Watching September stock moves

Not content to celebrate the U.S. stock market’s modest summer rebound, analysts already are spreading doom.

September, they remind is, historically is the market’s worst-performing month – down an average of 1.4 percent since the great crash of 1929.

Which, by the way, took place at the end of October. The big market crash of 1987 took place that month, too, with Black Monday – October 19 – capping the selloff with the largest one-day U.S. market decline ever.

Despite the past October drama, though, September remains an ominous month for investors. And whether or not major indices do tank or buck the trend and remain buoyant, your readers will expect periodic analysis of what’s going on. The time to prepare is now, before you’re staring at CNBC some autumn afternoon watching those bright-red down arrows.

For a primer on covering market moves, check out this earlier tipsheet. As I mentioned there, I really don’t approve of riling readers with every change of direction the stock market makes. Investing, for most individuals, is a long-term proposition. Professional traders may jump in and out on a daily, hourly or minute-by-minute basis, but people saving for retirement shouldn’t be primed to react at every little blip of the Dow Jones ticker. The results can be tragic.

So don’t feed the fear. But don’t ignore your audience’s concerns, either. The best way to present a balanced approach to market swings – especially the further east you are, since that 4 p.m. close doesn’t leave much time before deadline – is to plan ahead. Start now to line up a stable of market experts who represent a variety of views and approaches – bank economists, CFPs, academics, market historians, traders. Get their after-hours contact info and have it at hand.

Get graphics underway, now, too, if you don’t already have standing Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ charts in the hopper. That will save valuable time on deadline. Weekly closing values are the usual data points for stock market charts.

Most important, line up your consumer voices in advance. No market story is complete without a retiree, an aggressive investor, a novice or all three to add perspective. Local investment clubs are a good source of knowledgeable average investors. BetterInvesting (the former National Association of Investors Corp.) is a 50-year-plus coalition of local investment groups; it specializes in educational materials and often will hook you up with members in your area.

Try to get permission to attend some meetings and take a look at real portfolios to better understand the way market gyrations and the way we cover them affect the nest eggs – and emotions – of average people.

Come back to Your Daily Tipsheet each morning for advice on where to find sources, background and creative ways to make financial news and trends relevant to your audience.