Junior at the Turret

This being August, the last month of the year to take a decent vacation, don’t expect acts of brilliance to translate into the tape. You see how the market is trading, right? It’s the sum total of all of the idiots who are left manning the office, as the meaningful people are out doing drugs on a beach somewhere.

Yes, of course, seeing the NASDAQ flirt with break-even sucks. More so, breadth has gone from about 65% to 56% over the past hour. This is not what I signed up for; but it’s what I got nonetheless.

Summer trading is often listless, frustrating, and unprofitable. I can still hear my wife telling me to “go to cash” just before the summer, 10 years ago or so, because even she knew that I hated trading during the summer. I say “even she knew” because Mrs. Fly has zero interest in this business, despite it affording her the many luxuries she’s become accustomed to.

This is a grind-fest, where everyone ends up on the losing side. You get short, the market rips. You get long, Putin invades Ukraine. At the end of the day, you have to make a decision and pick a side.

Where do you think stocks will be by Xmas? If you’re trading and cannot think so far out, trade smaller. I’ve always viewed the months from June to September as a time of year that I needed to survive, in order to make the real money heading into the New Year.

Things aren’t always what they seem. The market selling off now might trick a bunch of people to get short, only to get squeezed into the bell. This is a perfect time to unwind and eat a few sandwiches.