Author: Michael Covel

Feedback in:

I got off on the wrong foot in investing and chased investment schemes that friends told me about. I finally got focused on a simple S&P 500 index approach. As I am 71 and having had some of the highest earning years recently, I have made up for lost ground. So financially I could be fairly passive, but I actually have fun trying to win in the market.

The investment strategy world is so full of “approaches” and “models”, I could spend the rest of my life expectancy trying to divine the best one for. That said, I have stopped listening to CNBC and Jim Cramer and look for something deeper.

I have latched on to TikTok and heard this guy say he had nothing but got wealthy after reading the Turtle Book. I realize that most guys are selling something, but I decided to buy the book. I am very intrigued.

I have kept a lot of my money in S&P 500 and started into QQQ about 6-7 years ago. I started stock picking for long positions about 5 years ago and done well, dealing it’s hard not to do well since post Covid. I dodged the worst of Covid by sheer luck of converting everything to cash. I bought again when things were low and built some real wealth on the other side of Covid.

A few years ago, by chance I met a finance professor who taught me the basics about options.

But, I have struggled to have a disciplined approach to using them.

The Turtle approach is interesting to me because there is discipline. I haven’t finished reading it, just finished chapter 5. I wonder if there is a place where I can take two weeks off, like the Turtles and really dig deep.

I’ve seen you written related books, and have podcasts. Maybe that’s where I can go deep. I can work TOS paper trading, frankly, I want to take a decent portion of my investments and quickly put them to work to see if this works for me.

I love math, so I loved Chapter 5. That said, I have a lot to learn here.

So, how can I get deep into learning and practicing this rapidly?

Paul P.

I have training. Hand holding. Let me know.

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How can you move forward immediately to Trend Following profits? My books and my Flagship Course and Systems are trusted options by clients in 70+ countries.

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Trend Following is for beginners, students and pros in all countries. This is not day trading 5-minute bars, prediction or analyzing fundamentals–it’s Trend Following.

Subscribe to Trend Following Radio on iTunes

Please enjoy my monologue Crypto Blow Up with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio.

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Thanks, Michael! I am the one who messaged you on Twitter about Richard Dennis’ Twitter account.

I have been trading stocks for a few years and have had success. I was introduced to Futures when I started reading Jack Schwager’s “Market Wizards” series, and I am obsessed with learning how to trade them. My only concern is that my account only has about $40,000 in margin, so I am not sure I can handle the drawdowns that come with trend following yet. However, I am fascinated by the concept, and I have thoroughly enjoyed your content.

Chris V.

You are welcome.

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How can you move forward immediately to Trend Following profits? My books and my Flagship Course and Systems are trusted options by clients in 70+ countries.

Also jump in:

• Trend Following Podcast Guests
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Performance
• Research
• Markets to Trade
• Crisis Times
• Trading Technology
• About Us

Trend Following is for beginners, students and pros in all countries. This is not day trading 5-minute bars, prediction or analyzing fundamentals–it’s Trend Following.

Feedback in:

Dear Mr. Covel,

I have been a huge fan of your books “Trend Following”, “The Complete Turtle Trader”, and all the podcasts you’ve done with the famous traders like Jerry Parker, Salem Abraham, Eric Crittenden, etc. I would re-read the books you’ve written and re-listen the podcasts you’ve done. Thank you for all the great works you’ve put into building the trend following community. If it wasn’t for you, I’m sure the whole TF ecosystem wouldn’t be what it is today. I myself wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t came across your books 7 years ago. Your work opened my eyes to the world of trend following and completely changed my life.

I have a general question regarding the realistic amount of money necessary to start an incubator hedge fund. I’m an aspiring trader who’s just curious, after listening to the podcast you did with Donald Wieczorek of Purple Valley Capital. After checking PVC’s track record of asset under management, I can see that he started out with around $100,000 USD, and this figure matches the amount mentioned in your podcast with Donald in episode 294 and 958.

I’ve looked at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) contract size specification for products like SP500, Gold, Coffee, et cetera, and can see that with $100,000 USD, it is too small to trade even the mini micro sized SP500. To set up a realistic stop loss that’s far enough away from the current price level, and having that loss equating close to 0.5% (a conservative amount) of the equity as risk budget, having only $100,000 USD doesn’t seem enough. The CME contract sizes are simply way too big for an account of $100,000. Even adjusting for inflation, $100,000 back in 2008 would be worth about $150,000, which in my opinion is still too small to trade CME contracts.

I know that Donald did it and can see clearly that he’s having a successful career. However if he was to endure a string of losses in the very beginning of his career, the initial account size he had simply could not withstand the risk involved with trading contracts on the CME. A string of losses due to bad luck is very probable, for example during 2015 ~ 2019, the 5 years when the entire commodity sector lacked any profitable trends, most CTAs like Mulvaney Capital, Purple Valley Capital, Chesapeake Capital were going through some difficult times.

My current account size based on closed equity amount (realized equity), is somewhat similar to Donald’s initial account size. I myself currently trade commodity using CFD (contract for difference) brokers like “Pepperstone”, “Capital.com”, because CFDs are much smaller in terms of size, hence better for risk management for a small account size that I have. However, the problem with trading CFD is that I cannot establish a track record. I’ve taken a look at several hedge fund incubator programs and all of them suggest the need to trade CME contracts in order to build a track record.

In your opinion, would you say that my current thoughts on proper account size to trade CME contracts, is correct? If I’m correct, what would you say is the minimal amount of fund necessary to start an incubator hedge fund for building track record?

Thanks for reading my email.

Codey D.

Thank you for the nice note. However, there is no one answer I can promise. Things are done different ways. More here. I also help clients through my training.

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How can you move forward immediately to Trend Following profits? My books and my Flagship Course and Systems are trusted options by clients in 70+ countries.

Also jump in:

• Trend Following Podcast Guests
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Performance
• Research
• Markets to Trade
• Crisis Times
• Trading Technology
• About Us

Trend Following is for beginners, students and pros in all countries. This is not day trading 5-minute bars, prediction or analyzing fundamentals–it’s Trend Following.

Subscribe to Trend Following Radio on iTunes

Please enjoy my monologue Greyserman Redux with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio.

Listen to this episode:

• Listen to this podcast on iTunes. (Please leave a rating!)
• Listen on Spotify.
• Libysn RSS.
• Download as MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
• Free Video.

Feedback in:

Good afternoon!

Thank you for your kind note. I recently read The Complete TurtleTrader and started listening to your podcast, which I thoroughly enjoy. I especially appreciated the episodes with Richard Thaler and Daniel Kahneman—I’m an experimental psychologist, so I’m familiar with their academic work.

I began learning to trade just a few months ago and am trying to develop strategies that fit my circumstances. I have no prior market experience, having only contributed to retirement accounts managed by advisors, so I’m truly starting from the ground up. My goal now is to learn how to invest independently to achieve better returns. The biggest challenge is the steep learning curve, but I find trend following appealing since it allows me to trade without needing deep company or market research.

I’ve written a simple stock-screening algorithm in JavaScript based using the Turtle Trading rules and have started making some trades. So far it seems promising, though I do wonder whether it’s too late to learn to trade effectively at the age of 55, given I don’t have 20 years to master the craft.

Currently I focus on equities but am also considering commodities and crypto. I also wonder whether I should adhere to the original Turtle rules or whether the strategy has been modernized. I’m particularly interested in the exit rules used by current trend followers.

I truly appreciate your podcast and will continue to tune in. If you can recommend additional resources—such as online communities for learning and support—I’d be very grateful.

Kind Regards,
Ben

I can help on all fronts. Drop me an email. This is not about 20 years to learn. No way.

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How can you move forward immediately to Trend Following profits? My books and my Flagship Course and Systems are trusted options by clients in 70+ countries.

Also jump in:

• Trend Following Podcast Guests
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Performance
• Research
• Markets to Trade
• Crisis Times
• Trading Technology
• About Us

Trend Following is for beginners, students and pros in all countries. This is not day trading 5-minute bars, prediction or analyzing fundamentals–it’s Trend Following.

Feedback in:

Been following you for years, including purchasing of your books, including first editions. Have also subscribed to your online course. Funny I was listening to a guy named Tim Melvin, who used to be with Investors Alley but left to do his own thing with Substack. He does a lot of Bank stock analysis in other investing. However, recently he was going over his top 20 books for people to read for an investing or trading foundation. In the top 20 he put your book Trend Following. Just thought I’d let you know.

John P.

Thanks!

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How can you move forward immediately to Trend Following profits? My books and my Flagship Course and Systems are trusted options by clients in 70+ countries.

Also jump in:

• Trend Following Podcast Guests
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Performance
• Research
• Markets to Trade
• Crisis Times
• Trading Technology
• About Us

Trend Following is for beginners, students and pros in all countries. This is not day trading 5-minute bars, prediction or analyzing fundamentals–it’s Trend Following.