October Effect
The October effect is a perceived market anomaly that stocks tend to decline during the month of October. The October effect is considered to be more of a psychological expectation than an actual phenomenon, as most statistics go against the theory. Some investors may be nervous during October because some large historical market crashes occurred during this month.Along with the September effect (which also predicts weaker markets during October), actual evidence for the existence of the October effect is not very solid. Indeed, October’s 100-year history has, in fact, been net positive despite being the month of the 1907 panic, Black Tuesday, Thursday, and Monday in 1929, and Black Monday in 1987, when the Dow plummeted 22.6% in a single day, (and remains arguably the worst single-day decline in market history on a percentage basis).