esu...another interesting observation that I believe demonstrates the sideways activity that characterizes August and early Sept. Breakouts will work for small profits in sideways markets. Whereas moving averages will chop you more in sideways than in trending markets. I bet your June and July moving average profits were nice.
Another approach is to find a system that makes money in choppy markets and trade that one as well. If both systems make money over time, you should see a smoother equity curve.