Some great feedback came through the other other day:
It’s because of you my friend that I’ve come to know so many in the space. Thanks for your efforts.
His personal message to me (above) was followed by his newsletter to his clients:
In my career, I’ve had many mentors, some of which I’ve met and some not.
Tom Basso is one of these people, and I was fortunate to get to meet him last week where he was generous enough to give me over two hours of his time over lunch in Scottsdale. Tom is also getting added to the email list and may be able to contribute some wisdom from time to time.
Tom Basso trader is probably most known for being profiled in the bestseller, The New Market Wizards, where he was nicknamed “Mr. Serenity.”
The scope of our discussion was very broad… Tom left the money management business largely because of the frustration of working with clients who constantly made poor decisions that were rooted in fear and greed. Tom produced decades of double digit gains for clients on a very attractive risk-adjusted basis yet many never achieved these results because of emotions and performance chasing. As you know, I write on these subjects regularly because they matter that much.
One thing Tom mentioned that was particularly interesting was how at the later stages of his career (approximately 10 years ago) Tom put together a diversified program that was a combination of strategies, asset classes, and products (meaning futures, ETF’s, mutual funds, etc.). He said he himself was the largest customer and it seemed that many people just simply didn’t grasp the value. Regulatory restrictions about combining multiple products together (such as equities and futures) made it overly obstructive. This, in essence, is exactly what I’m trying to do with LCD (Lorintine Capital Diversified) as it mimics endowment level diversification.
The benefit of a multi-strategy single account is it doesn’t give you the opportunity to miss the forest through the trees and take from those who may be underperforming in the short term in favor of those who are currently performing best…essentially the process of buy HIGH and sell LOW where you should be doing the opposite. Tom mentioned how he had a client during the Black Monday crash of 1987 (largest single down day in history where the Dow lost over 22%) that he had set up one account as a stock portfolio and another account as a hedging portfolio where he would short equity futures based on his quantitative market measurements… The client ended up making money on Black Monday (about 1.5% from Tom’s memory) while of course the stock account was down significantly it was more than offset by the short futures account…The client ended up firing Tom as an equity manager because they couldn’t see past the losses in the stock account…yet if this would have been done collectively in one account they would have only seen the net gain (on the worst day in history where many traders went bankrupt). Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed much of this type of behavior in 2014 as some things never change.
This game is incredibly simple, yet not at all easy. It’s simple the same way that getting in shape or losing weight is – just get on almost any decent diet and work out consistently and you are almost guaranteed results… yet few have the discipline to do it day after day for the long term. Make it your goal in 2015 to follow your plan. If you don’t really have a plan it’s like not being able to spot the sucker at the poker table… because you’re it.
Listener: I would enjoy the opportunity to gain lots of experience in the world of trend following. I would like to explore the opportunity of offering my employment services free of charge to anyone (yourself included) who could benefit from the services of a young, ambitious, intelligent and entrepreneurial spirit. I need to change my family’s life. We are a young family of 5 with a 7, 2 and 5 month old. My wife and I have discussed this at length, and I am ready to put in 24 hr days anywhere in the world. I have been an entrepreneur all my life. I am not scared to work. I am willing to relocate if you would agree that any opportunity presenting itself warrants it, or work remotely on any endeavour where I can gain more knowledge and some first hand experience. I am sure this is not the first email of this type that you have received. But mark my words, I am willing to give my all to anyone who needs assistance and help them make a lot of money! I just want to learn this business and learn from the best players in the industry if possible. I am ready for this. I have been on the outside looking in for way too long. I want to make the leap but do not have the experience. I am available any time of day or night to discuss this in further detail if necessary. 2015 needs to be a fresh start for me and my family. I am ready to give my all to whomever could use a hard worker in their business.
Covel: You have gone through all of my books and all of my podcast? My first big question.
Listener: No I have not completed all of the books and podcasts as of yet. I am completing the books and will have to start the podcasts. Admittedly, I have only ever listened to one podcast in my whole life which was one in which you were a guest speaker and that was via YouTube. I will commit to reading all of the books and listening to all of the podcasts by Wednesday Jan 14th at midnight. I will email you with my progress by 9am est on Wed Jan 15th or sooner if I complete this task earlier.
Weeks later:
Listener: I am in the process of finishing the books and have a big task of listening to all of the podcasts now. Would you like for me to ensure I have listened to them all before re-contacting you? I apologize for being late as I stated I would email by 9am this morning.
Covel: Sure, but you will also have many answers then.
Listener: Not sure I follow what you have said. Sorry. I had originally contacted you asking if you had any ideas or opportunities for employment or for me to enter the field and then you had asked if I read the books and listened to the podcasts.
Covel: Exactly. Your question will go a long way to being answered if you follow my instructions.
My guest today is Dan Hill, a recognized authority on the role of emotions in consumer and employee behavior. He runs Sensory Logic, a scientific insights firm that analyzes consumers’ facial expressions to help companies better navigate consumers’ emotional decision-making processes.
The topic is consumer and employee behavior.
In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:
What a face coding expert is
The evolutionary aspect to face coding and the 43 muscles present in the face; emotional decision-making
How Hill found his way personally into this field
Why we feel before we think
Being hired by the Milwaukee Bucks
The importance of a smile in the heart of a champion
The difference between technical skill and the factors that Hill is looking for
The importance of having the right amount of happiness
Some of the limitations of facial coding
How technology is intertwined with facial coding
Why a personality like Richard Nixon may never be President again
The say/feel gap
Whether we can learn how to avoid negative facial expressions and emotions
A trading system based on the movement of human faces
Where we might see facial coding moving to in the future
Listen to this episode:
Listen to this podcast on iTunes. (Please leave a rating!)
My guest today is Mebane Faber, a noted author (The Ivy Portfolio), blogger, and portfolio manager with Cambria Investment Management. Faber is involved in many different areas of the market, extremely practical and pragmatic.
The topic is Trend Following.
In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:
The podcast medium
Trend following, buy & hold, and emotions
Anti-fragility
Ray Dalio, risk parity, and his strategies All Weather and Pure Alpha
Asset allocation as a buy and hold investor
Faber’s five ETF’s, and his factors for starting one
Deflation, inflation, Japan, why traders run out of the store when things are on sale
Value investing
What if governments didn’t meddle with markets
Listen to this episode:
Listen to this podcast on iTunes. (Please leave a rating!)
Just a quick one to say thanks for your podcast and your work. Just finished your book and have been listening to your podcast for about 6 months now. I’ve been studying in a share trading diploma here in Australia to get me started but as I’ve progressed I’ve noticed so many holes in the theories surrounding market timing in particular. I haven’t been content to just assume these methods work.
I’m a huge Oakland A’s fan and I’m a big sabermetrics guy. Trend Following looked like the most logical method of trading to me, but once you compared it to baseball it concreted it in my mind. It’s logical! You can’t argue a point (very well) with qualitative data. In my mind that applies to everything in life…. so why not trading?
Dear Mr. Covel, Thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my emails in the past. I admire you and what you do. Thank you for the wealth of education and the opportunity to dive deep into the world of trend following.
I would enjoy the opportunity to gain lots of experience in the world of trend following. I would like to explore the opportunity of offering my employment services free of charge to anyone (yourself included) who could benefit from the services of a young, ambitious, intelligent and entrepreneurial spirit.
My family’s life needs a change. We are a young family of 5 with a 7, 2 and 5 month old. My wife and I have discussed this at length, and I am ready to put in 24 hr days anywhere in the world. I have been an entrepreneur all my life. I am not scared to work. I am willing to relocate if you would agree that any opportunity presenting itself warrants it, or work remotely on any endeavour where I can gain more knowledge and some first hand experience.
I am sure this is not the first email of this type that you have received. But mark my words, I am willing to give my all to anyone who needs assistance and help them make a lot of money!
I am available any time of day or night to discuss this in further detail if necessary. 2015 needs to be a fresh start for me and my family. I am ready to give my all to whomever could use a hard worker in their business.
With Regards,
[Name]
Gone through all of my books and all of my podcast?
Lawrence Delevingne, CNBC and Trend Following with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio
Please enjoy my monologue Lawrence Delevingne, CNBC and Trend Following with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio. This episode may also include great outside guests from my archive.
Listen to this episode:
Listen to this podcast on iTunes. (Please leave a rating!)
