“Sell in May and go away?” Some market participants say it could be better to wait and see this year. The old stock market adage speaks to the phenomenon in which the May-through-October stretch has seasonally borne out to be the worst six-month period of returns for stocks. With traders leaving their desks during the summer months to go on vacation, the drop in liquidity and rise in volatility contribute to the likelihood of sharper drawdowns. But that maxim may not hold up this year. “Is this the year to not sell in May and go away?” said Jeffrey Hirsch, editor in chief of the Stock Trader’s Almanac. “Let’s track and see what the market does.” There are reasons to believe the next move is higher. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have hit all-time highs even amid ongoing disruptions in the Middle East, a display of the stock market’s continued resiliency — especially as breadth improves below the surface. .SPX .IXIC YTD mountain SPX and Nasdaq year to date The technical setup remains positive as well. One indicator favored by Hirsch called the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) shows the relationship between the 12-period and 26-period exponential moving averages. It’s supposed to show specific entry and exit points in the market, and it suggests there’s st …
