Strategy Articles

SystemTrader – Planning for Good Times and Bad – Risk vs Reward – Positions vs Cutoff (Premium)

Everyone has a trading plan until they go into drawdown. The Dual Momentum Rotation Strategies are off to a great start here in 2024. This is the easy part. Don’t forget that RISK is always lurking in the equity markets and this is something we must always take into account. There is no reward without risk.

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SystemTrader – Testing the Zweig Breadth Thrust using other Indexes – Adding Beta and Diversification to the Strategy (Premium)

Today’s report will put the Zweig Breadth Thrust indicators for the various indexes to the test. My default breadth index is the S&P 1500 because it covers all bases and represents a broad swath of the US stock market. We can also generate ZBT signals using

SystemTrader – Testing the Zweig Breadth Thrust using other Indexes – Adding Beta and Diversification to the Strategy (Premium) Read More »

SystemTrader – Zweig Breadth Thrust is Missing Something – Adding Nasdaq Stocks, Testing with an Exit Strategy (Parts 1&2 – Premium)

Today’s report features the Zweig Breadth Thrust, which was developed by the late, and great, Marty Zweig. We will show how it works and look at some recent signals. Despite a long history, the indicator is missing something and we will propose a modern day alternative.

SystemTrader – Zweig Breadth Thrust is Missing Something – Adding Nasdaq Stocks, Testing with an Exit Strategy (Parts 1&2 – Premium) Read More »

SystemTrader – Skip the Noise, Focus on the Signal, Effectively Use the 200-day SMA with $SPX & $NDX (Parts 1&2 – Premium)

The S&P 500 is battling the 200-day SMA with four crosses over the last eleven days. We are also seeing a rise in volatility as this market benchmark plunged 5.86% in nine days (18-27 October) and then surged 5.85% the last five days. With such conditions, it is a good time to step back and look for ways to filter the noise.

SystemTrader – Skip the Noise, Focus on the Signal, Effectively Use the 200-day SMA with $SPX & $NDX (Parts 1&2 – Premium) Read More »

System Trader – CBM Turns Negative, Stock Strategies Affected, Market Timing Mechanisms Improve Long-term Performance (Premium)

The Composite Breadth Model (CBM) turned negative on Monday (-1) and the weight of the evidence is now bearish for stocks. This development means risk in stocks is above average. Strategies that trade stocks and stock-based ETFs perform poorly when risk is above average

System Trader – CBM Turns Negative, Stock Strategies Affected, Market Timing Mechanisms Improve Long-term Performance (Premium) Read More »

Stock-Strategy: Trend Momentum Profit Target Strategy for Russell 1000 Stocks (Premium)

We are making progress. After a big hiccup on Thursday, I reworked the strategy and will cover the basics in this article. Here are some of the changes. First, the strategy trades stocks in the Russell 1000 to capture more beta. Second, I tightened the volatility filter by requiring the standard deviation to be below 50%. Third, I added price,

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Trend Composite – Understanding the Indicators, Aggregating Signals, Reducing Whipsaws, Catching Trends

This is the first article in a new strategy series that will extend over the next several weeks. We will start by defining the Trend Composite indicator and then work our way towards a systematic trading strategy. The strategy is based on signals from the Trend Composite.

Trend Composite – Understanding the Indicators, Aggregating Signals, Reducing Whipsaws, Catching Trends Read More »

Introduction to Trend-Following (revised) – Assumptions, Expectations, Indicators, Backtests and Conclusions – with video (Premium)

This article will dive into trend following. We will start by going over some key assumptions and expectations to consider when implementing a trend-following strategy. What are realistic Win Rates and Profit/Loss ratios? Attention then turns to selecting a timeframe suitable to trend-following. I will then explain 10 trend-following indicators

Introduction to Trend-Following (revised) – Assumptions, Expectations, Indicators, Backtests and Conclusions – with video (Premium) Read More »

Sector Breadth Models versus a Simple Trend Following Technique (Premium)

Sometimes what seems logical and helpful, is not and needs to be reconsidered. This is my conclusion with the sector breadth models. They are logical, and perhaps helpful at times, but they do not add value when it comes to timing trends in the sector SPDRs. A simple StochClose strategy performed better overall. This article will quantify signals for three breadth models using the sector SPDRs.

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Turn of the Month Strategy – Strong Long-term Performance, Beats Buy-Hold, Some Weak Months

The turn of the month shows a strong bullish bias with an extremely stable equity curve that really took off the last few years. This strategy, which is only invested 38% of the time, outperformed buy and hold with a higher Compound Annual Return. Overall, the eight day percentage change at the turn of the month is positive 68% of the time for SPY. Despite strong numbers overall, February is weakest month when testing over the last twenty years, and we just happen to be in February.

Turn of the Month Strategy – Strong Long-term Performance, Beats Buy-Hold, Some Weak Months Read More »

Picking Moving Average Combos that Adapt to Changing Environments – Comparing Daily, Weekly and Monthly Signals

This article will explore and backtest different moving average combinations on the S&P 500 SPDR over the last twenty years. Most moving average strategies work great when SPY trends, regardless of the period settings. However, SPY (aka, the market) does not always trend and trends are not uniform. Some are short and fast, while others are long and steady. This means we need moving averages that can best adapt to different environments.

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StochClose – Introduction to Indicator, Methodology, Charts and Ranking

StochClose is an indicator that quantifies trend direction and trend strength. It also removes volatility from the equation and levels the playing field for stocks and ETFs. As such, it offers a balanced approach to trend identification and relative chart strength. TrendInvestorPro uses this indicator on charts and in the ETF ranking tables. This article will explain the methodology, show chart examples and provide an example of the ranking table.

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Strategy – Putting the All Weather Portfolio through the Wringer after the Market Crash

For the third time in 20 years the stock market fell by more than 30%. As noted in the study of bear markets, the S&P 500 fell around 50% in 2002-2003 and 2008-2009. Folks are calling this a generational opportunity, but this is the third such opportunity in the last 30 years, which covers a generation.

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