--- title: Sell in May and Go Away Update - Burney Investment Management description: Looking through our blog archives, you can find post after post aimed at debunking market timing strategies. We spend so much time on this issue because we’ve seen so many well-intentioned investors make changes to their portfolios at inopportune times. Successful investors keep the faith, but like diet and exercise, it is easier said that done.  One of our favorite market timing “strategies” to address ... image: https://burneyinvest.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/AdobeStock_46669875.jpeg --- [Skip to content](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/sell-in-may-and-go-away-update#main-content) [![Burney Investment Management](https://burneyinvest.com/hs-fs/hubfs/theme/Burney_Invest_Color_Horizontal_%232b.png?width=300&height=110&name=Burney_Invest_Color_Horizontal_%232b.png "Burney Investment Management")](https://burneyinvest.com/) - About - [Company Overview](https://burneyinvest.com/about) - [Burney Difference](https://burneyinvest.com/the-burney-difference) - Strategies - [Size & Style Responsive](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/size-style-responsive-ssr/) - [The Burney Master Portfolio](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/the-burney-master-portfolio/) - [Personalized Portfolios](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/personalized-portfolios/) - [Stock Selection](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/stock-selection/) - [Team](https://burneyinvest.com/team) - [Resources](https://burneyinvest.com/blog) - [Get In Touch](https://burneyinvest.com/contact) 5.1.2019 # Sell in May and Go Away Update [Andy Pratt, CFA](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/author/andy-pratt-cfa) ![](https://20453469.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20453469/Theme/dots_y4.svg) ##### Popular Posts [How to Read VIX and VIX Term Structure](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/how-to-read-vix-and-vix-term-spread) [What Happened in the Stock Market Yesterday?](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/what-happened-in-the-stock-market-yesterday) [Performance Matters - 7 Steps Toward More Effective Investing](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/performance-matters-7-steps-toward-more-effective-investing) ![](https://burneyinvest.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/AdobeStock_46669875.jpeg) Looking through our blog archives, you can find [post](https://burney.com/blog/stock-market-expectations/) after [post](https://burney.com/blog/expectations-following-market-selloffs/) aimed at [debunking market timing strategies](https://burney.com/blog/you-can-t/). We spend so much time on this issue because we’ve seen so many well-intentioned investors make changes to their portfolios at inopportune times. [Successful investors keep the faith](https://burney.com/blog/successful-investors-keep-the-faith/), but like diet and exercise, it is easier said that done.  One of our favorite market timing “strategies” to address is the old British adage *sell in May and go away. *The strategy suggests going to cash from May through October. The thesis is that stocks trade sideways or lose money during these months so staying out of the market is an investor’s best bet. This adage came back into our vernacular in the 2000’s as we did see negative average returns over the summer months from 2000-2009. The problem is that investors who acted on this pattern got a good lesson in how random series of data often look patterned.  We suggested in [2012](https://www.burney.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Sell_in_May_Go_Away.pdf) and [2015](https://burney.com/blog/sell-in-may-no-way/) that this was a strategy worth avoiding. How did our prediction hold up?  From 2014-18 stocks gained, on average, in both time frames but gained *more *from May-October when the *Sell in May *strategy advises being in cash. An investor who invested $1,000 in the S&P 500 in 1990 saw their money grow nearly $3,700 *more *than an investor who engaged in the Sell in May strategy.   We don’t know ahead of time which months will bring the strongest returns but we do know that the top-10 trading days [account for a huge percentage of the returns available in stocks](https://burney.com/blog/expectations-following-market-selloffs/). It is risky from an opportunity cost perspective being on the sidelines. *Sell in May *is an absurd strategy at its face that I doubt any serious investors are running. Still, it highlights the problems with market timing strategies. --- *The Burney Company is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Burney Wealth Management is a division of the Burney Company. Registration with the SEC or any state securities authority does not imply that Burney Company or any of its principals or employees possesses a particular level of skill or training in the investment advisory business or any other business. Burney Company does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice, but offers it through third parties. Before making any financial decisions, clients should consult their legal and/or tax advisors.* ## Articles you may enjoy 02.03.16 #### [Expectations Following Market Selloffs](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/expectations-following-market-selloffs) [![](https://20453469.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20453469/Theme/circle_right.svg)](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/expectations-following-market-selloffs) 10.15.14 #### [Ride Out the Volatility](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/stock-market-expectations) [![](https://20453469.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20453469/Theme/circle_right.svg)](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/stock-market-expectations) 08.26.15 #### [Think You can Time the Market?](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/you-can-t) [![](https://20453469.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20453469/Theme/circle_right.svg)](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/you-can-t) ![](https://burneyinvest.com/hubfs/theme/burney-invest-logo-white-1-1.png) - [Size & Style Responsive](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/size-style-responsive-ssr/) - [Burney Master Portfolio](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/the-burney-master-portfolio/) - [Personalized Portfolios](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/personalized-portfolios/) - [Stock Selection](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/stock-selection/) - [About](https://burneyinvest.com/about) - [Team](https://burneyinvest.com/team) - [Resources](https://burneyinvest.com/blog) - [Contact](https://burneyinvest.com/contact) **Headquarters** 1800 Alexander Bell Dr. STE 510 Reston, VA 20191 Advisory services are offered through the Burney Company, an investment advisor registered with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. SEC registration does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by the Commission nor does it indicate that the advisor has attained a particular level of skill or ability. © 2026 Burney Wealth Management | [Research](https://burneyinvest.com/research) | [Privacy Statement](https://burneyinvest.com/privacy-policy) | [Terms & Conditions](https://burneyinvest.com/terms-and-conditions) | [Disclosures](https://burneyinvest.com/disclosures) | [ADV](https://44214779.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/44214779/Burney%20Company%20ADV%20Part%202A%20IM%2026%20REV.pdf) | [Form CRS (ADV Part 3)](https://44214779.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/44214779/Burney%20Company%20Form%20CRS_March%202026.pdf) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Andy Pratt, CFA", "url" : "https://burneyinvest.com/blog/author/andy-pratt-cfa" }, "dateModified" : "2024-04-01T19:56:13.639Z", "datePublished" : "2019-05-01T19:55:00.000Z", "headline" : "Sell in May and Go Away Update - Burney Investment Management", "image" : [ "https://burneyinvest.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/AdobeStock_46669875.jpeg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://burneyinvest.com/blog/sell-in-may-and-go-away-update", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://burneyinvest.com/hubfs/theme/Burney_Invest_Color_Horizontal_%232b.png" } } } ```