Sy Harding was the author of the Street
Smart Report and also wrote two books on stock markets. Sy introduced his
seasonal MACD strategy in his 1999 book, Riding the Bear. His seasonal MACD
strategy combines the six month seasonal cycle from the Stock Traders Almanac
and momentum using MACD. MACD is used to confirm or trigger bullish and bearish
signals. According to the Stock Traders Almanac, using MACD greatly increased
the profitability of the seasonal system and reduced risk.
Discovered by Yale Hirsch,
founder of the Stock Trader's Almanac, the six month cycle defines a bullish
cycle running from November to April and a bearish cycle running from May to
October. This is where the phrase “sell in May and go away” comes from, it is
also referred to as the Halloween cycle.
Sy Harding’s buy and sell rules
are as follows:
Buy Signal:
1. Buy on October 16th if MACD is
bullish.
2. Wait for bullish MACD signal
if MACD is not bullish on October 16th.
Sell Signal:
1. Sell on April 20th if MACD is
bearish
2. Wait for a bearish MACD signal
if MACD is not bearish on April 20th.
I like these rules as they are
simple. Sticking to them however is not!
Sy Harding died in April 2015 and
so his report and seasonal timing signals are no longer published. The chart
below shows that a sell signal was given on April 22nd 2016.
