--- title: Sell in May and Go Away? Why the Old Investing Adage Doesn't Hold Up in 2026 description: '"Sell in May and go away" might not hold true any more. Analysis shows market gains between May and October have picked up in recent years.' authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 501 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2026-05-01T19:13:34.000Z' modified: '2026-05-01T19:13:34.000Z' section: Investing tags: - News word_count: 464 canonical: https://money.com/sell-in-may-stock-market-2026/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo-illustration of dice that say "buy" and "sell" with stock graph in the background](https://img.money.com/2026/05/News-Sell-in-May.jpg) Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed out April with their strongest monthly performances since 2020. Whether that momentum carries through May is yet to be seen. Historically, May has kicked off a six-month season of lackluster returns in the U.S., reinforcing a centuries-old investing adage: “Sell in May and go away.” “The idea suggests investors should step away from equities during the summer months and re-enter the market in November, when conditions have historically been more favorable,” Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial, wrote in a [research note](https://www.lpl.com/research/blog/sell-in-may-and-go-away-maybe-not.html) Thursday. But these days, that strategy doesn’t hold much relevance — even if the markets do mellow out over the summer. Turnquist analyzed market trends between May and October dating back to 1950. Indeed, he found that the six-month period historically produced the weakest returns for the S&P 500, averaging just 2.1% gains. More recently, however, gains between May and October have notably picked up. Over the past 12 years, Turnquist said, the average return has been 5.1%. “Seasonal patterns can offer useful historical perspective, but they aren’t always a reliable guide for what lies ahead,” he wrote. “Sell in May” might be particularly poor advice this year. Given the [market volatility due to the ongoing Iran war](https://money.com/iran-war-gold-prices-oil/), historical returns become even less helpful. Lately, oil supply through the Iranian-controlled Strait of Hormuz has largely driven markets — not seasonality. Rising stock prices suggest that investors are confident a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran will ultimately be reached. Meanwhile, at home, major firms like Apple, Roku and Moderna are reporting better-than-expected first-quarter performance and making waves in part due to anticipated [tariff refunds](https://money.com/companies-giving-tariff-refunds/) from the Trump administration. These developments alone diminish the importance of selling this specific May in particular. But the logistical tax concerns of selling when the market is at or near an all-time high shouldn’t be ignored either. Selling in a taxable account could spark capital gains taxes, for instance, which would erode returns even if you re-entered the market later this year at a comparable price, according to [Hook Wealth Management](https://www.hookwealth.com/blog/sell-in-may-and-go-away-what-the-market-saying-really-means-and-what-it). A separate [analysis published last month](https://www.americancentury.com/insights/sell-in-may-and-go-away-myths/) by Eric Wenz, an associate portfolio manager at American Century Investments, underscored the importance of holding instead of selling despite dips. Wenz illustrated the performance of $1,000 invested in the S&P from 1976 to 2025, pitting “sell in May” against simply buying and holding. After nearly 50 years of growth, the “sell in May” investment jumped to just over $46,000 for an increase of 4,535%. Meanwhile, the buy-and-hold strategy saw the investment value skyrocket to nearly $295,000 — an increase of 29,179%. “Long-term portfolios that adhered to a buy-and-hold strategy consistently outperformed those that exited in May,” Wenz said, “proving that sticking with investments through all seasons yielded better results.” ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/sell-in-may-stock-market-2026/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stock Market", "item": "https://money.com/stock-market/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Sell in May and Go Away? 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