davesaint86 726 posts msg #95874 - Ignore davesaint86 |
8/28/2010 10:14:40 PM
Thanks Kevin. Are you allowed to trade your 401k selections at will or do you have a tme constraint. I can trade my selections every two weeks.
Thanks,
Dave
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Kevin_in_GA 4,599 posts msg #95875 - Ignore Kevin_in_GA |
8/28/2010 10:38:05 PM
In one account, two trades per month. In the other, unlimited (as far as I know - never really tested it more than once a month or so).
Not really an issue with this approach - the average trade seems to be held for about four weeks, and if there is a period where two assets are vying for the top spot, just go with the one with less risk if you have no trades that are allowed for that week or two.
Thanks for posting your question. I have been meaning to share this weekly TSI modification for a while now. For me, it lets me get out of poor positions with a weekly check, rather than a monthly check like the RS approach was structured.
More frequent options to move if needed + higher annual returns = better system.
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davesaint86 726 posts msg #95881 - Ignore davesaint86 |
8/29/2010 4:28:29 PM
Kevin, I just noticed that you have the weekly 50 MA in the filter. Did you mean to have the 40 weekly MA instead since it equates to the 200 DMA?
Thanks,
Dave
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cwn6161 40 posts msg #95920 - Ignore cwn6161 modified |
8/31/2010 8:04:20 PM
I'm still using these filters for my Roth and 401k. I believe I'm restricted to trading my 401k to no more than once a month, so I'm going to stick with the old filters. My Roth has been using the more aggressive filters with the inverse ETFs. I think these are leaps and bounds better than just sticking my cash into an index fund or something - this thread has made my subscription here far worth it.
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Kevin_in_GA 4,599 posts msg #95989 - Ignore Kevin_in_GA |
9/3/2010 1:44:41 PM
I finally got around to optimizing The TSI settings.
Using StrataSearch, I was able to have it calculate the weekly TSI data for SPY, IWM, AGG, and EEM going back to 2004. I them imported these into Excel and calculated the equity curves for each of 16 settings - weekly TSI(X,Y,1) where X = 3,5,7,9 and Y = 3,5,7,9). Luckily, the symmetric nature of double EMAs meant that I only had to calculate 10 different combinations (the triangular matrix for you math nerds). It did it for 2004 -2010 as well as 2007-2010. It seemed that most of the gains were actually made during the more volatile past 4 years.
Starting from 1/1/2007 until 8/27/2010, you got the following data:
weekly TSI(3,3,1) = 52.6% return since 2/2/2004, 45.6% return since 1/3/2007. 95 trades made since 2007.
weekly TSI(3,5,1) = 48.6% return since 2/2/2004, 50.8% return since 1/3/2007. 90 trades made since 2007.
weekly TSI(3,7,1) = 53.9% return since 2/2/2004, 50.9% return since 1/3/2007. 79 trades made since 2007.
weekly TSI(3,9,1) = 62.7% return since 2/2/2004, 45.7% return since 1/3/2007. 60 trades made since 2007.
weekly TSI(5,5,1) = 67.0% return since 2/2/2004, 59.4% return since 1/3/2007. 70 trades made since 2007.
weekly TSI(5,7,1) = 57.0% return since 2/2/2004, 35.2% return since 1/3/2007. 52 trades made since 2007.
weekly TSI(5,9,1) = 53.8% return since 2/2/2004, 42.3% return since 1/3/2007. 47 trades made since 2007.
weekly TSI(7,7,1) = 50.9% return since 2/2/2004, 42.3% return since 1/3/2007. 47 trades made since 2007.
weekly TSI(7,9,1) = 40.8% return since 2/2/2004, 30.5% return since 1/3/2007. 44 trades made since 2007.
weekly TSI(9,9,1) = 28.3% return since 2/2/2004, 25.8% return since 1/3/2007. 40 trades made since 2007.
Clearly the Weekly TSI(5,5,1) settings are the best within this set. Looking at the data from 2007, about 10% of the trades suggested were within 2 weeks of the previous trade, so that might be an issue of you are limited to only two reallocations per month.
For comparison:
SPY Buy and Hold: -19% return since 1/3/2007.
Diversified Portfolio (equal weights in all four ETFs): -0.1% return since 1/3/2007. Obviously there is value in having a diversified portfolio, but using strategic asset allocation based on buying into strength (either using RS or the weekly TSI) yields a much higher return at lower overall volatility.
These are the settings I will be using to manage my investment accounts moving forward. I don't know how many 401k accounts can say that they did better over the same time period - I just wish I had figured this out back then!
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wkloss 231 posts msg #95998 - Ignore wkloss |
9/3/2010 5:06:52 PM
Kevin,
For clarification, are your % returns annual returns or total returns over those time periods?
Bill
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Kevin_in_GA 4,599 posts msg #96001 - Ignore Kevin_in_GA |
9/3/2010 7:57:13 PM
Total - man if they were annual returns I would never share this one!!!
Even as total returns, they crush most more complex systems over the same time period. However, in a strong bull market this rotational system will likely underperform (e.g., the late 90's).
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davesaint86 726 posts msg #96012 - Ignore davesaint86 |
9/4/2010 10:43:38 AM
It look's like AGG still has the TSI lead.
Dave
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davesaint86 726 posts msg #96020 - Ignore davesaint86 |
9/5/2010 11:34:02 AM
Kevin - This is somewhat off topic, but what is your strategy for short-term cash (non-retirement) investing? Currently I invest mine in a money market paying less than 1% or so. However I've been backtesting some buy and hold portfolio's and it seems like the equal weighted portfolio of (AGG,BSV,GLD,SHY) is a viable buy and hold portfolio in especially in times like we are in now.
YTD Gain Volatility
YTD 6.7% 4.61%
2009 7.1% 6.3%
2008 7.0% 9.6%
2007 10% 4.6%
Dave
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Kevin_in_GA 4,599 posts msg #96030 - Ignore Kevin_in_GA |
9/5/2010 9:13:23 PM
Dave:
I posted this late last year:
http://forums.stockfetcher.com/sfforums/?q=view&fid=1001&tid=83233&qrid=&isiframe=
This portfolio has returned 46.35% since 11/17/2008. My guess is that if one used asset rotation on this, shifting the percentages invested in each to reflect the relative ranking of the assets, it would have done much better.
Even as a buy-and-hold portfolio, it has done phenomenally well given the volatility of the period over which it was held.
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