U.S. equities investors may be in for a rough ride during the second and third quarters, according to a new study that correlates stock market returns with those seen over the past 60 years of presidential election cycles.

A recent report by Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services found that, on average, the middle quarters of an administration’s second year after a given election see the worst performance of the S&P 500, with returns averaging -2.0 percent and -2.2 percent, respectively. The first quarter of an administration’s first year proves to be the only other quarter that sees a negative return (-0.3 percent).

Investors who survive these dips, however, are generally rewarded. “Investors should be aware that the market tends to bounce back with the two strongest performing quarters of the cycle. On average, the fourth quarter of the second year and the first quarter of the third year average about a 7.5 percent return each,” S&P Chief Investment Strategist Sam Stovall said in a written statement.

S&P also found that investors who sit out these weak quarters entirely outperformed the market by 73 percent between 1962 and 2005. The study examined returns during the four-year presidential cycles between 1945 and 2005.