Subscribe now and watch my free trend following VIDEO.

Tag: philosophy

Ep. 364: Simplicity Trumps Complexity with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Posted on by Michael Covel
Simplicity Trumps Complexity with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio
Simplicity Trumps Complexity with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Subscribe to Trend Following Radio on iTunes

Please enjoy my monologue Simplicity Trumps Complexity with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio. This episode may also include great outside guests from my archive.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio:

  • Why simple strategies are better than complex ones
  • The importance of defining your risk as a number
  • How risk and reward are two sides of the same coin
  • Why going for the average is a losing strategy
  • The difference between hiring a financial advisor and an trader

“Financially-engineered assets often fail to perform as their creators intended. Or they are ill-equipped to deal with unanticipated events.” – Ky Trand Ho (Forbes)

Mentions & Resources:

Listen to this episode:

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

Get the foundation to making money in up, down and *surprise markets on the Trend Following mailing list.

Have a question or comment about this episode? Post it below.

Ep. 362: Speculation Wins Today with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Posted on by Michael Covel
Speculation Wins Today with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio
Speculation Wins Today with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Subscribe to Trend Following Radio on iTunes

Please enjoy my monologue Speculation Wins Today with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio. This episode may also include great outside guests from my archive.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

  • Why speculation is such an important concept
  • The philosophy behind trend following
  • Watching results rather than causes
  • Cutting short your losses
  • Timeless excerpts from as early as the 1800s
  • The early beginnings of Wall Street

“Cut short your losses, let your profits run on.” – David Ricardo

Mentions & Resources:

Listen to this episode:

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

Rate and Review Trend Following Radio on iTunes

Get the foundation to making money in up, down and *surprise markets on the Trend Following mailing list.

Have a question or comment about this episode? Post it below. Such as is the Jeanne Levy Church foundation a con?

Teller Outlines Trend Following Philosophical Foundations (Though Not His Intent)

Posted on by Michael Covel

Teller writes:

The most important decision anyone makes in any situation is “Where do I put the dividing line between what’s in my head and what’s out there? Where does make-believe leave off and reality begin?” That’s the first job your intellect needs to do before you can act in the real world. If you can’t distinguish reality from make-believe—if you’re at a stoplight and you’re not sure whether the bus that’s coming toward your car is real or only in your head—you’re in big trouble. There aren’t many circumstances where this intellectual distinction isn’t critical.

It was not his intent, but what a great explanation for why trading price is so smart. He continues:

Let’s take what magicians call a force, where the magician gives you a false sense of free action by giving you an extremely controlled choice…When I go to the supermarket, I have a choice of dozens of kinds of cereals—all made by the same manufacturer of essentially the same ingredients. I have the gut impression of variety and freedom, but in the end, the only real choice I have is not to buy.

Mutual funds not really a choice? Left/right politicians not really a choice? Correct, not really a choice.

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.

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.