Your best bet is to take 5 or 10k of your 50 and join a remote prop firm like echo trade or bright. No need to risk all 50k as the leverage from the prop firm will provide you with plenty of capital. They will teach you edges that are working now. Don't waste you money on courses, seminars etc. Learn directly from pros doing it now who have a vested interest in your longevity if not success. Good luck.
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Trend Following Research
- Thread starter Trend Following
- Start date
Your best bet is to take 5 or 10k of your 50 and join a remote prop firm like echo trade or bright. No need to risk all 50k as the leverage from the prop firm will provide you with plenty of capital. They will teach you edges that are working now. Don't waste you money on courses, seminars etc. Learn directly from pros doing it now who have a vested interest in your longevity if not success. Good luck.
Quote from Fishmonster123:
I'm new here. I'm looking for a message board where people talk about the specifics of what they do and when they do it. Thought this would be a logical place, but in scanning the last couple of years' worth of posts, it seems like it's really more of a place for people to engage in flame wars. The discussion seems to be whether trend following is/is not a good idea.
I'm already sold on the idea. That's why I'm here. But I'm far more interested in hearing about how small retail investors, with limited funds (50K in my case), get off the ground. What markets are you trading? How many markets are you trading? How did you come to those decisions? Where are you entering, and how did you come to those decisions? What kind of research are you doing? Where are you finding that research? Where are you setting your initial stops? Where are you exiting?
If no one wants talk about this, or if everyone feels protective of their proprietary secrets, or if someone wants to sell me their services, then I'll move on. But I thought I would throw it out there.
I am a trend trader who trades ETF's using leverage (up to 100%). I put my trades on Collective2 but my system there has been live only since July 28, 2010. Good luck trying to find successful trend traders who will tell you what they are doing. The development and execution of a good TF system isn't without significant effort so it isn't reasonable to expect system developers to give away their ideas if that is what you are hoping for. If I am wrong on this point, feel free to correct me.
There are a number of TF discussions on another forum that is based on a certain TF software package. Those discussions are based on trading over 100 futures markets. The problem with that is the discussions are based on how to code a system that backtests the best on far more markets than a retail trader is going to trade.
I would suggest that you try developing a TF system and after you have worked on it for a period of time, read both of Jack Schwager's books (Interviews with Market Wizards) and Michael Covel's book (Trend Following). In these books, you may get some great ideas from the interviews with some of the best TF traders ever but in my opinion you have to work on a TF system first in order to see the wisdom in the traders' comments.
Thanks. I am not new to trading or trend following (I read all the books several years ago). I've been an unsuccessful trader up to this point, but I think that mainly has to do with trying to trade short time frames. I'm becoming more and more convinced that trend following is the way. I've read every book out there, some several times. I feel like I'm getting conflicted messages.
On the one hand, there are people who trade 100 markets and have extensive research capacity. As you mention, other discussions here revolve around software platforms and automated systems.
But on the other hand, I'm being told by others, including Covel, that it is "simple". Not easy, mind you, but simple. And I get that. The concept is a simple concept to grasp. And I've read all the interviews with the great trend followers. They're great. I'm onboard.
I don't know how to code. I don't know how to backtest. I want to develop a system, but I will never be a "system developer" in the computer-programming sense.
I'm not lazy either, so I'm willing to put the work in. I'm starting small - choosing a few currency pairs, with very little money. And my hope is to work futures into the mix.
I will check out your trades on Collective2. Thanks for the response.
On the one hand, there are people who trade 100 markets and have extensive research capacity. As you mention, other discussions here revolve around software platforms and automated systems.
But on the other hand, I'm being told by others, including Covel, that it is "simple". Not easy, mind you, but simple. And I get that. The concept is a simple concept to grasp. And I've read all the interviews with the great trend followers. They're great. I'm onboard.
I don't know how to code. I don't know how to backtest. I want to develop a system, but I will never be a "system developer" in the computer-programming sense.
I'm not lazy either, so I'm willing to put the work in. I'm starting small - choosing a few currency pairs, with very little money. And my hope is to work futures into the mix.
I will check out your trades on Collective2. Thanks for the response.
Here is my two cents worth.
You will never know in advance which markets are going to provide the best returns in the current year. You will never know how well a given trade is going to perform in advance. Some of my ETF models perform poorly for years and then make up for that poor performance in a short time.
Given the above, I think it is imperative that you trade multiple asset classes. Investors who trade futures/forex generally have to trade many markets in order to generate reasonably smooth equity curves.
Trend trading is easy once you have models developed. Developing models that work as well as you want them to is the hard part.
Fred
You will never know in advance which markets are going to provide the best returns in the current year. You will never know how well a given trade is going to perform in advance. Some of my ETF models perform poorly for years and then make up for that poor performance in a short time.
Given the above, I think it is imperative that you trade multiple asset classes. Investors who trade futures/forex generally have to trade many markets in order to generate reasonably smooth equity curves.
Trend trading is easy once you have models developed. Developing models that work as well as you want them to is the hard part.
Fred
Quote from fjpenney:
Trend trading is easy once you have models developed. Developing models that work as well as you want them to is the hard part.
Wow, enlightenment.. http://bit.ly/fKfmSs
Hearing some positive midmonth Apr numbers... Chspk +1, Dunn +4, Grhm +1, Transtr +1, Wint +1.
Jez Liberty posts monthly and YTD returns for a number of TF funds on his blog. Here is a link to his most recent post of the returns: http://www.automated-trading-system.com/trend-following-wizards-february-2011/