Typically, traders will apply various technical analysis indicators to the behavior of price of an instrument in order to find moments of advantage. Many times these are combined in systems of ever-increasing complexity and apparent sophistication. All of these concepts however are based off of direct behavior of price. That’s not the only way that […]
Tag: stocks
Profitable ETF trading strategies: the power of focus
I have a good friend who has been struggling for years to become a professional trader in the stock market. He is well-capitalized, smart, a quick learner, humble, energetic, self disciplined and passionate about his desire to be a full-time trader. And yet, after years and years of trial and error he has not made […]
Profitable ETF trading strategies: reflection theory and its implications on back testing
A simple explanation of reflection theory comes from the mathematical field of set theory and statistics. The theory can be made as complex as you want it to be, based on your interest in statistics and math, but the essence of it is intuitive and has some interesting insights for back testing your systems in […]
Profitable ETF trading strategies: the importance of the initial capital preservation stop
Chat rooms and discussion boards are filled with the talk of what to do about stops for active traders? This discussion can seems take on an almost religious fervor and I have never actually seen a single discussion thread where anyone’s mind was ever changed or consensus was ever reached. That probably relieves me of […]
Traders roundtable: how does position sizing compare to diversification as a risk management tool?
In a recent traders roundtable discussion, our talk came around to a discussion of two different risk management tools: position sizing and portfolio diversification. The question became: which one of these strategies is more effective? The discussion led us to quickly reframe that question into one which said “how do both of these strategies, and […]
Profitable ETF Trading Strategies: trade like Ted Williams hit baseballs
There is general agreement that Ted Williams was the greatest hitter in the entire history of baseball. He brought a science to the practice of hitting, a committment to the informed practice of his craft, a deep understanding of his strengths and weaknesses as a hitter. These combined with his natural physical ability to produce […]
Profitable ETF Trading Strategies: the best book on trading
A friend of mine who is seeking to develop his skills as an equity trader asked what book on trading he should read if there were only one. I started to think about the different masterpieces I have read and have applied in my own trading. There are masterpieces of fundamental analysis, of technical analysis, […]
Profitable ETF Trading Strategies: the power of stories
Trade like a storyteller We know from cognitive science and learning theory that humans are storytellers by both nature and nurture. Knowing this about how our brains are wired can help us in a couple interesting ways as lifelong traders and learners. Generally it is easier for most people to learn when the new information […]
Profitable ETF Trading Strategies: adapting to a changing market
The market goes through changes all the time, as market participants and their methods and objectives change through time. Sometimes trend following will dominate, sometime reversion to the mean trading will be effective, other times channel trading with strict profit targets will work. It is normal for traders to develop preferred methods of training, based […]
Profitable ETF Trading Strategies: paying attention to market pivot points
To extend the metaphor of “Trading is like Driving” a little further, you could think of the market’s pivot points to be like lanes on the highway. When you are driving on the Interstate or even just in town, the lane markers have come to take on an important meaning ion the minds of every […]