The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell 1.3% in October, with five ASX 200 stocks falling more than 20% over the month.
Below we look at the three worst performing stocks, in terms of their share price performance, that investors would have done well to avoid in October.
ASX 200 stocks leading the charge lower in October
Kicking off with the third worst performer, we have Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN).
Shares in the ASX lithium miner and diversified resources producer closed September trading at $52.04 and ended October at $39.40. That puts this ASX 200 stock down 24.3% over the month.
Unless you've just emerged from a month of media blackout, you're likely aware of the tax evasion allegations levelled against Mineral Resources founder and managing director Chris Ellison.
If not, here's what we reported in October:
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is investigating whether Ellison may have failed to properly report revenues for a number of companies registered in the British Virgin Islands.
These companies were employed to buy mining equipment. The alleged transgressions involving the sales of equipment occurred more than 20 years ago when Mineral Resources still operated as a private entity.
But it wasn't all bad news for the ASX 200 stock in October.
Mineral Resources ended the month on a high note after announcing it had agreed to sell two oil and gas exploration permits in the Perth Basin to Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting for a total cash consideration of up to $1.13 billion.
With Mineral Resources shares up 1.4% today, shares are down 33% in a year.
Moving on to the second-worst ASX 200 stock to buy and hold in October, we have Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT).
Shares in the travel company ended September trading for $22.35. At the closing bell on 31 October, shares were trading for $15.98, down 28.5%.
The bulk of that damage occurred on 18 October.
The Flight Centre share price collapsed 20.4% on the day after the company released a trading update.
On the positive side, the company reported on efficiency and productivity improvements achieved since the global pandemic. But investors look to have sold down the ASX 200 stock after management highlighted the uncertain business outlook for the year ahead, noting it was "currently too early to draw conclusions as to likely trading patterns over full year".
With the Flight Centre share price down 1.4% today, shares are down 15% in a year.
The one to really have avoided in October
And that brings us to Web Travel Group Ltd (ASX: WEB), which gets the ignominious title of the worst-performing ASX 200 stock in October.
As a reminder, Web Travel spun off its online travel agency business, Webjet Group (ASX: WJL), in August. Webjet began trading as an independent entity on 23 September.
Shares in the travel industry company closed out September trading for $7.35. When the closing bell sounded on 31 October, those same shares were trading for $4.03. That put the share price down a painful 45.2% over the month.
Most of that selling action happened in a single day.
On 14 October, Web Travel shares crashed 35.6%. Investors were overheating their sell buttons following the release of the company's preliminary half-year update, which highlighted several negative impacts on the total transaction value (TTV)/revenue margins at the company's WebBeds business.
With the Web Travel share price up 1.9% in intraday trading on the first day of November today, shares in the ASX 200 stock are down 32% in a year.
