💡 SPX Seasonality: Sell in May and Go Away. Here's Memorial DayMemorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
For nowadays, it is observed on the last Monday of May, and this year it is observed on May 29, 2023.
Memorial Day is considered a U.S. stock market holiday, which means the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange will be closed Monday, May 29.
What is Sell in May and Go Away?
Sell in May and Go Away refers to a well-known adage in the business and financial world. The phrase refers to an investment strategy for stocks based on the theory that the stock market underperforms in the four-month period between May and October (since June until September). In contrast, the 3-months period since November and until January sees much stronger stock market growth.
For many past years I used many other websites to analyze seasonality of major stocks, indices, Fx pairs and commodities.
Thanks to TradingView community and its awesome @tradeforopp wizard, the script Seasonality has changed the rules .
As it described on Indicator webpage , This Seasonality indicator is meant to provide insight into an asset's average performance over specified periods of time (Daily, Monthly, and Quarterly).
How the Sell in May and Go Away Strategy Works
If investors follow the Sell in May and Go Away strategy, they sell stocks at the End of May (or during the late spring) and have the proceeds held in cash. Then, the investors would invest again in early October (or in the late autumn). That means, the investors would avoid holding stock during the summer months.
History of Sell in May and Go Away
👉 “Sell in May and Go Away” has its origins in England or, more specifically, in London’s financial district. The original phrase was “Sell in May and go away, come back on St. Leger’s Day,” with the latter event referring to a horse race.
👉 Established in 1776, the St. Leger Stakes is one of the most well-known horse races in England, being the last leg of the British Triple Crown and is run at the Doncaster Racecourse in South Yorkshire in September of every year. In its original context, the adage recommended that British investors, aristocrats, and bankers should sell their shares in May, relax and enjoy the summer months while escaping the London heat, and return to the stock market in the autumn after the St. Leger Stakes.
👉 In the U.S., some investors have adopted a similar strategy by refraining from investing during the period between Memorial Day in May and Labor Day in September.
Relevant Statistics and Considerations
👉 Historical data have generally supported the “Sell in May and Go Away” adage over the many years. The S&P 500 Index has recorded a cumulative three-month average annualized return of more than 10% in the period between November to January, based on the statistics data collected over the past 151 years.
👉 At the other side, S&P500 an average annualized gain is about Zero between May and October (June till September), based on the same statistics data collected over the past 151 years.
👉 Seasonal factors play an important role here, as end-of-year bonuses and the Santa Claus Rally, which refers to the stock market’s tendency to rally over the last few weeks of December into the first few months of the new year. Some theories behind it include increased holiday shopping, optimism and morale fueled by the Thanksgiving Day, winter holidays, or investors settling their books before going on holiday.
February and March are relatively mild in terms of growth. The stock market could lifts in April and May due to the anticipated release of the first-quarter reports (for example, like after recently announced Q1'23 NASDAQ:NVDA report).
👉 In contrast, the summer time tends to be less optimistic, with first-quarter results over and many people spending less time paying attention to stocks as they go on summer vacation. In addition, specifically in election years, there tends to be a weakness of the stock market in September due to the uncertainty of the election results.
The conclusion
👉 It should be noted that returns have often varied in different time periods, and there have been many exceptions.
👉 However the upper chart (SPX Seasonality) clearly illustrates that based on the statistics data collected over the past 151 years, the timeframe since June until September, averagely is the worst time to invest into SP500 Index, while June and September are the worst performer months over the all history of S&P500 since 1870s.
👉 Memorial Day could be considered as a starting point for the strategy, where the negative return of the following business day (or business week in a case of no significant change) after Memorial Day usually predicts the further stock market trends and directions until October (begin of fourth quarter).
