Category: Trend Following

Feedback in:

Hi Michael, I would probably say my biggest challenge is knowing exactly when to get out of a trade. I have lost a lot by not setting a stop loss on certain trades for fear of whipsaws and exogenous events. Seems like as soon as I sell the darn thing turns around and heads back up.

Probably also need to understand better which stocks to trade and which ones to leave alone so I know when to trade big and when not to. I am about down to trading MSFT and indexes for now.

Thanks so much,
Michael D.

That’s a description nothing like trend following. Why the monthly target?

My overall strategy is to swing trade pullbacks (especially from new highs) on uptrending etfs and stocks (see TROW). I have an Ameritrade account of 100K on which I target 3 to 5 percent a month and use Think or Swim to look at candlestick charts and determine support and resistance.

• I always chart a 20 SMA and a 50 SMA and only take trades above the 50.
• I look for the 20, 50 and 200 SMA to all be stacked positive
• Typical hold times are 3-4 days to 3-4 weeks
• Most trades are short puts 1 to 3 strikes OTM depending on my conviction
• Will buy put call options 1 strike in the money if overall market, sector and stock is bouncing up.
• I am willing to exit most or all of the position after a 10 to 25 percent move up.
• I check IBD and Vectorvest for stocks with good fundamentals.
• I also will also trade breakouts on good volume (see RNG)

I do have another account in which I try to find etfs and boring stocks that I can hold for longer periods with a trailing stop. Hope this was not too much information but I was not sure if you wanted specifics of my trading plan. Some of my favorite tickers right now are: MSFT, AAPL, CRM, AMD, LULU, PCTY, GPN, TDOC, SPY, XLK, TQQQ.

Many Thanks,
Michael

I would stop that. A different point of view 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.

Subscribe to Trend Following Radio on iTunes

My guest today is Tom Golisano, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, civic leader, and former owner of the Buffalo Sabres NHL team—is the founder and chairman of the Board of Paychex, Inc., headquartered in Rochester, New York, with more than 15,500 employees and 100 office locations nationwide. Still active in business and philanthropy, he currently mentors the entrepreneurs who run the businesses in which he has invested, and he also oversees his family’s charitable foundation. To date he has donated over $250 million to a wide range of charitable causes, including educational institutions, children’s hospitals, and especially organizations working with people who have developmental and intellectual disabilities.

The topic is his book Built, Not Born: A Self-Made Billionaire’s No-Nonsense Guide for Entrepreneurs.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

• Tested and proven, no-nonsense advice on how to navigate risk and succeed in all phases of business ownership

Mentions & Resources:

• Tom Golisano
• @ThomasGolisano

Listen to this episode:

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

Jump in!

Feedback:

Hello Michael, my name is Arian and I am a long time reader of your fantastic books on trend following trading. I have to say by biggest challenge currently is picking the best futures contracts to trade in terms of length to avoid having to continuously roll them over. I am currently trading 12-20 contracts to avoid getting out of position when the contract expires and having to re-enter the trend. I currently trade e-mini contracts and I am finding out that some commodities (mainly agriculturals and natural gas) just don’t get triggered on a buy or sell order placed in a 12-20 contract. I guess for some commodities it doesn’t make much sense to have such long term contracts. I have been trading for a few months but I have methodically followed a long term trend trading system that has a clear answer to all the important questions you mention in your trend following book. What do you think is the best solution in terms of contract expiration time for a long term trend following trader? Please keep writing those fantastic books they are lit candles in the dark caves of the trading world.

That’s not the issue IMO. Rollovers are normal. I help clients with rollovers, but I am concerned when I hear you say your goal is to pick markets in a way to avoid them. See FAQs and Markets.

---

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:

Michael,

My biggest challenge is trying to manage my family’s trust account while working a full time job and trying to follow the Biblical Responsible Investing method, where we don’t invest in anything that goes against our beliefs.

My goal is to grow the account safely with little screen time, but still either be at the stock market average or better, but still protect it against the corrections.

There are a few BRI ETF’s that I like and have traded options from time to time.

I also think it would be nice to have a shorter term trading method that I could use some of the cash in the trust to generate some shorter term profits and then reinvest those profits into more shares of the ETF’s I am holding. Not sure how realistic that is, but it would be nice.

I like just watching a few symbols at a time and investing in just a few at a time to keep things simple.

I enjoy watching the markets, but I don’t want to be obsessed or stressed out over watching the trust start losing money.

J.C.

The trend following start.

I would consider ditching your described strategy. There are better directions.

---

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:

As a full-time trader, my biggest and continuous challenge is to keep on improving my trend detection skills. I only want to trade trends but sometimes I’m either too early or too late in entering or exiting a trend. Therefore I’m always on the lookout for a better method…

Cordially, Bruno

Trend detection?

No.

You need this:

• Exact rules for selecting your tracking portfolio.
• Exact rules for entering your trades at the right time.
• Exact rules for exiting your trades with a loss.
• Exact rules for exiting your trades with a profit.
• Exact rules for how much money to bet on each trade.

---

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:

Hello Michael,

I would say that my biggest challenge that I face with my trading is… I am trying to hard to hit it big with one trade and I end up losing big. I don’t stick to my trading plan, I cut my winner’s way too soon, and hold on to my loser’s hoping for a turnaround, which as you know doesn’t happen. I am working hard to change these bad habits of mine, so I stopped trading for now and I am going back to the drawing board to regroup. Thank you for your time sir.

Anthony E. Jr.

Start here with my FAQs.

---

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 Dan Ferris, the editor of Extreme Value, a monthly investment advisory that focuses on some of the safest and yet most profitable stocks in the market: great businesses trading at steep discounts. And while Dan and Michael employ different investing strategies, their conversation today reveals much in common. Dan joined Stansberry Research in 2000. He became editor of Extreme Value in 2002. His strategy of finding safe, cheap, and profitable stocks has earned him a loyal following – as well as one of the most impressive track records in the industry.

The topic is Extreme Value.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

• Different Investing Strategies

Mentions & Resources:

• Dan Ferris

Listen to this episode:

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

Jump in!