Sell in May? Why Calendar Trading Isn't Edge — And What Actually Is
By Glenn & Reid | Hawai’i Trading Academy
Every year, like clockwork, the trading internet loses its mind over five words: “sell in May and go away.”
Financial media runs the same recycled segments. Twitter threads pile up. And somewhere, a retail trader closes a perfectly good position because a 200-year-old British saying told them to.
Here’s the thing — we’ve looked at the data. And the data says this “rule” is mostly noise.
What Does “Sell in May” Actually Claim?
The idea is simple: stocks underperform between May and October compared to November through April. So you should sell your positions in May, sit in cash for six months, and buy back in November.
Sounds clean. Sounds disciplined. It’s also leaving massive money on the table.
Here’s one stat that should end the debate: a hypothetical $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 in 1976 and held continuously would have grown to roughly $294,795 by end of 2025. That same $1,000 following the sell-in-May strategy? About $46,351. You’...
How To: Treat Trading Like A Business
<div">
Podcast ep 15 - This post is a summarized version of our PODCAST which you can find the episode by clicking this sentence.
Trading can’t be treated like a hobby, there is no “dabbling” in the markets if you want to be a trader. It must be taken serious as businesses do. After all, we are handling a lot of money. Here are 10 tips in ways to traders can treat their trading like a business. And if you need to hear it….FOLLOW YOUR PLAN, Aloha.
10 tips
-
Journal
All business has books, keep a record of everything (tax purposes even expenses even if you aren’t a business yet, get into the HABIT of record keeping).
2. Make smart decisions
Don’t go and buy all of the fanciest trading software, news feeds, computer power, don’t need a personal assistant in your first year of trading. Keep your expenses small and invest in your learning.
3. Stoic
Keep your emotions out of your TRADES! When trading, don’t trade off of emotions. Businesses (generally...
Leaving Your 9-5 To Trade Full Time
Join us as we explore the realistic challenges and strategies of transitioning from a 9-to-5 job to full-time trading. Whether you're an aspiring trader or looking to refine your trading approach, this podcast aims to equip you with the insights and tools needed to navigate the trading landscape successfully.
-
Motivations for Trading: Discussing common reasons why people want to shift from traditional employment to trading.
-
Financial Preparation: How to financially prepare for the transition, including creating a cushion and understanding income requirements.
-
Emotional and Lifestyle Impact: Exploring the psychological adjustments and lifestyle changes that accompany full-time trading.
-
Risk Management: The importance of managing risks and expectations. Start with understanding position sizing and the 1% rule in the volatile trading market. Not sure where to start? Our free Unveiling Clarity e-book can help you find your path.
-
Continuous Learning: The need for ong
...
Wait For Your Edge
TIP: Let the market develop a few hours after the open of the week and at the start of a new candle day before placing a trade.
Aloha, welcome to the new week!
Wanted to share a tip that has helped me save money and kept my psychology sane:
Let the market develop for the first few hours before placing a trade. The reason being is spreads are usually steep and the market can be volatile and choppy – Large candles and massive wicks can form, only for the price to settle back down to pre-market levels.
NZDUSD was on my watch at the end of last week and my last analysis shows that I would be going long on this trade, however, applying the rule of “let the market decide in the first 4-5 hours”, minimum, has saved me from a quick loss of -1% on this trade and countless others trades.
I like the 15min wedge for a continuation, the 50ema on 4hr, 1hr, and 15min all support my thoughts of going lon...
6 Aspects To A Successful Trading Plan
What is a Trading Plan? How do you make a Trading Plan? What goes into a Trading Plan?
When first starting off in Trading, it can be daunting, which is why HTA thought it would be a great idea to bring you a course that introduces and builds upon how a new trader should approach the market.
To summarize, there are 6 key points to a Trading Plan:
-
Find An Edge - Why is an edge important? It’s your way to become profitable. There’s a million ways to make a million dollars, you have to find the one that works for you. You have to know what you want to see in the market. Find the right trading style for you. The edge is the way you can get in and out of the market.
-
Build A Watchlist - Why is your watchlist important? What are you looking at? A watchlist is basically what you are looking at that matches your edge. A Watchlist is provides you with the ability to catch the profitable opportunities.
-
Identify Market Conditions - What are the conditions of the mar...
Bitcoin & Crypto Legalization
What do Ukraine and El Salvador have in common?
Besides the death penalty being abolished, in recent news they have both Legalized Bitcoin as a legal tender for purchasing goods and services. This is a huge deal because as more and more countries jump on board the crypto sphere, and with only a limited number of tokens being able to mine (21 million), it's only a matter of time before the world adapts and allows the currency in what some would say the next evolution of humanity.
What do you mean Bitcoin is the next evolution of Humanity?
Well, with the blockchain technology there are more pros than cons.
Some benefits of Bitcoin:
Biggest reason is: Bitcoin is Decentralized.
Bitcoin also:
- Provides anonymity while also being able to trace each purchase from wallet to wallet (no shady stuff)
- Bitcoin is easy and effortless to use; think about it like using Apple Pay.
- Bitcoin is pretty much inflation proof as there is limite...
Trading From Your Phone: PROS And CONS
complete guide to stock market hours in Hawai\u2019i. It and has revolutionized the way current society functions. It’s no wonder why trading from your phone has become so popular. Mobile trading is only going to be getting better and is growing at a phenomenal rate. However, there are a few things to understand about trading with your mobile device. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"5odv6","text":"Nowadays, it’s incredibly easy and convenient to trade from your phone. However, there are some things to be aware of if you are currently, or thinking about trading from your phone. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"cib4a","text":"Depending on their style, many professional traders have two or more monitors as their main trading station. The reason is with trading, there is much info to be gathered and looked at. Chart comparison, news...
TYPES OF MARKET ORDERS
position sizing is just as important as knowing your order types. We lead with integrity and transparency guide us as we focus on the essential pillars of trading success. Strategy Lab helps you build and test your approach: Risk Management, Edge, and Psychology — the foundation of Net Alpha.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":9,"style":"UNDERLINE"},{"offset":0,"length":142,"style":"BOLD"},{"offset":104,"length":15,"style":"ITALIC"},{"offset":121,"length":5,"style":"ITALIC"},{"offset":131,"length":10,"style":"ITALIC"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"cq1u9","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"8qkg7","text":"Create Your Own Success In The Markets.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":39,"style":"BOLD"},{"offset":0,"length":39,"style":"ITALIC"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"4v195","text":"Book a FREE call with us: https://bit.ly/HTACall","type...
Entry Orders VS Market Orders
TIP: Using entry orders helps avoid forcing trades.
What are entry orders?
What are market orders?
What's the difference between Entry and Market Orders?
WHY ENTRY ORDERS MATTER:
– No unnecessary losses.
– You aren’t forcing trades.
Entry orders – applying patience in letting the market gently slide into your entry, rather than forcing it on live trade just because of one massive candle on the hourly. With an entry order, the market will let you know if you were correct in your short/long bias.
Market Orders – although acceptable in certain situations, is not a style I support for new traders. Market orders are live orders that trigger immediately after you click submit.
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS TRADE FOR AN EXAMPLE OF HOW AN ENTRY ORDER SAVED ME FROM AN UNNECESSARY LOSS: NZDUSD – https://www.tradingview.com/x/8CsMg8NR/
1hr in a rising wedge which is a potential trend change to the downside. However, 1hr and 4hr 50...
Importance of Backtesting - What Is Backtesting?
<div">
<div">
The importance of Backtesting your trades could not be more paramount in your trading career. Apart from having a solid mindset, you need a solid strategy. Your strategy is only valid if it has been time-tested, meaning it can work across all market conditions over the years.
What is backtesting?
Backtesting is the process of testing a trading strategy or system using historical data to see how it would have performed in the past.
It is an important step in developing and evaluating a trading strategy, as it allows traders to see how their strategy would have performed under different market conditions and to identify any potential issues or areas for improvement.
There are several benefits to backtesting a trading strategy.
Firstly, backtesting allows traders to evaluate the robustness of their strategy, by determining its performance over a large sample of historical data. This can help traders to identify patterns or trends th...