Trend Following: Summary & Key Lessons

Want to take the financial journey to a new investing philosophy that might very well affect the rest of your moneymaking life? No one can guarantee the yellow brick road, but Michael Covel promises the red pill will leave you wide freaking awake.

Trend Following reveals the truth about a trading strategy that makes money in up, down and surprise markets. By applying straightforward and repeatable rules, anyone can learn to make money in the markets whether bull, bear, or black swan—by following the trend to the end when it bends. In this timely reboot of his bestselling classic, Michael Covel dives headfirst into trend following strategy to examine the risks, benefits, people, and systems. You’ll hear from traders who have made millions by following trends, and learn from their successes and mistakes—insights only here. You’ll learn the trend philosophy, and how it has performed in booms, bubbles, panics and crashes. Using incontrovertible data and overwhelming supporting evidence, with a direct connection to the foundations of behavioral finance, Covel takes you inside the core principles of trend following and shows everyone, from brand new trader to professional, how alpha gets pulled from the market.

Covel’s newest edition has been revised and extended, with 7 brand new interviews and research proof from his one of kind network.  This is trend following for today’s generation. If you’re looking to go beyond passive index funds and trusting the Fed, this cutting edge classic holds the keys to a weatherproof portfolio.

• Meet great trend followers learning their rules and philosophy of the game
• Examine data to see how trend following excels when the you-know-what hits the fan
• Understand trend trading, from behavioral economics to rules based decision-making to its lambasting of the efficient markets theory

• Compare trend trading systems to do it yourself or invest with a trend fund

Trend following is not prediction, passive index investing, buy and hope or any form of fundamental analysis. It utilizes concrete rules, or heuristics, to profit from a behavioral perspective. Trend Following is clear-cut, straightforward and evidence-based and will secure your financial future in bull, bear and black swan markets. If you’re finally ready to profit in the markets, Trend Following is the definitive treatise for a complex world in constant chaos.

Key takeaways:

• Trend-following strategies aim to profit from major market moves in either direction.
• Discipline and systematic rules beat prediction and emotion in trading.
• Risk management — cutting losses, letting winners run — is the heart of the approach.

Who it’s for: investors and traders curious about systematic, rules-based strategies rather than stock-picking.

The verdict: a thorough case for a disciplined trading philosophy. Best for readers genuinely interested in active trading, though the lessons on discipline and risk apply broadly.