CL is very volatile by nature to start with
But also, no institutional participation throughout august, holiday mode and/or waiting for FED announcement on Friday leaves only the amateurs in the arena...
Successful people will do what unsuccessful people won't or can't do!
It's typical late August action. A lot of europeans take off the last two weeks of August, end of summer vacations, etc. A lot of traders figure "why bother" and stand back until after Labor Day. While the volume and volatility is low, kind of expected. Outside of Aug 2008 and Aug 2009, August is usually dead. A good time to trade real small. Personally, I always trade smaller position size each August, then ramp back up in September.
aha, thanks for the input. Unfortunately I was using 08 and 09 to compare things to. Will have to readjust things next year. Also seems the 3rd week of Dec is a good one to skip (if not the whole first 3 weeks)
Probably best to see what market tells you. If the markets suddenly explode with volume /volatility then it would make sense to size up and get more aggressive. But in general it's best to move into a normal quiet time (End of August, last week of the year....etc) less aggressive. If market stays quiet then trade less.
I've always been partial to taking last 2 weeks of August off as well as the last 3 weeks of December and 1st week of January...for reasons already posted.
Before you attempt to beat the odds, make sure you can survive the odds beating you.
