the trading room kicked in with another superb short term trade in the “maxpain” category today thanks to our most excellent market observer and trader Robert. It was interesting to see how different traders all applied their own rules for trading the position, with the mastermind effect providing some excellent insights for us all to […]
Month: September 2008
Profitable ETF Trading Strategies: Reversion to the Mean Trading Style
One of the time tested principles of market dynamics is the principle of the Reversion to the Mean. Over the long run, performance, volatility, price, relative strength: all of these measures mathematically require that periods of out-performance shall return to the mean. Naturally, this is not prediction, only an appreciation of how the math is performed. […]
Congressional malpractice: fire them now
While the Dow experiences its worst point drop ever, and the rest of the world is in absolute freefall, our Congress, led by the People’s House, are taking off 2 days to…wait for it…. celebrate the Jewish holidays! You can’t make this stuff up. Unbelievable. If they were doctors , you’d sue them for malpractice, […]
Profitable ETF Trading Techniques: Hedging your long term portfolios with ETFs
The long term advantages of a buy and hold strategy are well known, and well supported by scholarly research. However, there are some simple, effective things you can do during confirmed bear markets that can bring you peace of mind, protect your long term positions, secure your retirement, and protect you against the most visious […]
Profitable ETF Trading techniques: Pair Trading in Down Markets
In a nutshell, here is what pair trading is all about. You pick 2 trading instruments that you believe will continue to perform on a relative basis in the way they have been. Thsi means you think the stronger one will continue to be stronger, and the weaker one will still be weaker. A pair […]
Fear of failure? Failure is the state of nature; success is what’s surprising
Why do we fear failure? Why do so many things fail? What can we learn about failure that protects us from the shock of actual failure? Why do we persist as a species knowing the odds are stacked against us so badly in just about anything we do? I have been reading some commentary and […]
A reflection on Problem-solving vs Decision-making
I see an important distinction between problem-solving as a method and decision making as a process. I see problem solving as an important component of decision-making but I see this distinction: decision-making seems to be the ultimate act of convergent thinking as a prelude to action. I see problem-solving as an analytical or intuitive process […]
A moment of silent respect for one of the great ones: Paul Newman
One of the truly great ones has passed on. His like does not come around very often. There’s a lot to admire about about Paul Newman, not the least of it being his craftsmanship. His love of family, integrity, courage, and integrity are admirable. I hope he is in heaven chalking up his cue to […]
Responsible skepticism in action
maybe the best description of skepticism in action I have read lately, from Robert Burton, M.D. at Salon, describing the questions he’s ask of candidates for President and why. A longish quote, but it’s that good. …Ideally, …(t)he candidates would be given questions, including a variety of “thought experiments” for which they could not be […]
Military officers: superstitious?
A new blog friend, Konrad Talmont-Kaminski, a naturalist philosopher in Poland, shares an interest in bounded rationality. He is thinking hard about superstition and the question was posed to me: Given the connection between stress and superstition the army must be a good place to run tests. Do you think the military are among the […]