“Sell In May?” Could Be Different This Year $SPX

I’ve been hearing quite a bit lately about ‘sell in May and go away’, and how this year may follow the same path as the previous three.

LOOKING BACK

But step back a minute to consider what caused the May ‘pre-summer’ nosedives in ’10, ’11 and ’12. For one, Greece was on the radar twice, and then the flash crash. Naturally, those were worrisome events and had a major effect on sentiment, but there was also the Fed. Far too many had ‘predicted’ the Fed was ending bond purchases, no more free money, etc.

Remember those first two QE programs? Supposedly ending in June of those years (’11 and ’12)? ‘No more help for the Fed’, or so it was assumed. Gotta get out before the ‘stuff’ hits the fan, because when everyone sells it won’t be pretty.

FED’S GOT YOUR BACK

We all heard that, right? Well, Wednesday stripped that worry away for now – the Fed won’t likely be ending their bond purchases in June or likely anytime soon for that matter.

So, if you want to play the guessing game again this is not the one to do. This is where being reactionary is far better than being anticipatory. After all, the Fed owns the pieces and the game board. I prefer to play along.

The ECB meeting was really a non-starter but some nice surprises from Chairman Draghi. It seems no problem, however big or small (Greece or Cyprus) will deter the biggest central bank on the planet.

Different this time around? Just might be!