Is it just me or has the market been pretty dull for the past few weeks/sessions?

[southall]

You don't need to remember.
If you look at daily ranges, there's been several periods with an average 10 day range of 10 points give or take.

You get slow weeks every year.
But both volatility and trading range have been contracted for the last 32 or so trading sessions.
Since July 12 ES has been stuck in a 2.5% trading range with mostly very low range days.
That is quite rare and doesn't happen every year.

 

[SteveH]

Relax (OP), because in the months to come, you will be complaining that you either have to lighten your size or stay out of the market because it is too scary for you to trade.

 

[SPT]

Relax (OP), because in the months to come, you will be complaining that you either have to lighten your size or stay out of the market because it is too scary for you to trade.

I love scary markets haha beginning of 2016 was the best!

 

[southall]

I love scary markets haha beginning of 2016 was the best!

Yeah in the Naughties there many years when both halves of the year were like first half of this year.
And you could make 100% on your account relatively easily.
Let hope things improve from sept onwards.

 

[ktm]

WSJ had an article yesterday about the super low ranges over the last month. I think it's only been this muted for this period of time a few times in the past 20 years or so.

All the prognosticators keep saying there is no yield to be had and no place to put money except US equities - especially dividend payers. It's great to buy something with a 4% yield and sit there and get the dividend, but when this thing rolls over - and it always does - and these folks start losing real money on the underlying equity position, there will be a violent flight out of them.

 

[southall]

This was in the Van tharp newsletter a few weeks ago:

I looked at rolling four-week ranges (% change of four-week high — four-week low) for the S&P 500 dating back to the 1950s. And here are the weeks that were at or below the recent four-week low volatility period:

8/12/2016 1.87%
12/24/1993 1.82%
8/13/1993 1.75%
8/6/1993 1.64%
9/7/1985 1.65%
11/13/1964 1.79%

 

[lawrence-lugar]

The markets are only dull...if you make it, or allow it, to be dull ;

There's always money to be made -- something to think about.

 

[southall]

The markets are only dull...if you make it, or allow it, to be dull ;
There's always money to be made -- something to think about.

In hindsight there was always money to be made.
But every one has their own ways of trading and you don't abandon them with short term changes in the market.

Otherwise you will end up jumping from one style to the next and missing profits as you will always be bit late in detecting market changes.

 

[southall]

You could have bought 72 XD.

What does 72 XD mean?

 

[volente_00]

"It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting"