October is the month we expect a spooky stock market and scary economic headlines. October is often a volatile month for stocks. Friday, October 19thwas the 31stanniversary of the 1987 Black Monday Crash that few on Wall Street remember.  Then and now the market always recovers from its darkest days and investors are fine if discipline, rather than emotion, drives investment decisions. This bull market is one of the longest in history, fueled by near zero interest rates and strong corporate profits.  It would be unreasonable to think that a correction is not in the cards. Goblins, politicians, ghosts of crashes past and fearful pundits should not cause panic or emotional selling. Reports of weak economic data seem to be overshadowing strong corporate earnings on days when the stock market declines.  Softer new and existing home sales in the face of higher mortgage rates, fears of slowing global growth and higher[more…]