Sell in May and Go Away Except When It’s A Darn Good Year Already

The Nifty, Year to Date, till May has had the second best return since 1999, eclipsed only by the stellar return in 2009.

Will it sustain?

In most earlier years that have seen more than 10% returns YTD in May, the momentum has sustained – 2009 ended up 40%. The years  1997 and 1999 ended up even higher than their May returns. 1996 was the outlier, starting at +20% in May and ending up -1%.

Maybe you shouldn’t Sell in May and Go Away.

Errata: The 1996 returns have been corected- bad excel magic! Thanks to Kora at @paststat for recognizing this.