Market Updates Archives

Letting Go of the Need to Know

Do you always need to know what’s going on? What a volatile couple of weeks it’s been on Global Markets. Nothing like a couple of 1000+ point single session drops on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), combined with the VIX Volatility Index locking in a 100% up day last week, to get the heart […]

Trading under Chaotic Conditions

The human brain can only take so much noise and distraction before it becomes confused and erratic. If you are consistently trading under chaotic conditions, whether you are discretionary, rule-based or systematic in your approach, there will be times when the little voice on your shoulder will tell you to override your system. It may […]

Global Stocks Just Got Messy

After a year of calm it seems someone, or something, has disrupted global stocks. Many place blame on the various hedge funds that rule the world with their machines. The risk parity managers. The trend followers. The volatility targeting funds. Truth is that nobody knows what caused it. Interestingly the surprise is not the drop. […]

Taking An Active Interest in Investing – Part 3

The last few articles we’ve been discussing a simple strategy that provided highly encouraging performance on both the US and Australian index ETFs. For 90% of investors who take an interest in their own investments (probably 30% of the population) then these K.I.S.S. strategies are ideal. But they’re not for me. Let me explain. It’s […]

Taking An Active Interest Australian ASX-200- Part 2

Let’s look at Part 2 of Taking an Active Interest. Following on from last week’s article about active investing using the S&P 500 Index ETF, let’s now apply the same strategy to the Australian ASX-200 ETF (STW). The rules are: Buy the [Index] STW ETF 2. Sell to cash if the price falls below the […]

Taking An Active Interest – Part 1

In this article we will look at taking an active interest. Previously I discussed the risks of being a Buy & Hope Hold investor in an index fund ETF. Watching the value of your assets decline by 50% isn’t comfortable. It’s easy to look back with the benefit of hindsight and pick those great buying […]

3 Trading Hacks for Comfortable and Successful Trading

We all want a good, quick trading hack to improve our profitability, right? Trading is a tough gig at the best of times because there are so many unknowns. What will the market do? What type of strategy should I trade? How much of my money is at risk? One thing we’ve learned in over […]

Crypto Kids vs Gold Nomads

In Q4 2017 Bitcoin rose parabolically from $2972 up to all time highs at $19458. During the same period Gold dropped from $1372 to the $1240 level. Bitcoin has since dropped 50% to sub $10000. Yet Gold is heading higher towards its September 2017 highs. I’m not sure the Crypto Kids use stops? Check out the […]

Australian Banking Outlook 2018

Fundamentally Australian Banking stocks are under pressure. They smashed out more than $30 billion in combined earnings in 2017. Yet are these former darling growth and dividend providers going to be the dogs of 2018? There’s nothing like a Royal Commission to bring upside momentum to a grinding halt. Let’s use a ‘bake a cake’ […]

A Timeless Strategy To Bulk Up Profits – Part 2

We laid some basic framework to position sizing, specifically how being selective with position sizing can greatly enhance profitability. How exactly is this done? Long term readers will be aware of the Bang For Buck filter which I developed back in the late 90’s. The initial goal was to select one stock over another when […]