Could January Predict Whether Stocks Will Be Up or Down in 2025? Here's What History Says.

The start of 2025 hasn't been great for the markets. After coming off a strong performance in 2024, when the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) rose by more than 23%, it has been going nowhere in the first few weeks of the new year. This has some investors worried that this could be the start of a disappointing year, especially with many stocks already trading at sky-high valuations.Is a slow start to the year a bad omen for investors? I'll look at how the market has performed both after a good and bad start in January, whether that could indeed be a predictor of future returns, and what investors may want to consider doing right now.Going back to 2000, the S&P 500 has generated a positive return 12 times in January, and 13 times when it has been in negative territory. And when it has been a strong start to the year, the average full-year return for the S&P 500 has been 12.1%, versus just 2.9% when January has been negative.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool