Other visitors of this trend following blog are sending us their questions and comments. You are welcome to do the same. In blog posts like this we answer some of these questions.

In this blog you find information about investing with the objective to make great long-term results without taking too much risk or too much of your time. Trend following of long-term trends in stock market indices is simple and straightforward.

The trend signals that we use to recognize the direction and changes in the trend are based on moving averages and patterns in the closing price. Here are two frequently asked questions on this:

Are investors who are using a monthly moving average always a month behind the market?

Yes, when using moving averages and other trend signals, you are following the market, not predicting it. I believe with many others that nobody can predict the markets. But history end experience shows that long-term trends tend to continue for a while. In most indices we see that the long-term trend has changed only 4 times direction in a period of 20 years.

Is the only way for trend following investors to win in the market a sustained trend and to get into the market at the beginning of this trend?

The way to win is to ride/follow a long-term trend. You do not have to jump on the trend from the beginning. Trends could last for many years. If you start in the middle, you can still have very good profits. The issue is of course that at the moment you start, you do not know if you are in the middle or at the end of the trend. You can see that only later, after the trend has changed direction.

Thus, yes, a sustained trend is what is needed to win. Therefore we focus on long-term trends and not on short-term fluctuations in the markets.

Since trends can last for many years and nobody knows how much longer the current trend may last, I recommend not to wait till the trend has changed direction (you can wait a long time) but to start capitalizing on the trend with caution already.

Post your questions as a comment below or click here to send us your questions.