How does this investment rotation system work?

Own the top funds at the first trading day of each month. If you already hold them, you are set. If not, sell last month funds not on this month's list and use proceeds to buy the top funds. If one decides, with their investment advisor, to follow the system, there is never a question of when to buy OR sell. The system assumes trades happen at the end of trading day. It is not important to trade at the last instant of trading. However often times the first trading day of the month is quite active so we feel its good to minimize the time between selling and buying.

How often is the site updated?

Other than blogs, maintenance and improvements, the site is updated on the last day of the month, late at night (best case plan) and by the end of trading on the first trading day of the month (worst case plan). From best to worst case involves fixing any software, computer, or online connection issues primarily. We will do our best but some things of course can be out of our control in which case we will be in ASAP mode. We love to fix problems, don't expect us to ever miss the worst case.

Because the site is updated on the last day of the month, in the results table one can find that on only the last month of data, the "sell" date value is actually the last trading day of the month and not the first. This gives the results for that month up to the close of the last trading day of the month. The actual sell date is on the first trading day of the month, at close. So that month will be fully updated, including the final day, on the following month. This decision is driven by our motto that a member really only needs to login and get informed once a month, once they are on board with the service. That said, we love to have you every day if you like.. and hope to start a blog to keep it interesting some time soon.

How much money do I need to participate?

This is entirely up to you and your investment advisor. However if commission costs are going to be higher than 1 or 2% per year (assume worst case 24 trades in a year) then commission free options or buy and hold may be a more prudent decision. Here at tradeinformed we do have a "commission free" option (broker restrictions may apply so check with them). We also may have a commission free portfolio in the future that only has two funds- minimizing number of trades based on historical testing.

Why are the portfolio lists limited in size, and picks include only the top 2 funds or stocks?

We feel that keeping the list fairly short is a good idea because its not overwhelming to research all the funds or stocks. Historical backtesting shows that 1 pick often performs better over a long period of time but the drawdowns can be bigger. Having more than 2 for a short list such as we use here does ok but both max return and drawdown often suffer. For the above reasons, at this time we like sticking with two. Keep in mind that picks are labeled "ticker 1" and "ticker 2" and are in order of ranking.

Do you ever make changes to the system?

We strive to lock in the system and let it run. However we are always thinking about ways to make it better. Our first change is getting rolled out on November 3rd. We are very excited about the new changes. Our proprietary oversold/overbought indicator received a significant upgrade. It previously had weakness working with ETFs that correlate poorly with stocks and this has been addressed. We were able to improve drawdown and standard deviation significantly without hurting return after implementing this feature.

Also for November 3, we are removing the biotech ETF FBT (First Trust NYSE Biotech) from ETF portfolio 1. The reason is not performance but trading volume. Liquidity can be an issue with this thinly traded fund so we are retiring it. Its replaced with IBB, (iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology) which performs nearly equivalent in backtest but trades at around 5X the volume and less bid-ask spread.

 

We try to keep everything very secure. We have high security features implemented on checkout and other pages, and this can result in "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" If security features are not implemented on Internet explorer.

If you can't get to the checkout page or other secure page, all you need to do is check your Internet Explorer settings to ensure that TLS (Transport Layer Security) is enabled:

1. Start Internet Explorer
2. Click 'Tools'/cog symbol and then 'Internet Options'
3. Click the 'Advanced' tab
4. Scroll down and ensure that all of the 'Use TLS x.x' options are enabled
5. Click OK/Apply

One last important point: Internet explorer is not updated as frequently as some other browsers. This creates issues with interactive charts and security features and we suggest that the user pick another browser for a more trouble free experience. Any issues with other browsers, please let us know so we can work on it!