Devoted to understanding the basics and fundamentals of investing

First an apology.  I had an out-patient procedure yesterday.  They gave me some drugs, a sedative and another.  I actually sat down to write an article and forgot to do it.  I think I played Spider Solitaire instead.  Anyway, for those who care, all is well.

There is an old Wall Street adage, "The Dow from November to May then go away."  There are at least a couple of studies that have tested this saying.  The "Stock Market Almanac" looked at the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1950 to 2004.  They looked at the return on $10,000 from November 1 through April 30 and from May 1 through October 31.  Excluding tax and dividends the Nov. to Apr. $10,000 grew to $492,060.  The May to Oct. $10,000 actually dropped to $9,682, a loss.

Sven Bouman and Ben Jacobsen published a report in the December 2002 "American Economic Review".  They looked at stock markets around the world from 1970.  They found statistical evidence for the effect in 37 of the 38 markets they looked at. 
Mark Hulbert of  "Hulbert Financial Digest" updated the Bouman/Jacobsen study and reported the results in "The Wall Street Journal" on October 7, 2006 p.B4.  He looked at the results of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1896 to 1970 and from 1970 to the present.  During the first period he finds a statistically insignificant difference between the two seasons.  Hulbert finds a difference of 8.85% from 1970 to the present. 

Mr. Hulbert concludes that the pre-1970 data in the US is an anomaly.  The effect is strong in the other 36 economies and persists in the UK stock market back to 1694. 

Mr. Hulbert implies that if you have money on the sideline, you may wish to be in the market over the next six months unless there is some economic data that would indicate it might not happen this year.  I personally think the economy is in pretty good shape and that corporate earnings should continue to come in well.  I'm looking for growth in the stock markets.

What do you think?