Archive for September, 2009

There are interesting statistics out there if you take the time to look. I recently stumbled upon a seasonality chart covering the period from July of 1959 – 2009 for the S & P and International Markets. I won’t go into the International Markets, but the information pertaining t0 the S & P is quite insightful.

On the whole, we know the market is cyclical. Old Wall Street sayings, like May go away and October load the boat are a result of these known cycles. For the time period mention above, the seasonality of the year plays out like this.

Most often the months move -

January up 12%, February down 2.5% March up 10%, April, up 14%, May up 4%, June down 2%, July up 1%, August down 17%, Sept. down 10%, Oct up 8%, Nov up 14%, Dec up 15%

Being aware of this average market movement helps us to know which months to more heavily place out trades and in which months to hold back. Based on this information if I was interested in a swing trade or short term play toward the end of January, I might think otherwise about placing the trade, since I can see statically February does not support upward movement. While toward the end of September and into October, like the old saying goes, I could consider my trades as being backed by market seasonality and load the boat.