There's an old axiom on The Street: "Sell in May, and go away." The general seasonality trend in the market shows that if you were to sell in May (and go away), then come back at Halloween and buy, your overall results would be better than the standard "buy and hold forever."

Well, it doesn't do a daytrader much good to go and come back and wind up only doing two trades a year. Sure, life would be easier and I'd find myself with a lot more time to fill up my blog, but hey... like all daytraders, I'm not looking for "easy." I'm into daily pain. :) I do, however, take six weeks off every summer to travel about, see things, do things, and generally pretend the stock market doesn't exist. That's what I'm doing now.

It's basically been your typical August: a whole lot of nothing happening. The market is spinning its wheels within a trading zone, trying, but not yet breaking to new highs. I've checked in and seen some killer tight day ranges. It's these slim jims that kill most traders. The volume is dead. The price action is atrocious. But you're at the computer, watching the bars print, and you're there to make money. You have to take what the market gives you. When you wind up forcing trades trying to take what's not there, you get hurt. This is a good month to rest, recharge your batteries. The volume will return after Labor Day, and so should you. Keep your capital intact and get ready to make hay when the market sun rises again in September.