On Sep 14, the U.S. market’s broadest benchmark homed in on the crucial 2,500 mark during a relatively quiet session of trading. This was the second successive record close for the S&P 500, a feat matched by the two other primary gauges of market performance. Of course, underneath the cautious optimism, wariness about a near-term pullback continued to linger. 

However, analysts at independent broker LPL Financial believe that after a five-month streak of wins, the S&P 500 is on track to mop up further profits this month. Further, the index has nearly always gained in the one-year period immediately following this winning streak. This makes it imperative to pick up S&P 500 stocks, which have mopped up strong gains during this period.

Third Strongest Bull Run for S&P 500

The S&P 500 gained 0.1% on Sep 13, ending at 2,498.37, only marginally short of the 2,500 mark. Since March 2009, the index has gained a stunning 269%, eclipsing the 266% increase recorded during the Bull Run extending from 1949 to 1956. This increase makes the current Bull Run the third strongest ever recorded. These insights were revealed by data from Bloomberg and the S&P 500 Dow Jones Indices.

Although the extent of these increases could raise selloff fears among investors, such alarm is unwarranted. But this is because this stretch of gains loses its luster when considering annualized returns. This measure comes in at only 17%, the fourth poorest when considering 13 such periods. The reason for such a dismal showing is not difficult to discover, of course. At eight and a half years, this is the second longest Bull Run of all time.

Five-Month Stretch of Gains to Power Future Increases

But for March, when it lost 0.04%, the S&P 500 has now gained for five straight months in a row. In fact, the index has now gained for nine months out of the last 10. Taking total returns into account, which includes the impact of dividends, the index has increased every single month since October 2016.