Did you know that the S&P 500 has closed higher in 9 of the past 10 months of May?
April, July, and November are the only other months to be up as often.
The only drop was the last pre-election year in 2019, down more than 6%. pic.twitter.com/xK3rRO7X1A
— Ryan Detrick, CMT (@RyanDetrick) May 1, 2023
Today’s Chart of the Day was shared by Ryan Detrick (@RyanDetrick). If you’re like us, you’re probably sick of hearing the phrase, “Sell in May and Go Away!” When an indicator or pattern becomes widely publicized, it tends to lose some of its edge. It is true that May through October has been the weakest six month stretch for the S&P 500 on average since 1950. However, Ryan points out that May has actually been consistently positive over the past decade. Its been higher nine of the past ten years, for an average gain of +0.9%. As the famous mathematician, Benoit Mandelbrot once said – “The trend has vanished, killed by its own discovery.”