Remember when you were little and it was picture day. Your mom made you wear your best clothes and have your hair neat and combed. You got with your classmates and waited for the man behind the camera to command "Say cheese". Inevitably there would be someone in the picture that didn't smile and then there was also the person that smiled so big that you knew there was no way that they could possibly ever be in that good a mood. Well that is a cut and dry example of how the market works on the last day of the month or what can also be called "Statement Day". The statement you receive each month is just a snapshot, if you will, of that moments activity. It is not truly indicative of how well or how poor your portfolio is doing - just how it is looking that particular moment in time. I wish I could take credit for being so wise and that I know all this intuitively but that would be untrue. I happen to work with people that are not only much smarter than me in these areas but also willing to explain and tutor me in "Stock Marketing 101" (actually I probably am giving myself too much credit to be in the 100 series classes but what the hey).

Luckily in October the market smiled but unfortunately it must have been woken up in a bad mood in September because the picture wasn't as pretty. Maurice and Royal do an excellent job of knowing which stocks are in what kind of mood now and what kind of mood they should be in the future. But no one can tell what kind of mood the market will be in on the 30th at 10:32am when the picture is taken. All I can say is I hope it smiles pretty.