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The Best Month of the Year

November's median monthly price gain was 2.0%, compared with 0.94% across the other months.

Author

Jacob Radke
November 01, 2026 • Read Time: 1 minute

The Best Month of the Year

Historically November has been the best month of the year for the S&P 500.

From 1950 through 2025, November's median monthly price gain was 2.03%. The median across the other 11 months was a 0.94% price gain.

Median S&P 500 monthly price return, 1950 to 2025. November leads at 2.03%. Source: Financial Modeling Prep GSPC daily closes.

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

November finished higher about 70% of those years.

There is no settled explanation for November’s strength. One idea is that mutual funds sell losing stocks for tax reasons ahead of the October 31 capital-gains cutoff, though research suggests that effect faded in later years. Some strategists also point to fund managers buying the year's winners to catch up before year-end.

Until next week,
Jacob