On today’s show, Michael Covel talks about decision-making, and how too often people allow the "rules" of others to dictate the actions they take. This, as Michael explains, is indicative of the politically correct culture that’s taken root in all of society.
What are we to think when wildly successful comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K, and Chris Rock flat-out refuse to play college campuses because of the close-minded, irrationally sensitive nature of today’s student bodies? How have we arrived at a place where anything less than absolute conformity to preselected attitudes and beliefs means running the risk of being labeled "something"? Racist? Homophobic? Sexist? The list goes on.
What’s worse, as Michael points out, is that this culture of victim-hood has many feeling they’re entitled to certain things simply because they "exist". These are the people who blindly accept societal rules, rather than analyze and develop proper strategy. Good decision-making, whether in trading or everyday life, means developed a plan and a set of rules and then sticking to them. Because in the end, everyone gets what they want (to paraphrase trader Ed Seykota).
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Today on Trend Following Radio Michael Covel talks with Lawrence McMillan of McMillan Analysis Corporation. The topic of discussion is options, their value in terms of overall strategy, and how their trading has evolved over the preceding decades.
The conversation opens with Lawrence talking about his days at historic Bell Labs – a research company founded in the 19th century by Alexander Graham Bell – and the initial difficulty in working with options due to their complicated nature and the level of technology required. Later, Michael asks Lawrence to talk about the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) and how, since the subprime crisis of 2008, many are looking at the VIX as long-term insurance for the future. One of the problems with that strategy, as Lawrence points out, is that many people fail to take into account that VIX only measures market expectations for the next 30 days.
Also discussed today are leverage as a financial tool and the concept of the black swan – unforeseen events that have a major impact, but only rationalized after the fact. Lawrence brings decades of experience and wisdom, gain perspective.
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On today’s show Michael Covel examines the duplicitous nature of the mainstream financial media, how its talking heads insist on pretending they can predict the future, and how even its most respected publications promote seemingly opposing ideas.
To emphasize his point, Michael opens the discussion by talking about the publication process for his first book, Trend Following. After being passed on by one publisher, he was eventually signed by the publishing side of the Financial Times conglomerate. The same FT, as Michael points out, that’s been trashing trend following for decades.
And nothing has changed. Michael reads from a September 2015 FT article in which author Stephen Foley gives trend following the traditional mainstream bashing we’ve come to except. But in the same issue, FT conducts an interview with Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller, in which Shiller says, he sees a massive stock market bubble – the kind of thing trend following has repeatedly proven to be best-equipped to handle.
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On today’s show Michael Covel talks with memory expert and Memrise co-founder Ben Whately. Not surprisingly, central to the discussion is memory and how the human brain interprets and processes information.
When we think of fond memories, we often see events from someone else’s point of view. Ben explains that this is because in addition to our own personal recollections, we have also encountered alternate perspectives of the event through such devices as photos or home movies. Our brain mashes the imagery together and produces a composite image – a memory.
Michael and Ben talk about how humanity’s view on memory throughout time has always been a reflection of the best technology of the era. This leads to one of Ben’s favorite subjects, language. According to Ben, the way language is taught today – rote memorization – is completely wrong. Language is best learned by immersing yourself in the culture of the people who speak it. Take his memory lessons throughout this episode and apply them tomorrow.
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On today’s show, Michael Covel talks about how people that are ahead of the curve often find themselves isolated – even ridiculed – by those who don’t yet get it. This, as Michael points out, is certainly true for trend following traders, and some of the sharpest push back comes from the talking heads of the media.
To emphasize his point, Michael plays clips from an interview between CNBC’s Joe Kernen and Graham Capital’s Ken Tropin, a highly successful trader who heavily incorporates trend following techniques into his overall strategy. To Michael, of utmost significance in the two men’s exchange, is the fact that Kernen bumbles through the interview wholly unprepared (either via incompetence or on purpose). Kernen didn’t respect Tropin or his strategy enough to do even the most basic homework beforehand.
Michael’s discussion then moves on to the topic of uncertainty. In direct opposition to media personalities, that are paid to pretend to know what the market will do, trend following traders embrace the knowledge that they can’t predict the future. Uncertainty makes the game more exciting, and not just the investment game. As Michael demonstrates, the principles of trend following can be effectively applied across myriad disciplines.
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Today’s guest is prolific author, mathematician and entrepreneur John Casti. John talks with Michael Covel about social mood, and how ultimately the events that urge populations to move in one direction or another are largely unpredictable.
John discusses the concept of socionomics – the idea that the collective beliefs of a society about its future will influence the kinds of social events to occur in that future. And while these triggers, which John refers to as X-events, can’t be predicted, John explains that they can absolutely be prepared for by understanding the greater social context of the region.
As an example, John cites the so-called Arab Spring. As he points out, no one could have predicted the single event that moved millions in the Arab World to take to the streets in protest. But it wasn’t hard to see that the region had long been primed for something big. Charles Faulkner recommended John as a guest (even though he only knew his work). Good tip from Charles!
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On today’s show Michael Covel vents some of the frustration he’s been feeling over the past few weeks. Central to his discussion is the idea of failure, and how the vast majority of people are unable – or unwilling – to accept how vital it is to overall long-term success.
Michael opens by pointing out that most people today seem to be under the delusion that someone will always be there to take care of them. This, as Michael explains, is by design. Government and the talking heads of the media want the average citizen to be soft, dependent, and unwilling to take risks. Safety and security, according to the official line, should be valued above all else (even if it is all an illusion).
But this line of thinking doesn’t account for the truly successful of the world. Those who’ve risked everything and succeeded – specifically because they failed and learned from their mistakes. Success requires tenacity and dedication, but neither are required if you don’t take a risk in the first place. Because if you never take a shot, you’ll never hit the target.
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Today’s guest is author, entrepreneur and professional poker player Annie Duke. Michael Covel and Annie Duke discuss several of the countless ways in which the psychology of gambling overlaps with that of trading, investment and other aspects of business.
Annie explains the importance of thinking probabilistically for decision-makers. Gamblers, like investors, can sometimes become so focused on their losses that it begins to affect their decision-making process in a negative way. Annie calls this “tilt” and says it occurs when players put too much emphasis on outcome. She points out that so long as you are getting an overall return on your investment via a positive expectation, small losses should be both expected and absorbed.
Michael and Annie also discuss further in depth expectancy and how the top minds in both trading and gambling think about the long-term. When involved with risk, it is always important to think realistically. If there is a 90% chance of success, don’t round it up to 100% simply to boost your confidence. This way, if the venture fails, you won’t feel the need to discard your strategy since there was always that 10% chance of failure. Overall, your odds of success are still very good. This is why Annie’s thinking is so important for all of us.
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