Knowledge Centre

Deciding Which Signal to Take

This stock trading question in deciding which signal to take, comes from Said B. who asks: “When trading two strategies, one daily and the other weekly, on the same universe of stocks (Russell 3000)… From time to time they will give signals for the same stocks on both the strategies. Should I only buy on […]

Trading Software

This stock trading question about Trading Software comes from Kim-Sung J. who asks: “I have developed trading systems using Bullcharts and Tradesim. I have tested the systems on All Ords stocks. I’m aware there are survivorship bias which I don’t know how to account for. My feeling is that the survivorship bias could significantly affect […]

Paper Trading

“Do you recommend a paper trading account?” This stock trading question comes from James C. who asks: There are pros and cons for using a paper trading account. For: It allows us to assess how disciplined we really are when it comes to executing our strategy. It’s easy to look back and say, “I would […]

Turnover and Volume Filters

This stock trading question comes from Colin H. who asks: “In the two books of yours I’ve read you suggest the use of both turnover and volume filters. Whilst I like the idea I don’t have an empirical method for determining parameter values. For example, a turnover filter set to an average of $500,000 over […]

Placing Orders

This stock trading question comes from Ben B. who asks: “My broker doesn’t allow me to place orders for the opening or closing auction. What should I do?” It sounds like you may be using a CFD provider. Many CFD providers are not members of the ASX and therefore cannot access that facility. You can […]

Risk versus Returns

This stock trading question comes from Peter H. who asks: “My main challenge is to minimise the risk of a major loss of capital while still aiming to achieve a rate of return that is typical of the returns on equities rather than the returns on bonds or term deposits.” There are two drivers of […]

How Much Money do I need to Start Trading?

This stock trading question about how much money is needed to start trading comes from Mike C. whose #1 challenge is… “What is a good size account to start with?” In other words, how much money do I need to start trading? It’s a common and important question. Too often new traders overlook the impact […]

Controlling Your Excitement

This week’s stock trading question comes from Asif R. whose #1 challenge in this instance was controlling the excitement. “It was a great day for people who were holding TOL stocks which included me…it really was exciting, or shall I say, too exciting, at least for me. Have you written or talked about how to […]

How to Choose a Stock Broker

“I do all my own research and read your materials plus others, so is the best option to trade with a broker or online?” This stock trading question comes from Steven F. Let’s just get one small technicality out of the way; regardless of who you trade through it is a broker. Whether that be […]

Margin Calls

“When I get a margin call I’m not sure which positions I should close” This stock trading question comes from Andrew A. Hmmm… The first thing is that it sounds like you’re getting a few margins calls, and if that’s the case you’re trading with too much exposure and too much leverage. That rarely works […]