FALL IS IN THE AIR.

It's been a chilly rainy weekend. I can even see a few leaves starting to turn yellow here and there. From a strictly seasonal standpoint, this is not a time to get too aggressive in the stock market. Historically, October has been one of the poorest months to own stocks. That said, October could be a good month to buy if you can catch a good stock that is dropping just because the rest of the market is going down. Of course, stocks don't always drop in October but statistically, that's what usually happens. As I said in my last post, energy stocks are a good hedge against future increases in energy prices. Many companies are selling at low multiples to earnings and still appear to be a good buy. While many investors are thinking oil and natural gas prices are ready for a fall, it should be remembered that a lot of these companies have earnings that still can increase if raw material prices drop. That's because some have long-term contracts that were based on price levels before the recent run up. Even if we do get a drop in oil prices, these companies can benefit from expiration of old contracts and replacement with prices below current levels.