Stock market wisdom has a habit of occasionally being true.
Selling shares in May would have been worthwhile this year, for example.
A sale in January would have been even better, however, when the Dax was still at more than 16,000 points.
The almost more important part of the "Sell in May" rule is the addition "but remember, come back in September".
If you sell your shares, you should also think about re-entering.
So it was of no use in the financial crisis or in the Corona crisis to have sold your shares in good time if the subsequent recovery rally was missed.
And it has always existed and has more than compensated for the previous losses.
For a turning point, pessimism must be particularly strong.
All economic surveys, analyst estimates and many other leading indicators are currently pointing downwards.
It can hardly get any worse.
As a reminder, the recession years of 2003 and 2009 were excellent years for stocks.
Because the stockbrokers usually look a little ahead and see the end of the recession.
There is still no real sell-off mood on the markets or elements of panic to see a turning point.
However, expectations for the forthcoming quarterly reporting season are fairly low.
The potential for positive surprises is correspondingly large.
Perhaps another piece of stock market wisdom is right: Buy when the cannons are thundering.