“Yes, the fountain of youth really does exist, and academic research is increasingly proving it to be found amidst your investment portfolio. A growing body of scholarly research shows that, in many ways, life can get better as we get older and being an active investor can contribute in significant... READ MORE
Yes — since 2013, our ChartPack user community has suggested thousands of powerful improvements to our quarterly presentation of ChartLists. Over these six years, StockCharts.com has grown mightily and many new members are not entirely clear what the Tensile Trading ChartPack actually is. So here are seven brief points to... READ MORE
“The only way you get a real education in the market is to invest cash, track your trade, and study your mistakes…The examination of a losing trade is torturous but necessary to ensure that it will not happen again.” — Jesse Livermore This is the quote that introduces Chapter 10... READ MORE
The most important thing in my life is not money — it is my time and my health. These two items are far more important to me than monetary assets. As a result, I’m always focused on how I spend my time and less on how I spend my money.... READ MORE
This is a salute to Ben Johnson, the departing editor of Morningstar’s ETF Investor publication. Over the years, I’ve come to look forward to his pithy observations about the ETF marketplace. To use his own words in describing his replacement, Alex Bryan, he wrote “He’s bright, articulate... READ MORE
In our last Traders Journal blog, Grayson and I extended an invitation to our readers to share their experiences with the Tensile Trading ChartPack. The spectrum of responses was diverse, broad and extremely insightful. We found it motivational and encouraging that so many investors have “found their stride”, as one... READ MORE
Ladies and Gentlemen: the most significant shakeup in sector classifications within the past decade has just occurred. Two of the world’s biggest index providers — Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and MSCI, Inc. — have reorganized critical sector indexes. It’s a good time to take stock of what... READ MORE
Peter Lynch was the portfolio manager for Fidelity’s Magellan Fund for 13 years. His performance results were legendary, and when he retired, he wrote a number of books based on his winning investing principles. To paraphrase and blend a few of those together, Lynch felt that individual investors could... READ MORE
After two conferences in the past three weeks (ChartCon 2018 and TSAA - San Francisco), it is abundantly clear that individual investors want to challenge my portfolio strategy. Therein lies the risk of 100% candid exposure on my holdings and investing approach. Rather than engaging in arm wrestling over whether... READ MORE
The walls of advantage once held by institutional traders over individual investors have come crashing down. Emerging from the dust, there now marches an entire army of real advantages that individual investors hold over their formerly superior big brothers. In the worlds of fundamental information, charting tools and trading costs,... READ MORE
There’s a legendary tale in automobile circles how in the 1990s the executives at General Motors got their design engineers to focus on what was most important. They wanted to erase all their preconceived notions and assumptions about building cars. They blindfolded all the engineers and lead them into... READ MORE
In his Market Wizard books, Jack Schwager proved to investors that they could indeed significantly improve their own investing skill set by mimicking Wall Street’s greatest money managers. In this blog, I’ll show you how investing greatness can and should be built upon a similar parallel paradigm used... READ MORE
This is personal. I’ve spent a lifetime learning how to make consistent profits in the investing arena. Yes, the stock markets have been good to me. They’ve allowed me to stay healthy by learning to manage my stress and they’ve also allowed me to enjoy an extremely... READ MORE
If you didn't catch my interview on Wednesday morning, I joined Tom Bowley and Erin Swenlin on their StockCharts TV show, MarketWatchers LIVE, for a special presentation: "The Two Pillars of Probability Enhancement". I demonstrated the asset allocation strategies and routines I use to reduce risk... READ MORE
In the 18 years I’ve been teaching investors to grow their wealth, I believe I can simplify it down to two basic prerequisites for success. Despite all the clatter, prattle and bluster that increasingly emanates from the financial industry, individual investors can multiply their probability of success many times... READ MORE
Investors have once again been misled by the media, bamboozled by Blackrock, duped and frisked by the financial community. Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are not the panacea for every asset class as they all want you to believe they are. In my own portfolio, approximately 45% of my asset classes... READ MORE
I’ve been teaching investment courses across North America for over 18 years now – in seminars, at conferences, to professional organizations and, most recently, through our own investment education company, Stock Market Mastery. By last count, I’ve had over 5,000 students. When it comes to different investor types,... READ MORE
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none; color: #0000ff; -webkit-text-stroke: 0px #0000ff} I confess!I’m messing with you a bit with respect to Action Practice #24. On... READ MORE
Steve Jobs famously challenged everyone when he said, “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why else be here?” I was fortunate recently to spend a couple of days in Napa Valley at the DENT 2018 conference. There’s nothing like spending quality time with lots... READ MORE
Yes, the markets are extended. All prudent investors should be reviewing the Permission-to-Sell Dashboard (ChartList 10.4) every week. We’ve added another useful market timing chart and made all 15 charts more muscular. The times are a’ changing in the ETF arena as well. Hundreds are closing and new... READ MORE
Over 25 years of full-time trading, it’s been my experience that, as an investor, one moves ahead by looking back. In other words, reviewing my 2017 Trading Journal will improve my 2018 results. Indeed, the tenth and final stage of Stock Market Mastery is to Revisit, Retune and Refine.... READ MORE
Put a man on a bicycle and he’ll surprise you. Put a man on a machine and he’ll amaze you. Teach him asset allocation and he’ll electrify you! Due to the unusual number of new subscribers who read my Traders Journal blog about Asset Allocation, I’ve... READ MORE
With 25 years under his belt at Morningstar, Russel Kinnel, Director of Manager Research, has certainly earned my respect. So my radar went up when he wrote a column entitled “Lessons Learned.” Considering that Kinnel has been a keen observer of individual investor behavior for a generation, I believe all... READ MORE
“Rule #1: Never lose Money.” “Rule #2: Never forget Rule #1.” —Warren Buffett Sure, a lot of investors dissect every word that Warren Buffett writes in the annual report for Berkshire Hathaway. For years, these Buffett-isms have provided investors with profitable insights. In a similar vein, I found that the... READ MORE
A note to my readers: It is with great pride that I have written The Traders Journal blog every week since 2012 — 52 weeks a year. I am deeply grateful for the support and loyal following of all my readers throughout that time. However, I must announce that today marks... READ MORE
We’ve all heard the cliche that “shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted” means one is late to action after the damage is done. Yes, it’s human nature not to dwell on negatives when the stock market ride since March, 2009 has been so exhilarating. Consider... READ MORE
When is the last time someone offered to give you a couple hundred hours of “time”? We are here to do precisely that! You’ve all heard the cliche that “even the richest man has only the same 24 hours in a day as the poorest man.” Regardless of what... READ MORE
Picture this: I am at a cocktail party chatting with three people about investing. The first person says, “I could be a really successful investor if only I could emotionally tolerate a bit more risk.” The second person claims, “I could be a world-class investor too if I had access... READ MORE
Imagine a football coach who has the best eleven quarterbacks in the NFL altogether on the same team and puts them on field at the same time. This “dream team” would get clobbered. Without tight ends, tackles, guards, wide receivers and a center there to present a balanced attack, there... READ MORE
Most investors will admit that they have at some point been guilty of chasing yield. This is not surprising with the ultra low yields on money market accounts and the expanding Baby Boom generation’s needs for income. It’s a common refrain. Problems arise when one does not completely... READ MORE
The Public Relations industry has crisis simulation firms that actually come into corporations and compress a hypothetical month-long disaster into a few stressful hours in order to see how management responds. I’d like to do something similar, but in the family financial arena with parents and children. Sadly, however,... READ MORE
I attend investment seminars as half-monk, half-hit man. My time is a precious commodity, so if you are a speaker and see me in the audience, be prepared. My hot button is when speakers show a few elaborate slides, “share” their four favorite tenets to successful investing and then launch... READ MORE
History matters because markets do indeed repeat themselves. John Kenneth Galbraith was interviewed in the PBS documentary, The Crash of 1929, and he observed that every 30 years or so we predictably have a major market correction because that seems to be the length of time it takes each generation... READ MORE
Upfront, it’s important to note that unlike most investors who hear asset allocation and conjure up three asset baskets (stocks, bonds, cash), Tensile Trading presents an exhaustive all-inclusive buffet of 59 different asset classes from which you choose. Our book also shows to what extent each of these various... READ MORE
Straight from the pages of my own trading journal. These are my charts from all the market corrections since 1981. Here’s why I want to share these with you. The beauty of technical analysis is that it represents human emotions expressed by the buying and selling behavior of investors... READ MORE
The reality is that markets operate within the law of groupings. This is precisely why I have formatted my unique chart view in a pull-down menu under ChartStyles. You simply click on “Gatis Roze” at the bottom of “Predefined Settings” and up pops the Tensile Trading analysis format that clearly... READ MORE
This phrase is most often heard in reference to lawmakers and bureaucrats in Washington, DC, but I think it’s an appropriate reflection of what many investors struggle with as well. As an investor, you’ll seldom be destroyed by outside forces. If you falter and lose your assets, more... READ MORE
It’s been my experience as a full-time trader over the decades that investing muscles need to take a vacation regularly. I’ve learned the hard way that vacations must be part of my money management routines. If I procrastinate and wait until I realize I need a vacation, the... READ MORE
It’s hard to believe but exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been with us now for 24 years. Who would have guessed? Perhaps John Bogle. As a rule, investors buy Sector ETFs to smooth out the ride and decrease volatility. The classic measurement of volatility is, of course, the statistical measurement... READ MORE
Remember the bygone advertisements from years past about hair replacement? The gentleman stares into the camera and says “I’m not just the president of the Men’s Hair Club, but I am also a client.” Our ChartPack deserves a similar endorsement. “I’m not just the creator of the... READ MORE