Use rule-based investment strategies to maintain trading and investment discipline, and protect yourself from fear, greed, pride, and other costly emotions! Since the mid-1990s, assets under management in rule-based or non-discretionary hedge funds have outgrown those in discretionary or qualitative funds. Recent research shows that rule-based funds have outperformed discretionary funds on a risk-adjusted basis over the past 30 years, and have especially outperformed during recent financial crises. This is the first comprehensive guide to designing and applying these sophisticated strategies. Combining academic rigor and practical applications, it explains what rule-based investment strategies are, how to construct them, and how to distinguish bad ones from good ones. Unlike any other guide, it systematically covers every facet of the topic, including Forex, rates, emerging markets, equity, volatility, and other key topics. Credit Suisse head of global strategy and modeling, Chiente Hsu, covers carry, momentum, seasonality, and value-based strategies; as well as the construction of portfolios of rule-based strategies that support diversification. Replete with realistic examples, this book will be a valuable resource for everyone concerned with effective investing, from traders to specialists in applied corporate finance.

This book is a compilation of recent articles written by leading academics and practitioners in the area of risk-based and factor investing (RBFI). The articles are intended to introduce readers to some of the latest, cutting edge research encountered by academics and professionals dealing with RBFI solutions. Together the authors detail both alternative non-return based portfolio construction techniques and investing style risk premia strategies. Each chapter deals with new methods of building strategic and tactical risk-based portfolios, constructing and combining systematic factor strategies and assessing the related rules-based investment performances. This book can assist portfolio managers, asset owners, consultants, academics and students who wish to further their understanding of the science and art of risk-based and factor investing. - Contains up-to-date research from the areas of RBFI - Features contributions from leading academics and practitioners in this field - Features discussions of new methods of building strategic and tactical risk-based portfolios for practitioners, academics and students

Investing with the Trend provides an abundance of evidence for adapting a rules-based approach to investing by offering something most avoid, and that is to answer the “why” one would do it this way. It explains the need to try to participate in the good markets and avoid the bad markets, with cash being considered an asset class. The book is in three primary sections and tries to leave no stone unturned in offering almost 40 years of experience in the markets. Part I – The focus is on much of the misinformation in modern finance, the inappropriate use of Gaussian statistics, the faulty assumptions with Modern Portfolio Theory, and a host of other examples. The author attempts to explain each and offer justification for his often strong opinions. Part II – After a lead chapter on the merits of technical analysis, the author offers detailed research into trend analysis, showing how to identify if a market is trending or not and how to measure it. Further research involves the concept of Drawdown, which the author adamantly states is a better measure of investor risk than the oft used and terribly wrong use of volatility as determined by standard deviation. Part III – This is where he puts it all together and shows the reader all of the steps and details on how to create a rules-based trend following investment strategy. A solid disciplined strategy consists of three parts, a measure of what the market is actually doing, a set of rules and guidelines to tell you how to invest based upon that measurement, and the discipline to follow the strategy

This book introduces options and how they work–to those who are ready to learn how they work, as well as emphasizes the application of time-tested option trading rules. Buying and selling options is the fastest growing investment strategy when compared with other trading venues such as buying and selling stocks, futures, and foreign exchange currencies. Millions of investors who understand the financial leverage offered by options are earning impressive, steady incomes by buying and selling call and put options. The successful investors learn how options work. They develop watch lists of trade candidates and study price charts to find prospective trades. And they apply rules-based option trading strategies that succeed much more often than they fail. Even when they lose, their rules limit their losses to acceptable levels. This book was written by a successful option trader. He introduces options and how they work to those who are ready to learn how they work. The book emphasizes the application of time-tested option trading rules. These rules use price charts, market volatility, key option values, and risk graphs to achieve high-probability option trading outcomes. The book also details ten option trade examples that include trade setups, entries, trade management techniques, and supporting illustrations.

Who's going to provide for your future? There's a crisis looming in pensions. Investing in property is time-consuming and risky. Savings accounts yield very little return. If you're not careful, you could be looking at a very uncomfortable retirement. But surely the alternative - investing in the stock market - is risky, complicated and best left to the professionals? Phil Town doesn't think so. He made a fortune, and in Rule #1 he'll show you how he did it. Rule #1: - Sets out the five key numbers that really count when you're buying stocks and shares - Explains how to use new Internet tools to simplify research - Shows how to exploit the advantages of being an individual investor - Demonstrates how to pay fifty pence for every pound's worth of business This simple and straightforward method will guide you to 15% or better annual returns - in only 15 minutes a week. It's money in the bank!

An investment guru and author of What Works on Wall Street and How to Retire Rich introduces timely new investment strategies and wealth-building techniques for an uncertain new era of global economics. Originally published as Predicting the Markets of Tomorrow. Reprint.

In "42 Rules of Sensible Investing (2nd Edition)", Leon Shirman shares his practical insights on personal investment strategies and philosophies, and on picking winning stocks. These views are heavily influenced by successful long-term approaches used by modern investing legends, such as Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch. The book provides a checklist of concise, practical, and sensible rules that are indispensable in assessing investment ideas. You will read about investing principles that can be used to evaluate your portfolio and immediately implement changes if necessary. Some rules are common sense advice. Some you may have already heard about. And some could definitely cause controversy: Why index funds perform better than most other actively managed funds How diversification can sometimes be a bad idea Why long term, investing in stocks is less risky than in bonds or bills Why it makes sense to stay invested at all times How simple process of stock picking is better than a complex one

In 2005, Joel Greenblatt published a book that is already considered one of the classics of finance literature. In The Little Book that Beats the Market—a New York Times bestseller with 300,000 copies in print—Greenblatt explained how investors can outperform the popular market averages by simply and systematically applying a formula that seeks out good businesses when they are available at bargain prices. Now, with a new Introduction and Afterword for 2010, The Little Book that Still Beats the Market updates and expands upon the research findings from the original book. Included are data and analysis covering the recent financial crisis and model performance through the end of 2009. In a straightforward and accessible style, the book explores the basic principles of successful stock market investing and then reveals the author’s time-tested formula that makes buying above average companies at below average prices automatic. Though the formula has been extensively tested and is a breakthrough in the academic and professional world, Greenblatt explains it using 6th grade math, plain language and humor. He shows how to use his method to beat both the market and professional managers by a wide margin. You’ll also learn why success eludes almost all individual and professional investors, and why the formula will continue to work even after everyone “knows” it. While the formula may be simple, understanding why the formula works is the true key to success for investors. The book will take readers on a step-by-step journey so that they can learn the principles of value investing in a way that will provide them with a long term strategy that they can understand and stick with through both good and bad periods for the stock market. As the Wall Street Journal stated about the original edition, “Mr. Greenblatt…says his goal was to provide advice that, while sophisticated, could be understood and followed by his five children, ages 6 to 15. They are in luck. His ‘Little Book’ is one of the best, clearest guides to value investing out there.”

Traders have a tendency to over-complicate. Many search for the latest new indicator that will give them an edge, or a new trading strategy to deliver bigger wins. The message of The Trading Playbook is to forget all of this and concentrate on three solid foundations to improve your trading performance: Simplicity - focus on price action alone. Probabilities - take trades where the odds are in your favour. Hard work and screen time - put in the effort to build up your trading experience. Hard work and screen time is down to you, but The Trading Playbook will guide you towards simplifying your trading and thinking in terms of probabilities. Michael Gouvalaris describes two straightforward trading plans that eschew complicated indicators and focus on probable outcomes. The first of these two plans - the day trading playbook - is based around ten different daily situations that can occur in the futures market. Between these ten daily setups, every single scenario is accounted for. You are shown how to determine what day type is in progress by studying that day's open and gap, and then high probability and low probability price action for each day type are given. Alongside the ten day types, the simple technical analysis tools of support and resistance and measuring market volatility are employed. The second trading plan - the swing trading playbook - describes effective ways to identify the trend, how to find ideal spots to enter trades in the direction of the trend, and also how to identify signals that warn of potential trend failure or reversals. You will learn simple and highly effective tools for spotting high probability entries and exits for trades. Again, basic technical analysis tools are employed, including measured moves, box theory and A-B-C waves. The key benefits of both playbooks are that they give you a well-defined plan to follow. This alleviates many of the big mistakes traders make, such as over-trading and cutting winners too early, or sitting in losing trades too long. If you are on the lookout for some trading ideas to simplify your analysis and refine your approach, The Playbook is for you.