The Two Types of Stock Trading Systems

There are many stock trading systems availableOnce the fast falls below the slow a sell signal is
online. Nearly all the systems fit into two broad types.taken. The average win is much less in a mean
The systems are trend following or mean revertingreverting system.
stock trading systems. Momentum trading is a formTrend followers are big believers in momentum.
of trend following. Mean reverting is the opposite ofMomentum traders often have low win percentages
trend following and profits from price reversals.with larger periods of drawdowns. It may take a few
Mean reverting systems profit from price failures andlosers before a trend following system will hit a big
trend reversals. The signals are usually given at pricewinner. A winning percentage under 40% is not
extremes. A relative strength system is a veryuncommon. But, the winners can be huge. Trend
common mean reverting stock trading system. Thefollowers only need a few big winners to pay for all
sell signal is triggered by a move of the relativetheir small losers. Breakout highs and breakout lows
strength index above 70. Sell signals are given by theare usually a form of trend following. It is not
index falling below 30 on the indicator. The systemuncommon for trend followers to add to winners.
profits from a reversion to the mean price over theThis is often called pyramiding.
past time frame. A large protracted move will be aTrend following and mean reversion are the two
big loser for mean reverting systems. Stochastics arebuilding blocks of most systems. If you can
another very popular mean reverting trading system.incorporate a mix then it will increase the robustness
Stochastics have two averages. The fast and slow.of your system.