September came to an end yesterday, and it turned out to be a pretty good month for the stock market. This is notable because September has historically been the worst month for stocks. Since 1950, the S&P 500 has dropped an average of 0.5 percentage points during the month, and September is the only calendar month over that period in which the S&P has fallen more often than it has risen.
But 2012 has turned into a different story. Despite a little slip over the past week, the S&P 500 index still finished the month up by a solid 2.4 percent.
And in fact, the tradition for Septembers may be turning around. Last year, the month was a complete disaster, with the S&P slipping by about 7 percent, and in 2008 September was the epicenter of the financial collapse; the index lost about 9 percent that month. But even with those two, 2012 gives us seven out of the past nine Septembers in which the index has gained ground.
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