Frequently Asked Questions


Does "The System" work for day trading?

No, it is an end of day trading tool that was not designed to isolate the very short term imbalances that are needed for day trading. Day trading is not for the occasional trader or for the investor. It is a very intense process that requires the trader's undivided attention. Anything less will see the trader and his/her money quickly parted.

Can stocks, futures or options be used in place of mutual funds and ETFs?


Market correlation of the trading or investment vehicle is an important factor in the success of The System. Since the timing functions are based on the stock market, large deviations away from it would render the timing portion irrelevant.  

Stocks are affected by the market to some degree, but are primarily driven by other factors including company specific and industry specific events and perceptions. Futures and options are highly leveraged and have a time component that makes them less than ideal as trading vehicles in a trading system that is intermediate term oriented. Leveraged ETFs might be a better choice.

Mutual funds, including ETFs, are the preferred investment vehicle. They allow the trader or investor instant diversification, an important factor in the risk avoidance part of the trading model. Mutual funds are easily bought and sold with minimal to no transaction fees, as long as sales loads are avoided. Think of them as "baskets of stocks" that can be analyzed, charted  and compared to each other in the search for the optimum investment vehicle at any given point in time. Picking the right stocks takes a lot of time and research. Let the fund manager do that, we'll just pick the fund with the most potential.

Wouldn't I be better off using a trading system that was designed to use futures and options or even stocks over much shorter time horizons?


It is true that the shorter the time horizon and the higher the level of volatility, the greater the chance for maximum return. Short time horizons accommodate more frequent trades which can capitalize on the enhanced volatility of leveraged vehicles such as futures and options. The problem is that predictability declines dramatically as the time horizon shortens. The shorter the time focus, the greater the percentage of directional errors. The higher the leverage, the greater the penalty for those errors. Some traders can thrive in this type of environment, but the vast majority fail miserably.  

The key to maximizing long term investment and trading success is to optimize the risk vs reward relationship. The System is designed to do just that. By focusing on an intermediate term time horizon it can take advantage of good market predictability to minimize directional errors while still being able to accommodate frequent enough trades to enhance return. The selection component of The System can further enhance return by investing in the dominant areas of the market without necessarily increasing risk. Perhaps, one of the most important features is that it does not require the constant attention to the market that day trading requires. The System is intended to fit in with most lifestyles, which is an essential component of the success of any  program. It can't work if it is not used.

Does The System work with sector funds?

As long as the sector funds correlate reasonably well with the market they can be used. The more focused the sector fund is, the less correlation it will typically have. Technology funds usually work well, but a semiconductor fund probably would not be a good choice, because of a lower level of market correlation.  

Sector investing requires a shorter term focus that increases directional error and must rely on indicators that are less reliant on the general stock market. The trading rules become more complex and require a higher level of involvement that exceeds the levels intended for The System. We may consider releasing a sector model at some point in the future.

Can The System use a short strategy when the market is in a bear market?

At this time only a long strategy is used. Short selling, or buying mutual funds or ETFs that have a negative correlation to the market, is a very risky strategy.  Stocks are in a bull market two thirds of the time, so the odds are 2 to 1 that the market will rise. Taking a short position puts the trader at a 2 to 1 disadvantage. That being said, there is great opportunity in taking short positions during major bear markets. We may consider adding an optional short strategy to The System in the future.

Which is a better investment vehicle mutual funds or ETFs?

The System was originally designed to use actively managed equity mutual funds in a well rounded mutual fund family. The family concept was beneficial from the standpoint of providing a variety of funds that attempted to cover a wide variety of approaches with minimal overlap of styles. Having an active manager often was a short term benefit as they could overweight the fund with stocks that they felt would outperform. If they were right, odds are The System could pick up on it and  performance could be enhanced by selecting the dominant fund within the group. In the long run, from a buy and hold stand point (which history over the last decade has shown to be a poor way to build wealth), index funds tend to out perform their managed counterparts. ETFs are for the most part passively managed index funds.  

As time progressed, mutual funds began imposing excessive trading restrictions to the point where many of the good fund families are no longer a fit for The System. Unless mutual funds relax their trading restrictions, ETFs will probably become the preferred trading vehicle.

 

 

"Everything you need
to master the best
trading system, on or off
Wall St., is right here,
 at the click of a mouse."

You get the book, charting software & historical data, up to 95 years for some symbols.
 

The Kit

The book takes you step by step through our proprietary trading model

with easy to understand descriptions and illustrations. It's written so both the experienced trader and the novice can effectively master the trading system.

Annual Returns!


$10,000 invested in the NASDAQ Composite Index * 54 years ago became $140,951,000 with "The System". Without, it would have been $1,164,100!

  

Annual Returns

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Please note:
Investing in the stock market, either directly through stocks or indirectly through mutual funds, ETFs, and managed accounts has risks. The use of market timing techniques such as those employed in The System can significantly reduce the risks associated with stock market investments and provide greater opportunity for gain by leveraging the volatility inherent in stock portfolios and equity mutual funds. No matter how successful a trading system may be, it should not be assumed that past performance assures future results or that all trades will be profitable.