The market’s day-to-day volatility has picked up in September after experiencing more stable trading action during the summer months.  This is not out of the ordinary.  Historically, the most volatile time of the year for stocks has been between September and early November.  You can see this in the chart below that shows the average absolute daily percentage change for each trading day of the year beginning on the first trading day of January through the last trading day of December.  As shown, daily volatility is very consistent around the +/-0.70% level over the first eight months of the year, but then it starts to pick up beginning in September until it reaches a peak during the first week or two of November.  From there, the holiday season takes over and daily volatility plummets right through the end of the year.  As shown in the chart, unfortunately we’ve still got a ways to go to get to the top of the volatility mountain, so make sure you’ve got your climbing gear ready for the next six to eight weeks!  Click here to start a free trial to Bespoke to unlock full access to all of our research and interactive tools.