A September to Remember

At the beginning of the month, the talking heads continually warned that September is historically one of the worst months of the year for the markets. My own research indicates that the TSX dropped, in September, 6 times out of 10 since 2000. 60/40, not really definitive. They’re obviously talking about longer term trends.

As mentioned in my post, A Brief History of Volatility, the low point in both 2007 and 2008 occurred in November which is diametrically opposed to the old adage Sell in May and Go Away (come back in the fall). The point is, long term trends and averages are just that. They consist of highs, lows and everything in between. In order to invest, you must do your own research and pay attention to what’s going on, both here at home and around the world.

I tend to pay less attention to global goings on, because, as previously mentioned, my portfolio is all Canadian all the time. Not to say I completely ignore global factors. One can’t invest in the TSX without paying attention to global commodity prices. As goes the price of oil, so goes the TSX which is heavily weighted with Canadian energy companies.

Now, back to September, 2009. On September 22 the TSX hit a new high for the year, 11,585. Yippee! No surprise that my portfolio value reached a new high for 2009 on this same day.

I’m often guilty of spending too much time with my trading account and being far too passive with my mutual funds. I took the time for a brief review of my funds last month and discovered that I should have been paying more attention.

To the end of August, a Canadian Premier Fund that I’ve been holding for a couple of years was up 11.5% for the year, well behind the TSX, while the Canadian Endeavor Fund, offered by the same fund company, was up 41.5%, beating the TSX by a bunch. The (Globefund) 5 Star rating for the Premier Fund was 2, for the Endeavor Fund 5. Needless to say, I made a change. On the surface, the two funds appear very similar, just one of those things I guess.

(Globefund) and (Morningstar) are wonderful resources for mutual fund research…and they’re both free! See links to both in LINKS OF INTEREST down the right hand column

So, after a September to Remember, we’re into a rough start for October. The TSX tanked by 323 points yesterday and it’s not looking great for today…but it’s still early. We’ll soon be into earnings season. Let’s hope that our Canadian companies report some decent numbers.