Shake out some weak hands before the next leg up?

Sell in May didn't work. The only thing that worked in May was to be long gamma/vol going into the May panic (recall our late April long "VIX guy" note here). The VIX collapse that occurred later was not as "sexy" from a trading perspective, sure protection collapsed post mid May, but you did not want to be short gamma those moves as the initial upside panic was almost as violent as the sell off.

Source; Refinitiv