It was the worst September for stocks since 2002. What can statistics tell us about the historical performance of…

September has historically been the worst month of the year for stocks and that has come true this year. Investors are likely to remember September, but not in a good way. Does this mean the stock market will continue to lose in the months ahead? Not necessarily. Here's what investors should know about the historical performance of stocks in October.

The decline on Friday, Sept. 30, left the S&P 500 $^GSPC and Dow Jones Industrial Average $^DJI with their biggest monthly losses since March 2020. And it was the worst September performance for both indexes since 2002. Seasonally inclined investors may be worried about what this means for October. That's why we take a look at how stocks have historically performed this month after particularly brutal Septembers.

But first, a quick recap of how the month just ended turned out. The S&P 500 fell 9.34%, while the Dow DJIA fell 8.84% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 10.5%. The Nasdaq's…