In The Summertime

Sell In May & Go Away

Yup, summer is coming early this year and for good reason; the greatest killer of market volatility is uncertainty and this macroeconomic environment exhibits just that. Nonetheless, you traders who think that there’s not enough volatility to trade should be thankful you’re operating in today’s market versus fifty years ago during the 1970s.

So far today you have a trading range on the S&P of about 40 points, roughly 1%. Back in the good old days when the S&P average was about 600 we had that same daily range of 1%, trouble was that equated to only about 6 points. Adding fuel to that fire were the commissions and necessity of using front office wire entries. Round turn commissions on futures contracts were about $37.50 and orders were sent by wire to the floor, the trading pits. If you were lucky your report from your morning trade entries was received before you had to close out the position before the markets closed.

So nicely he said, “quit your bitching”. If you can’t make enough money day, scalp or swing trading in today’s market it’s not the market’s fault, volatility speaking or not, it’s yours . . . go do something else.

Summer has always been a tough time to trade especially in the European markets. In the United States we don’t take month long “holidays” where we go to places where the Internet not only doesn’t work; it doesn’t exist. Considering we are tethered to the markets through our smart phones, from the minute we get up to when we turn them off to charge them overnight, having a viable connection is no excuse. I remember playing the 6th hole at Oakmont Country Club with one of the first walkie-talkie like cell phone in the early 1980s entering an order with my Dad as I prepared to approach the green. That was sweet; only took me three calls to get the connection to work. Today you just enter your order on your phone and click.

The best advice anyone can receive to handle these decreases in volatility is when the market is not acting in a manner where you are comfortable step away. Take a break; you don’t have to trade every day or worse every minute of every day. There’s more of these little tidbits coming your way over time as we at Tradrr are putting together several courses to help make you the best damn trader you can possibly be . . . stay tuned. Oh, by the way I hit my approach shot to the 6th hole to within six feet of the pin and made the putt for a birdie. I lost money on the trade.

Hope you enjoyed this post. I’m just a young 68 years old; my Dad became a broker when I was 13. It’s time for me to ‘give back’ to all of you what’s in my head. It’s not always pretty but it’s based on history . . . and history, unchecked, repeats itself.

Everyone learns at their own pace. If you pick everything up the first time through, great but if not email me at dzimmer@substack.com so we can further help.

Mungo Jerry’s was a one-hit wonder . . . but it was a good one.