We're coming up to the Thanksgiving holiday here in the states. A time where everyone takes time to visit with family and hopefully have much to be thankful for. During this week the markets tend to slow down as participants travel for family gatherings. Traders that remain expect to see lower volumes and slower trading days. The days range tends to be constricted as well leaving only the smallest of trading opportunities for the active trader.

So I ask you, when it comes to your trading, what are you thankful for this year? Were you able to find a new strategy that paid off well for you? Did you finally hone in on your style and approach you like to take with your investments? Maybe you found that you are struggling and need to reduce your position size until you get a better grasp of trading in general? Whatever your answer I would like to offer some tips for the short week.

Take time to visit with your family but when you grow impatient, take time to review your activity for the year thus far and look for ways to improve. It could very well be that you find moments in the year you wish you could take back. A trade you held to long. A winner you let slip back into a loser. Find the errors of your year so far and make a plan for how you will not let that happen again.

Be honest about your strategy so far. Is it a well oiled machine as you hoped? This year has offered more volatility than the past. From the rapid decline in late January into February, up through the October mini meltdown in the markets, did your strategy hold up, or did you find little flaws.

Make those small tweaks to improve on the remainder of the year. Don't let your review bring you down. Let it motivate you to perfect and hone your skills into the end of the year. There is still time, and likely still some volatility to be had.

While this is not the time to make major changes, the shortened week can certainly serve as a late year checking to see where you can improve. We will all likely find ways to improve and by analyzing your year so far, it will keep you away from over trading in what could be a slower week.