Schools out for summer. This will mean even less trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: LSE.L - news) . All those family folk who work in the City will be jetting off, with their loved ones, for fun in the sun.

Sadly, less trading is usually a drag on share prices. Thats why we share shifters have a bit of a hard time of it most summers.

Of course, a really big news story will set the markets humming again. Though most big stories these days are a shock to the system rather than an encouragement to buy shares. We get so many shocks these days MPs expenses, bank bonuses, swine flu and so on that confidence in the economy is bound to suffer.

However, I do not stop trading in the summer. Thats because, looking back over the years, Ive done rather well out of trading in hot conditions. I remember reading a glowing report about the Alliance and Leicester Bank while sitting on the beach. At the time this bank was suffering a major lack of confidence and shares had fallen heavily. I took one of the biggest punts of my career and doubled it eventually on a slow, but sure, recovery.

(Yes, gang, banks have hit hard times on quite a few occasions before the present banking crisis. Though these stories happened in isolation then – and not to the industry as a whole. For example, Abbey National fared rather badly once, before Santander (Madrid: SAN.MC - news) helped get it back on its feet).

Any road up, I find that many shares rise very fast and very high in July and Autumn, even if nearly all other stocks are moribund, or gently decaying in the summer heat. You have to stay alert all the time gang, if you hope to exploit every opportunity in Crazyland.

I dont relax my glinty gaze at any time of the year and that includes Christmas, Easter and bank holidays. While others sleep, we can sometimes make hay. Very golden hay, too. God bless.