Over the week the trading volume will trend lower and, unless there is some major unscheduled news, the market volatility will slow. This can be a great time for traders to review their activity, portfolio, or trading plan.
There has to be some point where you review your trading plan. Revisions can be made, or information that is outdated can be removed, and any new ideas you may have been itching to try can be formulated. For the day trader or active swing trader, this can be a time for backtesting your new ideas. For many, it is a time to review the money management part of their trading plan. Groups of traders that work together throughout the year tend to meet this time of year to share ideas, successes, and failures.
Taking a look at your trading activity is also a focus this time of year. It's sort of like the last chance to adjust and profit before the year comes to an end. Were you too active this year and that hurt you? Were you not as dedicated as you should have been, and that stopped you short of hitting goals? Also, look back over the past few years to see how you are positioned relative to prior years' performance.
Finally, for the longer-term active investor, this is the time to make those decisions on your portfolios holdings. While this is not the "last call," so to speak, it is a chance to formulate the plan of what you may consider selling off and which names you want to add to. Tax considerations tend to come into play here, so having a head start on that is always a good thing.
The slow volume of the holiday season makes it great time to get organized and ready to wrap up the year. At the very least it will stop you from trading too heavily during the slow market this week.