89% Gain vs -2% SP500, at Half the Risk
Ever since I posted 'Copernicus' on the Internet in January 2000, I have been asked, "How have you done in your own account?" Meaning--"if you have done well, I can too. If you haven't, I don't want to waste my time." I don't blame you.
The answer is, I have several accounts. Each has a different goal and constraints and thus different results. The broad answer for all of them is that I do well when I follow my disciplines and poorly when I do not.
But the question behind the question, unasked, is, "Your site has a lot of stuff on it. Is there any simple way I can use it and expect good results? Show me."
That's what I set out to do here. I wanted a simple, clear, brief, easy-to-use method that would produce strong returns with fail-safe risk controls. In fact, I wanted the ideal system that would survive me and provide continuity in my estate investment-management affairs for my wife and my kids who have no interest in or familiarity with stocks or the stock market.
The end result turned out to be a once-a-week review that takes minutes to look at three pieces of data: is the stock market up or down? and if up, what are the two best 'stocks' to own?
The test results have been +88.8% over two and a half years while the Dow Jones Industrials dropped -4.7%, the S&P500 -1.4%, and the NASDAQ 100 rose +3.9%. See the table.
The system gain was accomplished by being invested in the market only half the time. It trades two to three times per year. More details are in the footnotes of the same table.