Category: News & Features

Strike when the odds are in your favor.

When you are able to find a good coaching, it’s a huge multiplier in your trading journey.

Here are some success stories that we gathered from D-League, one of the leading premium InvestaGroups in our platform. Javi, Ken, and Matt held a sample “Town Hall” gathering last July 20 and discussed trading techniques with their fellow traders including an $IDC stock where some of the attendees were able to ride the trend and benefited from the discussion.

We have interviewed three D-League members and here are their stories where they have met the team including the breakdown of their $IDC stock trade. The recommendation includes details about their own strategy objectives and set-ups, results analysis, position sizing, risk management, and most importantly — execution in a live market.

D-League Members’ Success Stories

CHRISLER
@chrisler18

I’ve been trading for 2 1/2 years (part-time) and comfortable in swing trades and momentum set-ups. I wanted to look for a kind of support group where you can share your trades and strategies and luckily, I was invited by @anima to join their group.

Our first meet-up was on Sat, July 20 and it was worth it because the learnings gathered that time was already on a different kind of level, you can already ask questions right away. They share to us a technique called “The Rule of 3” which have a success probability of 70-80%. The basics of Elliott Wave Theory was also discussed briefly. And then they shared their technical analysis on our most requested stocks with the application of their technique and wave counts.

One fellow trader asked what can we buy on Monday? And sir Javi said $IDC without hesitation. They show us the chart, and at one glance I saw that it has my momentum set-up. That gave me conviction to buy early in the morning (with a tight cut). Here’s my entries and exits as well as position size when I completed the trade:

I used 1.5% VAR on this $IDC trade. Bought 60% position at 5.68 average and 25% at 5.56 during intra-day re-test. Then 15% at 6.05 the following day. Sold 45% at 6.34 on July 24 expecting it to re-test at 5.8 and make a base there. Bought 30% again at 6.09 on July 25 and sold all shares at average of 7.02 on July 30 during the rallies.

Reason for buying:
Mini consolidation near its break-out point (5.6)
Break-out of 5.6 and RSI (30) 60 confirms its break-out

Reason for selling:
Top of trend line and whole number resistance
No base formed, expecting a steep drop

With this trade I was able to boost my overall portfolio by 8% and generated a profit for the annual payment of the Open Journal Premium Group Subscription.

RAYMOND

@Dnomyar10

I’ve been trading for 1 year and 8 months full-time. I’m a trend follower and a momentum trader. I decided to join D-League so I could learn more trading skills from Ken, Matt, and Javi and to see if I’ve made an improvement throughout my trading journey by way of comparing my strategies and set ups with theirs. So far, it’s been a really good experience as they’ve been helpful specially when reading and analyzing charts.

I got in to trade the $IDC because of Javi’s recommendation. When I checked it, the patterns are in line with my system so I decided to buy in the trade. My first entry was from the break of the mini darvas, and then I added my second entry through a momentum entry. I noticed that the price movement is quite fast so I trailed using 5ema.

Here’s the screen shot of my portfolio with the $IDC stock. I was able subcribe to the Open Journal Premium Group Annual Subscription as I gained enough profits from the $IDC trade.

We hope these success stories inspire traders to be more patient in waiting for the right trading set-up, the courage to do what it takes to follow their biases, find good coaches to help you on your trading, and be more focused on their road to consistency.

BERTO
@kepler

I opened my stock account way back 2013 and have been on and off trading since then. I only became more serious with it 2 years ago and now an active trader. I am a trend follower. Since I have a day job, I only focus on the daily and weekly time frame.

I am thankful and fortunate enough to have been invited to join D-League. Learning how to effectively trade is exciting yet daunting. Learning is oftentimes in isolation thus a community like D-League is a breather. It’s nice to have a community where you can ask about some techniques that I could not fully grasp or validate some experiences that I’ve had. I think those were the main reasons why I joined D-League.

The first D-League training session was held last July 20, 2019 however, even prior to that, the team, headed by @taylor, @anima, and @meflores, has been generously sharing their knowledge. I highly appreciate those Sunday online sessions that I have attended. I think the session last July 20 was just a continuation of what they have started with D-League, to share their trading style with the public. The discussion was very casual with topics that circulated around what came from the individual stock chart analysis but the emphasis was in the Rule of 3 and some topics on Elliott wave theory.

$IDC was one of the stocks that was analyzed during session. Convinced by the principle of the Rule of 3 and the Elliott Wave Theory, I followed the recommendation and bought the said stock last July 22. I bought the said stock with a trading plan in mind because the team reiterated that the price is king, which means that the current bias may also be wrong. I was preparing to cut my position the following day yet the price soared which gave me the impression that the bias was right. The following day, July 24, the price retraced to a level that has been previously discussed in the community and I was able to add to my position through an O-H order. With bewilderment, when I checked the price after the close of the market, I knew that the price had already bounced and I held unto it. Last August 2, I already sold my positions. Just in time for the Open Journal Premium Group launching, I gained a substantial amount of money to pay for the 1-year subscription. It was a good trade to start my journey with Elliott Wave.

Find out more about the Open Journal here: www.investagrams.com/p/openjournal

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As proven by Scraffycoco who ranked 4th during the Investagrams Trading Cup 2017, it’s possible for students to thrive and come out on top in a very competitive environment filled with competitors from various professions. However, what about those students who didn’t make it to the Top 10? Or even the Top 100? Were the journeys of the youth who weren’t able to make it to the top a failure?

Many might view that not being in the Top 100 in a competition that had thousands of participants is a failure. However, for those perpetual learners, this would only be another hurdle in the process of becoming great. If you view any competition as a place to learn and hone your skills, then you will never come out as a failure no matter what your rank was.

We interviewed Kervin, a long-time user of Investagrams and a student competitor during the Investagrams Trading Cup 2018. Despite still being a student and having only a year of experience in the market at the time, he was not afraid of the pressure of going up against the best traders in the Philippines. Also, he wanted to partake in the competition as an avenue for learning as he aims to continuously improve his trading. “I was never really in a competition with anyone but myself. I saw the Trading Cup not only as a place to learn, but most importantly as a place where I can practice my discipline in executing my setups.”

Q: What was your mindset coming into the Trading Cup?

A: My mindset was to win and keep up with the best traders, but it was also to become a better trader myself. I knew it was going to be a process if ever I would make the Top 100, yet alone the Top 10, and I loved every moment of it.

Q: How difficult was it to handle both your real portfolio and virtual portfolio at the same time?

A: It was very difficult. Especially since it was during a bear market, it was hard to decide which portfolio I would cut my losses first. Often times after cutting losses on my real port, I would forget to cut my losses on the virtual port. Also, I had several positions on my real port that I did not have on my virtual port during the beginning of the Trading Cup.

Q: Did you have difficulty trading during the competition because you were just a student at the time?

A: With my experience, not really, since I trade end-of-day. This means that I usually check the market from 9am to 10am, then again from 2:30pm to 3:30pm. With this approach, I am able to manage my time better between trading and listening in class. Also, I don’t get whipsawed as often since breakouts would have shown signals that it was a fake. On the other hand, there were also several stocks that bounced or broke out intraday that I missed due to my EOD trading. Both approaches have their pros and cons, and it’s up to the trader to decide which approach works best.

Q: What was your most successful setup during the competition?

A: I am a breakout trader, but during the bear market, trading this set up was one of the hardest. What I can say however, is that the bear market improved my criteria in looking for breakout plays. I was able to be more selective with my trades and was more patient in waiting for the right play. It’s very important to focus on the quality of your trades, not just the quantity. Following the 80/20 principle: You make 80% of your profits on 20% of your trades.

Q: What are the tips and advices you would like to give the students who plan to join the Trading Cup 2019?

A: My tip is simple. I encourage all students to join the competition. Because win or lose, at the end of the day, you get to bring valuable lessons when you go trading live. With the current offer more tailored to students, this can be a way for you to jump start and build your investing journey. Also, this year’s Trading Cup is more than just a competition. It’s now also an avenue for learning for those who want to begin their investing journey. If I’m not mistaken, there are bonus webinars and learning modules for student competitors.

Q: How has your experience during the Investagrams Trading Cup 2018 affected your trading today?

A: My discipline has improved tremendously after the competition. When you’re just starting out, this is when you begin to learn different strategies and ways to profit from the market. At first, I was system hopping or trading stocks that weren’t even part of my bread and butter setup. After learning that majority of my losses came from those trades that were forced and didn’t have a proper setup, it reinforced the importance of discipline when it came to execution of the right setup.

Q: How has your experience during the Investagrams Trading Cup 2018 changed your life?

A: First and foremost, it helped me understand that in trading you’re only competing against one person. You don’t compete against other traders, gurus, and especially not the market. Your only competition is yourself, and it’s your responsibility to be a better trader than you were yesterday. It has also showed me how much more I needed to learn and improve on. My goal was to be part of the Top 100, but sadly I didn’t make it. Nevertheless, the competition instilled in me that trading the markets is really a process of perpetual learning.

That’s it for this one! Kervin is a definite example of someone who is a perpetual learner. He came in with a mindset of competing head on with the best traders in the country, but more than that he also wanted to become a better trader himself. He didn’t have any difficulty trading in the competition since he adjusted his trading style based on his circumstances. He chose to be an end-of-day trader and focused on catching setups during the closing hours of the market since he had classes during the day. Also, he highlighted the importance of focusing on the quality rather than the quantity of trades made.

Kervin also encourages students to join the competition as the Trading Cup is also a place to learn and jumpstart one’s investing journey. He also noted that his discipline as improved significantly after experiencing the Trading Cup first-hand, he now focuses on Grade A setups only. Most importantly, he urges everyone to understand that the only competition out there is yourself. On a macro view, your overarching goal should not be to outperform the trader next to you, but to be a better trader than you were yesterday.

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Congratulations to BehindTheTrades for spotting a potential market leader as it continues to increase in price. $ROCK (Rockwell Land Corporation) has been moving in an upward channel that began last May 2019, he notes that the important resistance to break in order to make a bigger move is 2.35-2.37. For those who haven’t seen his post, it was posted on our Market Wizards InvestaGroup. This is something the stock has already done and is now on it’s way to retesting multi-year high at 2.78.

 Initial Spot

On Technicals

As the property sector has been and is continuously showing strength, $ROCK can be one of the beneficiaries from being in the leading sector of the year. After its 60% run up at late 2017, the stock has declined significantly and has remained dormant throughout the duration of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019. However, $ROCK has now begun to show some signs of strength as it has begun its climb on increasing volume. As highlighted by BehindTheTrades, if the stock can break 2.78, then we may see a potential swing to 3 pesos.

As $ROCK continues on its upwards channel, a conservative buy would be at its channel support at around 2.38. This is also its previous resistance, so we have a SnR flip in play. If volume will continue to increase in the coming weeks, then there’s a big possibility that a bigger move towards 3 pesos may unfold.

On Fundamentals

Looking at its Fundamentals, $ROCK has been a solid company that’s has consistently shown positive earnings. Also, as mentioned earlier, the stock is part of the leading sector of the year. Don’t be surprised if we may see a move similar to what happened at the end of 2017.

Kudos again to BehindTheTrades for spotting a stock that has big potential that almost no one is watching! Your FREE one-month access to InvestaJournal is on its way!

These are the type of plays you can spot at our Market Wizards InvestaGroup, so you don’t want to miss out. For those who are wondering how to be featured, you may visit this link and learn a thing or two. Good luck!

Investagrams’ mission began with wanting to enable Filipinos to have equal access to market data, education, and tools. Being the leading social-financial platform in the Philippines, now with a brokerage underway, we know that we still have greater goals to pursue and more people to serve. Which is why we took a bigger step and introduced the world to the Filipino trading community — an opportunity to also introduce Investagrams to the international trading scene.

Bridging the gap between Filipinos and the Global Markets, we launched the Investagrams trading platform in Singapore last Saturday, July 27, 2019, at the Traders’ Summit Singapore. The aim was to empower traders from across the region to access data on multiple financial markets such as Philippine Stocks, Singapore Stocks, Foreign Exchange, Commodities, and many more. It was truly a feat for Investagrams, but more importantly, it is a game-changer for us all to compete and trade on a global level.

On par with this global event, Investagrams brought the most respected and well-deserved speakers from all over the world to Traders’ Summit Singapore. Our guests were surely in for quite a treat!

The first speaker of the event was none other than Robin Ho, one of the most respected traders in Singapore. He shared his initial journey from being in the navy, to being lucky in the markets, to losing a fortune, before being consistently profitable. Robin’s turning point was being able to grow $100K to $2M in a span of 15 months. The strategy he shared, still being applied today, pinpoints critical levels in preparing for the next market cycle.

The second speaker is every retail trader’s friend, Rayner Teo. Being one of the most followed traders in Singapore, Rayner was not always the trading star he is today. His life transformation inspired hundreds of retail traders and prepped them into a traders’ mindset. There is much to be said for this young man, but above all, it would be respect.

Next up was JC Bisnar, CEO and Co-founder of Investagrams. JC was the youngest in the event’s speaker roster to share his journey to financial freedom. Being able to lead one of the fastest-growing start-ups and live financially free through trading are no easy feats. On top of his passion for trading, JC continues to inspire and educate fellow traders to achieve their fullest potential in trading the markets.

Of course, after gathering Singapore’s most renowned traders, we did not want to miss the opportunity to hear from them as they shared their views on global markets and what we could be expecting soon. Even Kyaw Tun of Sonic R Mastery joined the heated discussion on their macroeconomic views and how stock prices are expected to react. There were multiple opinions extracted by JC at that time, but one thing they all agreed on was that market prices will always go first.

After lunch, Philip Teo of TraderWave took the crowd through the depths of understanding price. The strategies he used revolved more on price action, which was more than enough to make profitable trades. To him, every indicator is a laggard, therefore should only act as guides. The ability to see beyond the candle bars is something that you would not want to miss!

Mark Ritchie stood strong to the title of Market Wizard as the room fell silent to hear him speak. This enthusiastic market veteran shared a very different point of view for traders and investors alike. His belief that “not all are meant to trade the markets” will surely make you rethink if trading is actually for you. More importantly, choosing to be a trader does not stop there. It is with the law of averages, as he discussed, that will determine whether you have what it takes to win this game. As he famously quotes, “Anyone can take a profit, but it takes a pro to take on losses.”

Managing the downside of trading keeps us alive in this game. Managing the upside is what keeps us excited in this game. This is exactly what Mark Ritchie II, the Momentum Master, did. He showed the potential upside to this game, and he shared how you can replicate it. Through entry and exit points, to psychology and mindset setting, up to the point of profit-taking, everyone was able to take a piece of knowledge and apply it in their own trading.

Like Father and Son, they are the Yin and Yang of trading. One who minimizes the downside, and the other who maximizes the upside. Not just that, panel moderator Javi Medina a.k.a. 2017 Trading Cup Champion, took the opportunity to squeeze all there is to know about trading. Let the experts ask the pros, they say. If you expected top-notch strategies and a primed mindset, then their heated discussion would have left your minds and hearts full.

Next was Quants. A lot of traders who attended admitted that they have not heard of quantitative trading since it is as daunting as it sounds, at the start, at least. But Chartered Market Technician Jake Chow broke all barriers that day. Jumpstarting traders to think in Quants was the main attraction of his talk. By building a robust system, free of emotional factors, you too can live up to the statistics that your strategy lives by.

Down to our second to the last speaker, Paul Familiaran re-ignited the crowd as he introduced a new era of trading. If you wish to have someone’s skills and talents, and want to mimic them, then Etoro is the platform for you. As Paul has said, everyone deserves to be rich.

On to our final speaker, Andreas Clenow always puts on a new show in every one of his talks. “I do not repeat my talks,” he says. And this time at the Traders’ Summit Singapore, he opened our eyes to a new style of trading. One that does not require any historical price, or any fundamentals at all. Everyone seemed to doubt this, but not for long. After seeing through the eyes of a veteran hedge fund manager, everyone certainly believed that in the markets, everything is possible.

Quants can be very intimidating to begin with. Luckily, Jet Mojica of BoH was able to interpret their thought process in a more comprehensible manner, step by step, through a friendly discussion. Debunking their talks, Jet got the explanation everyone was hoping for, and more than that, he was able to strike a new topic altogether in the world of Quants.

Another highlight of the summit was at its conclusion. The VIP attendees got to have a meet and greet session with our speakers while also having their books especially dedicated. Some even got to take their pictures together with the legends, taking home a priceless memento for this unforgettable event.

At the end of the day, everyone got to be part of something big. The audience had the opportunity to meet and learn from market wizards, momentum masters, veteran hedge fund managers, and Singapore’s top traders. For the speakers, the privilege to share their experience and knowledge to the next generation of traders. For our partners, the start of more to come from this lasting relationship. And finally for Investagrams, the first step into the global trading arena.

This 2019 will be the third year we will be hosting the Investagrams Trading Cup, the biggest stock market competition in the Philippines. For this year’s competition, PHP 1,000,000 in prizes are up for grabs plus a bonus pot that increases as more participants join. For the previous two years, we’ve recognized and awarded some of the best traders in the country. However, we felt like something was missing. There was a gap that needed to be filled to make the competition accessible to everyone.

That’s why for this year’s Trading Cup we are encouraging students across the country to join as well as Investagrams will recognize and award the top student traders in the Philippines. The youth are the future of our country, the Philippines has just recently reached 1,000,000 investors, and that number will only continue to grow if we can get the younger generation to partake in the stock market. This is why we have partnered and are continuing to partner with different student organizations around the country to promote investing at a young age.

We are giving the following incentives for STUDENTS who will join the competition:

✅ Separate ranking for Top Student Traders aside from the Overall Trading Cup ranking + a total of PHP 100,000 in incentives for the Top 10 Students ON TOP of the actual Trading Cup prizes!
✅ Bonus webinars to jumpstart your trading journey as a student investor.
✅ Special learning session with professional stock traders who were once beginners and student traders just like you!
✅ Exclusive online group in the Investagrams platform where you can interact with fellow student participants.
✅ ALL of this, made accessible just for students at Php 499 (50% off from the Regular Pass).

We want this year’s competition to not only cater to those students who already know how to trade, rather we’re also encouraging those who have little to no background in trading to join the competition as we will also be using this as an avenue to teach students how to begin and jump start their trading journeys through the bonus webinars and exclusive learnings modules.

If you’re a student you may be asking yourself, “Can someone like me even make the Top 10 in the competition?” This is why we interviewed Rafael Roces, known in Investagrams as Scraffycoco, the YOUNGEST trader to make the Top 10, who ranked 4th during the Investagrams Trading Cup 2017 as a fresh graduate out of thousands of competitive traders who joined the competition. During his defense, he captured the attention of many by saying “You can achieve your dreams even at a young age.”

Q: How difficult was it to handle both your real portfolio and virtual portfolio at the same time?

A: It wasn’t difficult because I was doing the exact same strategy on both my virtual and real portfolio at that time. I did this because it was a surefire way that I would really take the competition as seriously as I can as I was risking real money in my real port as well.

Q: Did you have difficulty trading during the competition because you were just a fresh graduate at the time?

A: Being a fresh graduate was more of a Pro than a Con because all of my time was allotted to trading.

Q: How important was portfolio allocation and risk management to your success in the competition?

A: Everything. I was following a 1 VAR strategy in the competition and at times it would be tempting to put on a max position size as a first entry. I think I actually did it a few times and found that it can quickly backfire because my stop would then be too tight. It was a bull market then which meant that you had to give your positions more breathing room as the general sentiment was going up anyway.

Q: What was your most successful setup during the competition?

A: I was just using a simple filter (YTD & monthly leaders) in order to find stocks that I would like to trade, and I would try to find setups using the daily chart. I either bought on support or during breakouts, and used a trail stop most of the time to exit my positions.

Q: What setups do you believe the participants of this year’s Trading Cup should focus on?

A: It would really depend on what the current market condition is and what kind of plays would be available. Also, you have to take into consideration the upside of the setups that you will be choosing. If you miss a 50% upside trade because you chose a 15% upside trade, that one trade alone can already decide your fate in the competition.

Q: Given that everyone in the Trading Cup was trying to go for the top spot, was there any added pressure increase your churn rate or trade more stocks for the possibility of accumulating more profits? Or did you stick with your system and only trade stocks that were properly set-up based on your parameters?

A: I think I traded a few setups early in the competition that weren’t strictly set up based but I quickly stopped doing it because it was doing more harm than good. What I did instead was to make alternate setups in order for me to be able to participate in a stock that I missed.

Q: What are the tips and advices you would like to give the students who plan to join the Trading Cup 2019?

A: If done correctly and honestly, the Trading Cup has the potential to change your trading career exponentially. Many of the strategies that I’m still using today is a condensation of all the learnings that I’ve gotten from joining the competitions of Investagrams.

Q: Will you join this year’s Trading Cup?

A: Yes!

That’s a wrap! Scraffycoco has definitely proved that no matter how young you are, you can achieve your dreams. He is truly an inspiration to all the students who would like to not only join the competition, but to be part of the Top 10 alongside the best traders in the Philippines. We can also see how Raffy values simplicity in his trading as he only uses a simple screener that identifies the YTD and MTD leaders in the market. Also, he kept his buying parameters simple; he either bought on support or on a breakout from resistance.

He also emphasizes that you should follow your chosen setups rather than style drifting as this may do more harm than good. If you believe that your setups are too restrictive, then you should create alternate setups that have been studied and back tested in order to take advantage of more opportunities. Most importantly, he said that portfolio allocation and risk management was EVERYTHING. Also, we have not seen the last of Scraffycoco as he plans to enter the Investagrams Trading Cup 2019!

So, to all the students out there, take it from Raffy. He said that the Trading Cup has the potential to change your trading career exponentially. Here at Investagrams, we believe that the competition has the potential to change your LIFE! In the words of Gary Vaynerchuk, “You only regret the things you don’t do.” Don’t miss out on a chance of a lifetime to become one of the top student traders in the Philippines!

Many aspire to attain financial freedom through success in the financial markets, be it through passive investing or active trading. For most people out there, being a consistently successful retail trader can be more than enough to create wealth in the long term. However, there are some who aren’t satisfied with just being a retail trader. Some want to take trading to a whole new level outside the realm of small-time trading. There are those who aspire to become a high level fund manager who handles millions in assets. Then there are the few who dream to become the CIO of their own hedge fund, foreseeing all investment activities and handling a multi-billion fund.

We interviewed Markus Sanchez a Filipino equities and commodities trader based in Japan who one day dreams to become an institutional trader in a hedge fund in the U.S. We first asked him about his motivation to become an institutional trader. He said, “I’ve been trading even when I was still working in the Philippines, I’ve been at it for nine years to be exact. I’ve experienced almost all there is to experience as a retail trader; the big wins, the large drawdowns, and everything in between. I love trading the markets, but as with everything I do in life, I always want to take it to the next level.”

Markus also shared the process he’s been taking in order to learn even more about managing a large fund. “I’ve been reading countless books of those who’ve actually done it, those who’ve either worked as a professional fund manager or those who actually managed the hedge fund itself. One of the most useful books was Hedge Fund Market Wizards by Jack Schwager. I’ve read it at least five times, and I’ve also researched all the interviewees individually. I look up to Ray Dalio the most.”

We told Markus that we have invited Andreas Clenow to speak during the Investagrams Traders’ Summit in Singapore. He responded, “I know! I’ve read one of Andreas’ books, specifically Following The Trend. When I saw the posters on your Facebook page about the Summit I was speaking with my wife and trying to see if I could make it. Unfortunately, I can’t make it to the event because of work related reasons. But I’m looking forward in case a recorded video will be available soon. However, to those who are attending the event, you are all up for a big treat since you guys will learn straight from someone who has tons of experience in the hedge space.”

Everyday, we hear stories from various traders of different levels. May your dreams start as beating inflation year on year up to owning your own hedge fund, each level is a process we all go through as we build our dreams into reality. What’s important as traders is that we never stop learning. Improving and investing on ourselves, be it technical skills or for personal growth, should not stop as soon as we graduate from school. The best and most successful people in the world always invests on themselves first, and they let their result compound through time.

Leveling up is always a choice. While some are satisfied with what they currently have, others yearn for more knowledge, more experience, and more potential to grow. Especially in one’s trading career, the learnings to do better each year and each trade never stops. Someone once said that an investment on oneself will produce returns for the rest of his or her life.

Which is why this July 27, we are bringing to you a whole new level of Investa Trader’s Summit happening at the Joyden Hall, Singapore. We have identified that even high-level professional fund managers, hedge fund managers, and financial broker representatives are attending. If a professional admits that he or she has so much more to learn, then there is no excuse for you to attend. We will all see you there!

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In today’s continuously evolving world, the ways of trading the financial markets have modernized as well. Back in the 1950s, you had to trade on the floor of the exchange and scream at the top of your lungs to get your orders filled. In the early 2000s (the Internet Era), that’s when trading off the floor became the norm. Instead of having to be on the floor of the exchange, all you needed was a computer to trade at the comfort of your own home or personal office.

In recent times, the new norm adopted by higher level investors is Quantitative Investing. This is the use of proprietary models to increase the probability of out-performing the general market. Most quant models work well when backtested thoroughly, but still face the same risks any strategy would. However, the main reason quants based investing models work is because they are based on discipline. Also, a quantitative model is not biased; it chooses to go where the opportunities lie, whether short or long.

So, is Quantitative Trading or Quants only for the high level fund managers handling millions of dollars in assets? We believe that the answer is no. It is possible for a retail investor to take advantage of Quantitative Investing, but it’s not easy, given the limitations of any retail trader. We interviewed Ethan Matthews, a New-York based currencies and equities trader, to share his experience in learning about Quants.

We first asked Ethan why he wanted to learn about Quants in the first place. He said, “I started becoming interested in Quantitative Trading in late 2017 to see how this could take my trading to the next level. I’m the type of person who wants to latch on to today’s innovate ways of doing things. And at this point in time, quants was an innovative way to trade the financial markets. I looked at the idea of trading on purely Quantitative data as a way for me to focus more on other aspects in life such as my family.”

Ethan also shared how in the early stages of his trading, he had difficulties staying disciplined on his chosen approach. “I was a know-it-all when I just began. I had a system, but I still made discretionary decisions. The system was only a mental setup, a specific chart pattern I wanted to see before I committed my money to a specific trade. However, there were times when I didn’t take on the trade despite the signal, or when I took on a trade that was not part of my setup.” He sees Quantitative Investing as a way to remain disciplined on a specific approach since Quants help realize the probabilities in one’s favor.

When asked about his learning phase, he answered “I have to admit that learning and applying Quantitative Trading to trade my strategy is no easy task. Especially coming from a business background, there’s a specific learning curve before you can start implementing your parameters for the program to detect. What’s more is that different parameters would require different codes, which I have to learn every time before I see backtested results. But at the end of the day, just like any investment, it was worth it. Now I get trade signals when my proven strategy shows an entry signal, and what’s more is that I can now dedicate more time improving my edge. I do not have to watch the markets all day.”

The last question we asked Ethan was, Do you believe Quantitative Investing can only be used by fund managers or institutional investors? He responded, “Absolutely not! Some people still think until this moment that the financial markets are only for those who have a ton of money. While some retail investors think that they are no match for the institutional investors. First of all, retail investors have a huge advantage when it comes to liquidity and freedom of choice on what to buy. Also, even retail traders can take advantage of Quants if they are willing to do the homework. Quantitative Investing is not simple, but it can do wonders for you if you make a commitment to the strategy.”

Most traders have heard of quantitative trading, and never bothered to learn more, due to the “limitations” of retail traders. It’s something most of us wish we could learn, but never got the opportunity or the push to get us started. While most of us struggle with the psychological aspect of trading, the answer has always been right around the corner.

Which is why this July 27, 2019 at the Investagrams Traders’ Summit, we are breaking barriers for you to get started in your own quantitative model. Learn from Jake Chow, a Chartered Market Technician and a professional in Quants Investing, as he jumpstarts your Quants journey.

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