Mark Twain Effect

“October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February." - Mark Twain

One can't help but think of the famed American humourist at this time. It was precisely because of his well-known and much touted remark that the Mark Twain Effect was coined.

In some stock markets, the Mark Twain Effect is the phenomenon of stock returns in October being lower than in other months. In case you were unaware, both the famous stock market crashes of 1927 and 1987 occurred in this month.

In India, we have actually had bad luck with May. But it appears that we have now got bitten by the Mark Twain Effect too.