Historic market chart says to sell assets in 2026, but lacks an economic basis

Herz — World Desk · 31 July 2026 at 18:33 · 30s summary · 2 min read

What is known

A chart titled “Periods When to Make Money,” circulating since the 1870s, depicts financial markets as a sequence of cycles and identifies supposed periods for buying or selling assets.

The chart explicitly lists 2026 as a year in which investors should sell their assets.

Amateur analysts believe it anticipated the 1929 crash, the dot-com collapse in the early 2000s and the coronavirus-related crash in 2020.

Why its reliability is disputed

Some financial bloggers attribute a 90% accuracy rate to the chart. That claim has helped it continue circulating on social media, YouTube and blogs.

Andreas Hackethal, a professor at Frankfurt’s Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, says the chart’s assumptions are based on planetary configurations and astrology, not economic reasoning.

Hackethal attributes its apparent successes to chance and selection bias: failed predictions are forgotten, while successful matches are retained. Past successes therefore do not validate its future predictions, he says.

Why markets can still move in cycles

Hackethal acknowledges that markets do exhibit cyclical behaviour. In the past, agricultural or industrial shortages shaped these movements through supply and demand.

Today, he says, cycles are driven mainly by technological breakthroughs that raise expectations of productivity gains and profits.

Other factors can influence investors

According to Hackethal, retail investors trade less during sunny and particularly hot weather. Those who remain active are more likely to choose highly risky securities.

He also says that when a national football team is eliminated from the World Cup, share prices on its home market show a noticeable decline that same day.

What remains uncertain

The chart’s exact origin has not been established. Some accounts connect it to pig farmer Samuel Bennet’s forecasts for pork and corn prices.

Other accounts attribute it to George Tritch, who is said to have extended it through 2059 and added an astrological component. The available information does not resolve these conflicting accounts.