Rosh Hashanah

"Sell on Rosh Hashanah and Buy on Yom Kippur" is another Wall Street Saw. Biryni & Associates put out some interesting thoughts on this yesterday. They say that they thought about testing this idea after reading links @ the Kirk Report and Thestreet.com. You can see those articles here: Kirk Report & here. article about the roots of the saying. (According to the article, the origins of this practice seem to be the belief of Jewish investors that they should liquidate their portfolios during the holiday so that their attentions could be fully focused on their worship.)

Biryni backtested the idea: "Looking back from 1915 on, we tested the performance of the DJIA from the last close before Rosh Hashanah until the last close before Yom Kippur (nine days). Then we also looked at how the Dow did from Yom Kippur until the end of the Gregorian calendar year (December 31st). As it turns out, the thing actually might work. The Dow averaged -0.62% from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur, while it gained 1.99% from Yom Kippur to the end of the year."*

Rosh Hashanah began last night at sunset and Yom Kippur begins at sunset on October 1st.

*Source: "Sell on Rosh Hashanah and Buy on Yom Kippur", "Ticker Sense", Biryni & Associates, September 22, 2006.