Labor Day has been a turning point in markets the last three years. Here’s what one strategist sees happening next.

Summertime markets can be a bit dysfunctional. Last week, for example, the top two sectors were the classically defensive utilities, and the highly cyclical materials. The total market volume on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq on Tuesday was 59% below the peak of the year, and 19% below the year’s average.

Tavis McCourt, institutional equity strategist at Raymond James, points out the last two years, there was a big value and cyclical bias in stock markets after Labor Day, and in 2018, markets basically collapsed after the summer drew to a close. “We believe as the chase for the end of the year begins, a renewed value/cyclical outperformance is likely along with higher 10-year Treasury yields, but like it has been for the past 18 months and will be for the foreseeable future, the virus is the boss,” he says.

The 10-year, he says, is the linchpin to the whole market. Quantitative easing, bank liquidity, Treasury gamesmanship and delta variant fear should all fade in the second half, allowing yields to rise up to a reasonable level. That in turn will get the yield curve steepening, helping value stocks, small-caps and cyclicals — which have a long way to go, given the summer reversal in markets.