What does a trend follower do in a bear market?

[JSOP]

What does a trend follower do in a bear market?

Follow the trend? If it's a bear market, then go short. If the price keeps going down, chances are the dividends might be cut anyway.

If you REALLY don't want to let go of your investment, hedge or write calls to earn some income.

 

[Steve Ladd]

Many things wrong here. First, if you are long trend only, what is your defn of a trend? If defn is not met, then stay out. Second, using a percent loss has not basis in the real world. Why not use something based on price action. Third, if you are stopped out, what tells you a bull trend has resumed?

Define trend and calculate your stop loss however you want. That's not the point. The question is pertinent to the overall long-term market, right now. It fell in early February, rebounded for a month, and is falling again right now.

 

[hmcp]

inverse ETF would be in an up trend in a bear market

 

[lawrence-lugar]

Say I'm a long-only trend follower

Follow the trend

If only it were that easy....to follow the trend. Everyone would be millionaires. -- But how many people can claim that,

You have to truly dissect and understand your trade process from multiple viewpoints and angles.
Establish your goals and wants from the market...and make sure that's doable and jives with what you trade and how.

If you want to steal a million bucks...you wouldn't do that from a woman's clothing store.
You would most likely attempt that in a bank.
Now, that you've chose that basic winning decision...you have to further understand and refine your trading process, or prowess.

It's like diamond or uranium or oil exploration and refinement...it's a gradual, level process of progression.
If one step is missing or defective in your approach...you will have a gear missing from your clock. And just be going or reading time in broken circles.

As Morpheus would say...I can only show you the door, but you're the one that has to walk through it. Same applies to real-world trading and the market.
I am trying to free your mind, Neo.
ET 2018.

 

[Saltynuts]

Define trend and calculate your stop loss however you want. That's not the point. The question is pertinent to the overall long-term market, right now. It fell in early February, rebounded for a month, and is falling again right now.

Yes this is,a very pertinent question. its rough as heck being whipsawed.

 

[Jack1960]

Seriously, just become an elite trader. Then you do not need to worry about all this trivial stuff.

 

[JSOP]

Define trend and calculate your stop loss however you want. That's not the point. The question is pertinent to the overall long-term market, right now.

I think the first thing you need to determine is whether the market is trending or not. The title of your thread states: "What does a trend follower do in a bear market?" So it seems that you believe that the market is trending but in a downtrend, a bear market.

And then in this post, you are stating that

It fell in early February, rebounded for a month, and is falling again right now.

So it looks like you think there is no clearly defined trend because it's falling and rebounding and falling again. So which one is it? Is the market trending or not?

Market doesn't trend all the time. Sometimes it has a clearly defined trend like last year when it was clearly trending up but this year, the market could be in a side-way market but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's in a bear market just because there is no clear trend. You need to determine that whether the market is trending or non-trending because the trading strategy for a trending and side-way market is very different.

 

[Peter10]

if you are a long only investor, then you should stay out during a bear market. but a long/short investor will look to short sell during a bear market

 

[schweiz]

What does a trend follower do in a bear market?

Follow the downwards trends. Trends exist in two directions. What works going up should work going down too.

 

[nickynoes]

If only it were that easy....to follow the trend. Everyone would be millionaires. -- But how many people can claim that,

I would say that following the trend is easy. It is the fact that people try to make it more difficult for themselves by trying to pick tops and bottoms on the smallest time frames that makes it difficult. If you want to trade easily, look at the big timeframes, use larger stop losses and don’t over trade. Accept the fact that following trends in indices takes years. It’s not a quick rich scheme.