September - Off to a Rough Start
Many reports have been published over the past few days about stock market seasonality and, specifically, about September typically being the worst month of the year.
I included the following paragraph in a recent post: "Seasonality indicates that 'September has firmly secured the rank as the worst month of the year' (Stock Trader's Almanac), but that a year-end rally typically starts in late September / early October."
September has certainly got off to a rough start, with both the MSCI World Index and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index having declined every single trading day since September 1.
I realize numerous studies have been done on the historical pattern of monthly returns, but in order to gain a first-hand feel for the data, I have researched monthly returns of the Dow Jones Industrial Index from January 1958 to August 2008. Some interesting statistics are summarized in the table below.
The following two tables show the percentage positive months (top graph) and the average monthly return (bottom graph) respectively.
It is clear from the above that September, on average, has historically been the worst month. But stock markets recovered after that and October, November, December and January have traditionally been good months.
Time will tell whether the current panic mode will make way for a better period in the weeks to come.
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Author: Prieur du Plessis
Dr Prieur du Plessis
investmentpostcards.com
With 25 years' experience in investment research and portfolio management, Dr Prieur du Plessis is one of the most experienced and well-known investment professionals in South Africa. More than 1 000 of his articles on investment-related topics have been published in various regular newspaper, journal and Internet columns. He also published a book, Financial Basics: Investment, in 2002.
He holds the following degrees: BSc (Quantity Surveying) (Cape Town), HonsB (B & A) (cum laude) (Stellenbosch), MBA (cum laude) (Stellenbosch); and DBA (Doctor of Financial Management) (Stellenbosch).
Prieur is chairman of the Plexus group of companies, which he founded in 1995. Previously he was general manager: portfolio management at Sanlam, responsible for the management of investment portfolios with total assets in excess of $5 billion.
Plexus is a pioneer in the mutual fund industry and has achieved a number of firsts under Prieur's leadership. These include the authoritative Plexus Survey, a quarterly analysis of the consistency of the performance of unit trust management companies, the Plexus Offshore Survey, the Plexus Unit Trust Indices, and the PlexCrown Fund Ratings.
Plexus is the South African partner of John Mauldin, American author of the most widely distributed investment newsletter in the world, and also has an exclusive licensing agreement with California-based Research Affiliates for managing and distributing its enhanced Fundamental Index™ methodology in the Pan-African area.
In 2001 Prieur received the Santam/AHI Business Leader of the Year award for corporate leadership, business acumen and entrepreneurial flair. He was also profiled in the book South Africa's Leading Managers (2006). Plexus received the AHI/Old Mutual Enterprise of the Year award in 1997 and was also included in the book South Africa's Most Promising Companies (2005).
Prieur is 52 years old and lives with his wife, TV producer and presenter Isabel Verwey, and two children in Welgemoed, Cape Town. His recreational activities include long-distance running, motor cycling and reading. He belongs to the Cape Town Club, Johannesburg Country Club, Gordon's Bay Yacht Club and Swiss Social & Sports Club.
Copyright © 2008-2012 Dr Prieur du Plessis
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