S&P 500 Logs Nine Straight Green Weeks in a Historic Bull Run
Wall Street is on a run that most traders have never seen in their careers. The S&P 500 has now marked its ninth straight winning week a streak matched only 10 times since 1945. The S&P 500 nine-week winning streak is not just a headline number; it is a signal that carries real historical weight for investors trying to figure out what comes next.
The current streak has its roots in the April 9 lows, when President Trump paused his most severe tariff policies with most US trading partners decision that coincided with the first tentative ceasefire signals from the Middle East. From those April lows, the S&P 500 has climbed more than 20%, a remarkable recovery that has progressively drawn in sidelined capital as each successive week of gains eroded the case for staying in cash.
What History Says About What Comes Next
The index entered May 2026 at approximately 7,200 and closed the month above 7,580 a gain of approximately 5.3% in a month that included ongoing military exchanges between the US and Iran, a PCE inflation print at its highest level in nearly three years, and uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve leadership transition.
For those wondering whether it is too late to buy in, the data offers a reassuring lean. In the 10 completed nine-week streak episodes, the index was higher one month later 90% of the time, with an average gain of 1.68%. A full year later, the index was higher in eight of ten cases an 80% win rate with an average return of 10.21%.
The one cautionary chapter in that history is worth noting. In August 1989, the S&P 500 had nine green weeks and sat near record highs, before Iraq invaded Kuwait, crude oil prices roughly doubled, and the economy fell into recession leaving the index down 8.57% twelve months later, the worst return in the sample.
Earnings growth is also lending support, with S&P 500 firms reporting almost 29% annual earnings per share growth the highest in more than four years and more than double what analysts had expected back on March 31. As the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) continues to reflect this strength, the open question is not whether the rally has been real it clearly has but whether it can hold in the face of whatever shock comes next.
