when lame-duck lawmakers will face their own version of an ugly triplewitching hour.
The main reason Bernanke and other financial and political observers are worried is that by the end of the year, we will face what might be called a triplewitching hour.