Just came across something interesting about market timing that's worth revisiting. There's this old theory from Samuel Benner back in 1875 about identifying periods when to make money – basically he mapped out financial cycles that repeat roughly every 18-20 years, breaking them into three distinct phases.

The concept is pretty straightforward. You've got panic years (A) where financial crises and market collapses happen – think 1927, 1945, 1965, 1981, 1999, 2019, and supposedly 2035 coming up. During these periods, the advice is simple: don't panic sell, just hold and wait it out.

Then there are the boom years (B) – these are your money-making windows. Markets recover, prices surge significantly, and if you timed it right, this is when you should be taking profits and selling high. The list includes years like 1928, 1943, 1953, 1960, 1968, 1973, 1989, 2000, 2007, 2016, 2020, and interestingly 2026 is actually in this cycle.

The third phase is the recession and decline years (C) – when prices are depressed and the economy is struggling. This is the opposite of boom years; it's when you should be accumulating. Buy stocks, land, commodities while everything's cheap, then hold until the next boom cycle arrives. Examples span from 1924, 1931, 1942 all the way to projected years like 2023, 2032, 2040.

So the basic playbook for periods when to make money following this theory is: accumulate during downturns (C), hold your position, then execute when boom arrives (B). Avoid making emotional decisions during panic years (A).

Obviously, this isn't gospel. Markets are influenced by countless variables – geopolitics, technological disruption, policy shifts, wars. Benner's cycle is more of a historical pattern and long-term framework than a guaranteed prediction. But it's a useful lens for thinking about market psychology and the broader periods when to make money across different market conditions. Worth keeping in your mental toolkit even if you don't trade strictly by it.