Is there a best month of the year to invest in the market?

It seems that the market always is going down through the first 3 weeks of October, which ends on the third Friday which is "triple witching" options expiration's. (Note the Jack-O-Lantern).
The big crash of 1987 was on Oct. 19th if you will note. So right after "triple witching" is probably a good time to jump in if you are a market timer. Many years have December rallies and also January is the beginning of a new year and people are full of optimism and new year's resolutions, including the stock analyst at the major firms. They need to prognosticate the big "new winners" for the coming year.
Also on the monthly front is the famous "Sell in May and go away". The thinking is that everyone on Wall street is taking their vacations and spending all that money they made during the beginning of the year. They do not want to leave open positions while they are on the beach and not paying attention to the market. So probably not a bad month to lower some of your stock positions and raise some cash.

Best Regards,

Freewilly

Some basics to keep you out of trouble

Rule #1. Never buy a stock that is priced under $5.00. Most mutual funds have rules in their charters that do not allow them to purchase stocks under $5.00. It is very tempting to want to buy these shares and there is the occasional exception in this year 2009. (F,THC,UIS,ESLR).

Rule#2. If you trade a stock twice , and have gains both times, do not go back to the well and buy it a third time. This rule was put into place after some nosedive trade experiences with Krispy Kreme Donuts, (KKD), and Sirius Satellite Radio, (SIRI). They took me for a ride down a slippery slope on the third trade after some nice gains.

Rule#3. Only buy stocks that have earnings above $0.10 per share annually. This will keep you out of a lot of bad places.

Rule#4. Try to buy companies that are not loaded down with debt, or even better yet have zero debt.

These are a few to start out with that will keep you out of 80% of the trouble you can find.

Sincerest Regards,

Freewilly