<P> Dog days bright and clear Indicate a good year; But when accompanied by rain, We hope for better times in vain . </P> <P> Because "July is typically one of the quietest months of the year for stock trading", the term is sometimes used for the lethargic summer markets . </P> <P> Various computations of the dog days have placed their start anywhere from 3 July to 15 August and lasting for anywhere from 30 to 61 days . They may begin or end with the cosmical or heliacal rising of either Sirius in Canis Major or Procyon (the "Little Dog Star") in Canis Minor and vary by latitude, not even being visible throughout much of the Southern Hemisphere . Sirius observes a period of almost exactly 3651⁄4 days between risings, keeping it largely consistent with the Julian but not the Gregorian calendar; nonetheless, its dates occur somewhat later in the year over a span of millennia . </P> <P> In antiquity, the dog days were usually reckoned from the appearance of Sirius around 19 July (Julian) to relieving rains and cool winds, although Hesiod seems to have counted the worst of summer as the days leading up to Sirius's reappearance . </P>

When do the dog days of summer start and end