The month of May is set to be a positive one for the U.S. stock market, bucking a seasonal tendency for weakness and potentially giving historically minded investors reason for optimism since June usually isn’t a good time for stocks either. According to the Stock Trader’s Almanac, June ranks among the worst months of the year for major indexes. The results are especially poor in midterm election years, as is 2018. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.24% has seen, on average, a decline of 0.3% in June, according to data that goes back to 1950. That makes June the second-worst performing month of the year. Over the past 67 years, June has been negative for the blue-chip average 36 times, and positive in 31 years. For the S&P 500 SPX, -0.24% June ranks as the third-worst performing month of the year. The benchmark index’s performance is essentially flat over the month, with an average decline of 0.03%, according to the Almanac. Of the past 67 Junes, 35 have been positive, while 32 have been negative. Historical statistics paint a more positive picture for the Nasdaq Composite IndexCOMP, +0.13% which is currently the best-performing of the three major indexes in 2018. It’s seen an average rise of 0.7% over the month, and over the past 46 years, 25 Junes have been positive while 21 have been down.via