Michael Covel's Trend Following

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 20: Timothy Sykes Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio May 30, 2012

Show notes

My guest today is Timothy Sykes, a penny stock trader and teacher who became a self-made millionaire by the age of 22 by trading $12,415 of bar mitzvah money. After becoming disenchanted with the hedge fund world, he established the Tim Sykes Trading Challenge to teach aspiring traders how to follow his trading strategies.

The topic is trading.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

Certain systematic approaches that Sykes has used
Sykes's early career entry into trading, studying the market his way and how tennis for him relates to trading

Jump in!

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I'm MICHAEL COVEL, the host of TREND FOLLOWING RADIO, and I'm proud to have delivered 10+ million podcast listens since 2012. Investments, economics, psychology, politics, decision-making, human behavior, entrepreneurship and trend following are all passionately explored and debated on my show.

To start? I'd like to give you a great piece of advice you can use in your life and trading journey… cut your losses! You will find much more about that philosophy here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/trend/

You can watch a free video here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/video/

Can't get enough of this episode? You can choose from my thousand plus episodes here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/podcast

My social media platforms: Twitter: @covel Facebook: @trendfollowing LinkedIn: @covel Instagram: @mikecovel

Hope you enjoy my never-ending podcast conversation!

Ep. 19: Todd Miller Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio May 26, 2012

Show notes

My guest today is Todd Miller, a trader who runs a systematic trend following firm, Availeth Capital, with partner Jim Byers. Availeth is a small fund which was started in February 2011, and Covel relates Miller's start to his chapter in 'The Little Book of Trading' on trader David Druz.

The topic is Trend Following.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

How Miller got his start working at Fidelity, and how observing the annual returns of one of Fidelity's biggest mutual funds after the tech bubble burst led him to adopting a trend following mindset
The path he took that eventually led him to starting Availeth Capital
Importance of in-person interaction
The issue of survivorship bias
How trend following is the only strategy that can take advantage of the uncertainty that is coming
How some trend following traders have followed other passions once they've made their billions
Covel also discusses his upcoming 10,000 (!) page book, Trend Following Analytics.

Jump in!

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You can watch a free video here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/video/

Can't get enough of this episode? You can choose from my thousand plus episodes here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/podcast

My social media platforms: Twitter: @covel Facebook: @trendfollowing LinkedIn: @covel Instagram: @mikecovel

Hope you enjoy my never-ending podcast conversation!

Ep. 18: Jack Schwager Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio May 22, 2012

Show notes

My guest today is Jack Schwager, an American trader and author. He is the author of the Market Wizard series. His books have remained relevant over the past 25 years, and for many traders they are the best trading books on the shelves today.

The topic is his book Hedge Fund Market Wizards.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

Some of the commonalities between the many traders Schwager has interviewed, and the lessons that can be gleaned from their diverse approaches
Schwager's new book opens with a quote regarding the importance of even-mindedness from rock climber Alex Honnold
How topics seemingly unrelated to trading can contain relevant lessons
Many of the other traders profiled in Hedge Fund Market Wizards are discussed, including Ed Thorp, Steve Clark, Jaffray Woodriff, and Ray Dalio.
Schwager's big takeaways from his interviews have been, and the lessons he's learned from talking to some of the most successful traders in the game
How markets behave differently in different environments
The importance of asymmetric positive skew trades
How diversification is the "only free lunch on wall street"
How Schwager defines risk
The "gain to pain" ratio

Jump in!

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You can watch a free video here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/video/

Can't get enough of this episode? You can choose from my thousand plus episodes here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/podcast

My social media platforms: Twitter: @covel Facebook: @trendfollowing LinkedIn: @covel Instagram: @mikecovel

Hope you enjoy my never-ending podcast conversation!

Ep. 17: James Rohrbach Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio May 19, 2012

Show notes

My guest today is James Rohrbach. Rohrbach has been trading for 40 years, created his RIX index, and runs an educational service at Investment-Models.com. While he calls himself a "market timer", he's a trend follower.

The topic is Trend Following.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

Why buy and hold is dead, and the psychology behind people desperately clinging onto it
Why - even when buy and hold supplies a winning outcome - it still might not be a good strategy
Using a 15/30 day crossover as a quick and simple system
Why Rohrbach doesn't short
Making sure your feelings don't overrule your process

Jump in!

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You can watch a free video here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/video/

Can't get enough of this episode? You can choose from my thousand plus episodes here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/podcast

My social media platforms: Twitter: @covel Facebook: @trendfollowing LinkedIn: @covel Instagram: @mikecovel

Hope you enjoy my never-ending podcast conversation!

Ep. 16: Francisco Vaca Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio May 18, 2012

Show notes

My guest today is Francisco Vaca, the chairman, CEO, a principal trader for Vaca Capital Management, and a commodity trading advisor (CTA) established in 2000. Vaca began his career in the futures industry in 1996 as an executive researcher for C&D Commodities co-founded by Richard Dennis of "Turtles" fame. His responsibilities included the research and implementation of systematic trading strategies for the futures and equities markets. Dr. Vaca holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Chicago in addition to his undergraduate degrees in both physics and mathematics.

The topic is Trend Following.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

Bottom of the source of profits in the futures markets
Why people who are on the losing side of trades still play the game
Importance of diversification
Why you should take every signal you can

Jump in!

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You can watch a free video here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/video/

Can't get enough of this episode? You can choose from my thousand plus episodes here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/podcast

My social media platforms: Twitter: @covel Facebook: @trendfollowing LinkedIn: @covel Instagram: @mikecovel

Hope you enjoy my never-ending podcast conversation!

Ep. 15: Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio May 15, 2012

Show notes

Please enjoy my interview on Trend Following Radio. This episode may also include great outside guests from my archive.

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You can watch a free video here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/video/

Can't get enough of this episode? You can choose from my thousand plus episodes here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/podcast

My social media platforms: Twitter: @covel Facebook: @trendfollowing LinkedIn: @covel Instagram: @mikecovel

Hope you enjoy my never-ending podcast conversation!

Ep. 14: Douglas Stewart Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio May 10, 2012

Show notes

My guest today is Douglas Stewart, the founder of Market Concepts, LLC in early 2007. He has a BA in Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. From 1996 to 2002 he worked in the industry as a financial advisor. After the bear market of 2000-2002, he left the regional brokerage firm Scott and Stringfellow and began studying technical analysis and alternative investment strategies. From 2003 to present day, he has researched and developed alternative investment strategies, which his clients have benefited from, and which paid off handsomely during The Great Recession of 2008/2009.

The topic is Trend Following.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

Stewart shares some of his experiences coming of age during the dotcom bubble
Once the bubble burst, he immersed himself for ten hours a day for several years studying books such as Jack Schwager's "Market Wizards", which led him to his lightbulb moment; he explains how this led him into the trend following space
Interesting experience he had at a panel in November of 2008 where he explained, in song, how he wasn't able to predict the markets
How ego can hurt you in the trend following world, why a majority will never really want to adopt a trend following perspective, and the zen of accepting that you'll never be able to accurately predict where the markets might go.

Jump in!

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You can watch a free video here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/video/

Can't get enough of this episode? You can choose from my thousand plus episodes here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/podcast

My social media platforms: Twitter: @covel Facebook: @trendfollowing LinkedIn: @covel Instagram: @mikecovel

Hope you enjoy my never-ending podcast conversation!

Ep. 13: Mark Melin Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio May 04, 2012

Show notes

My guest today is Mark Melin, a managed futures expert, editor/writer for Opalesque, and author. Melin has become a defacto investigative reporter for the MF Global scandal.

The topic is managed futures.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss:

Covel and Melin consider the MF Global story from the very beginning, back to the very basics, and discuss the political context, why the story isn't front page news, and how it might effect you in the long run.

Jump in!

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You can watch a free video here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/video/

Can't get enough of this episode? You can choose from my thousand plus episodes here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/podcast

My social media platforms: Twitter: @covel Facebook: @trendfollowing LinkedIn: @covel Instagram: @mikecovel

Hope you enjoy my never-ending podcast conversation!

Ep. 12: Michael Covel Monologue on Trend Following Radio May 01, 2012

Show notes

Please enjoy my monologue on Trend Following Radio. This episode may also include great outside guests from my archive.

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You can watch a free video here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/video/

Can't get enough of this episode? You can choose from my thousand plus episodes here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/podcast

My social media platforms: Twitter: @covel Facebook: @trendfollowing LinkedIn: @covel Instagram: @mikecovel

Hope you enjoy my never-ending podcast conversation!

Ep. 11: Tim Pickering Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio Apr 27, 2012

Show notes

My guest today is Tim Pickering, founder/president and lead portfolio manager of Auspice Capital. Pickering has over 15 years of commodity and financial trading experience. Prior to forming Auspice, Pickering was Vice President of Options Trading at Shell Trading Gas and Power in the Houston and Calgary offices. He began his career at TD Securities in Toronto in their elite trading development program and gained experience in a wide expanse of capital market products including foreign exchange, bonds, money markets and derivatives. Ultimately, Pickering held the Senior Trader position for the energy derivatives portfolio. He has extensive experience trading OTC and exchange traded options, futures, swaps and quantitative trend following systems.

The topic is Trend Following.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss: