S&P 500 Seasonality Almanac

Every year is re-based to its own prior 31-Dec close, so the lines are comparable regardless of the index level at the time, so 1932 and 2026 sit on the same axis. Hover a chip for that year's full-year return. Four is the cap: past six lines the hues stop being reliably separable, so each overlay carries a dash pattern and an end label as well as a color.

The four Cycle chips are averages, not years: every year in that slot of the four-year political cycle, averaged day by day. 2026 is itself a midterm year, and it is left out of its own average, because a part-finished year would drag the tail of the line you are comparing against.