Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), The Home Depot, Inc. (HD): Will Selling the Dow (.DJI) in May Work in 2013?

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Finally, it’s hard to predict which individual stocks will follow the rule. For instance, selling in May last year led you to miss out on nearly 30% gains in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and a 20% gain in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD), and while Home Depot has continued to rise sharply since then, Wal-Mart has trailed the Dow’s overall rise since November. Yet Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) have exhibited classic sell-in-May behavior, rebounding in recent months from last summer’s swoon.

Be careful
As the stock market climbs, lightening up on overall exposure through rebalancing your portfolio is actually a smart move right now. But selling everything based on a seasonal strategy is much riskier, and just about the only certainty in doing so is that you’ll end up with higher costs.

The article Will Selling the Dow in May Work in 2013? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow him on Twitter: @DanCaplinger. The Motley Fool recommends Home Depot and Intel and owns shares of Intel.

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