Better System Trader

Our guest for this episode is Art Collins.

Art's story is interesting because in his younger days he was an expert card counter in black jack, and he's translated some of those skills into building robust trading strategies from really simple market concepts.

Not only is Art a trader but he's published a number of books and magazines articles, he's done lecturing, both online and offline so I'm sure you've seen his name around the place and it's an honor to have him here on the show today.

In this episode Art shares:

• How to combine simple market concepts to create robust trading strategies
• The four rules of system development to reduce over-optimization
• Simple ways to improve the statistical reliability of our strategies
• What traders can learn from Arts experiences being an expert card counter in black jack

Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. All content produced by Better System Trader is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute trading or investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Let me tell you the story of 2 lumberjacks and how we can become better traders by NOT trading.

Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. All content produced by Better System Trader is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute trading or investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Let's have a bit of fun today.

It's Australia Day, so we're going with an Aussie theme for this Thursday Trading Thought...

I'm going to share an email about a lamington and what it can teach us about trading strategies.

(Yes, food and trading combined - it's ingenious! Just don't listen to it before bed...)

Happy Australia Day!

Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. All content produced by Better System Trader is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute trading or investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Risk Management…

It's not as sexy as the latest hot indicator…

Or the undiscovered penny stock poised for an explosive move…

Or the trading guru who appeared out of nowhere and is now promising to share the "secrets" to making million dollar profits overnight…

… But there are a whole host of risks that have the potential to destroy trading accounts in just seconds, so it's an incredibly important topic for serious traders to consider.

We have plenty of examples in history that show what happens when Risk Management goes bad, so what can we learn from these and how can we best protect ourselves from catastrophic losses?

Our guest for this episode, Robert Carver, is an independent systematic trader, freelance writer and research consultant.

He spent years working for one of the world's largest systematic hedge funds and is the author of "Systematic Trading: A unique new way to make investment and trading decisions."

In this episode, Rob shares with us:

• The different types of risk we face as traders – including 'hidden' risks that can destroy trading accounts in seconds
• What can go wrong when Risk Management goes bad (we have some great examples in history to learn from!)
• Common mistakes and assumptions traders make with Risk Management that can lead to heavy losses
• Tips and techniques to identifying and "managing" Risk

Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. All content produced by Better System Trader is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute trading or investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Today we have a quick chat about technology and in particular Blockchain.

Yes, Blockchain has been around for a few years now but we're really seeing more and more of it in the news lately, and there has been a lot of hype about the potential applications of this technology.

Some people have even said the Blockchain will have a greater impact on our lives than ANY other technology that exists today.

How big is that?

Much of the hype around Blockchain has been focused on the financial industry, or the potential for Blockchain to fundamentally change the financial services industry.

Which got me thinking..

... How could this impact us in the future, both as traders and as fine, upstanding members of society? :-)

Anyway, my own personal knowledge of Blockchain was pretty limited - even though I'd heard of it a number of times I didn't really have an idea of what it was.

But I do remember that Bert Mouler mentioned it episode 64 of the podcast where we were discussing cryptocurrencies.

So I asked Bert to come back on the show and give us a very quick introduction into Blockchain:

• What is it
• Why are people so excited about it
• The possible applications to the financial services industry, traders and society in general.

So let's head over to Bert and hear what the fuss is all about!

Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. All content produced by Better System Trader is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute trading or investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

How do we know when it's time to quit working on a trading strategy and move on to something else? Here's a lesson from the TV show Gold Rush.

Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. All content produced by Better System Trader is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute trading or investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

The guest for this episode is Jack Vogel from Alpha Architect, a quantitative asset management and consulting firm.

Jack has published a number of papers on SSRN and also co-authored a couple of books including "Quantitative Momentum: a practitioners guide to building a momentum-based stock selection system".

In our chat with Jack you will hear:

• Momentum - what is it, what causes it and the different types you need to be aware of
• How to best apply momentum techniques to a portfolio
• Why measuring the quality of a trend is so important and how to do it

Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. All content produced by Better System Trader is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute trading or investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

What can traders learn from airline pilot Captain Sullenberger and his response and actions landing a plane in the Hudson River?

Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. All content produced by Better System Trader is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute trading or investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

So here it is: The Top 10 Trading Lessons for 2016!

I have to admit, creating this list was really fun. Not only because I got to look back and remember all of the great episodes we released and the knowledge that these fantastic guests shared with us, but also because I had the chance to think about the impact these episodes hopefully had on your trading too.

This Top 10 List was chosen based on a few factors, including download stats, feedback from listeners and some of my own personal favorites. So although this list is not solely based on analytics, each episode was chosen with the intention to offer powerful trading insights as you move into the new year.

So if you missed any of these episodes, make sure you listen to them before we ring in the new year!

Also make sure to download the FREE BONUS audio package — This audio contains the biggest trading lessons from each of the guests in this Top 10 list and I compiled them to make sure we all learn from their insights. It's only short but it's packed with valuable info!

One last note: NONE of this would be possible without you and your support. So I want to THANK YOU for a fantastic 2016!

So (drumroll please…..) here they are: My Top 10 Trading Lessons for 2016

Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. All content produced by Better System Trader is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute trading or investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

As markets become more mature and more efficient, it can be become increasingly difficult to find sustainable edges.

Many traders are looking at the same data and using the same techniques, so what are our options here?

2 of the obvious options we have are:

• Try to find a unique approach to the markets or at least something that isn't so popular,
• Explore alternative markets where inefficiencies are more prevalent.

In this episode, our guest Bert Mouler is going to discuss both options and share his solutions.

Bert has been an independent trader for close to a decade and is the President and CIO of Profluent Capital, which uses advanced AI and machine learning technology to produce uncorrelated alpha for their clients.

In our chat today, you will learn:

• Cryptocurrency markets – what to trade, the huge inefficiencies that exist and finding edges in the bitcoin markets
• The advantages and disadvantages of Machine Learning and tips to use it effectively in trading
• Feature engineering and the importance of looking at data in unique ways

Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. All content produced by Better System Trader is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute trading or investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.