As Trend Followers, our main focus is always on the direction of the major trend (along with our sell stop points) and not on the fundamentals, although from time to time I have voiced my opinion about the current economic recovery, or the lack thereof. In a recent interview on CNBC, Meredith Whitney, who does not mince words, commented on …
No Load Fund/ETF Tracker updated through 11/19/2009
My latest No Load Fund/ETF Tracker has been posted at:http://www.successful-investment.com/newsletter-archive.phpA tug of war between bulls and bears left the major indexes with not much to show for this week. Our Trend Tracking Index (TTI) for domestic funds/ETFs has now crossed its trend line (red) to the upside by +8.16% keeping the current buy signal intact. The effective date was June …
Clarifying Basic Trading Issues
Most investors are settled into an investment routine using ETFs.However, if you have a portion of your portfolio in both, mutual funds and ETFs, and plan on making some adjustments, you need to be aware of the different settlement dates for your trades. Reader Denny was asking for clarification on this issue: Regarding brokerages / buying and selling holding periods …
Sell Stops And Churning
Reader GH had an interesting comment about the effectiveness of sell stops: I’m afraid that the sell-stop methodology is going to become a problem for investors. In my view it is going to start a new trend of “churning.” Churning used to exist when an advisor traded a client’s account excessively. Now churning is going to define the behavior of …
A Shrinking (Fund) Universe
With ETFs being the investment choice for many investors and advisors alike, it should come as no surprise that the Mutual Fund Universe is shrinking amid bear market hangover: Call it survival of the fittest, or a thinning of the herd. On the heels of a vicious bear market, mutual fund closures and mergers are on the rise. The pace …
Digging Into More Sell Stop Details
One reader had this question about the use of sell stops: I already own some funds where the most recent high was about 30 days ago and the funds have come down about 2.5 to 4%. If I want to use the 7% trailing stop rule, do I simply take 7% of the high 30 days ago and set that …