If you've been eyeing a great time to buy giant tech S&P 500 stocks, you might get your shot soon. Turns out the next two weeks are the best of the year for the S&P 500, and giant technology stocks dominate.
Seven stocks in the S&P 500, including Alphabet, Amazon.com and Apple, consistently beat the S&P 500 in the two weeks following June 29 by the widest margin, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSmith. And that's significant. Why? The S&P 500 historically does its best during the year in this two week period, says Bespoke Investment Group.
"Two-week returns following the close on June 29, up 2.2%, have been the best of any other day on the calendar in the last 20 years," Bespoke says.
A seasonal lift of the S&P 50 isn't reason by itself to buy a stock, it would be a welcome change. Investors badly need some good news. The S&P 500 sputtered all year and is now down 18% on the year.
The Best Two Weeks Of The Year
A funny thing happens on June 29. The S&P 500 embarks on its best two-week period of the year. It's been the case for the past 20 years, Bespoke found.
The S&P 500 jumps 2.2%, on average, in the subsequent two weeks following that date in June. That tops the two-week performance of any two-week period of the year. The next best is the two-week period following Oct. 2, Bespoke says.
And it's not some kind of fluke. The two-week period following June 29 has been positive three-quarters of the time. Additionally, during this strong two-week period all 11 S&P 500 sectors posted positive returns on a median basis. Plus, seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors pout up median gains of more than 1.
Which S&P 500 Stocks Do Best In June Rally?
Amazon.com, the beleaguered online shopping site that's already in a recession, is also the stock best known for coming alive in late June. Shares are down 32% just this year so far.
And yet, shares of the company jumped an average of 7.6% annually in the two-week period starting on June 29 in the past five year. That's more than any other stock in the S&P 500. But what's more, Amazon's shares topped the S&P 500's impressive run during the time frame in the past five years. The S&P 500 gained 1.8%, on average, in the two weeks following June 29 in the past five years. And it didn't fall even once.
And then there's Alphabet, the parent company of the Google search engine. Shares are down 20% this year so far. But the company's stock put up an average 5.6% gain in the two-week rally beginning in late June.
Other big-cap techs, Apple and Microsoft, too, tend to drive the highest in the best two weeks of the year.
It's impossible to know ahead of time if the year's best two weeks will again kick off this Wednesday. But the trend provable. "However, if there's ever a time that investors could use a seasonal pick-me-up, it would be as we close out the worst first half for the market in over 50 years," Bespoke says.
Best S&P 500 Stocks In The Year's Best Two Weeks
Average gain in two weeks following June 29 since 2017
| Company | Symbol | Sector | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com | Consumer Discretionary | 7.6% | |
| Alphabet | Communication Services | 5.6 | |
| Microsoft | Information Technology | 4.7 | |
| Moody's | Financials | 4.6 | |
| Apple | Information Technology | 4.3 | |
| Monolithic Power Systems | Information Technology | 4.3 | |
| Verisk Analytics | Industrials | 3.8 | |
| S&P 500 | 2.4% |
