Oct. 2 - At this week’s Investment Policy Committee meeting, we discussed the S&P 500 might fare in October, the spookiest of all months.
The S&P 500 gained 3.6% in September, well above the average decline of 1.2% since 1929. This advance helped propel the S&P 500 to a 15% rise in Q3, placing it at number 18 when compared with all quarters since 1929 and number 5 for all third quarters over the past 80 years. Many investors are spooked when they think of October, not because of Halloween, but because five of the last 10 bear markets ended with a thud in October.
