There is an old wives’ tale on Wall Street, summed up by the expression: “Sell in May, go away, and don’t come back till St Leger’s Day.” (The St. Leger’s Day in question refers to a famous British horse race which takes place in mid-September.) All you have to do to beat the market by a country mile, the tale goes, is to buy stocks every Halloween and sell them again at the beginning of every May. Rinse, repeat.
It sounds ridiculous. It sounds absurd. It sounds like a total joke in a stock market which – as the University of Chicago Business School mafia assures me – is completely rational, efficient and perfect in every way.
Unfortunately, although it may be crazy, it’s also true.
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