Trend following for the common man - and a word of thanks

One of the pleasures of doing this blog is that it has given me the chance to correspond with a number of individuals in the UK, Europe and even the US and the Far East who have been drawn to trend following as a viable way to make money in the markets. Helping these people avoid some of the pitfalls that are out there along their trading journey, and for them to make money, is tremendously enjoyable and rewarding.

Some people fall by the wayside, whether it be that they cannot deal with the process of giving back profits, the lack of performance on non-trending markets, or the simple fact that it is not 'exciting' as day-trading, for example.

On the other hand, all of the people I talk to on a regular basis are in full-time employment or have other business interests, but have one eye on building a nest egg for their future. The beauty of trend following is that it allows these people to participate fully in the markets, without impacting greatly on their normal daily lives. These are normal people, from all walks of life, that have been able to grasp how a seemingly simple method can generate positive returns. They have allowed themselves to be open to the concepts and the possibilities available to them by adopting such an approach.

The principles of trend following are quite simple, as is the construction of a system. It isn't rocket science. The magic is in ensuring that you are 'compatible' with the system and parameters you choose, allied to strong risk control. The results then speak for themselves - quite often these traders are ending up with a better performance than my own!

Corresponding with these people on a regular basis, discussing the issues that arise when participating in the markets, not only helps them improve as traders, it helps me as a mentor, driving me to improve the clarity of what I try to tell them. The issues we discuss also give me ideas for posts to put up on here as well.

I'm also grateful that I am followed on Twitter by a number of professional and institutional traders and writers based all around the globe, some of whom have favourited or re-tweeted some of my posts. I take this as validation that what I talk about on here is of value to others. I thank you all.