Fellow investors, It’s almost October. In the northern hemisphere, October has long been a time for reaping—but also for sowing. Yes, in 1987 the stock market crashed on Oct. 19, falling more than 20% in a single day. Over the five days ended Oct. 10, 2008, as the global financial crisis intensified, U.S. stocks lost 18%, the worst week then on record. The panic of 1907, which devastated the U.S. banking system, also erupted in October. Some researchers have even argued for a “Halloween indicator,” which steers clear of stocks until after Oct. 31.

And many investors, in my experience, worry that October is cursed by the market gods. Well, then, so is January, when the horrific bear market of 1973-74 began, initiating a 48% wipeout. So is February, when the 22% swoon of 1966 started—and the pandemic panic of 2020. So is March, which kicked off the beginning of the disastrous bear market of 2000-02, when tech stocks fell by about 80%—and the second-worst market downdraft on record, from 1937 to 1942, when the stock market lost 60%. So is April, which in 2011 was the start of a 19% drop that ended at the beginning of October. I could go on and on, but Mark Twain said it better than I can: