There's an old Wall Street adage, "sell Rosh Hashana, buy Yom Kippur," said to originate in the idea that some money managers would go to cash before the Jewish New Year so as to clear their minds for the work of atonement and repentance that characterizes the High Holy Days of the Jewish religious calendar. Once the holidays concluded, they'd get back into the markets.
CNBC calls it a "classic seasonal trade." A Marketwatch columnist back-tested it and found "My analysis of the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA since 1900 yields a mixed answer. It's true that the stock market in the past has declined, on average, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. But these two holidays typically occur during September -- the worst-performing month of the year. It's not clear that the Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur stretch is any worse than other days in September."
Here at FutureOfCapitalism, we're long-term investors. We wish all our readers, of whatever faith, a happy, healthy, prosperous and free 5784.
