Trend Following™ Systems

One-of-a-kind insights, techniques and algos give the opportunity for outsized returns.

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“If there was a strategy that I would want to employ right now, if someone put a gun to my head, I’d say simple trend following strategies. They are not too popular today… They will probably do very well in the next 5 to 10 years.”
–Paul Tudor Jones

• What is trend following? Some 200 years ago the economist David Ricardo’s imperative to “cut short your losses” and “let your profits run on” defined trend following. The legendary trader Jesse Livermore stated that the “big money was not in the individual fluctuations but in sizing up the entire market and its trend.” The most basic trend following strategy is going long markets that are going up and shorting those going down. More.
• Are the strategies taught in your training enough to help me start profiting? Yes. Everyone needs something when it comes to trend following. They either need a lot, a little, or reinforcement. Michael helps all levels.
• Is there an on boarding series of mandatory podcasts? The must listen episode. More critical episodes here.
• Who is trend following for? New traders, professionals, college students, investors who want to invest with trend following traders, traders who want to confirm or validate their systems, hedge fund managers, commodity trading advisors and prop traders, 401k, IRA and other retirement vehicles. For anyone who wants a true location independent, trade on a desert island trading profit-making opportunity. For anyone who wants to save time and get there faster.
• What are performance examples? For more than seven decades trend following traders have produced massive profits. Also see Michael’s books. Also see historical charts.
• Which markets do your trading strategies work well in? Stocks. Bonds. Interest Rates. Currencies. FX. Forex. Metals. Energies. Agriculturals. Softs. Meats. Futures. Commodities. ETFs. LEAPS Options. Mutual Funds. Cryptocurrencies. Read.
• Trend Following training appears expensive. Paying for trading education is far less expensive than losing a fortune with no trading plan. Consider it an investment in your future wealth.
• Do you have a guarantee? Yes.
• Is this fancy software and complicated algos? No. There is so much computing power available, so much data available, but the trend following rules can be explained on the back of a napkin. You will learn rules you can apply for potential profit ASAP. Can software help automate trend following strategies? Sure, but don’t let automation fool you. It starts with you and your rules. For example, one of the most accomplished trend following traders of the last 30 years, a man who has made billions, still tracks and automates with EXCEL. Nothing fancy. Full view on software.
• Do your courses come with recommendations? You will know all trades to take for all markets at all times. You won’t need ongoing ‘recommendations’ as you will have all Michael knows from the start. Michael’s trend following courses and systems give you the rules for your ongoing trade signals (what some might call recommendations).
• Is trend following black box system trading? This is not black box trading. All rules taught are fully disclosed.
• What is your background? Read.
• How did you learn trend following? Read.
• What are the origins of trend following? Read.
• When does trend following work? When markets trend–the short answer. You aim to extract profits from up, down and black swan markets (rare or surprise events), resulting in above-average returns. All course systems can be applied in a 100% systematic manner. Think of this like a machine:
• How detailed are your courses? Michael teaches an overall trend following education with exact trend following systems that can be applied immediately to your account. That means you will have: Exact rules for selecting your tracking portfolio. Exact rules for entering your trades at the right time. Exact rules for exiting your trades with a loss. Exact rules for exiting your trades with a profit. Exact rules for how much money to bet on each trade.
• Why give away a process that works? Michael enjoys teaching.
• What is the difference between your books and courses? The books are great resources filled with thousands of details, and they have helped many traders make money, but Michael’s courses are different. Questions come up. People need help. Personal instruction gives insights. Many proprietary trading systems are included (not in the books).
• Is trend trading only for America? Michael’s clients are in 70+ countries trading from Europe to Asia to the Middle East to South America to North America.
• Are your courses for the individual investor? Michael’s clients are individuals trading their own account. Many with no experience. Some have experience, but the wrong kind. Whether 21 and in college, age 30 working a job, or age 75 in retirement, you can learn trend following trading.
• Are your courses with systems for market professionals? Michael’s systems and training are also used by experienced traders worldwide. Hedge fund managers to CTAs to CFAs to CMTs brokers to financial advisers on every continent.
• How were your systems and training assembled? The great traders, along with their trading rules, are not easily accessed. It’s a very closed club. However, Michael has dedicated his career to assembling the best rules and lessons from those who know. He has spent the last 15 years on the inside learning from the greatest traders of our time. View mentors.
• Can your courses and systems be applied to shorter time frames like hourly or 4-hour charts? Does day trading work in conjunction with trend following? No. Day trading is fool’s gold. Michael’s systems and courses will be worth millions to you over a lifetime if you know deep in your bones that day trading is bullshit.
• Talk about the learning process for your clients? Read.
• What starting capital is needed? Read.
• Is trend following for retirement accounts? You can trade trend following methods in retirement accounts, i.e., 401ks, IRAs, Keoghs, Seps, etc.
• Trend following works on stocks? Yes. Trend following is not market specific. For example, today trend following traders can trade ETFs and get exposure to stock and commodities markets without having to trade futures. You will learn the best option for your situation.
• Is trend following risky? Life is risky. You can get hit crossing the street. However, if you have a concrete plan, risk is managed.
• Do university classes teach trend following? No. Many of the greatest traders had little to no experience trend trading before starting. Trend following legend John W. Henry (owner of Boston Red Sox and Liverpool Football) did not have a college degree.
• Speak to behavioral biases. Trend following handles the biases:
• How much math is involved for success? The basics: add, subtract, multiply, divide.
• Do trend followers watch screens during market hours? No. For example, some only trade once a week using weekly bars. Most use daily bars. There is 0 need to watch the screen during market hours.
• How much time is required to trade as a trend following trader? You can spend a minute or two per market each day. For example, you check prices in the evening, then with one trade in the morning, you place or change any orders in accordance with rules. Michael’s trend following trading systems use daily data to determine buy and sell signals. Orders can be placed before the market opens and do not need hourly monitoring. Most top traders manage their trades in 10 to 30 minutes per day. Trend follower Richard Donchian: “If you trade on a definite trend-following loss limiting-method, you can trade without taking a great deal of time from your regular business day. Since action is taken only when certain evidence is registered, you can spend a minute or two per [market] in the evening checking up on whether action-taking evidence is apparent, and then in one telephone call in the morning place or change any orders in accord with what is indicated. [Furthermore] a definite method, which at all times includes precise criteria for closing out one’s losing trades promptly, avoids…emotionally unnerving indecision.”
• Can your trend following strategies be automated? Read.
• Why is money management needed? Money management, or position sizing, is a mission critical component of trend following trading success.
• Are markets different now? Have they changed? No. Markets are always the same because they always change. Trend following trading adapts to constant change. That’s the way to look at it. If someone says markets have changed, reach your wallet. You are about to be picked. Alan Watts the philosopher makes the case for how trend following responds to constant change: “If, when swimming, you are caught in a strong current, it is fatal to resist. You must swim with it and gradually edge to the side. One who falls from a height with stiff limbs will break them, but if he relaxes like a cat he will fall safely. A building without give in its structure will easily collapse in a storm or earthquake.”
• Is 24-hour news needed? You don’t need real-time data or news. You don’t need news at all.
• Once training is completed is a broker or financial adviser needed for advice? No.
• What do you think of chart reading, candles, Gann, trend lines, Fibonacci and Elliott Wave? Bullshit. Junk science. Waste of time.
• What monthly expenses are needed? You need money to trade and daily price data (about $20-50/month).
• Do you explain exactly the markets to trade and why? Diversification across markets is part of the process. Trend following exposure to many markets allows profits to cover losses. Big moves, and the profits from those, offset small losses across a diversified portfolio. You can trade those types of markets via ETFs, LEAPs and or futures.
• Are chart techniques used to pick entry levels, exit levels and where to place stop levels? Do you teach a one-size-fits-all method of level picking or do you tailor it to the individual? No chart techniques are used, but you will know exactly your entry, exit and where to place stops. The rules taught can be tailored.
• Speak to non-USA markets. Trend following is for all markets, all countries. Michael’s clients are in 70 plus countries.
• Do your rules help to profit during crashes and tail events? Yes. Making money from black swans, surprises, tail events and crashes is core to trend following success.
• Is it really possible to compete against the big funds? Yes, but this is not about competition. The big funds don’t stop little guys from trading. The idea that big traders block small traders is nonsense. Think about this: smaller traders can trade markets larger traders can’t.
• Are too many trading as trend following traders? The amount of money in trend following methods is tiny by comparison to the money stuck in buy and hold mutual funds. The opportunity for trend following success is massive.
• What are your main criteria to identify a trend? In trend following you don’t do that. In trend following you take entry signals and have exit signals. Anyone saying they can spot or predict trends in real time is incorrect.
• Is trend following a full-time job? It is a big commitment? I’d like to know if it can be done part time? You can be part-time. This is not day trading. You can trade using daily or weekly closing prices. No other strategy allows this.
• The podcasts are very educational. I have only listened to about 80 of them and while I enjoy them enormously, they mostly dive into the human nature. Do I need to buy Michael’s entire course to be able to understand trend trading? Michael gives away a ton of free resources, but if you want to go fast and take advantage of his best work his courses are the quickest bet.
• What makes your system and course different? Michael’s training is not a commodity. You can only receive it here. Review Michael’s books and podcast.
• More frequently asked questions: Read: here, here, here.