Time In Time Out: Outsmart the Stock Market Using Calendar Strategies, my first seasonal book, written in 1999,  I performed a basic seasonal volatility analysis. Investors often use the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), which was originally designed in 1993 to measure the market’sexpectation of 30-day volatility implied by at-the-money S&P 100 Index (OEX) option prices. Although calculating seasonal volatility from the VIX is a good current measure of volatility, VIX data does not go back as far as I would like to establish a trend in a broad market. As a result, I have approximated volatility as a dispersion of end of day prices for the S&P 500 using a twenty day standard deviation look back. Although there is a time  lag issue with this methodology, it does give a general indication of a spike in volatility in October. The month of October, on average has the highest volatility. The point is that volatility in October can present opportunities to increase equity positions. Last year the market corrected severely in September and the market started a strong rally at the beginning of October. HAC increased equity positions early in October to 30% last year. This year, without a major correction in September to “bounce” the market at the beginning of October, investors should lean towards adding their equity towards the end of October.