Boy, does this photo bring back some memories from many moons ago . . . ( taken from Tudor Investment's original office at 160 Broadway, Room 905 ) I sat in that same chair on many an occasion, except PTJ was the one with enormous balls! He was never afraid to dump a "loser". He was aggressive, but also had an uncanny ability to be extremely objective and not allow his ego to get in the way. He would constantly "test" the markets . . . by that I mean putting on a position based on some technical work, and then letting the market tell him if he was right or wrong. Testing, Testing, Testing. - - - Kind of like being a bass fisherman and seeing if you could find that one place where the big one's were biting! If something wasn't "working" he would turn around and just flat-out dump the whole position. Next.
OF COURSE, and my problem was I thought the market was OVERVALUED. Certainly it's hindsight now, but the bulls were still winning back then. The Russell 2000 was over 840 back at that time. Imagine how I would have done in THIS market now ! One other thing to mention in reviewing my trades: because of my turning-point anticipation entry technique, many of my small winners really went onto become large winners.....if I had only had more patience and wasn't so anxious to book a "winner".....after all, only 2 out of 10 trades were winners....so the pressure to take profits is enormous with that track record ! So FYI: checking emotions is another huge problem when you've got a low winning percentage system or approach.
believe natty was his home. i mention it only because that market is a particularly ugly beast which makes the success all the more respectable.
cut losers quicky is extremely vague...Knowing what price point or percentage loss to get out is the key. At least half the time my trades start out negative but then recover.I cant always predict the exact top and bottom of every move and neither can bolling or anyone else.
i stopped watching that video after he said he doesnt believe in global warming, and that the ice cap has always melted then frozen....wtf. Belongs in the same category as jim cramer and lenny dystra. This is a great thread though. I think it's better to go in after a trend has already started just to ride it along, than to go in predicting a top/bottom. It also makes finding exit much easier.
When Bolling was on Fast Money, he was trading the financial index eminis as well as gold. I remember one day last fall when the market had swooned, but short covering had already started, he was shorting and getting clobbered. He called them his "soldiers" (his short positions) and they were "returning from battle, bloodied". So he definitely uses stops religiously....but I was surprised he didn't see the fact the market was way oversold and due for some short covering. Still, that one only one incident.....I wish I had half of his insight and intuition.