Recently we evaluated the reported holdings of institutional investors using data from Sharadar. (As a reminder, institutional investors in control of over $100 million are required to report their holdings to the SEC every quarter. This information is made public normally 45 days later in what are called 13F filings). Simple trading strategies that buy the most […]
Strategies/ Systems
Should You Follow Institutional Investors?
Previously, we looked at retail trading data and found that negative retail sentiment was a better buy signal than postive retail sentiment. If it is profitable to do the opposite of what retail traders are doing, an obvious next step is to look into institutional investor holdings. Institutional investors are obliged to report their holdings on […]
How To Make Money Fading Retail Traders
The past couple of years has seen a surge in retail trading which is affecting the market in a real way. People were stuck at home because of the pandemic. Add stimulus checks and volatility and you have the perfect ingredients for an increase in retail trading. Data from Bloomberg Intelligence backs up this theory. […]
Can You Make Money Buying Just Before Earnings?
Did you know that in 2020, 63% of quarterly earnings releases beat their estimates? That’s slightly higher than the 20 year average of 58%. Even in turbulent years like 2008, earnings surprises still tended to be positive on average. Everyone knows the game. An analysts job is to deliver accurate estimates. Meanwhile, the CFOs of […]
Do The Best Places to Work Make the Best Investments?
I first published this article in 2015. I wanted to know whether the best companies to work for end up being good companies to invest in. It’s been six years so it’s time to update the data and see what it tells us. Initial Hypothesis My hypothesis is that companies that are voted great places […]
What Is The Best Crypto Investment Strategy?
There are a number of different ways to trade cryptocurrencies. You can invest for the long term (aka hodl), you can day trade, or you can build your own quantitative crypto investment strategy. My preference has always been to trade strategies that are backed by data and show a positive edge in historical simulations. However, […]
How To Deal With Repainting Indicators
Repainting indicators can be very harmful if not used correctly. They are especially dangerous to systematic traders because a repainting indicator typically produces backtest results that are too good to be true. Repainting indicators are particularly pernicious when dealing with complicated formulas and strategies. This is because it can be hard to tell whether an […]
3 Simple Ways To Improve Your Trading Strategy
The worst traders are those that have no system. A trader I knew would make $40K in a month, then give it all back the next month. He was one hell of a trader but he had no method. He would have transformed his fortunes if he had simply stopped trading when his equity was […]
How To Build Professional Trading Strategies That Actually Make Money
I became interested in quantitative trading after discovering Perry Kaufmann’s book Trading Systems and Methods. As a day trader, I struggled to control my emotions and needed a way to trade more intelligently. Kaufmann’s introductory book opened up my eyes to the prospect of turning my trading ideas into concrete rules. Rather than trading by […]
What Trading Strategies Are Working In 2021?
2021 has been a rollercoaster of a year so far. It was only in January that rioters stormed the US capitol and Donald Trump found himself banned from Facebook and Twitter. Joe Biden was inaugurated on the 20th then we had the whole Gamestop saga. Gamestop rallied from under $20 to over $450 and Robinhood […]
Growth Trend Timing With US Stocks
I’m always on the lookout for interesting ways to time the market. Using a market timing model can help to avoid painful bear markets and indicate when is a good time to buy stocks. Recently, I was looking at some of the strategies on Allocate Smartly and came across one called Growth Trend Timing. Growth […]
4 Momentum Strategies Put To The Test
Momentum investing is a successful method practiced by many investors around the world. In the past, authors have mainly focused on price momentum with a lookback period of around 12 months. More recently, authors have been including fundamental factors into their analysis. Factors such as earnings, revenue and profit margins. For example, this paper called […]
How To Build A Trend Following Trading Strategy
What Is Trend Following? If you look at a selection of charts, it becomes obvious that prices tend to move in particular directions – either up or down – for extended periods of time. Often, there’s no obvious reason why this is occurring but it is. These are trends, and successful traders generate significant profits […]
Easy Amibroker Tutorial – Learn Amibroker In Under An Hour
In this article the aim is to learn Amibroker in under a hour. This is not a complete Amibroker tutorial but it covers all the features I find most important for trading. If you want to learn how to use Amibroker then this is for you. If you’ve never head of it, Amibroker is a […]
How To Build A Mean Reversion Trading Strategy Ultimate Guide
This post contains a detailed guide for creating a mean reversion trading strategy. You will learn what mean reversion is, how to trade it, 10 steps for building a system and a complete example of a mean reversion system for US stocks. Introduction To Mean Reversion A mean reversion trading strategy involves betting that prices […]
Which Trailing Stop Is The Best?
A trailing stop is a stop loss order that moves with the stock price. As the stock price rises, the stop moves higher too, locking in profit and reducing the risk of a loss. For example, suppose you buy Apple at $100 and enter a $20 trailing stop. When Apple moves to $120, your stop […]
