June's stock market History:
Bottom Line: Once again selling in May and going away was anything but conventional wisdom. Markets closed May with near record highs once again. June's here and historically that's not been such a great thing for stocks. Here's June's stock market history...
Going back to 1950 and (using the S&P as the barometer):
- Stocks have actually been higher more often than not (34 positive years compared to 33 negative ones)
- The average rate of return has actually been slightly negative -.09%
So June has historically been about as neutral of a month for investments as a month could be. That being said it makes it one of the worst months of the year for stocks. It's one of only four months of the year with average negative returns and it's the third worst overall month historically for stocks. Now that the incredibly positive earnings season is just about behind us attention will focus on the rest of the story. The rest of that story rests in Washington. Will we get the pro-growth reforms passed this year? Up to now the market has prospered on hope, some regulations being reigned in and the best earnings season for American companies in six years. If the legislative agenda moves forward there's room for optimism. If it doesn't it could be room for a little concern to enter the financial markets.