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Category: Trend Following

Know Thy Risk Factors

Posted on by Michael Covel

Sandy Brasher turned me onto a piece by Harry Long. Some of his article is off target, and a clear misunderstanding of trend following (“The most popular trend following system is the Golden Cross/Death Cross”), but his passage I liked to some degree (it’s not complete):

When examined in this light, it is not actually statistically interesting to determine if trend following is a holy grail. It is statistically interesting to understand that by engaging in trend following vs. buy-and-hold, one is quite literally exchanging one set of risks for another. Strategies are not about trading assets — they are about trading risk factors. And it appears that buy-and-hold risk factors are more widely held in portfolios than trend following risk factors. Markets have cruel methods for correcting such imbalances.

The key: what are those risk factors? That’s what is not complete.

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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.

S&P 500 Trading System

Posted on by Michael Covel

Feedback in:

Hi Michael…

Thank you for your comments on the S&P500 in podcast 271. Very good insight into the nature of the index and how it is used (or misused). As one of your guests said, buying and holding is like getting in a car with no brakes. I quote that to my clients frequently. When clients ask me what I think the market is going to do I always reply: “I have no clue what the market is going to do. But I know exactly what we are going to do in response to whatever the market does and that will make all the difference.” Once a client asked me, “Doesn’t the market just always go up?” I replied “Yes, the market always goes up. Sometimes.” This summer I made some road trips with my wife and daughter and I listened to about 2 dozen of the podcasts in the car. I am pleased that my 13-year old daughter got to absorb wisdom from the likes of Walter Williams and others. Your podcasts are a priceless gift to investors. An important benefit that I receive from them is confirmation that I am on the right track. Being a trend follower in a world brainwashed by Modern Portfolio Theory can be lonely. I have attached the first 20 months performance report from trading the S&P leveraged index funds using a trend following strategy.

Thanks for all you do.
[Name]

You are welcome.

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. 271: The S&P 500 Trading System with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Posted on by Michael Covel
The S&P 500 Trading System with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio
The S&P 500 Trading System with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Please enjoy my monologue The S&P 500 Trading System 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.

Play the Trend Following Game

Posted on by Michael Covel

Trend following trading is a game indeed, but it is terribly important to avoid becoming the game (a game I have explained in a multitude of ways). In general, think about the three types of players in any game:

• Those who know they are in the game.
• Those who do not know they are in the game.
• Those who do not know they are in the game and have become the game.

Within a half hour of playing any game, if you do not know the patsy, you are it. Said another way: You are the game. That is serious talk for the serious game of your financial health and wealth.

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.

Is This Time Different? Trend Following and Financial Crises

Posted on by Michael Covel

Informative read.

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. 270: Laurie Santos Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Posted on by Michael Covel
Laurie Santos
Laurie Santos

My guest today is Laurie Santos, a professor of psychology and cognitive sciences at Yale University. Her research explores the evolutionary origins of the human mind by comparing the cognitive abilities of human and non-human primates. Santos is able to look at monkeys and their behavior in markets and money, and see the similarities with humans.

The topic is cognitive abilities.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

  • Santos’ early “ah-ha” moments
  • Teaching monkeys about currencies
  • Whether the monkey economy is as irrational as ours
  • The endowment effect
  • How monkeys’ behavior in markets quantitatively matches human behavior
  • Whether some monkeys took to the experimental economy better than others
  • Mistakes and predictable errors
  • Why humans might be uniquely irrational when it comes to enjoying what we pay more for
  • Vernon Smith’s work
  • Relationships between Santos’ work and the financial crisis of 2008
  • Bubbles, monkeys, and Daniel Kahneman
  • The “G.I. Joe fallacy”
  • Why we have trouble accepting cognitive limitations rather than our biological limitations

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Ep. 267: Dennis Gartman Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Posted on by Michael Covel
Dennis Gartman
Dennis Gartman

My guest today is Dennis Gartman, the editor and publisher of The Gartman Letter. Gartman appears on CNBC, ROB-TV and Bloomberg television, discussing commodities and the capital markets, and speaks before various associations and trade groups around the world.

The topic is outside the box market perspectives.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

  • How Gartman first got started
  • Chicago trading in the late 70’s to the mid 80’s
  • Why you should never add to a losing position
  • Buying strength and selling weakness
  • Systems from Gartman’s perspective, and keeping your systems simple
  • Being patient with winning trades and impatient with losers
  • Gartman’s daily grind and process
  • Mass psychology, efficient markets, and behavioral economics
  • Gartman’s thoughts on the market today and geopolitical events
  • How we hear about geopolitical events today compared to the past

Listen to this episode:

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