Tues 10.25.11

Found this piece of research from InvestTech Research interesting. Going back to 1960, had you only invested in the S&P 500 from Nov 1st - April 30th, you would have captured 97% of the S&P 500's absolute market's performance

Here are the specifics of seasonality: Imagine we start with two $10,000 accounts, and use them to make investments in an S&P 500 Index fund. One account invests in one 6-month period, the other invests in the remaining 6-month period. Account A is invested from November 1st through April 30th each year, while Account B is invested from May 1st through October 31st. Here are the numbers: • Account A portfolio grew from $10,000 to over $438,967. That is a 42-fold increase. • Account B portfolio barely doubled to $22,659. By selecting the seasonally strong period from November through April, you capture 97.1% of the available performance over the past 52 years. (Note the November-April seasonality fared poorly in 2007 and 2008). > Source:InvesTech Research, October 21, 2011 Technical and Monetary Investment Analysis, Vol11 Iss11