Systematic Trend Following: A Retail Trader's Guide

**CHARTS ARE USED DURING THIS EXAMPLE/CONTENT. CONSIDER VIEWING THE YOUTUBE VIDEO FOR THIS**A follow up from Seth and myself's Q&A video yesterday. Much more to come and expand on this, but it visualizes a systematic, yet not automated, process. This process includes a complete strategy, although very basic and simple in nature, it is the foundation for so much of the beliefs and practices of Trend Followers.https://youtu.be/NXKs_fJd3gshttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

We talk about some of the basics to futures with the retail trend follower in mind using crude oil as an example market. Contract structure, sizing, expirations, and rolling from contract to contract is covered. If you would like a copy of the presentation leave your preferred email in the comments. We reference Eurodollars a couple of times in this video but decided to split that off into another video so be sure to check that one out for more info.https://youtu.be/pQI1ZL_zNoYhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

Another viewer question and some reflection from Sam's question to the Top Trader podcast.https://youtu.be/PLNwNXhIO0khttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

We take a close look at the Eurodollar, a short term interest rate futures market and examine some of the factors you might consider on choosing which contract to trade including; bid/ask spread, the term structure, volatility, and liquidity. We use Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation for the example and detail how to use it to find the info we need.https://youtu.be/Yr2CxhaOHpwhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

Another way to diversify a trading system is to trade multiple speeds of the same system. In this video we begin to look at what is involved. Sam describes how he incorporates multiple speeds and then we look at some backtest results of a Donchian Breakout system.https://youtu.be/2raxqxg7-2chttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

Sam from Manchester, UK sent us the following, we give our takes.1. Why do you trade systematically over rules based discretionary? 2. Do you have a overall portfolio risk limit? Like 20% at any one day max. Or because you have so much diversification is all you capital in the market? Are you always long or short an instrument or do you sometimes go cash? 3. I’m interested to know the process of how to become systematic like what platform and skills are needed. Does it sit within your broker platform and take trades for you or does it just send a signal to your laptop when to buy or sell a particular asset. I want to eventually because systematic as possible because think it’s better when scaling up and takes emotion and obviously any discretion out of trading.https://youtu.be/A-M-iYyFwB8https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

Building on the last discussion about setting individual position risk limits using stops and position sizing, we talk about how we think about risk and volatility on a portfolio level. How we use correlation and other tools to select the instruments to trade and how to divide risk up over return drivers.https://youtu.be/wupuHyfL40Ahttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KYlGSXc3P8https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc1rEwDDlykhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd6vDNEM0JYhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

Sam and Seth lay out why they choose trend following touching on economic theory, human psychology, and price action.Why Trend Following? Why we think it's a good idea. Why we do it. Why we like it (over other strategies). Why not just buy and hold? File this in the camp of foundational and theoretical, rather than technical, but important in understanding and sticking with the approach to achieve it's long term objectives.As always, the origin of most of the content is YouTube- so check out the video for this episode as well as a playlist that holds all current and future videos.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqKtKc75uzUhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

Sam and Seth cover some basic trend following entry and exit techniques and getting your charts setup for success. You need to capture trends for success, but first you need to be able to identify trends systematically and consistently. Visualizing different methods are a great start and this is where the foundation of your approach begins- with the entry.Time Series Momentum and Ichimoku are featured, building upon Moving Average (crossovers), Donchian Channels (hi-low breakouts), and Bollinger Bands (volatility channels) which were featured last time. Also discussed are Keltner channels and STARC/Stoller bands. Why and how each generates a signal is introduced, in an effort for the trader to think deeply about their strategy's components and understand what they are achieving and how they go about it.**THIS EPISODE IS VERY VISUAL. CONSIDER ACCESSING THE EPISODE VIA YOUTUBE FOR COMPLETE EXPERIENCE"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2xp1NTNvmgYouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

Sam and Seth cover some basic trend following entry and exit techniques and getting your charts setup for success. You need to capture trends for success, but first you need to be able to identify trends systematically and consistently. Visualizing different methods are a great start and this is where the foundation of your approach begins- with the entry.Moving Average (crossovers), Donchian Channels (hi-low breakouts), and Bollinger Bands (volatility channels) are discussed from technical calculation perspective to complete comparison between the three. Also discussed are Keltner channels and STARC/Stoller bands. Why and how each generates a signal is introduced, in an effort for the trader to think deeply about their strategy's components and understand what they are achieving and how they go about it.**THIS EPISODE IS VERY VISUAL. CONSIDER ACCESSING THE EPISODE VIA YOUTUBE FOR COMPLETE EXPERIENCE"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVOl2KRw46gYouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3

Seth and Sam join forces to create a collaborate series dedicated to Trend Following from the Retail perspective. Join them along their individual journeys while they seek to help others start and evolve as well.YouTube episode: https://youtu.be/4I6OqUaqjwYYouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWGC9_PMsWPohL8S6ceoOn3WWoq__ZB3