Hello All,
Looking at a few of my positions tonight and trying to decide if I should continue to 1) look at their charts, or 2) really concentrate on the dog barking down the street, or 3) go watch the paint dry on my neighbors house.
Now that got me to thinking about the so called dog days of summer stock movement and what I've heard, but never verified. That is, if you were to use a pure mechanical system of investing 10,000 from November 1st to April 30 of each year, and being out of the market from May 1 to October 31, you'd do just fine. That prompted a little Excel work where I invested 10,000 and let it grow (or not grow) from 1950 to present, using 6 month investment periods.
Here's 10,000 invested in the months of May 1 to Oct 31 only:
DATE CLOSE % TOTAL 5/3/99 11014.69 10/30/98 8592.1 (0.061) 11,221 5/1/98 9147.069 10/31/97 7442.08 0.067 11,946 5/1/97 6976.48 10/31/96 6029.38 0.081 11,198 5/1/96 5575.22 10/31/95 4755.47 0.102 10,355 5/1/95 4316.08 10/31/94 3908.12 0.056 9,398 5/2/94 3701.02 10/29/93 3680.59 0.068 8,900 5/3/93 3446.46 10/30/92 3226.28 (0.033) 8,334 5/1/92 3336.09 10/31/91 3069.1 0.047 8,617 5/1/91 2930.2 10/31/90 2442.33 (0.085) 8,227 5/1/90 2668.92 10/31/89 2645.08 0.095 8,991 5/1/89 2414.94 10/31/88 2148.69 0.052 8,209 5/2/88 2043.27 10/30/87 1993.53 (0.126) 7,806 5/1/87 2280.4 10/31/86 1877.8 0.056 8,929 5/1/86 1777.8 10/31/85 1374.3 0.106 8,454 5/1/85 1242.09 10/31/84 1207.4 0.021 7,640 5/1/84 1183 10/31/83 1225.2 0.017 7,486 5/2/83 1204.3 10/29/82 991.7 0.168 7,358 5/3/82 849 10/30/81 852.5 (0.144) 6,299 5/1/81 995.6 10/31/80 924.5 0.143 7,357 5/1/80 808.8 10/31/79 815.7 (0.047) 6,436 5/1/79 855.5 10/31/78 792.5 (0.061) 6,750 5/1/78 844.3 10/31/77 818.4 (0.121) 7,191 5/2/77 931.2 10/29/76 964.9 (0.026) 8,183 5/3/76 990.3 10/31/75 836 0.006 8,398 5/1/75 830.9 10/31/74 665.5 (0.221) 8,347 5/1/74 853.9 10/31/73 956.6 0.038 10,710 5/1/73 921.2 10/31/72 955.5 0.014 10,313 5/1/72 942.3 10/29/71 839 (0.100) 10,171 5/3/71 932.4 10/30/70 755.6 0.030 11,303 5/1/70 733.6 10/31/69 856 (0.098) 10,974 5/1/69 949.2 10/31/68 952.4 0.043 12,169 5/1/68 913.2 10/31/67 879.7 (0.015) 11,668 5/1/67 892.9 10/31/66 807.1 (0.134) 11,843 5/2/66 931.9 10/29/65 960.8 0.042 13,674 5/3/65 922.1 10/30/64 873.1 0.069 13,124 5/1/64 817.1 10/31/63 755.2 0.049 12,282 5/1/63 719.7 10/31/62 589.79 (0.121) 11,704 5/1/62 671.2 10/31/61 703.9 0.040 13,320 5/1/61 677.1 10/31/60 580.29 (0.032) 12,813 5/2/60 599.6 10/30/59 646.6 0.034 13,239 5/1/59 625.1 10/31/58 543.2 0.189 12,799 5/1/58 457 10/31/57 441 (0.111) 10,768 5/1/57 495.8 10/31/56 479.9 (0.066) 12,106 5/1/56 514 10/31/55 454.9 0.067 12,966 5/2/55 426.3 10/29/54 352.1 0.102 12,151 5/3/54 319.39 10/30/53 275.8 0.000 11,022 5/1/53 275.7 10/31/52 269.2 0.050 11,018 5/1/52 256.39 10/31/51 262.39 0.006 10,494 5/1/51 260.7 10/31/50 225 0.043 10,426 5/1/50 215.8 10,000
Now, here's 10,000 invested in the months of Nov 1 - April 30:
DATE CLOSE % TOTAL 4/30/99 10789.04 0.239 364,154 11/2/98 8706.14 4/30/98 9063.37 0.181 293,852 11/3/97 7674.39 4/30/97 7008.99 0.164 248,818 11/1/96 6021.93 4/30/96 5569.08 0.168 213,778 11/1/95 4766.68 4/28/95 4321.27 0.119 182,976 11/1/94 3863.37 4/29/94 3681.69 (0.003) 163,587 11/1/93 3692.61 4/30/93 3427.55 0.051 164,073 11/2/92 3262.21 4/30/92 3359.12 0.099 156,158 11/1/91 3055.9 4/30/91 2887.87 0.176 142,062 11/1/90 2454.94 4/30/90 2656.76 0.004 120,765 11/1/89 2645.9 4/28/89 2418.8 0.125 120,271 11/1/88 2151 4/29/88 2032.33 0.009 106,955 11/2/87 2014.09 4/30/87 2286.4 0.207 105,995 11/3/86 1894.3 4/30/86 1784 0.283 87,818 11/1/85 1390.3 4/30/85 1258.09 0.034 68,438 11/1/84 1217.09 4/30/84 1170.8 (0.048) 66,208 11/1/83 1229.3 4/29/83 1226.2 0.219 69,516 11/1/82 1005.7 4/30/82 848.4 (0.021) 57,015 11/2/81 866.8 4/30/81 997.8 0.065 58,252 11/3/80 937.2 4/30/80 817.1 (0.004) 54,714 11/1/79 820.1 4/30/79 854.9 0.033 54,915 11/1/78 827.8 4/28/78 837.3 0.038 53,174 11/1/77 806.9 4/29/77 926.9 (0.041) 51,243 11/1/76 966.1 4/30/76 996.9 0.207 53,411 11/3/75 825.7 4/30/75 821.3 0.234 44,238 11/1/74 665.3 4/30/74 836.8 (0.118) 35,836 11/1/73 948.8 4/30/73 921.4 (0.049) 40,632 11/1/72 968.5 4/28/72 954.2 0.155 42,709 11/1/71 825.9 4/30/71 941.8 0.242 36,966 11/2/70 758 4/30/70 736.1 (0.139) 29,752 11/3/69 854.5 4/30/69 950.2 0.002 34,538 11/1/68 948.4 4/30/68 912.2 0.052 34,472 11/1/67 867.1 4/28/67 897.1 0.108 32,768 11/1/66 809.6 4/29/66 933.7 (0.026) 29,572 11/1/65 958.9 4/30/65 922.3 0.053 30,370 11/2/64 875.5 4/30/64 810.8 0.076 28,829 11/1/63 753.7 4/30/63 717.8 0.202 26,799 11/1/62 597.1 4/30/62 665.3 (0.055) 22,292 11/1/61 703.8 4/28/61 678.7 0.160 23,582 11/1/60 585.2 4/29/60 601.7 (0.068) 20,334 11/2/59 645.5 4/30/59 623.79 0.144 21,814 11/3/58 545.2 4/30/58 455.9 0.049 19,065 11/1/57 434.7 4/30/57 494.4 0.014 18,179 11/1/56 487.6 4/30/56 516.1 0.135 17,929 11/1/55 454.9 4/29/55 425.7 0.203 15,803 11/1/54 354 4/30/54 319.3 0.154 13,141 11/2/53 276.7 4/30/53 274.8 0.017 11,388 11/3/52 270.2 4/30/52 257.6 (0.025) 11,197 11/1/51 264.1 4/30/51 259.1 0.148 11,480 11/1/50 225.7 10,000
$11,221 versus $364,154.
I've decided to go watch the paint dry.
Take care,
Eric |