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Aiming For The Moon!
We have all seen the various headlines, ads and marketing
hype.
"Use Japanese Candlesticks to spot reversals!" "Learn the
secrets of the Pros." "Learn when to take profits." "Learn
how to forecast reversals before they occur!"
The problem is that you cannot spot reversals or changes in trends until "after" they
have occurred. No one can, although many profess to be able to do so.
Those who profess to have the ability to call reversals and changes in trends "ahead
of time," also expect you to believe they have the ability to "predict" the future.
After well over 20 years of market timing experience, please take our word for
this... No one can predict, with any certainty or consistency, what the market
is going to do.
Of course with so many analysts making predictions on
a daily basis, someone will get a prediction right. But
doing it consistently is something else again.
No one can predict, with any consistency, the future.
All we can predict with any certainty is... the markets
will constantly change.
So if there is no way to predict what the markets are going to do, how do we
time the markets?
By trading the medium to long term trends that are inherent in free markets
and always will be. Based on hundreds of years of history, markets will usually
be in an up trend or in a down trend for sustained periods of time.
Look at any long term chart and it will be obvious.
That is a fact. From that fact, a winning strategy can
be created.
The Question Of Time Frame
How do we establish a trend has started?
Simply put, all we can depend on in the stock market is price. Price will change
either up or down. Change is constant. If price moves higher for a sustained
period of time, we are in an up trend. If price moves lower for a sustained
period of time, we are in a downtrend.
| "...trends
are easy to see on historical charts" |
The question of time frame quickly enters here as mutual
fund timers cannot, by definition, be day traders. So a change
in price to the upside, lasting several hours, while it may
be an up trend to a very short term oriented trader, is useless
for a fund timer.
The time frame for fund timers is in weeks and months, with an emphasis on "months."
There is no way around it. If a fund timer trades more frequently, he or she
will face a much larger percentage of losing trades because the markets change
so quickly from day to day that short term trends are much harder to trade.
But remember what we said previously... history shows that trends do occur
in the markets that last months and even years. In fact, the stock market is
trending in measurable medium to long term trends about 80% of the time.
Long term trends that are easy to see on historical charts. They can also be
traded with a high degree of profitability, over time, by using trend
trading strategies.
As Trend Traders We Aim For The Moon
Trend traders, as we at Fibtimer are, do not try to catch exact tops. Nor do
we try to catch exact bottoms.
We do not believe that anyone can.
Of course with hundreds of different opinions available at any time, someone
will always be lucky and call an exact bottom or top. The financial news media
is quick to go with the hype.
But try and do it over and over and over.
So how do trend traders know when a trend and begun?
The answer is... "after" it has started. Using prices, which are the only measurement
of the markets that can "always" be depended upon, we can create specific trading rules that
define when we are in a trend.
We could say that if the market rises a specific percent from a low, that we
are in an up trend. At that point, we can take a long, bullish position.
| "as trend timers
we aim for the moon. If a trend goes 200% we want to be on board it
from our entry point, right to the 200% point. We want it all." |
But when do we exit? Do we exit after we have a 10% return? Or maybe set a goal
of 20% and cross our fingers?
No... as trend timers we aim for the moon. If a trend goes 200% we want to be
on board it from our entry point, right to the 200% point. We want it all.
But, then how do we know when to exit? The answer is simple...
Going For The Home Run
We exit "after" the trend has ended, and not until then. That means we stay until "after" the
trend reverses.
When we start the trade, we go in looking for a home run. The sky is the limit.
We do not exit the trade until the market reverses and "prices" have moved far
enough in the "opposite" direction to tell us a "new" trend has likely started.
That means we usually don't get in or out at any exact bottom. It also means
we usually don't get in or out at any top. It means that sometimes we take small
losses when our requirement is met for a new trend, but the trend fails (and
they do... remember the 20% of the time when the markets are NOT in a trend).
But most importantly, it means we "never miss" any substantial trends, and we
ride every trend as far as it will take us! All identified trends are traded.
All of them.
This is where market timers make their big profits. They do go through occasional
boring sideways markets, but when the market does trend, they are "always" on
board for the majority of that trend.
By always going for the home run, trend traders, like baseball players, may have
some strike outs (small losses). But those strike outs are obliterated by the
home runs which we ride for all they are worth.
In the aggressive strategies, we make money in both up trends and down trends.
These are the strategies that score big during bear markets. But sometimes bear
markets are far apart... this is where our active and conservative strategies
do best. They go to cash (money market funds) during down trends.
And importantly in all our timing strategies, we cut our losses when a trend
does not follow through.
Great fortunes are made trading trends. It takes a strategy. It takes discipline
because you must stick to the strategy in all market conditions knowing that
no one knows when the next trend will start.
But by trading trends, you know that over time you will beat the markets and
be hugely profitable.
Recent articles from the FibTimer market timing services;
The Compulsive Impulsive Trader
Hope May Spring Eternal, But It Won't Make You Money
Handling Stock Market Hardballs
It's All In How You Play The Game
A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings...Chaos Theory And The Financial Markets
Money And Emotions
Trading Fears, We All Have Them. Part 2
Trading Fears, We All Have Them.
Market Timer, Know Yourself
Maintaining Discipline Easier Said Than Done
The Search For Overnight Riches
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© Copyright 1996-2011, Market Timing Strategies, Inc.,
All Rights Reserved.
FibTimer reports may not be redistributed without
permission.
Disclaimer: The financial markets are risky. Investing is
risky. Past performance does not guarantee future performance.
The foregoing has been prepared solely for informational
purposes and is not a solicitation, or an offer to buy or
sell any security. Opinions are based on historical research
and data believed reliable, but there is no guarantee that
future results will be profitable. |
