Remember when everyone was doom-scrolling about September being the market’s villain? Well, plot twist: September 2025 is actually crushing it, up 2.3% when it’s supposed to be the worst month of the year. It’s like finding out the scary movie monster is actually just a friendly golden retriever.
The Q4 Crystal Ball (Spoiler: It’s Pretty Shiny)
Here’s where things get interesting. Investment legend Louis Navellier thinks we’re just getting warmed up, and honestly, his track record makes me listen when he talks. He’s pointing to three things that could make the rest of 2025 pretty spectacular:
First up: “quarter-end window dressing.” Sounds fancy, but it’s basically fund managers doing what we all do before company comes over – hiding the mess and showing off the good stuff. They dump the losers and buy the winners to make their portfolios look pretty for clients. It’s like Instagram for investments.
Then comes earnings season in October, and early forecasts are looking solid – 7.7% earnings growth and 6.3% sales growth. That’s nine consecutive quarters of growth, which in market terms is basically a winning streak that would make any sports team jealous.
The January Effect Gets an Early Start
Here’s something cool: we might see an early “January Effect” this year. That’s when people dump money into retirement accounts and employers make their contributions before year-end. It’s like Black Friday for small and mid-cap stocks.
Ryan Detrick from Carson Group crunched the numbers on what happens when September is this strong. The average scenario? A tiny 0.6% pullback in October, then a 3% rally to finish the year. But if we look at the median performance (which is often more reliable), we stay positive in October and then rocket up 5.8% in Q4.
The Trump Card (Literally)
And then there’s the Trump factor. Navellier is calling it the “Trump Shock” – $7 trillion potentially flowing from the sidelines starting September 30. Whether you love or hate the politics, money doesn’t care about your feelings, and institutional investors are positioning for policy changes.
The Rare Earth Reality Check
Meanwhile, there’s drama brewing with China over rare earth elements – the stuff that makes our AI dreams possible. China’s been slow-walking their promises to give us access, which has politicians frustrated and investors eyeing companies like MP Materials (up 169% since the Pentagon deal, by the way).
It’s a classic supply chain chess game, and the U.S. is finally making moves to not be dependent on China for the materials that power everything from smartphones to fighter jets.
The Bottom Line
Look, nobody has a crystal ball, and markets can be as unpredictable as your favorite reality TV show. But the setup for the rest of 2025 looks pretty compelling: strong earnings, seasonal tailwinds, and some serious money potentially coming off the sidelines.
Just remember – in investing, as in life, the best stories often have unexpected plot twists. September’s strength might just be the opening act of a pretty decent finale to 2025.