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Hi Michael Covel, First off, I want to thank you for all the great books, podcasts, and resources you’ve put out over the years, all have been engaging and eye opening for me to become more disciplined in my trading and in life in general. I am emailing you because of a question I had while reading through your book, Trend Following, 5th Edition, and am looking for either guidance to resources already put out or something that can be touched on. My question is pertaining to Richard Dennis and his early trading career at the MidAmerica Commodity Exchange. How did Richard Dennis manage risk while deploying very limited capital? From what I’ve read, he started with $400 which grew to $3,000 by 1971, and then to $100,000 by 1973, and then $500,000 by 1974. I find this time the most intriguing because it’s the time when mistakes are made and when solid trading rules/systems are adopted which allows them to achieve everything that comes after. Just thinking this through, did Richard Dennis have to take more risk compared to his total capital early on? Say instead of 2% it was 5%. I can’t imagine he came into trading with a solid foundation for managing risk, but maybe he’s the exception. This is something I find myself struggling with, and I’m sure others are as well, to employ in my own trading. I am currently taking a break from trading to build up capital and to try and find ways to consistently profit from the market and that’s when I found your book The Complete TurtleTrader and trend following. Well, 4 books later and hours of research you can label me a believer.

Anyways, thank you in advance for taking the time to respond, I really appreciate it!

Thanks,
Daylen S.

No great mystery. He was a young floor trader trading aggressively with an edge. Plus a Dollar then is not a Dollar today. Don’t get weighted down on a tangent.

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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.

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I keep thinking about the 2000, 2008 events that have scarred me and now I am frozen inane to consistently take bets in equities. I need to get out of this frozen. Help!

FAQs below. Start there.

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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.

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Michael, a very basic question: When a stock, etf., etc., moves to a positive trend but is overbought according to a Chaiken oscillator, should I wait for an oversold condition? I have a feeling you will tell me to ignore all other charts.

By the way, I listened to your podcast with Larry Hite and am almost finished with his book, The Rule. Great read. Thanks so much.

L. O.

You are welcome!

But what is a Chaiken oscillator? What is oversold? This is not trend following.

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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

My guest today is Marianne W. Lewis, a dean and professor of Management at the Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati. She previously served as dean of Cass (now Bayes) Business School at City, University of London, and as a Fulbright scholar. A thought leader in organizational paradoxes, she explores tensions and competing demands surrounding leadership and innovation.

The topic is her book Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

• Racial issues in America
• The value of diversity
• Meritocracy vs. diversity
• The paradox of rising expectations
• Current student generation
• Political polarization
• Cultural differences between people who are paradoxical thinkers
• The beauty of the Asian yin yang approach

Mentions & Resources:

• Marianne W. Lewis
• Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems
• George Floyd

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I currently have 3 possible strategies on daily and weekly timeframes programmed via ProRealTime: Donchian, Keltner or Bollinger. I would trade as many markets as possible. As an exit I would use an ATR (times 2.3) based on trailing stop loss. 0.5% of the capital is at risk per trade. And I’ve probably read everything Tom Basso has to say about position sizing or seen all the interviews on YouTube. I understand the concept behind it and find it plausible. The problem is: the backtesting results show that not all markets are as profitable with these strategies. But I also know that diversification is incredibly important. But should I diversify at all costs, even if the backtest data shows me that e.g. Coffee or Copper have always realized losses over the last 10 years? Or should I also accept that not every market is suitable for every strategy? What is your opinion on that? Thanks in advance.

Many greetings,
David

You have three strategies? Why is that exactly? Your current portfolio is? What does diversify at all costs mean? How you select a trend following tracking portfolio and how that portfolio is rebalanced every year is critical. You need rules.

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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:

Hi Michael,

My biggest challenge is I do not yet know of a profitable trend following system that can work for me on my IBKR accounts (especially commodity futures) and I continue to hunt for those who are better at this than I could ever be (including gauging if they can run the account for me.)

Kind regards,
Ravi B.

Your system and time frame now?

As I make progress with your 5th edition book, as well as my own research, I have a question for you. Out of Dunn, Mulvaney, Tulip Trends (Progressive Capital) & Campbell which one is more resilient and one that you would pick out? Not going to hold you to your answer but I am curious. I am keenly aware each TF fund has its own unique “edge” but you would know a whole lot better. My aim is to get on with a TF fund program by H1. (I am a non-resident national of India who lives in the Middle East – sharing for context.)

Public trend following funds share their performance and answer questions. There is no one size fits all. I don’t recommend one over another. That’s on you to decide.

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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.