Dear ~~first_name~~

Welcome to the September edition of the ATAA Blast! Newsletter. In this edition of the ATAA Blast! newsletter you will see (with links for an easy and speedy goto to the relevant section below):

• ATAA National Vice-President's Update for September.
• ATAA Latest Website Resource Library updates - With an update on the immensely useful and growing ATAA Resource Library, including the now hundreds of video session recordings from the SIGs and network groups.
• Online Discussion Forums - This resource is now growing in popularity in the ATAA website (for ATAA members only - login is required).
  
• ATAA National Board Update - The latest news from the national board of directors, including an update from the Marketing group about the recent General Member Survey, with lots of prompts for action to increase membership.
  
• List of all of the ATAA Chapters, SIGs and Network Groups - more opportunities for the ATAA members for networking and learning.
  
• The ATAA Conference(s) update - An update for the upcoming ATAA Conference(s): an online event later this year, and a regular ATAA in-person conference late in 2025.
  
• Updates from the ATAA Chapters and SIGs: Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, and SIGs - or at least from those that have submitted content. Thank you to: Mark (Canberra), and Romy (Sydney) for your ongoing contributions.
  
• IFTA Update: Latest information from IFTA - calling for submissions of the next issue of the IFTA Update News.
  
• TECHNICAL ANALYSIS article - The months of September and October tend not to be very good in the markets. Read about the Seasonality of Markets in these months.
  
• Detailed benefits for ATAA members.
  

As the national Marketing Director, I am including key marketing phrases in this Blast!, including the ATAA Tag line in blue below, and the ATAA Elevator Pitch also in blue at the bottom of this email. Feel free to use these in your own correspondence to help encourage new members, and of course to remind existing members of why they are ATAA members.

I do hope you find this Blast! newsletter useful and interesting reading; but do feel free to tell us what you really think, and how we can improve it.

ps: Apologies continue for any odd formatting that you might find - font size or line spacing etc - but these seem to be oddities in our CE email editor.

Robert B Brain

Blast! Newsletter Editor
ATAA Marketing Director
(and ATAA Life Member)

• 8 August - Melbourne Chapter hybrid meeting - Paul Ash Developing a Watchlist using Google Functions in a spreadsheet, and Shawn Hickman My Favourite Tips for Successful Investing and Trading.
  
• 19 August - Sydney Chapter online meeting - Mary McNamara A deep dive into the Markets, and Darryl Nagel The identification of Reversal Signals using the Bigalow System.
• 20 August - Society of Technical Analysts of New Zealand - Gordon Scott Discovering high-percentage trading edge solutions in minutes.
• 20 August - Canberra Chapter meeting - Phil Johns, Test as you will Trade - The Devil has many Friends.
  

• Hear from top flight industry professionals, Kevin Davey (USA), Brian Shannon (USA), Louise Bedford, Mark Bennell, Adrian Reid and Chris Weston.Get full details of speakers and their bios here.
• Learn practical trading ideas and insights to help supercharge your trading performance.
• Uncover powerful mindset and risk-management techniques that could enhance your bottom line.
• Join the conference from the comfort of your own home or office.
• Full conference programme available here.
  

• improve their understanding of the Bigalow methodology with other traders
• share their experiences
• share information
• review charts
• talk about their trade setups and results, and
• informally network to support each other.

Robert Brain
ATAA Melb Chapter President and interim Secretary
(for the Council team: Paul Ash, Jim Haralambidis, Keith Mundy, Tony Hambling, Tony Leonard, Robert Grigg).

Sydney Chapter meetings
The Sydney chapter continue to have monthly online meetings, and a bi-monthly get-together over dinner. Stay tuned for more details about upcoming events.

Sydney Chapter Council

• Adelaide Chapter generally meets in-person on the third Wednesday of the month.
• Perth Chapter generally meets on the third Thursday of the month.
  
• Brisbane Chapter generally meets... second Saturday of the month? TBC
  
• Newcastle Chapter generally meets ... Saturday in the month? TBA
• MetaStock Users SIG - Contact Jerry Bongard, jerry.bongard@ataa.asn.au
  
• RealTest Coders Workshop (sub-group of the Quant SIG) - Meets online, generally on the second Monday of each month at 8:00 pm. EST (to give members in western states a better chance of attending). SIG Coordinators: Chris Meakin and Robert Grigg.
  
  

From day to day and week to week, the share prices of companies listed on the share market rise and fall. Sometimes they rise a little or a lot, and sometimes they fall a little or a lot.

Many observers might see these fluctuations in the share market as rather random. But many market observers do understand why most of these fluctuations take place. It can be because of company announcements or news items that have changed the investing environment for a particular company. Or perhaps the government of the day has announced policy changes that will impact a number of companies. Or even developments overseas that can impact on the performance of companies in Australia – such as the current Chinese-sponsored lithium production in Indonesia.

Many market investors and traders know that the share prices summarise the opinions of the real market participants, and many of them are looking forward to the expected company earnings over the following months, with expectations of a specific range in share price. This can drive prices higher, or lower, in the short term.

However, in the bigger picture there are many factors that can impact on the company outlook. And this can depend on the time of year, as well as many other considerations.

The months of September and October in particular are well known for specific share market performance in many years. And the 4-yearly US Presidential election can often have an impact on the markets. Given the possible risks at this time of year, is it worth being more cautious in the markets at present?

As we work through the month of September and head into October, what should we be mindful about?

In Australia the half-yearly company reporting season runs through the month of August, and once this has finished, the outlook for the next few months is often clearer, and September is a good time for investors and traders to focus on, and “adjust”, their positions.

But September can also be ‘bad’. It was in September 2008, during the infamous GFC, that Lehman Brothers (in the US) filed for bankruptcy and triggered a further lack of confidence in the US markets and elsewhere, and more market selling which continued for a few more months (see the adjacent chart).

Summary

So, as we head into the months of September and October, perhaps we should be a little more careful about our market positions, and we shouldn’t be surprised if there are some ructions in the markets. [This is NOT advice of any sort – it’s just information for education.]

More information

In the September 2024 Melbourne chapter hybrid meeting (Thursday 12th) Alan Clement delivered his quarterly analysis of the markets, and included a lot of information about seasonality in the markets, due to several factors including: the calendar months, the pending US Presidential election, and the northern hemisphere summer period which has just finished. (The video recording of this presentation will be up in the ATAA Reference Library shortly.)

• Invaluable education opportunities (with discounts for members);
• Huge and extensive Resource Library (access for members);
• Networking opportunities - meet with like-minded peers for trading and investing discussions;
  
• Special Interest Groups (SIGs) (only for members) - there are several;
  
• News and information;
• Online Forums;
  
• Annual ATAA Conference (discounted for members).