Trend Following With Michael Covel

On today’s episode of Trend Following Radio, Michael Covel opens the conversation by taking a look at the concept of faith, and how it has no place in the trading world. In trading, logic and reason trump faith. If you can’t “grow” up and use reason to gather information and form strategy, Michael notes, then you have no place at the “adult” table. Next, Michael outlines core decision-making precepts. Sometimes making the right move means going against your instincts, and it’s at these times that you need to force yourself to make a decision – even if it means quitting. People tend to equate quitting with failure when the truth, as Michael points out, is that sometimes quitting is what keeps you in the game. This line of thinking is again linked to logic rather than faith – the erroneous faith that if you necessarily stick it out (i.e. a losing trade in the markets) success will follow. Other topics covered in this episode touch on how financial advisors primarily exist to push mutual funds and buy and hold o

Today on Trend Following Radio Michael Covel talks with author and startup entrepreneur Gabriel Weinberg about the concept of traction. Gabriel points out that in the business world traction is about far more than simply getting a grip and hanging in there – it’s about then moving forward, ultimately toward a defined goal (customers). Just like a trend following trader that uses quantitative methods to invest scientifically, Gabriel relies on numbers and hard data to inform him about which marketing channels are working and which should be focused on, and which are less effective and should be dropped. The result is a streamlined marketing approach that’s allowed Gabriel, a self-published author, to sell upwards of 35,000 copies of his book. Michael and Gabriel also talk about how psychology factors into startup entrepreneurship. For anyone investing their time and energy into a project, both passion and resiliency are paramount. If you aren’t passionate about the work you’re doing, and if you don’t genuinely

Today on Trend Following Radio, Michael Covel takes time out to highlight the fact that trend following isn’t simply about trading. From gamblers to pharmaceutical executives to those in the film and music industries, trend following is a strategy rooted in human nature itself. As an example, Michael examines the success of film producer Jason Blum. In direct opposition to the Hollywood mantra of Spend! Spend! Spend!, Blum has chosen another path. Blum, recognizing that big budgets don’t necessarily mean big profits, developed a filmmaking system based on low budget projects. Blum fully understands that close to half of his films will flop. But he also understands that a handful of box office successes will more than cover those losses. This is the essence of trend following. Michael goes on to quote from a 2005 article by best-selling author Michael Crichton. Crichton, talking about the then-burgeoning field of futurism, explains that these so-called futurists don’t actually know any more about the future th

This time on Trend Following Radio, Michael Covel talks with Paul Slovic. Paul is president of Decision Research and a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, and today he talks with Michael about the science behind risk perception. To demonstrate how people tend to conflate actual risk with their perceptions of risk, Michael and Paul discuss a topic that’s always been a hot button issue in the public consciousness, nuclear power. In the early days of this industry, people were rightfully concerned with the possible mismanagement of such a potentially dangerous technology – concerns seemingly crystallized by the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979. Similar concerns continue to be raised today, particularly in light of the Fukushima disaster of 2011. But as Paul explains, neither of these tragedies can completely outweigh the obvious benefits of nuclear power. It’s a case of risk perception to overcome the actual risk posed. The conversation also focuses on the role of the media in influ

On today’s show, Michael Covel talks about decision-making, and how too often people allow the "rules" of others to dictate the actions they take. This, as Michael explains, is indicative of the politically correct culture that’s taken root in all of society. What are we to think when wildly successful comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K, and Chris Rock flat-out refuse to play college campuses because of the close-minded, irrationally sensitive nature of today’s student bodies? How have we arrived at a place where anything less than absolute conformity to preselected attitudes and beliefs means running the risk of being labeled "something"? Racist? Homophobic? Sexist? The list goes on. What’s worse, as Michael points out, is that this culture of victim-hood has many feeling they’re entitled to certain things simply because they "exist". These are the people who blindly accept societal rules, rather than analyze and develop proper strategy. Good decision-making, whether in trading or everyday life, mea

Today on Trend Following Radio Michael Covel talks with Lawrence McMillan of McMillan Analysis Corporation. The topic of discussion is options, their value in terms of overall strategy, and how their trading has evolved over the preceding decades.The conversation opens with Lawrence talking about his days at historic Bell Labs – a research company founded in the 19th century by Alexander Graham Bell – and the initial difficulty in working with options due to their complicated nature and the level of technology required. Later, Michael asks Lawrence to talk about the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) and how, since the subprime crisis of 2008, many are looking at the VIX as long-term insurance for the future. One of the problems with that strategy, as Lawrence points out, is that many people fail to take into account that VIX only measures market expectations for the next 30 days.Also discussed today are leverage as a financial tool and the concept of the black swan – unforeseen events that have a major impact, but

On today’s show Michael Covel examines the duplicitous nature of the mainstream financial media, how its talking heads insist on pretending they can predict the future, and how even its most respected publications promote seemingly opposing ideas. To emphasize his point, Michael opens the discussion by talking about the publication process for his first book, Trend Following. After being passed on by one publisher, he was eventually signed by the publishing side of the Financial Times conglomerate. The same FT, as Michael points out, that’s been trashing trend following for decades. And nothing has changed. Michael reads from a September 2015 FT article in which author Stephen Foley gives trend following the traditional mainstream bashing we’ve come to except. But in the same issue, FT conducts an interview with Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller, in which Shiller says, he sees a massive stock market bubble – the kind of thing trend following has repeatedly proven to be best-equipped to handle. In t

On today’s show Michael Covel talks with memory expert and Memrise co-founder Ben Whately. Not surprisingly, central to the discussion is memory and how the human brain interprets and processes information. When we think of fond memories, we often see events from someone else’s point of view. Ben explains that this is because in addition to our own personal recollections, we have also encountered alternate perspectives of the event through such devices as photos or home movies. Our brain mashes the imagery together and produces a composite image – a memory. Michael and Ben talk about how humanity’s view on memory throughout time has always been a reflection of the best technology of the era. This leads to one of Ben’s favorite subjects, language. According to Ben, the way language is taught today – rote memorization – is completely wrong. Language is best learned by immersing yourself in the culture of the people who speak it. Take his memory lessons throughout this episode and apply them tomorrow. In this ep

On today’s show, Michael Covel talks about how people that are ahead of the curve often find themselves isolated – even ridiculed – by those who don’t yet get it. This, as Michael points out, is certainly true for trend following traders, and some of the sharpest push back comes from the talking heads of the media. To emphasize his point, Michael plays clips from an interview between CNBC’s Joe Kernen and Graham Capital’s Ken Tropin, a highly successful trader who heavily incorporates trend following techniques into his overall strategy. To Michael, of utmost significance in the two men’s exchange, is the fact that Kernen bumbles through the interview wholly unprepared (either via incompetence or on purpose). Kernen didn’t respect Tropin or his strategy enough to do even the most basic homework beforehand. Michael’s discussion then moves on to the topic of uncertainty. In direct opposition to media personalities, that are paid to pretend to know what the market will do, trend following traders embrace the kno

Today’s guest is prolific author, mathematician and entrepreneur John Casti. John talks with Michael Covel about social mood, and how ultimately the events that urge populations to move in one direction or another are largely unpredictable. John discusses the concept of socionomics – the idea that the collective beliefs of a society about its future will influence the kinds of social events to occur in that future. And while these triggers, which John refers to as X-events, can’t be predicted, John explains that they can absolutely be prepared for by understanding the greater social context of the region. As an example, John cites the so-called Arab Spring. As he points out, no one could have predicted the single event that moved millions in the Arab World to take to the streets in protest. But it wasn’t hard to see that the region had long been primed for something big. Charles Faulkner recommended John as a guest (even though he only knew his work). Good tip from Charles! In this episode of Trend Following

On today’s show Michael Covel vents some of the frustration he’s been feeling over the past few weeks. Central to his discussion is the idea of failure, and how the vast majority of people are unable – or unwilling – to accept how vital it is to overall long-term success. Michael opens by pointing out that most people today seem to be under the delusion that someone will always be there to take care of them. This, as Michael explains, is by design. Government and the talking heads of the media want the average citizen to be soft, dependent, and unwilling to take risks. Safety and security, according to the official line, should be valued above all else (even if it is all an illusion). But this line of thinking doesn’t account for the truly successful of the world. Those who’ve risked everything and succeeded – specifically because they failed and learned from their mistakes. Success requires tenacity and dedication, but neither are required if you don’t take a risk in the first place. Because if you never tak

Today’s guest is author, entrepreneur and professional poker player Annie Duke. Michael Covel and Annie Duke discuss several of the countless ways in which the psychology of gambling overlaps with that of trading, investment and other aspects of business. Annie explains the importance of thinking probabilistically for decision-makers. Gamblers, like investors, can sometimes become so focused on their losses that it begins to affect their decision-making process in a negative way. Annie calls this “tilt” and says it occurs when players put too much emphasis on outcome. She points out that so long as you are getting an overall return on your investment via a positive expectation, small losses should be both expected and absorbed. Michael and Annie also discuss further in depth expectancy and how the top minds in both trading and gambling think about the long-term. When involved with risk, it is always important to think realistically. If there is a 90% chance of success, don’t round it up to 100% simply to boos

Human beings have a strange habit of trusting other humans, even when the trust isn’t warranted. Everywhere in mainstream media, statistics are used and misused to convey an agenda. All too often, people ignore the agenda and buy into this engineered information. To be successful, both in life and in trading, a person must move beyond this behavior. You need to be a skeptic. You can’t put blind faith into a system that doesn’t make its agenda clear. You probably shouldn’t trust it even if the agenda does seem clear. This is just as true when considering pollsters like Frank Luntz as it is when listening to the sales pitches of discretionary traders on Wall Street. In today’s episode Michael Covel discusses the biases we have as human beings that lead us to poor investing decisions. Most notably, it is a bias that prevents us from trusting algorithmic trading, even when a human alternative is demonstrably worse. Through entertaining and insightful clips, Michael demonstrates why algorithms deserve our trust: t

Today’s guest is Mark Sleeman of MS Capital Management. Mark is a self-taught trend following trader who’s been trading since the late 80s. Michael Covel asks Mark about the road that led him to trend following and his early experiences as an trader. Mark talks about how, in the beginning, he was only looking for a way to make money. But with his engineering background, when he happened upon systems trading, everything fell into place. So confident was Mark in both his system and his own abilities, in fact, that he was willing to sell his house to get started (to raise trading capital). Mark points out that investing based on “bottoms and tops” alone is pointless since no one can predict where the market will turn. The key to smart investing is a diversified portfolio that can sustain small losses long enough to catch those big wins. Trend following is the only proven system with decades of empirical data to back it up, and it’s the only way to trade if you want to become a long term survivor. Other areas of

Today, Michael Covel reads a recent piece from Barry Ritholtz about the Death Cross: that foreboding moment when the 50 day MA falls below the 200 day MA. Then Michael looks at how a Twitter debate between Cliff Asness of AQR and Jerry Parker of Chesapeake Capital, sparked by the article, led to an examination of momentum v. trend following.The so-called Death Cross is viewed by many to be an omen, a signal of dark days to come. And while that could be partly correct in the context of a complete system, the Death Cross is just a signal. It’s a mistake to think of it in apocalyptic terms that something will happen in 6 months time, etc. The Death Cross is the type of signal that can work for the investor with a robust, diversified portfolio within a system that doesn’t aim to predict the future. This is all about what’s happening in the present price, so you can take action now.Michael also plays and comments on a Bloomberg interview with Barry Ritholtz, discusses the folly of predictive technical analysis, an

Today’s guest is Lasse Pedersen, finance professor at Copenhagen Business School, principal at AQR Capital Management, and author of the new book “Efficiently Inefficient”. Pedersen earned his Ph.D. in finance from Stanford University and has over a decade of experience in the industry. The conversation opens with an examination of the two opposing views on how markets operate. One view holds that markets are fully efficient and reflect real values, while the other contends that market prices are inefficient and tied more to investors’ emotions than anything else. Pedersen discusses his own interpretation — that markets are neither fully efficient nor fully inefficient, but rather a combination of the two — and that it’s this equilibrium that provides the stability needed for investors to make gains. Michael Covel and Lasse Pedersen discuss the commonalities in the varied strategies of some of the most successful investors in the world, many of whom are interviewed in Lasse’s new book. One such commonality wi

Many that aspire to be successful investors or traders look up to Warren Buffett as a role model. Yet the chances of anyone amassing that wealth by following the same path as Buffett are extremely unlikely. Debating survivorship bias seems perfectly appropriate, but that's never broached.On the other hand, becoming the next Bill Dunn or Ed Seykota (or fill in the blank with the name of any trend follower) has much more possibility. In the trend following world there are many more successful traders, successful examples, which is much more motivational and inspiring.In this episode, Michael Covel curates excerpts from Kevin Bruce, Jim Simons, and David Harding. All three talking about systems and or trend following. The important point about systems is not just selecting the right one, but also sticking to it once selected. Often people are tempted to make discretionary calls and override a system, defeating its original purpose. Instead, the potential rewards and risks inherent in a trend following system sho

Today’s guest is Alexander Ineichen founder of Ineichen Research and Management. He is the author of several books including “Absolute Returns” and “Asymmetric Returns”. Inehichen has been researching and writing about trend trading strategy for decades. The conversation today focuses on the notion of simplicity as sophistication. Michael Covel and Alexander Ineichen discuss the habit of investors to get caught up in market forecasting fantasies. Often, as research shows, people are drawn toward the excitement of what they perceive as the financial industry dream. They get distracted by what could be the future when they should be directing their attention at what’s happening in the moment. This is also what trend following is all about. Ineichen explains his particular method of nowcasting, which involves combining hard market trends with socio-economic data from other fields. The end goal is to create a far more robust and stable system for the vast majority of investors. He aims to eliminate the “show elem

“Should I invest in X?” is a question often heard in the investment world. Coming from the general public it is an especially strong cry out. The answer to that question is simple, although not obvious to many. What you invest in doesn’t matter; it’s the strategy that matters. Markets are instruments: you can choose the best market and instrument for your purpose, but ultimately it is your strategy for using that market/instrument that determines the outcome. In this commentary Michael Covel curates several excerpts from Richard Feynman to Paul Samuelson and creates a narrative to illustrate the contrast between fundamental and technical traders. Covel also makes a case study of Commodities Corporation – the hedge fund/incubator that was founded and run by some of the biggest trend following heavyweights of our time. One of the most notable aspects of Commodities Corporation’s success is their pivot from their original fundamental strategy to a trend following strategy. Though the company is not talked about

Just as shamans have been consulted throughout time to provide the desperate and gullible with prophecies, so too are financial shamans (often masquerading as experts) are looked up to for comforting myths about market direction. Of course, we can and should prepare for the many possible market eventualities by looking at the data and trading trends, but to expect anyone to be able to provide absolute predictions for the future is absurd. The truth is that we do not know for sure, and anyone that tells you they do know might as well be gazing into a crystal ball. Today’s episode looks at the various attitudes and beliefs concerning the falsehood of market predictability. Michael Covel runs the commentary, drawing a narrative thread through various excerpts from some of the most prominent economic and financial thinkers. In this episode of Trend Following Radio: Recognizing when you are being misled by the experts What to look for in trend analysis and what to be wary of Considering bubbles and other unpredic