Did you know that Swedish stocks have not generated a positive return during the summer months since 1987? The old Wall Street adage “Sell in May and Go Away” proves to have particularly strong foundations on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

The numbers speak for themselves

Through analysis of OMX Stockholm since 1987, a striking pattern emerges:

• Winter period (November-April): +1.65%
  average monthly return
• Summer period (May-October): 0.00%
  average monthly return

This means that the entire positive development on the Swedish stock market historically
came during the winter months. However, July stands out as a positive surprise
with +2.15% average return.

In comparison, the US market shows only a 0.70 percentage point difference
between seasons and the world index by 0.92 percentage points. Swedish shares have thus
more extreme seasonal patterns than global markets.

Why this happens, what it means for you as an investor, and how Crescit uses this knowledge can be read below in the first part of our Summer School 2025, which is about seasonal patterns.

Source: OMX Stockholm historical data 1987-2024