In a recent report, analysts at Oppenheimer took a technical look at the stock market to determine whether investors should follow the old Wall Street adage “sell in May and go away.”
According to Oppenheimer, 2015 is setting up to be an exception to the rule.
Sentimental Feelings
Oppenheimer technical analysts call buying stocks a “high-conviction idea” based on what they are currently seeing in the charts.
One of the strongest indicators of a continuation of the bull market in the near-term is a recent drop-off in market sentiment.
After peaking at 85 percent bullishness in December of 2014, Oppenheimer’s Opco Sentiment Composite has now fallen to only 63 percent bullishness.
Analysts see this move as a sign that the S&P 500 could be on the verge of another breakout.
“The S&P 500 has lacked direction over the last five months,” analysts explain in the report, “and we believe the ultimate resolution of this choppy range should provide a spark to the upside as investor indecision becomes pent-up demand.”
Buy In May And Stick Around?
Analysts give two reasons why traders should ignore “sell in May and go away” this year.
First, analysts point out that the rule of thumb has not worked well in the past when the S&P 500 is in the middle of a strong uptrend, as it is now.
Secondly, the S&P 500 has historically rallied during the summer months in pre-election years of second-term presidencies.
Stock Picks
In light of their bullish outlook, Oppenheimer analysts picked a top stock from each sector of the stock market. Here are the 10 names:
- Technology: Equinix Inc EQIX 0.49%
- Health Care: Jazz Pharmaceuticals JAZZ 3.39%
- Consumer Discretionary: CarMax Inc KMX 1.66%
- Financials: Affiliated Managers Group Inc AMG 0.15%
- Consumer Staples: Energizer Holdings Inc ENR 0.15%
- Industrials: Carlisle Cos Inc CSL 1.41%
- Energy: Marathon Petroleum Corp MPC 0.2%
- Utilities: NiSource Inc NI 1.05%
- Materials: Quaker Chemicals Corp KWR 0.24%
- Telecom: Level 3 Communications Inc LVLT 1.01%
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