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>Summer Doldrums Tend To Hit Stock Market In August, Low To Negative Returns Historically
>August is not historically a very good month for stocks. Across several major indices, average returns for the month are low to negative, and it is essentially a coin flip as to whether an index will finish higher or lower. In other words, there is no strong directional bias in August.
>Some investors may think all months are a coin flip as to whether a stock index will go higher or not, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Some months are much stronger than others.
>For example, the S&P 500 has moved higher in 16 out of the last 20 Aprils and Novembers (80%), with average gains of 2% and 2.5%, respectively. The S&P 500 has moved higher in July 75% of the time over the last 20 years, with an average gain of 2.4%. Those are the best months of the year for stocks, with upside biases.