I have always been sceptical about trend following as I struggle to believe that looking in the rear view mirror gives any information about the future. At least I don’t seem to be good at it. I felt that by the time one recognises a trend, it’s probably to late to get on the train – at least most of the time. But then this quote from David Harding changed my perspective: "If you put in stops and run your profits and trade randomly you make money; and if you put in targets and no stops, and you trade randomly you lose money. So the old saw about cutting losses and running profits has some truth to it." How I understand it, he is basicly saying that the entry doesn’t matter that much, what matters is managing the risk of your positions. To me that makes a lot of sense. But it feels like it is contradicting Dave’s philosophy of staying on the sideline if there is no trend, which seems to be much easier to say with hindsight. I would love to hear Dave’s view on this and also to see DH on RV or have Dave and DH discuss their philosophies.

Chandrasekaran, thanks for the question. Naturally a steeper slope suggests a stronger trend, but I would not get too hung up on the degree of the slope.

Good presentation. Do you recommend any particular period for slopes? 10 period slope or 20 period slope or some other period? Thanks!

Thanks Dave. Good info. looking forward to them all. Boy that snow is deep too.

Thanks for following up, Dave

I've been learning how to trade stocks on the internet for 10 years. Thanks to Dave I'm adding the 20/21 MA slope to my trend diagnosis. Thanks!

Thanks Paul K

Hi Cyavash, Trend changes when the slope of the moving average changes....not always that simple, but usually pretty effective way to gauge it. At the very least you might stops getting long or short when the slope changes. It you want something that tells you when 'exactly' the trend changes make sure you plan to look for a VERY long time. Trading is a game of best estimates and years of experience.

Hi Dave, as someone who contributes to RVTV, this is my favorite series.

Disappointed there is no discussion about a manner in which to determine whether the trend is changing. For example, the 2011 "down trend" could have been also consolidating, as the slope was flat-ish toward the end of the range. I'm just skeptical of the entire concept of determining the trend from the moving average since by their nature cannot be forward looking.

Good stuff Dave. How long does it normally take you to do and prepare one of these videos? I am sure some will take longer but just curious how long it took for this one. Thanks

Good stuff Dave. Thank you for the wonderful info. In terms of following the trend, is a price that crosses the 20/21 MA back and forth the only indicator that you use to determine that one should stop trading? My reason for asking is that currently I am seeing a trend in the stock market where prices keep going up and up but the volume is low. I am trying to figure out if I should just stay out of the market until I see some type of correction. Things just seem too expensive for me right now, but how long can prices continue to go up?

Excellent. Prof. Dave, you've found your calling.

Hey Dave - sorry if I did sound too negative. (I did not mean to) I think the video is very good -- but as Matt S. mentioned compared to the level RVTV is providing elsewhere the intoductory level of your video was a little surprising. I am not a professional trader but I did read a lot on TA and I would love it if you could go give us much more details. I know that the production of those videos is A LOT of work and I appreciate it. So I will take whatever you give us. I am definitely looking forward to the upcoming videos!

I would have liked a bit more depth even though I agree with the KISS principle. It seems odd to have such an introductory level look at TA alongside some normal RV videos which are 90% indecipherable to most of us retail level traders. A difficult balance.

Thanks for that. It is easy to follow your teaching style

Hi Niels....you are correct. Easy in concept; more difficult in the heat of battle - like most things in the market. But as I said, if you can get really good at identifying the trend and how it relates to lower/higher time frames it will give you an edge. An edge is all we can ask - there are no solutions per se. Trading is like a big chess game - lots of moving pieces and thinking ahead is required.

Very helpful! Especially paying attention to timeframes. And, not thinking a small/short shift is going to be a bigger trend.

Good video about trends. Must say though, that you make it sound easier than it is. Your example with the Dxy in 2016 - it made many "break-aways" from MA21 on daily charts, but a trend didn't start. So the big Q is to determine WHEN a new trend starts.

I disagree with comment regarding length of tutorials. Quick precise points and lessons are far easier to digest than longer more detailed lessons. I think DF is targeting the elementary steps prior to more in depth analysis which is good IMO regardless of your experience.

This is great, thanks Dave. Look forward to the next episode

Thomas R. My pleasure - all part of adding value to the content. I am of the belief that gold is re-establishing the uptrend after the Wave ii correction off the July 7th highs. I still want to see some higher levels to increase my conviction, but that is the thesis I am working with presently.

Dave - you are clearly one of the best at providing interaction in this comment section. Thank you. My question is, has gold, in your opinion, established an uptrend since mid-December - at least to the 1210 to 1250 range? Thanks again.

Hi Kenan - sorry it did not measure up for you. However, my philosophy is that less is more. Traders often times try to make it more complicated than it needs to be.

Sean B - yes, daily and weekly charts would be ideal.

Thanks for all the positive comments. There are 4 more episodes to go and I will continually build upon the prior one. Remember, this is a journey, but my goal is to provide a solid framework from which to build. Yes, you do need to work at this daily or weekly, depending on your schedule, and watching prices live, not 'past examples' is how you begin to dial in your skill set. I/we will be doing some events in the spring that address how you continue to evolve - more info here: http://www.aspentrading.com/events/

Good morning Clark - for me there is only 1 option - MotiveWave http://www.motivewave.com/?af=3780006&c=ASPENPUB

Dave, any recommendations on an online charting service?

Thanks Dave, excellent video.

Great series and a natural teacher. I would love to see your technical analysis in real time though and forward looking, including position sizing, exit points and stop losses etc.

Great work Dave. Will try to master this.

Thanks Dave, clearly articulated making your points easy to follow. Cheers

Clear, and easy to digest. Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to make this video! Could use more of these for us new investors/traders that signed up for RealvisionTV!

Clear, simple, and useful. Thanks Dave!

Great video. Stan Weinstein (and protégé Brian Shannon) have very useful filtering rules for this sort of trend following: never buy below a declining moving average, never short above a rising moving average. The trick is finding the right. combination of time frame and MA lookback period (daily charts 200 day MA, for example)

Dave, great job, very informative. For multi-month trades (6-12 months), do you think it's best to define the trend using daily, weekly, or monthly charts to find the 21 period MA? Thank you

So clear, a natural teacher

Terrific work, pitched at right level, honestly embarrassed by some of the other comments. Well done Dave look forward to rest of series.

Epic intro.

for a moment i thought dave was gonna burst into a cliff richards xmas song lol

I think the video was very good. But i really expected the videos of this series to be much longer and contain more information. Nevertheless a good video.

Really looking forward to this series from Dave. Great way to refresh and update your thinking for an exciting 2017 in markets.

Crisp, to the point. Super stuff.