I like seasonals. I theory, they shouldn’t work but in theory lots of things in markets shouldn’t work and still do.

#3: Buy USD/JPY

Over the past 10 years, February has been the best month on average for USD/JPY gains.

USDJPY seasonals Feb 2014

USDJPY seasonal heatmap

February is also, not surprisingly, one of the better months for the Nikkei.

The caveat I have here is that the average is skewed higher by two very strong years for the pair in 2009 and 2012. Last year, in the midst of a major USD/JPY bull market, the pair gained only 0.9%. In addition, 5 of the past 9 years have been negative for USD/JPY.