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Category: Trend Following

Ep. 48: Michael Gibbons Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Posted on by Michael Covel

 

Michael Gibbons
Michael Gibbons

My guest today is Michael Gibbons, a market timer (otherwise known as a trend following trader) who runs a firm called Gibbons Trading. Gibbons started as an economics major and quickly realized that much of what he was taught in academia didn’t add up. He has been trading since 1971, and was one of the first to discover what is now known as stock index arbitrage. He was one of the first to use computerized trading and currently provides his proprietary research primarily to large traders and hedge funds.

The topic is Trend Following.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

  • How Gibbons started in the markets
  • The fallacies of buy & hold and fundamental analysis
  • Trading prices apart from everything else (and how this is close to playing the market like a video game, i.e. pong)
  • The problem of when the media is simply “making things up”
  • How trading can be primarily psychological
  • The problems of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) and academia
  • The benefits of having a trend following strategy during chaotic times; the danger of gurus
  • Separating your ego from your trading

Listen to this episode:

Jump in!

Trend Following Philosophy: Dedication and Belief

Posted on by Michael Covel

Feedback in:

Hi Michael,

Let me start by saying thanks for taking trend following to the masses. The podcasts are excellent. Listening to how successful system traders started out, most of them quite modestly, reinforces my discipline and “belief” (Van Tharp) in trend following. I’ve been committed to systems trading for about a year now. I had researched Trend Following online and ultimately ordered Trend Following and The Little Book. After reading those I never looked back.

I’m definitely not high net worth, so the best I can do to support your endeavor is buy your books (done, done, done & done) and watch Broke (also done). I also left a good podcast review on iTunes a while back. I like your no bullshit delivery. Saying stuff like “hey guys, buy my books already” is so refreshing (or genius marketing). I got a kick out of your “amazon purchase” challenge in a recent podcast. Ironically, I had ordered Commandments and TurtleTrader only a few days before which I look forward to reading.

I also promote your stuff to anyone who will listen but I must admit that finding an audience is not that easy. Example, I loaned Trend Following (my bad, should have gifted) to a friend who is a computer programmer and talks about investing a lot, thinking it would click for him. I was disappointed when he returned the book unread. I was also hoping he might work with me to tinker with system development and testing. So much for that.

I’m currently trading a group of fairly liquid ETFs listed on the TSX offered by Horizons. They have interesting leveraged products with exposure to basic commodities, sectors, and indices. Both directional and inverse which allow you to go short without getting stuck not being able to borrow shares. My system is very basic and I believe fairly robust. I’ve back tested it manually, incorporating proper position sizing across all the ETFs that I track (major work) and it showed positive returns.

I love that the trading component of my approach only requires 20 minutes a day adjusting orders and stops. This really fits my personality, mindset and schedule since I have a day job. I have yet to be profitable (equity curve attached), but I think the fact that I’m sticking with it is an indication that I get it. My diversification needs improvement so I’m considering Futures trading to get away from high-ish correlation of the ETFs I track. First, I need to get some trades (and equity) under my belt.

Anyway, keep the podcasts coming, but please find time to write new chapters to your “bible“.

Discovering trend following is reward enough and I just wanted to say thanks.

Cheers! Georges

Thanks!

More on the philosophy of 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.

Rickson Gracie, Malcolm Gladwell, The Turtles (Band) and the Pixies All to Make Trend Following Connections

Posted on by Michael Covel

Episode #22 of my monologue series is live on the podcast–listen on iTunes. Also:

Do I get some props for bringing Rickson Gracie, Malcolm Gladwell, The Turtles (Band; their biggest hit) and the Pixies into the same episode?

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.

10 Most Spectacular Speculations of Past 300 Years

Posted on by Michael Covel

More.

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.

“The overwhelming fact is that this thing that shouldn’t have worked has worked for 30 years.”

Posted on by Michael Covel

An excerpt:

To see how trend-followers aren’t all about rocket science, take one of the forefathers of today’s fund managers: Chicago-based trader Richard Dennis. In the 1980s, he made a bet with a rival that successful traders could be taught, that it wasn’t an innate talent. As part of the contest, Dennis taught a breed of traders he called ‘Turtles’ because he trained them to lock into specific market trends and ride them, just as turtles ride sea currents. What was important was to decide on a system and stick with it. The approach lends itself to computerized dealing, because in it, trades are often triggered by the dynamics of the market itself. A classic example is the moving average. Track the five-day moving average of a stock and, some traders believe, you should buy where it crosses above the 30-day average or sell when it falls below. Such ideas can be converted into an algorithm that tells a computer when and how to trade. The turtles’ edge, like trend-followers today, was in exploiting the reality that mainstream economic theory doesn’t allow for: financial markets don’t behave efficiently, but follow vogues and panics. “The overwhelming fact is that this thing that shouldn’t have worked has worked for 30 years,” said Harding over lunch at his local West London Italian restaurant. Computers don’t need to be persuaded to hold firm when the market turns against them.

Well stated.

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.

Funny How Cartoons Speak the Truth

Posted on by Michael Covel

Source: USA Today.

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.

Gil Morales on the Trend Following Podcast with Michael Covel

Posted on by Michael Covel

Gil Morales

Gil Morales appears on the podcast today: Listen now.

Morales book: Trade Like an O’Neil Disciple.

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.