How a small investor should deal with July 4

There will be a national holiday in the US next week on Wednesday, July 4th. This may seem obvious to anyone looking at the calendar but it is very important for investors.

Many professional investors will be on vacation all next week.  More importantly, their bosses will likely be on vacation next week.  Be careful of your investments during times when major mutual funds and investment companies have large percentages of their executives on vacation. Many of the trades will be on “autopilot” and the market volume is likely to be down.

As a habit, I rarely initiate a new position on a short work week.  Also, I never initiate a new position on the week of Thanksgiving or when the national holiday is on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. I even try to avoid the first work day after a 3-day weekend.

You may have a different experience but avoiding these shortened work-weeks has been good for my portfolio.

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