Individual Stocks Are Rentals, Not Soulmates: Lessons from Morgan Stanley’s Research on Drawdowns

Individual Stocks Are Rentals, Not Soulmates - Lessons from Morgan Stanleys Research on Drawdowns (Credit: www.parkvanness.com per these terms: parkvanness.com/flickr-images-by-park-van-ness/)

Drawdowns are an important part of trading and investing. For example, risk management is all about surviving drawdowns that could prevent you from receiving the rewards on the other side. In “How to Trade During the Stock Market’s Most Dangerous Months,” I use median and average maximum drawdowns as a measure of seasonal risks in … Read more

How to Trade During the Stock Market’s Most Dangerous Months

{revised August, 2024} The Most Dangerous Months The stock market’s most dangerous months are August, September, and October. Since 1951, the S&P 500 (SPY) has suffered its three highest average maximum drawdowns in these months. A drawdown occurs when sellers put downward pressure on prices. The maximum drawdown is the largest (most negative) such loss … Read more

One-Third of the Way to An Average October Drawdown – Above the 40 (October 1, 2019)

AT40 = 51.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 48.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 18.6Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bearish Stock Market Commentary The Big Question: Another Q4 Sell-Off? “Last year can’t happen because of last year” Tim Seymour, CNBC’s Fast Money, October 1, 2019 … Read more

S&P 500: A Critical Juncture Amid Historically Bad Milestones

It seems like the odds favor a strong bounce to close the year if only to bring the December drawdown a little closer to historic norms. At least the timing would be right given deep oversold trading conditions. Of course, a “reversion to the mean” is not reason enough to expect a strong year-end rally. … Read more

The S&P 500’s Historic October Drawdown Bled Into November

The S&P 500’s maximum drawdown for October was 9.4% on a closing price basis. That was the third worst October for the S&P 500 (SPY) on a drawdown basis since since 1951. Only the 30.1% maximum drawdown from October, 1987 and the 27.2% maximum drawdown from October, 2008 were worse. THAT is some awful company … Read more