As September comes to a close, it’s interesting to look at a few market proverbs compared with how markets have been performing. “Sell in May and go away” refers to the strategy of booking profits at the end of May each year and waiting out a traditionally down time in the market. If you subscribed to this strategy in 2017, you would have missed out on the S&P 500 rising more than 4% over the summer (June 1 – Sept 29).
September is usually considered as a predictably down month. Here are just a few headlines from this year illustrating this point:
• “Stock Market: Why August and September are Scary Months” (1)
• “Market falls in last two weeks of September 70% of the time” (2)
If you had taken these trends to heart, you would have missed out on the S&P 500 notching a stellar increase of 2.06% for the month!
All of this happened in the wake of 3 hurricanes blasting through the South and Southeast US, each costing over $50 billion in damages, tensions at their highest between the US and North Korea, and yet-to-be-fulfilled health care and tax overhauls from the US government.
What does this tell us? We can’t predict the future of the market. So when it comes to your finances, a disciplined investment process that keeps you properly diversified at all times will help you reach your goals.
Here’s a final quote: “The value of good financial advice is a multiple of its cost; it’s worth more than its weight in gold. Bad advice is worth less than its weight in sand. Eventually, all investors discover this truth.” We’re grateful you’ve placed your confidence in us. If you ever would like to discuss your plan or accounts in greater detail, give us a call. We’d love to hear from you.
| Index | September 2017 | YTD 2017 |
| S&P 500 Composite (Large Cap) | 2.06% | 14.24% |
| Russell 2000 (Small Cap) | 6.24% | 10.94% |
| MSCI World Ex-Us | 2.59% | 19.17% |
| Barclays US Aggregate Bond | -0.48% | 3.14% |
