Zweig Screams
Get it? "Screams" not "screens". Get it?! Whatever . . .
Anyway, I was cleaning up my portfolio tracking information (I used Smartmoney's excellent site) and found the Zweig screen from February which I hadn't deleted yet. Here's the thing. If I would have bought the Zweig screen (12 stocks) as it appeared at the beginning of February and held it until now, I would have gained 23.35%. Interesting.
Looks like a positive open today, but these last two days have been really goofy. We'll see where things go. I still think there is a lot of short term opportunity out there, but I'm still too nervous to be very aggressive. What do you guys think?
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12 comments:
I put on a few shorts that are doing ok: CCL, RCL, GPI, VRSN, LVS, BAC, LSTR. I don't have the confidence to be long much stuff.
What do you use to monitor markets in real-time?
I too have found old screens and let out Zweig screams.
I will wait to see some strength before I buy anything.Cash is king right now.
Ron
Scott,
In order to create those charts in stockcharts.com, do you subscribe to basic charting or Extra! charting? Also, do you use the basic or advanced stockfetcher subscription? Lastly, do you use the Pitbull Stock investor system or the signals system?
Sorry for the barrage of questions. Thanks.
I'm up 26% YTD and all I do is follow my screens. I used to think, How can it be this easy? Now I know that following a screen is about as easy as abstinence on your honey moon. Scott why don't you dedicate a portion of your equity to a mechanical screen and finally learn the hard truth? Don't just track it, trade it.
So which screens are up 26%? I am a Zweig guy, but it hasn't been great. Looking to move to following 3-5 screens based on market sentiment and what is working.
Anonymous #1:
1) I subscribe to basic charting.
2) Basic StockFetcher.
3) I am currently extremely interested in Pitbull Investor's "Tradesniffer". I am trying to move from totally fundamental to trying some TA. We'll see.
Anonymous #2:
I like your motto! I've repeated it several times to myself. I did well sticking mostly to my screens last year. But with this tumultuous market, I've had a hard time not straying. It will be interesting to see if the screens beat my pants off at the end of the year. I agree with sc--what screen are YOU using that's putting you up 26%? Zweig isn't doing if for you this year.
sc,
I try not to monitor the market in real time because I make stupid emotional mistakes. That being said, I find it hard to wait 20 minutes for information that I'm going to get emotional about so I use Scottrade Elite for real time information.
The problem with the mechanical screens is that all have large drawdowns at some point.This is especially true in bear markets.I would like to know which screen is producing a 26% return yr. to date.
Ron
I trade two screens of my own creation. Basically they are Zack's rank, micro cap based screens. I only hold 4 positions. I'm almost always 100% in. I rebalance weekly, and I don't use stops. Nothing you or anyone else who follows this blog couldn't do. My screens are very simple. I traded more screens in the past, but it got too complicated.
Drawdowns? Worst drawdown in the last three years was 34%. I was down 22% at one point this year. I had a 60% drawdown back in my discretionary trading days.
My goal in trading is to maximize returns over a 3-5 year period. Given that, drawdowns don't bother me so much.
It's nice to be up but 25% YTD, but it's always a rocky road. The main reason I posted my performance number was because screens work for me and have worked well for over three years. Scott is always trying to outsmart his screens and I've given up on that quest.
I think 30% is a large drawdown.If you can put up with that volatility,more power to you.I think your mechanical screen will work for you.For a lot of people,myself included,I would be demoralized with losing 1/3 of my trading account.Different strokes for different folks.
Good trading,Ron
Hey Anonymous, are your screens based off of AAII stock screener or Zacks? I haven't had much luck with Zacks RW.
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