this post says that investing in the DOW JONES during the Oct 1 - May 31 period every year captures practically all the profits while the May 31 - Oct 1 period provides no profits: <A HREF="http://www.siliconinvestor.com/stocktalk/msg.gsp?msgid=18891041" target="_new">http://www.siliconinvestor.com/stocktalk/msg.gsp?msgid=18891041</A> this chart verifies this assertion for the 1990-2003 period: <A HREF="http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.web?c=$indu,uu[a,a]maclynay[d19900101,20030428][pf]<i[J1199..." target="_new">http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.web?c=$indu,uu[a,a]maclynay[d19900101,20030428][pf]<i[J1199...</A>.