There is little need to tell you that markets are, and will continue to be, VOLATILE, as geopolitical and financial upheavals continue. This does not mean that there are few opportunities for the savvy investor. Now is the time for all investors to employ a broader range of strategies to anticipate, respond to, and capitalize on market volatility.

So, what needs to be included in a broad and robust investing strategy? The answers may surprise you, as many investors typically put too many of their eggs in one basket, hoping they will hatch into substantial gains. Hope is not a strategy, and this helps to explain why most investors do not make gains in the markets.

First, you need to have a strategy for selecting long positions, based on solid VALUE and TECHNICAL analysis. To remain nimble in a volatile market environment you need to keep capital aside so that other strategies can be brought into play quickly. With markets moving so quickly it is not good enough to wait out a sale before deploying a strategy needed immediately.

Second, you need a good HEDGING strategy, as hedging is a useful tool that every investor should know about. Hedging is a good way to protect your portfolio, and protection is often just as important as portfolio appreciation.  Even if you are a beginner, you can learn what hedging is and put it to work for you.  The best way to understand hedging is to think of it as a form of insurance.  When people decide to hedge, they are insuring themselves against a negative event to their finances.  This doesn’t prevent all negative events from happening, but when something does happen (and it will), and you’re properly hedged, the impact of the negative event is reduced. In practice, hedging occurs all through our life, for example, a homeowner’s insurance policy allows you to protect yourself to some degree against fires, break-ins, or other unforeseen negative events.

Thirdly, you need a coherent ENTRANCE and EXIT strategy, meaning that you have a plan that you adhere to, for entering a trade, and for exiting a trade. Once again, relying on hope is not a winning strategy for deciding when, or how much, to BUY and SELL. There needs to be a plan that is based on accurate market projections, solid stock analysis, and the right targets for ENTRANCE and EXIT. The hardest part of doing this successfully is to put emotions aside and stick to your plan to generate success.

Risk is an inherent part of investing.  Regardless of what kind of investor you aim to be, having a basic knowledge of these strategies will lead to better awareness of how investors can protect themselves and increase their success, even in the most volatile times.

TREND TECHNICAL TRADER (TTT) was originally designed as a hedging service, to provide actionable recommendations to protect your portfolio from losses in market downturns. Over the years this service has expanded into a solid all-round trading service, making both long and hedged trades.

Many investors do not have a plan to survive or thrive in a down market, but TTT is adept at generating profits in both bull markets and bear markets, to both mitigate losses and position investors for solid gains. It is possible to make significant gains in market downturns by holding a hedge position that remains flat and then goes much higher when markets collapse. These hedge positions need to be chosen prudently and TTT is the key to making such prudent choices.

Why is timing so important?  Those who rely on “fundamentals” are ignoring history, unaware of how creative corporate accounting often is, and at best basing their valuations on quarterly-reported numbers and metrics that are already months old.  We believe a timing element is essential to successful speculating and investing over time, so while we consider fundamentals, we also heavily factor technical and sentiment measures.

Our ideas can also be an effective tax strategy.  Is it right from a tax perspective to sell all or part of perhaps dozens of holdings?  What about dividends?  It may be best to adopt only a single position to protect a broad portfolio, triggering just one or two taxable events when that position is closed, and in the meantime dividends will still accrue. Our timing measures are also of great use to those who have their own investment ideas or get their stock picks from other advisories.  We have up-to-date timing indicators that help investors to decide when is the most opportune time to buy or sell.

TTT had another outstanding year in 2020, making impressive gains when the COVID crisis crushed the markets, and then going long when it was prudent to do so, capturing significant gains in gold, uranium, and a number of timely picks in undervalued stocks.  TTT’s proprietary Gold Trend Indicator (GTI) has a success rate that is better than any other we have seen.

Total trades = 66

Average gain = 27.3%

Average holding time = 9.5 weeks

Annualized gains = 149%

Our TTT service may be exactly what you need going forward, because market turmoil will not end when the current pandemic ends.  It’s been decades since there was a legitimate bear market – one that did not skyrocket to new all-time highs and far beyond within a couple of years.  Some may wish to believe that it can’t happen again, but history has a habit of repeating.

To view the 2020 results of Trend Technical Trader click here.