The Market's Most Misunderstood Month

Is there any truth to the "Sell in May and go away" saying? Or is the month just misunderstood? [Shield] AN OXFORD CLUB PUBLICATION [Profit Trends]( [View in browser]( [Oxford Options Accelerator]( SPONSORED [Warning: The Last Value Play Gone After May 12?]( [Time is gone! Boss showing watch bad manager.]( In this market... There's only ONE STOCK (priced at just under $2) that could be $20 and STILL be a bargain. It brought in more income - including equity sales - in the last 12 months than Disney, Square or Tesla. But a key announcement on May 12 could send this stock rocketing skyward (and you could miss your chance... FOREVER). [Get the Details Now (BEFORE May 12)]( Editor's Note: Trading options can get complicated fast. There are lots of numbers, dates and symbols. And at first, I was intimidated. But Matthew Carr knows exactly how to explain options in a way that is less stressful, is less risky and [can deliver 610% market outperformance](. He trades the same ticker symbols over and over again for repeated short-term profits. It couldn't be easier! And he's going to share all of his wisdom with you - for FREE - on May 5. [Get the details here.]( - Rebecca Barshop, Senior Managing Editor [Is May the Market's Most Misunderstood Month?]( [Matthew Carr | Chief Trends Strategist | The Oxford Club]( [Matthew Carr]( The S&P 500 is in correction territory... again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed nearly 2,200 points over the last seven days of April. And it continues to head lower. The Nasdaq and Russell 2000 are at new 52-week lows, [deep in bear country](. And the market has been nothing but mayhem in recent weeks. So much so that even one of the most dependable trends over the past decade and a half crumbled apart. [April's stretch of awesome gains]( for the Dow came to an end as stocks tanked in the closing days of the month. Instead of posting a positive return - which blue chips had done in April every year since 2005 - the Dow tumbled more than 5% last month. This marked the worst performance for the index in April since 1970. And to top it all off, U.S. stocks are exiting their worst first four months of the year since 1939. With all that pessimism, no news would be good news at this point. But now we're heading into one of the most infamous months of the year for stocks: May. And for those of you who - for whatever reason - need another excuse to be bearish, [the month has long been an investor favorite to avoid](. The famous saying goes, "Sell in May and go away, don't come back till Labor Day." The ye olde English version ends "Don't come back till St. Leger's Day." Regardless of whether you're a fan of the U.S. or U.K. release, neither the Beatles nor Eminem has a rhyme that will live on as long as that one. But is there truth to this idea - especially in a year like the one we've had so far? Or is it one of Mr. Market's most misunderstood pearls of wisdom? SPONSORED [Do You Own ANY 5G Stocks?]( [5G Design Graphic]( CNN calls 5G "the lifeblood of the new economy." If you don't invest now, you'll regret it later. [Click here for details on the top 5G stock...]( Sell in May and Go Away? May gives us "Star Wars" Day ("May the 4th be with you"). Then there's Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day and Memorial Day - the official start of one of my favorite seasonal investing trends, [beer drinking season]( as well as summer driving season. None of those holidays are as lucrative as Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Nor are they particularly disastrous. So why the market hatred for May? Summer vacations. The "Sell in May" concept originated in England at a time when aristocrats, bankers and other wealthy elites would flee the suffocating heat of London to summer in the countryside. The adage carried over to the U.S., where most people take vacations between May and September. Investors, the adage says, pare back their exposure to the markets in these months by having their money take a vacation as well. This leads to a summer lull in the markets as volume sputters to a trickle. Things don't normalize again until after the summer ends and children go back to school. For decades, the theory seemed efficient enough. From 1950 to 2013, the Dow averaged a 0.3% return from May to October and a 7.5% gain from November to April. And when we look at the stretch of average monthly gains for the Dow since 1998, the period from May through September doesn't look very promising. [Chart - Dow Jones Average Monthly Gain]( Three of the four worst months of the year for stocks occur in that five-month span. And since 1998, the Dow has averaged a loss of 0.73% from May to October. But a lot of the damage came between 1998 and 2011. In the nearer term, the story is a lot different. Since 2012, the average return of the Dow between May and October has been 3.48%. We live in a modern world. [With the broader adoption of smartphones]( people are connected to the markets 24/7, year-round. Even on vacation, they can place trades. And that reality has poked holes in the "Sell in May" maxim. May's Mayhem May can be full of turbulence. The looming shadow of "Sell in May" hangs over it. And first quarter earnings wind to a close in the month, meaning we enter a quiet period at the company level until second quarter earnings begin in late June. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that May is prone to some exceptionally steep drops. [Chart - Dow Jones Misunderstood May]( But the Dow has ended May with a loss only 11 times since 1993. That means blue chips end the month with a gain 62.1% of the time. The reality is, January, June, July, August and September are far worse months for stocks than May. And since 2013, the Dow has ended May with a loss only once. That said, we can see that when stocks do fall in May, they tend to fall hard, particularly since 2010. The month has seen three losses of more than 6% during that decade and change. Historically, May marks the beginning of a very difficult stretch for investors. A lot of that has to do with the impact of money managers, Wall Street executives and average Americans heading off on summer vacations, as well as the [cyclical nature of industries like retail and shipping](. But those industries aren't very large components of the major U.S. indexes anymore. And since smartphone adoption crossed 50% in 2013, summer vacations have no longer weighed on markets as they once did. Because May is also a month for buying. It's the start of some profitable trends in industries that take off in summer, like beer and travel. So investors shouldn't be looking to sell in May and go away. They should be looking to rotate into the sectors that are heating up for the summer. Here's to high returns, Matthew P.S. I'll be talking about one such hot summer trend in my upcoming event, the [Oxford Options Accelerator]( on May 5. You can find out my favorite ticker symbol to trade options on in the coming months... for FREE. No credit card required! [Details here.]( RECOMMENDED LINKS [One Mistake You CAN'T Afford to Keep Making...]( [$10 Tech Stock Multiplies Profit 12-Fold in One Year!]( MORE FROM PROFIT TRENDS [Uranium Ore Hero Image]( [How to Profit From Uranium's Soaring Demand]( [Growth Chart Hero Image]( [How to Tap Into the Rhythm of the Markets]( [Semiconductor Chip]( [Profit From the 5G Revolution With This Chip Company]( [Frustrated Investor]( [The No. 1 Mistake Investors Are Making Now]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [Email Share](mailto:?subject=A%20great%20piece%20from%20Profit%20Trends...&body=From%20Profit%20Trends:%0D%0A%0D%0AIs%20there%20any%20truth%20to%20the%20%22Sell%20in%20May%20and%20go%20away%22%20saying%3F%20Or%20is%20the%20month%20just%20misunderstood%3F%0D%0A%0D [Email Share](mailto:?subject=A%20great%20piece%20from%20Profit%20Trends...&body=From%20Profit%20Trends:%0D%0A%0D%0AIs%20there%20any%20truth%20to%20the%20%22Sell%20in%20May%20and%20go%20away%22%20saying%3F%20Or%20is%20the%20month%20just%20misunderstood%3F%0D%0A%0D SPONSORED [[BOMBSHELL] BIGGER Than Big Tech?!]( [Revenue Growth]( Did you see? There's an explosive fintech company growing at [one of the fastest rates]( ever... faster than the biggest Big Tech giants in the last decade combined. (See the proof [HERE]( But here's the crazy part... An award-winning investment expert says it's just an appetizer for [what's coming next](. [>> See the urgent details HERE. <<]( [The Oxford Club] You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Profit Trends. Profit Trends is published by The Oxford Club. Questions? Check out our [FAQs](. Trying to reach us? [Contact us here.]( Please do not reply to this email as it goes to an unmonitored inbox. [Privacy Policy]( | [Whitelist Profit Trends]( | [Unsubscribe]( © 2022 The Oxford Club, LLC All Rights Reserved The Oxford Club | [105 West Monument Street](#) | [Baltimore, MD 21201](#) North America: [1.800.589.3430](#) | International: [+1.443.353.4334](#) | Fax: [1.410.329.1923](#) [Oxfordclub.com]( The Oxford Club is a financial publisher that does not offer any personal financial advice or advocate the purchase or sale of any security or investment for any specific individual. Members should be aware that although our track record is highly rated by an independent analysis and has been legally reviewed, investment markets have inherent risks and there can be no guarantee of future profits. The stated returns may also include option trades. We expressly forbid our writers from having a financial interest in their own securities recommendations to readers. All of our employees and agents must wait 24 hours after online publication or 72 hours after the mailing of printed-only publications prior to following an initial recommendation. Any investments recommended by The Oxford Club should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company. Protected by copyright laws of the United States and international treaties. The information found on this website may only be used pursuant to the membership or subscription agreement and any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including on the world wide web), in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of The Oxford Club, 105 W. Monument Street, Baltimore MD 21201.