Sticking with the process

My historical win rate is about 30%, so with the majority of my trades generating losses, I have learnt to accept losing money along the way.

To me, what is far more important than the monetary outcome of any one trade is whether I am sticking to my process and my execution:

The joy of helping an aspiring trend follower

A while back I received an urgent message from one of the traders in my mentoring group. He managed to get himself into a trade where a trend had developed in his favour and was now (in his words) "going parabolic". 

This person had been developing his method over a period of time, so that it best meshed with his full-time job, which in a pre-COVID world demanded long hours and lots of transatlantic travel. As a result, his chosen timeframe and parameters are somewhat longer-term than my own, but the underlying principles remain exactly the same.

My personal trendfollowing "A-ha" moments

Every trader on their own journey will encounter some lessons which are critical to their long-term development and ultimate success.

These will differ from trader to trader, as their own personality, beliefs, strengths, weaknesses and experiences are unique to them.

Below is a list of ten "A-ha!" lessons which I personally have learned from and helped shape my own beliefs about how best for me to trade:

Losses and Whipsaws - one good trend pays for them all!

Any aspiring trend follower should expect runs of consecutive losing trades to be the norm, interspersed with the occasional small winner and, every once in a while, a big winner.

At some point, most people tend to look for some silver bullet to eliminate at least a chunk of those losing trades, and get the win rate up to 50% or even better.

But the harsh reality is that, throughout history, the most successful trend followers have prospered with a typical win rate of between 30% to 40% - irrespective of timeframe, or the markets traded. That, combined with a method allowing the cutting of losses and the ability to let profits run is from where the positive expectancy of the approach comes.

Tesla - letting the big trends run

The recent price rise in Tesla is just another example where people who got into the uptrend, and been able to let the trend takes its course, have been able to profit handsomely.

Here is that chart. Based on my own entry and exit rules, entering on 13 December at the $363 level would have generated open profits of more than +22R as of now, with the peak being at over +31R in February. If ever you want an example of letting your profits run, this is it:

Experiencing the first big winning trend

When a trader starts adopting a trend following approach, there can be a steep learning curve in terms in truly understanding the ups and downs they will experience - both in terms of open equity and the emotions involved. 

Aspiring trend followers will more often than not go straight into a drawdown on cash equity. This is due to them adopting the basic principles of cutting losses short and letting profits run, combined with the low win rate that is typically achieved. 

My observation is that people quickly develop the need for good risk control and the cutting of losses, but by far the most challenging aspect of a trend following approach is the ability to remain faithful to your exit rules once you get into a profitable trade.

Letting the downtrends run

Having more losing trades than winning trades is to be expected as part of a trend following process. 

Part of the joy of trend following is that you never know when you will end up in a profitable trade, and once we do, we have no idea how long the trend will last for, and also how far price will move in our favour.

A look at some recent trends in other markets

While my primary focus is stocks, I do keep an eye on other markets for potential trades - these include commodities like oil and gold, the stock indices, some of major forex pairs and cryptocurrencies. 

It is more unusual for me to get setups which meet my own criteria in these markets, but they do add some diversification to what I do.

Below are some charts showing some recent trending movements in these markets, as well as highlighting some of the aspects I look for when taking a trade (or not).

A Turtle talks about trend following on stocks

Almost a month ago I posted this article about how that, given the recent price action, I was currently shorting individual stocks. I also mentioned that I had recently taken a couple of long trades, again purely based on meeting my entry criteria and triggering an entry.

Well, since then the long positions taken ended up generating small losses, but some of the short trades taken are still going strong. No reason to exit if the trend is still intact and the trailing stops haven't been hit...

Ten years on - the critical lessons I learnt from 2008

Ten years ago the equity and financial markets were in the middle of an unprecedented period. My interactions with the markets around that time were the ultimate proving ground for putting into practice what I had learnt and developed over the previous few years, and my experiences over those few months helped propel me forward as a trend follower.

Some of it wasn't easy, and some lessons learnt (and re-learnt!) cost me money. But in the long run, the tuition fees paid have been covered many times over.

Here are some of the lessons I learned from that time, which still form part of my overall approach:

The payback for following your rules

Quite often I get into a trade where price starts moving nicely in my favour, before reversing and taking out my stop, leaving me with either a significant erosion of open profits, or may be even taking a small loss. 

Not very interesting or exciting I know, but that is what following my rules allowed me to get.

Volatility issues

Below I have shown a chart of the Dow which highlights the split personality of the markets in recent times.

Up until the end of January, we can see the market clearly in a trending, stable (i.e. low volatility) state. From there, the chart is a mess, and the Volatility Factor and 2ATR measurements clearly show the explosion in volatility.

The Golden Rule

I would be considered by many to be a loser at trading. This is on the basis that I have far more losing trades than winners. And, if that metric alone determined whether someone is profitable or not, then they would be right.

But fortunately, they are not. Because I use what Van Tharp calls 'The Golden Rule'. It has been around for more than 200 years. Trend followers swear by it. If you can use it, you can make money. What is it?

A trader's development - a case study Part 2

Back in the summer of 2013, I wrote this post about an aspiring trader called Tom (not his real name) who I first met in early 2012, and gave a potted history of how he had developed as a trader over that period of time. Tom was the first trader that I mentored. This post now updates that story...

Discount offer - 3 days left

A quick reminder that the discount offer for 1-2-1 training or mentoring expires in 3 days.

Be part of our team of like-minded traders, and use the timeless principles of successful trend followers and Market Wizards.

Those who do not have the desire to succeed, are not committed to put in the necessary work, or who do not want to learn to think for themselves with a trend followers' mindset need not apply.

Richard Dennis, trend following and leaving your ego at the door

The siren call of the high win rate strokes the ego of many traders, and this causes internal conflict amongst people who aspire to be trend followers.

Left unchecked, the ego within us would make the desire to be seen to be right its primary focus, rather than to make money. But this goes against the grain when it comes to trend following, where the typical win rate can be between 30% - 40%.

Discount offer - 1-2-1 training and mentoring

To coincide with the commencement of the new trading record, I am running a discount offer for both 1-2-1 training and mentoring.

The prices for both these services has been reduced by 20%, and the offer runs until 14 November 2017.

For more details, please go here.

Coming up - new trade record

Regular readers of the blog will know that I kept track of all trades taken and the associated performance metrics covering the period July 2012 to April 2017, at which point I took a short break from the markets.

PDF copies of those records are available here.

This covered the good, the bad and the ugly of trend following. Sure, there were losing trades (lots of them!) and losing phases, but that is the nature of the markets, and typical of this type of approach to trading.

Despite a win rate of only 30%, the annualised returns equated to almost +75%, with an overall return of +470%.*

This can only be achieved by following the time-honoured principles of trading breakouts, cutting losses, letting your profits run and using good risk control.

As from 01 November, I will be starting a new record of all trades taken going forward, with all of the same metrics.

A positive start to 2017

Markets always go through different market 'states' - either trending or non-trending, stable or volatile.

During the last couple of years it has been difficult (but not impossible) in making money adopting a trend following approach, for me using my preferred timeframe and parameters. That is the nature of the beast. You cannot force the market to march to your beat. You can only take what it is prepared to give you.

2016 - a losing year

So that's 2016 in the book, and a losing year at that. This is my first losing year since 2011. The fact that I have lost less than five years ago shows to me that the changes I put in place in the early part of 2012 helped to limit those losses - together with the additional experience and education dished out by the market!

As I talked about here, even the most successful trend followers suffer the occasional losing year, so I am totally relaxed about it. It is what it is. I can't change what has happened, or the decisions I made - I can only go forward.