Sell in May? Why Calendar Trading Isn't Edge — And What Actually Is
By Glenn & Reid | Hawai’i Trading Academy
Every year, like clockwork, the trading internet loses its mind over five words: “sell in May and go away.”
Financial media runs the same recycled segments. Twitter threads pile up. And somewhere, a retail trader closes a perfectly good position because a 200-year-old British saying told them to.
Here’s the thing — we’ve looked at the data. And the data says this “rule” is mostly noise.
What Does “Sell in May” Actually Claim?
The idea is simple: stocks underperform between May and October compared to November through April. So you should sell your positions in May, sit in cash for six months, and buy back in November.
Sounds clean. Sounds disciplined. It’s also leaving massive money on the table.
Here’s one stat that should end the debate: a hypothetical $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 in 1976 and held continuously would have grown to roughly $294,795 by end of 2025. That same $1,000 following the sell-in-May strategy? About $46,351. You’...