Is Trend Following The Right System for You?

Thursday, 30. July 2009


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The strategy of trend following goes against the old Wall St.  Philosophy of buy low and sell high.  It takes merit of the market whether the present trend is up or down.  Traders using the trend following method begin trading after a trend is already established.  Other traders attempt to predict what the market will do, trend followers wait for the market to do it.  The size of the trading account and the volatility of the issue are the primary determining factors in how much to invest. 

Click here to see a trend following strategy that generated 48% return last year.

The systems that monitor trend following are pre programmed to exit if there is an unexpected downward turn to the trend.  The trader will wait and re-enter if the trend re-establishes itself.  The point of trend following is to follow the trend after it is established.

Price is the 1st rule of trend following.  Other indicators are not important, although they don’t seem to be entirely overlooked.  The second factor is the choice of how much to trade.  The timing is less vital than the amount of the trade.  Then there is the exit strategy.  When to get out if the trade is unprofitable or if the trade is profit-making.  Finally, you must set a stop loss for the maximum sufficient loss.

These traders use their software to test trades before investing.  The software can guage the risks against the potential benefits of the transaction.  The assorted factors relevant to the trade are programmed into the software and the trader makes his call based on the result of the test.

One difficulty with trend following is the impact that unanticipated events can have on the market.  Political upheavals, natural disasters and other events can effect the market in both negative and positive strategies.  When Hurricane Katrina cause massive damage to grease rigs and pipelines in New Orleans, the price of oil and petrol zoomed in the expectation of deficits.  Even though no severe shortages happened, stockholders and trend followers, in both the stockmarket and the commodities market, kept the price of oil raised for months after the event.   

By definition, all stock market investing is speculative.  Following trends is a specific method for taking advantage of highs and lows in the market and using them to your own advantage.  Unlike hot stocks, which involve holding stocks for extremely short periods, hours or days, trend following involves keeping stock for longer periods, though the basic principle is quite similar.  In trend following one might hold the stock for a week or a month depending on the trend. 

In the market there is no assured strategy for earning profits.  It’s a necessity to have a plan or you will certainly lose money.  Trend following should by one of several strategies you employ to maximise your gains and minimize your losses.

Learn how you can apply trend following to ETFs and generate great returns with low volatility.

Fast Profits With Hot Stocks

Tuesday, 28. July 2009

There is a new game in the stockmarket nowadays called hot stocks.  This goes against the normal Wall St.  Recommendation of buy low and sell high.  The new hot stocks strategy is to buy high and sell even higher.  The way it works is that you purchase stocks that are rising in price and sell them while they’re still rising.  The time between the buy and the sale is short. 

Find out what hot stocks are worth buying today.

Rather than purchasing undervalued stocks and waiting weeks or months for them to rise in worth, with the hot stocks approach, you buy stocks that are rising in value .  Instead of holding the stocks, you wait only a short while and sell them when their value is higher than the price you paid.  You turn a fast profit. 

This approach works very well for day traders.  You must have your finger on the market’s pulse.  When you see a stock that’s rising in price gradually, you purchase the stock.  Have a time limit set for holding the stock before you purchase.  You can even sell the stock the same day as you bought.   

If you chance to pick a stock that starts to stagnate or drop in price, sell it straight away, even if you have to take losses.  Never think the stock will recover and you’ll get your investment back.  If it drops lower you can lose even more.  The idea is to maximise your gains and keep your losses to a minimum. 

In many cases, you may sell the stock only hours after you purchased it.  To use this idea effectively, you have got to constantly observe your stock prices and keep on top of the market’s trends.  Hot stocks are a high risk gamble that occasionally does not pay off.  Learn from your losses and celebrate your gains.  If you can a profit on 2 stocks and lose on one, you are still before the game.   

Don’t put all your money into hot stocks.  This is just a method to earn a profit in the stock exchange.  Investors should have a portfolio with solid stocks from different areas of business to protect their investments.  Don’t neglect your long-term investments in favor of hot stocks.  Some of your profits from hot stocks should be put into long tern investments. 

The idea with hot stocks is to get in and get out.  Even if the stock continues to go up after you sell, it isn’t money out of your pocket.  Remember it might just have easily dropped and cost money.  Buy, watch the price and sell when you have a decent return on your investment.  Don’t be greedy.   

If you are paying a brokerage for your investments, hot stocks isn’t an option for you.  Brokerage charges can swiftly swallow your profits.  Look into online stock services that charge a set weekly or monthly charge for unlimited trades.  Trans action charges can be very pricey.  Let your brokerage firm handle your long term investments, look after your hot stocks yourself.  

The stockmarket is a way to grow your investments.  Hot stocks is one way to make reasonable profits in a short amount of time.  When investing your money always use more than one system and make sure that at least part of your money is in a safe, if low yield, financial instrument.  Never gamble on the market with money you cannot afford to lose.  Remember the old Wall St.  Saying” often you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.” Good luck!

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How to Make Money in a Down Stock Market

Thursday, 23. July 2009

 

One of the core questions my coaching clients have asked me over the past few months is: “Can I still make money in stocks with the market down like its been?” The answer is yes, or no, depending on the type of investments you have.

 

If you hold stocks, stock mutual funds, or your investment is in the standard asset allocation accounts the answer is probably no. This is because these investments are held in large, regulated accounts that don’t allow short stock positions. This means that if the stock market goes down over the next 3-5 years, the accounts will lose money every single year.

 

Short positions, however, will allow you to make money whether or not the market goes down. These types of investments are only available to companies and individuals who trade individual accounts.

 

If you trade through your individual account rather than a fund, it is possible to for you to take charge of your own investment and make money in the stock market almost every day. That way, despite whether a stock value increases or decreases, you can make money, buy buying or selling short, as applicable.

 

If it’s that easy, why isn’t everyone doing it? It does take an investment of about $25,000 to set up your individual account. Some people don’t have the funds, or are reluctant to risk it in an individual account. And, it is true that stock trading for a novice can be very challenging. You could lose all your investment fast if you aren’t sure what to do.

 

There are tactics to alleviate these two concerns of the novice trader.

 

First, find a trading program that gives you low risk trade picks. The system I and my students use has stock pickers with an average experience level of thirty one years. With such experienced pickers, a trader can follow their picks with a high probability that they will profit from the trade. And if you set your stops to tie in with your personal risk tolerance level, your loss over time will be minimal.

 

Secondly, it’s important to find a program that walks you through every step to success. For example, in my 9 day trading class the students learn every aspect of using a turnkey system that is both safe and profitable to buy and sell short stocks, so that you can make money even if the stock market goes down.

 

Regardless of the system you choose, if you make sure that it has experienced advisors and a program that walks you through every step of the way, you can be smiling all the way to the bank while everyone around you is moaning about the poor performing stock market.

 

To read about other lessons I learned in my fifteen years as a day trader and coach, as well as tips and techniques for becoming successful at stock trading, even in a bad economy, read my free report “From Video Junkie to Day Trader,” and learn more about how you could be trading stocks profitably in as little as two weeks.