I believe this is a really good trend following system for the major trend. However, since I joined, the market has stopped trending significantly and instead has been more range bound. I have been in the red with every trade except one where I did not follow his system and think it is time to end the subscription.
I have decided to leave the system for awhile. I do not understand the technical indicators that the system is using to time the trades. The only one I can see that is being used is the relative overbought and oversold indicators, which have never been reliable.
I stumbled into this gem and luckily started autotrading almost exactly at the recent bottom of the equity curve. So only 1 month later I have an open profit of almost 10K! Luck aside, I hope the system continues with its stellar record of low frequency trading and high $ profit per trade.
All Babson systems trade in the same direction. So if you subscribe to one you've automatically subscribed a single methodology. The trading method has not been successful lately and I see little signs of diversification which was supposed to be a hallmark of their trading. Loading up (betting) on a position has been a disaster and I can only offer any prospective subscriber to expect a wild ride. The equity curves speak for themselves, up and then flat to down for a prolonged period. A high performance psychologist does not translate to a good trader. Maybe he can offer his pyschological services to those subscribing to his systems.
Started about a month ago and have had good results. C2Realism is the only problem. I'm with optionsXpress and don't always get fills, especially on shorts. To compensate I increased my scaling about 30% more than I normally would. Also since I use auto-trading I get about 30 emails a day notifying me of failed fill attempts with auto-sync.
★★★★★
Overpromising and underdelivering system.
Very good marketing, poor client support, no sense position sizing and irrational trading. I suscribed to this system to make money and learn something, but it was no possible.
I will continue to improve my own system, clearly better than this one.
★★★★★
The system description states, "The objective is to work with maximum diversification possible, to keep down the level of risk and exploit the positive synergies of the various markets." Since when does holding short position in 3 different domestic stock market indices -- ES, TF and YM -- constitute diversification? What a joke! This is a blatant case of misleading and false advertising.
Too bad the growth trend of earlier months isn't repeated. I joined as the system goes flat. At least it is hanging on and not losing money on average. Glad the system seems to manage to make just slightly more money in a winning trade than the money lost in a losing trade. But would like to see 5%+ monthly growth soon to justify the cost of subscription + frequent trading commissions and slippage.
Lured into autotrading this by its incredible smooth growth Apr-Jun 2010, but noticed that it'll make money only when the market makes sustained trends within the day, which is rare. The norm of the market is daily whipsaw and the system suffered constantly. I am not sure the system design/setup is a viable one. Glad I stopped autotrading at end of Sep 2010 with a $200 gain net sub fee, hence avoiding major losses since then.
ETF Timer systems have a strong track record. So rating these and other strong systems with one star only proves the rater is a fool. A few losing trades does not make a bad system and vis versa.
This is definitely a trend trading system, as other reviewers have commented. In a trending market, it is great; otherwise, you need to be prepared for drawdowns.
This is what I am struggling with: whether I can handle the drawdowns in a non-trending market. But, thats the problem with all trend traders--you have to have an iron stomach...
Shorting the market in the middle of a range ahead of 2 POMO days just does not pay well. This system seems to make money when it gets on the right side of a trend early but it also loses money when it gets head faked which seems to happen more than it should.
I am gradually reducing my exposure to ETF Timer due to continuing poor results. I really hate to be short every time the market bounces 2-3 percent. And that seems to be what is happening.
If the market is trending, this system appears to do well. If not, then you will get destroyed. Since July of this year, the system has signficantly underperformed the market.
Developer has gone back to his intra-day trades that worked extremely well from 1/07 thru 1/10. His first trade was solidly positive here and he has picked a great entry again this morning. Mojo back, get onboard now.
I am not sure what is happening with this system. we are is same loss making position last one month. Just accumulating on downside. I hope there is some rational idea behind it. if Vendor atleast communicates it will be wonderful. For now I will give 2 star rating
★★★★★
The system primarily trades currency futures and secondarily US Equity index futures. Only about 10% of trades have been in other futures, so it is not the diversified futures trading program it purports to be. After an outstanding 6 week start, the program has been flat or losing money for more than two months during which time the equity curve looks rather benign but actually has more DD than one would think. On 9-01-10 the system equity was $69,240, today it is $61,428 or more than 11% DD this month.This figure is more than twice the minus 4.6% given in the Hypothetical Monthly Results. Someone who subscribed on Sept 1st and took every trade would have lost more than $8K in 4 weeks when costs are included. This may turn out to be a great system but Caveat Emptor.
So far I have been very pleased. The vendor quickly answers any questions and in my opinion has a very consistent trading style with minimal draw downs. The trading history is just a few months old at the time of this review but I believe this system has great potential to perform well in the long term.
★★★★★
In response to the previous reviewer, I have no regrets whatsoever that the system is in cash. Implicit in that review is the assumption that we would be on the right side of the market today. Please note that the last two equity trades resulted in losses of over $4300. Stop loss too large IMO. Vendor neglected to tell his subscribers that he changed the system methodology in midstream. Not good. I am waiting to see how system performs after reverting to original format
System apparently uses a very dangerous martingale type of strategy similar to Speculationtrader. Be extra careful with such systems because they work but only for very large accounts.
I tried the free 10 day trial subscription.
It seems as if the developer has become nervous about trading his system. In the past10 days only two trades, both losers.
I do like the quick in, quick out for a profit with tight losses that the developer uses. I'll keep my eye on the system for now and see if it starts doing a more consistent job.
★★★★★
I agree with the reviewer who said that the initial methodology seems to have been abondoned and that you can sense the that the trader is on tilt. He is chasing every little headfake in the market and getting whipsawed up and down. He needs to just go flat and get his bearings and stop chasing his tail. Patience is an important factor in trading and so is staying flat when you dont have a good read or a good edge. Problem with this system is that it has no patience with positions flipping from long to short and back and every blip in the market and it is always in a position never flat. With that methodology it will be a loser in the long run.
★★★★★
Looks to me like all the Babson systems started out trading with some type of Discretionary method. The method seems to have been abandoned lately, and you can feel the anxiety of the trader through the trades. I signed up a month or so ago but have not taken any trades( I always want to get a feel for the trader before going live). I will continue to sit on the sidelines for now and watch. BTW, I think Ron may be a decent trader but he needs to stick to a method and walk away from the screen every once in a while.
★★★★★
I am also out for now... I think the way he marketed this, it should have been perfect! Alas, it is not, I 'hate' people playing with money of others when the trading is not perfect. I hope I am wrong in my assessment but I am out. Alas...
