- The stock market is primed to enter risk-on mode in August following a sideways summer chop, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee said in a note on Friday.
- Lee pointed to an imminent peak in Delta-variant cases and surging bitcoin prices as reasons to expect upside in stocks next month.
- These are the 3 reasons stocks are primed to move higher in August, according to Fundstrat.
- Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
After weeks of a sideways “chop” in certain stock sectors, August could be the month risk-on mode returns for the market, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee said in a note on Friday.
Lee highlighted that since early June, epicenter stocks collapsed while a handful of names in the technology sector moved higher and propped up broad market indices. The steep drop in financial, energy, and hotel/cruise stocks came amid a surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant.
Historically, not much money has been made in stocks in the month of August, especially when markets delivered strong gains in the first half of the year.
“August is not generally a great month for stocks. The win-ratio is low at 54% overall,” Lee said, citing an analysis of data going back to 1928. And when the S&P 500 is up more than 13% in the first half of the year, August returns average -0.50%, according to the analysis.
But these 3 reasons suggest to Lee that the stock market can buck its historical trend and enter risk-on mode.
1. “Seasonal analysis…