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“The biggest problem I have faced with my trading in the past has been position sizing and determining stop losses…”

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Mike,

Thank you for sending the link to the additional information and for taking the time to write Trend Following. It has been a pleasure reading it and I intend on recommending it to my friends and family.

The biggest problem I have faced with my trading in the past has been position sizing and determining stop losses. I have spent the past five years working through the concepts of fundamental analysis and applying them to my investing but I always ended up sizing my position based off a certain percentage of my portfolio divided by the current price of the shares being purchased. During the past five years, I have ridden through some fairly sizable draw downs on specific positions and have worked on trying to develop a system for positioning stop losses. This effort has resulted in me questioning if there was a better way to manage my portfolio.

I listened to your interview with Dan Ferris (Stansberry Investment Hour Podcast) and I realized that the ideas used by trend followers to determine risk and position size was definitely something I needed to learn more about. I purchased Trend Following after listening to that interview.

Thank you again!

You are welcome. Check out my FAQs too.


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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.

“I have found my biggest challenge is identifying trades myself…”

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Hi Michael,

Thank you for your prompt response.

As a novice trader who is currently putting together a relatively small stocks and shares [portfolio]. I have found my biggest challenge is identifying trades myself and not relying on tips from financial magazines.

I have been reading up recently on spreadbetting and CFD’s and have opened a demo account with an online broker. I came across the story of the Turtles and have read everything on your website. I have also just downloaded the book which I will start reading immediately. I am a very focused and disciplined person and I know that the system is something I would be able to follow. Ideally I would like to be in a position where I can be financially secure through trading.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Chris M.

Start here.


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.

Ep. 831: Kim Hellemans and Jim Davies Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Minding the Brain
Minding the Brain

Subscribe to Trend Following Radio on iTunes

My guests today are Kim Hellemans and Jim Davies.

Kim is a Senior Instructor in the Department of Neuroscience at Carleton University, where her research focused on understanding the biological basis of drug addiction.

Jim is an award-winning American/Canadian cognitive scientist, playwright, artist, and author. He is a professor at the Institute of Cognitive Science and the School of Computer Science at Carleton University, where he is the director of the Science of Imagination Laboratory. His research focuses on visual reasoning, analogy, and imagination.

The topic is their audio show called Minding the Brain.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

  • Jumping into all that is the mind

Mentions & Resources:

Listen to this episode:

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“Now that I have some experience (and loss) in the market, I’m rethinking my approach…”

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Hello Michael,

My name is Alfonso and I’m an Italian aspirant trader/student of the markets. I won’t make this too long, but just a little presentation.

My interest in trading begun 2 years ago, and since then it took my complete dedication, I even left my law university studies. Your Trend Following and TurtleTrader books were one of my first reading, and they stayed with me since then. Then I quickly went on money management, but spent most of my time trying technical stuff for entry, focusing everything in that.

Now that I have some experience (and loss) in the market, I’m rethinking my approach, trying to apply something that has proved to be profitable.

My studies were always in books, and I never really confronted a real trader, so I hope with this massage to get a sort of review of my strategy, to see if it can be classified as trend-following and make sense on the authors I studied

– Fundamental setup analysis with the Commitment of Trader report (L. Williams, S. Briese);
– Technical setup analysis with Market profile and auction theory (J. Dalton, P. Steidlmayer, (I also created some original indicators);
– Technical entry and trend following approach: Bill Williams techniques.
(in the future I’ll think in adding a cycling study (W. Wilder Delta) and a stock approach (L. Williams))

In essence with the first two analysis I’ll find the setup for the trend, that will be taken surely with the technical entry (essentially break-out entry), adding aggressively, trailing the stops; if wright we do money, if don’t we try the next time (1% total risk in every position, closer the stop bigger the position (the stop is one of the main thing in my studies, but not very literature on that)).

I’m sorry if the message wasn’t that short, it’ll be a dream if I’ll get a response.

Best luck and regards, Alfonso.

Yes a response!

But your strategy is trouble.

It just won’t work.

Start with Trend Following.


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.

“My biggest challenge is owning a trading system that I have enough confidence in…”

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Hi,

My biggest challenge is owning a trading system that I have enough confidence in that leaves me without intolerable mental discomfort. I was brought up to be very risk averse (i.e. no risk) and while I have adjusted to live a “risk managed” life at home and in my business I am still to take the final step and learn how to apply it to trading financial instruments.

I am comfortable with the idea of losses for it is no different to investing in say a marketing initiative for my business that doesn’t deliver the return expected.

However because I have never had a trading system that I am 100% confident in over the medium and long term, I am afraid of the spectre of losing consistently. Consequently my many dips into the market have always resulted in retreat.

I left a career as a futures and options broker in London in 2000 (I now own my own small community insurance broker) and ever since I have harboured a smouldering desire to prove to myself that I can indeed make a living from trading.

I plan to spend this year learning and developing a trading system so that a share of the profits of the insurance business can be invested into a trend following trading programme, rather than put it into a savings account that earns nothing!

Tom J.

A good place to start is here.


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.

“Then we entered the bear market. I have learned so much because of it too…”

Feedback in:

Hello Michael,

My name is Ryan and I’m 29 years old. I got “into the market” about 4 years ago when I went the Buffett route and bought some shares in a start up. The company is a gateway for influencers to find out their current rate and find advertisers that will work with them. Put $500 in and the company is still gojng but I have zero clue as to what they’re doing or how much my shares are worth.

Skip ahead two years and I FOMO’d into Bitcoin on December 17 2017. The day Buttcoin hit it’s all time high. Well luckily I didn’t really want Bitcoin but I wanted “the next bitcoin” so I split up $1000 and invested in Tron and Ripple off pure fundamentals and they took off. In 3 weeks $1000 was now $5000, I didn’t sell because I didn’t know how. I have been “trading” for a total of 3 weeks. I think I sold a week or two later and my portfolio was now worth $1500~.

Then we entered the bear market. I have learned so much because of it too. My first big lesson was easy, buy and hold is terrible and doesn’t work. The Crypto community has adopted “HODL” as a meme / serious suggestion. A drunk holder typed HOLD misspelled on reddit, it caught on and now people have lost all savings and continue to dump into shitcoins.

Fundamentals are stronger in Crypto but it’s clear bots are setup to purchase coins when the ticker is mentioned. It’s rigged.

Over the last two years I have read over 50 books on trading. The first book I read was Trend Following but the spirit of the Crypto Twitter crowd makes you want to trade trade trade! Never a dull moment. It’s very day tradey and panic stricken. So I avoid trend following for about a year and a half.

I tried Eliot wave. Fibonacci. Cup and Handles. It’s all bullshit!

When I got to The Turtle Traders, which I didn’t realize at the time that you had also written Trend Following, i got very inspired. I think we sometimes wait for life to give us permission to do something. I knew I could be a professional trade and the Turtle Traders were the confirmation that it doesn’t matter what your background is, if you have a passion for this and a willingness to learn you can do this.

Trend following is amazing and it’s really funny it took me so long to accept its awesomeness because, like Larry Hite, I’m a trend follower through and through. I don’t follow societies trends at all, actually I’m probably counter trend and constantly fight back against group mind think. But when someone is a shithead for 3 / 4 instances, chances are they’re a shithead and I’m just going to go on my own way. I have tried fish a few occasions and I’ve hated it, I’m not going to continue trying to catch the knife on my pallet changing and I’m just going to order anything other than fish. Short fish.

I’m an incredibly structured and rule based. I see a lot of things black and white and that’s helped me.

Here’s what’s tripping me out the most. What does your day to day look like?

I currently have a full time job and I put in as much money as I can into my portfolio. I balance it at least every two weeks when add into it. I look at it everyday but that’s just because I love to watch it move. If adjustments need to be made they will but currently it’s looking like I spend roughly 30 minutes a day looking at or adjusting the portfolio on average. One day, preferable yesterday, I would like to “retire” and just follow trends and explore the world more. In the event that I do get that luxury, is that what my day looks like? Make room for 30 minutes of checking for any “out of this world” moves in my current portfolio?

Sorry this was so long… I’m on episode 75 of your podcast and I have probably listened to the last 100 of the most recent so i kind of feel like I’ve been hanging out with you a lot but I haven’t told you about me. I guess I just did.

Thank you so much for all the content,
Ryan L.

Thanks for the great feedback.


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.

Ep. 830: Roll into 2020 with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Episode 830 Roll into 2020 with Michael Covel
Episode 830 Roll into 2020 with Michael Covel

Subscribe to Trend Following Radio on iTunes

Please enjoy my monologue Roll into 2020 with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio. This episode may also include great outside guests from my archive.

Listen to this episode:

Want to learn more Trend Following? Watch my video here.