The S&P 500 has been on a tear to start 2024. Through the first three months of the year, the broad index is already up around 10% as it continues to hit record levels. Even though inflation isn't coming down fast enough for the Fed, and analysts are scaling back their expectations for rate cuts this year, the market remains red hot.

But could a cooling-off period be coming soon? That's a distinct possibility, based on what's happened in the past. Here's a look at when a slowdown might occur, and what it might mean for investors.

One of the popular sayings on Wall Street is that investors should "sell in May and go away." And based on the data, there does appear to be some truth to that. Historical data for the S&P 500 shows the average returns the index has generated during three main intervals: before May, from May to October, and after October. These average returns are based on the past 50 years:

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Source Fool.com