Subscribe now and watch my free trend following VIDEO.

Ep. 18: Jack Schwager Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Jack Schwager
Jack Schwager

My guest today is Jack Schwager, an American trader and author. He is the author of the Market Wizard series. His books have remained relevant over the past 25 years, and for many traders they are the best trading books on the shelves today.

The topic is his book Hedge Fund Market Wizards.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

  • Some of the commonalities between the many traders Schwager has interviewed, and the lessons that can be gleaned from their diverse approaches
  • Schwager’s new book opens with a quote regarding the importance of even-mindedness from rock climber Alex Honnold
  • How topics seemingly unrelated to trading can contain relevant lessons
  • Many of the other traders profiled in Hedge Fund Market Wizards are discussed, including Ed Thorp, Steve Clark, Jaffray Woodriff, and Ray Dalio.
  • Schwager’s big takeaways from his interviews have been, and the lessons he’s learned from talking to some of the most successful traders in the game
  • How markets behave differently in different environments
  • The importance of asymmetric positive skew trades
  • How diversification is the “only free lunch on wall street”
  • How Schwager defines risk
  • The “gain to pain” ratio

Listen to this episode:

Jump in!

Ep. 16: Francisco Vaca Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Francisco Vaca
Francisco Vaca

My guest today is Francisco Vaca, the chairman, CEO, a principal trader for Vaca Capital Management, and a commodity trading advisor (CTA) established in 2000. Vaca began his career in the futures industry in 1996 as an executive researcher for C&D Commodities co-founded by Richard Dennis of “Turtles” fame. His responsibilities included the research and implementation of systematic trading strategies for the futures and equities markets. Dr. Vaca holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Chicago in addition to his undergraduate degrees in both physics and mathematics.

The topic is Trend Following.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

  • Bottom of the source of profits in the futures markets
  • Why people who are on the losing side of trades still play the game
  • Importance of diversification
  • Why you should take every signal you can

Listen to this episode:

Jump in!

Ep. 11: Tim Pickering Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Tim Pickering
Tim Pickering

My guest today is Tim Pickering, founder/president and lead portfolio manager of Auspice Capital. Pickering has over 15 years of commodity and financial trading experience. Prior to forming Auspice, Pickering was Vice President of Options Trading at Shell Trading Gas and Power in the Houston and Calgary offices. He began his career at TD Securities in Toronto in their elite trading development program and gained experience in a wide expanse of capital market products including foreign exchange, bonds, money markets and derivatives. Ultimately, Pickering held the Senior Trader position for the energy derivatives portfolio. He has extensive experience trading OTC and exchange traded options, futures, swaps and quantitative trend following systems.

The topic is Trend Following.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

  • Some of his beginnings
  • “Black boxes”
  • Indexing
  • Classical vs. “next generation” trend following

Listen to this episode:

Jump in!

Ep. 7: Mike Shannon Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon

My guests today are Michael Shannon and Jim Byers.

Shannon, an original Turtle trader trained by Richard Dennis. He was featured in Michael Covel’s The Complete TurtleTrader.

Byers is a trader and investor. In the 2006-2008 period, Byers started studying trend following; since then, he’s started a fund with his partner, Todd Miller.

The topics are the Turtle story and Trend Following.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

  • Shannon’s experience in the Turtle program with Richard Dennis and William Eckhardt
  • Historical insights and anecdotes regarding the legendary Turtle story
  • Shannon’s unlikely background
  • The personalities of Dennis and Eckhardt
  • Why Turtles with outsider backgrounds were generally more successful; and whether or not Dennis and Eckhardt were inspired by the film, “Trading Places”
  • How trend following can still be a winning game even if you aren’t right the majority of the time
  • More in depth “light bulb” moments that Byers has had since taking up trend following

Listen to this episode:

Jump in!

Ep. 5: Nick Radge Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Nick Radge
Nick Radge

My guest today is Nick Radge. Nick has been trading and investing since 1985. During this time Nick has worked for numerous international investment banks and spent time on the trading floor of the Sydney Futures Exchange. In 1998 Nick returned to Australia and started his own hedge fund and until 2005 he was an Associate Director at Macquarie Bank.

The topic is his book Unholy Grails – A New Road to Wealth.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

  • Nick’s beginnings
  • The analogy of hitchhiking to trading
  • The necessary emotional constitution needed to successfully stick with a trend following trading strategy
  • The popularity of algorithmic trading jargon
  • Risk management

Listen to this episode:

Jump in!

Ep. 3: Charles Faulkner Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Charles Faulkner
Charles Faulkner

My guest today is Charles Faulkner, a trader, mentor and author who has been featured in Jack Schwager’s “Market Wizards” series. Faulkner is an international expert on modeling the knowledge and performance of exceptional individuals, teams and organizations, and applying the latest research in cognitive neuroscience and linguistics.

The topic is trading psychology.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

  • Mental mapping, risk, expertise, the metaphor of trading to motorcycling, and how human nature and biology influence investment decisions

Listen to this episode:

Jump in!

Ep. 1: Mike Dever Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Michael Dever
Michael Dever

My guest today is Mike Dever, an American businessman, futures trader, entrepreneur, and author. Dever is the founder and CEO of Brandywine Asset Management, Inc., an investment management firm founded in 1982.

The topic is Trend Following.

Listen to this episode: