This Week's Best and Worst Stocks

Earlier today, we took a look at the historically bullish period in which we find ourselves -- that is, March 11-18. While understanding general seasonal trends is crucial for traders, it's perhaps more helpful to know how specific stocks behave during different parts of the year. To that end, we asked Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White for lists of the best S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Dow stocks over the past years in the time frame mentioned above -- and, for good measure, the worst stocks.

Below are two lists detailing SPX outperformers and underperformers during the past decade. As you can see financial giant Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) is among the leaders, while chipmaker NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is among the laggards.

Starting with WFC, the stock has been positive in eight of the past 10 years, when looking at the March 11-18 window -- with an average gain of 6.2%. This time around, the shares have fared pretty well, too -- up 2.6% since their March 10 close to trade at $49.78. In fact, option bears might be getting a little nervous. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), WFC has racked up a 50-day put/call volume ratio of 0.85 -- in the 81st percentile of its annual range.

Meanwhile, NVDA has been positive just three times in the last 10 years during the specified time frame. On average, the stock has edged just 0.2% higher during that stretch. With the shares currently at $32.02, they've advanced a more respectable 1.1% this time around. More impressive, though, is NVDA's progress since its mid-February low of $24.75 -- with the stock up over 29% in a little over a month. Should this continue, NVDA could benefit from a round of bullish brokerage notes. Over half of the analysts tracking the shares consider them a "hold" or worse.

That's what things look like on the SPX. But what about the Dow? Below, the current 30 blue-chip stocks are listed from the best performers to the worst over the last decade.

Oil-and-gas issue Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) has the second-best track record. The stock has been positive 80% of the time, and sports a typical return of 2.1%. On the other hand, Visa Inc (NYSE:V) has been positive just twice during the March 11-18 stretch, dating back to its initial public offering (IPO) in 2008. However, the typical gain stands at a decent 0.5% -- due in large part to the stock's impressive 6.5% return in 2009.