Remember the old adage ‘sell in May and go away’? So far in 2021 this would have cost an investor of the full equity persuasion just short of 10%. However, such sayings mean little and hindsight consistently makes an awful lot of people feel clever. But there is a deeper point to be made to such a cheap soundbite. Having such a rigid mindsight can catch people out, and it is worth remembering that history only rhymes rather than repeats. So, you can learn from past experience, as we have at Zurich for over 30 years, but you cannot be slavish in your views. Within that context we maintain an open mind to future events, in particular upcoming high frequency economic data and the tone of monetary policymakers. For example, it is now almost a year since the U.S. market experienced a 5% pullback.
Finally, for those of you reading this on a mobile phone, BofAML reported last week that roughly 2/3rds of us now suffer from ‘nomophobia’ – the fear of being without your phone. Apple revenue in Q2 2021? $81.4 billion.
