Mark Twain effect

In some stock markets, the Mark Twain effect is the phenomenon of stock returns in October being lower than in other months. The name comes from a line in Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson: "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."

The quotation is a sarcastic assertion that speculation in stocks is always dangerous. The fact that Twain specifically picks out October initially is taken as a reference to an "October effect", as exemplified by the 1929, 1987 and 2008 stock market crashes which roughly occurred in October.

Financial markets

Types of markets	Primary market Secondary market Third market Fourth market

Types of stocks	Common stock Golden share Preferred stock Restricted stock Tracking stock

Share capital	Authorised capital Issued shares Shares outstanding Treasury stock

Participants	Broker-dealer Day trader Floor broker Floor trader Investor Market maker Proprietary trader Quantitative analyst Regulator Stock trader

Exchanges	Electronic communication network List of stock exchanges Opening times Multilateral trading facility Over-the-counter

Stock valuation	Alpha Arbitrage pricing theory Beta Bid–ask spread Book value Capital asset pricing model Dividend discount model Dividend yield Earnings per share Earnings yield Net asset value Security characteristic line Security market line T-model

Trading theories and strategies	Algorithmic trading Buy and hold Concentrated stock Contrarian investing Day trading Dollar cost averaging Efficient-market hypothesis Fundamental analysis Growth stock Market timing Modern portfolio theory Momentum investing Mosaic theory Pairs trade Post-modern portfolio theory Random walk hypothesis Sector rotation Style investing Swing trading Technical analysis Trend following Value investing

Related terms	Block trade Cross listing Dark liquidity Dividend Dual-listed company DuPont analysis Efficient frontier Flight-to-quality Haircut Initial public offering Margin Market anomaly Market capitalization Market depth Market manipulation Market trend Mean reversion Momentum Open outcry Public float Public offering Rally Returns-based style analysis Reverse stock split Share repurchase Short selling Slippage Speculation Stock dilution Stock market index Stock split Trade Uptick rule Volatility Voting interest Yield

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Mark Twain effect

See also