‘sell in may,’ history says: pro
- Select a language for the TTS:
- UK English Female
- UK English Male
- US English Female
- US English Male
- Australian Female
- Australian Male
- Language selected: (auto detect) - EN

Play all audios:

Statisticians found that the adage to "sell in May and go away" worked historically going all the way back to the 17th century, Mark Hulbert of MarketWatch said Tuesday. "I
know we all think of it as incredibly silly," he said. "Why does the market follow a seasonal pattern? But statisticians who have looked at it and, in fact, have looked at 108
different stock markets as far back as history exists for those markets, including, believe it or not, in England back to 1694. "And they have found evidence of this pattern all the way
back as far as the day they exist." On CNBC's "Fast Money," Hulbert said that short-term trends were limited in their usefulness. "Most of the patterns we talk
about, whether it's on CNBC or in Wall Street in general, most of them turn out to be no better than a coin flip," he said. "And even those that start to look to be slightly
better than a coin flip, and even those that look to be slightly better than a coin flip stop working the moment we actually start to follow it." Hulbert said that there would always be
unique periods throughout history, adding that from a long-term perspective the premise behind the rhyming advice, "Sell in May and go away," held. Hulbert also said that the
re-entry point for buying stocks was Oct. 31, which was known as the "Halloween indicator." "No one really knows why it should work," he said. "The fact is that
simply it has worked, and it has worked incredibly well." Certain sectors, however, were relatively immune, he added: Consumer goods, financials, technology and telecommunications.
_Trader disclosure: On April 30, 2013, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast
Money" traders: Joe Terranova is long MINI S&P FUTURES; Joe Terranova is long VRTS; Joe Terranova is long SJM; Joe Terranova is long IBM; Joe Terranova is long SPLK; Joe Terranova
is long TBT; Joe Terranova is long SWN; Steve Weiss is long QCOM; Steve Weiss is long HIG; Mike Murphy is long AAPL; Mike Murphy is long BAC; Mike Murphy is long INTC; Mike Murphy is long
TOL; Josh Brown is long JPM; Josh Brown is long XLU; _ _For Mike Rehaut J.P. Morgan currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following company(ies) as clients: Armstrong World
Industries; JPMS makes a market in the stock of Beacon Roofing Supply; J.P. Morgan currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following company(ies) as clients: Beazer Homes; J.P.
Morgan acted as lead or co-manager in a public offering of equity and/or debt securities for D.R. Horton within the past 12 months; J.P. Morgan currently has, or had within the past 12
months, the following company(ies) as clients: Fortune Brands Home & Security; J.P. Morgan acted as lead or co-manager in a public offering of equity and/or debt securities for Hovnanian
Enterprises within the past 12 months; J.P. Morgan currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following company(ies) as clients: KB Home; J.P. Morgan acted as lead or co-manager
in a public offering of equity and/or debt securities for Lennar within the past 12 months; J.P. Morgan acted as lead or co-manager in a public offering of equity and/or debt securities for
Masco Corp. within the past 12 months; J.P. Morgan currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following company(ies) as clients: PulteGroup Inc.; J.P. Morgan acted as lead or
co-manager in a public offering of equity and/or debt securities for Stanley Black & Decker within the past 12 months; J.P. Morgan currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the
following company(ies) as clients: Toll Brothers; J.P. Morgan currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following company(ies) as clients: USG Corporation; J.P. Morgan acted as
lead or co-manager in a public offering of equity and/or debt securities for Whirlpool within the past 12 months._ _ _