Author Archives: Brian Johnson

About Brian Johnson

I have been an investment professional for over 30 years. I worked as a fixed income portfolio manager, personally managing over $13 billion in assets for institutional clients. I was also the President of a financial consulting and software development firm, developing artificial intelligence based forecasting and risk management systems for institutional investment managers. I am now a full-time proprietary trader in options, futures, stocks, and ETFs using both algorithmic and discretionary trading strategies. In addition to my professional investment experience, I designed and taught courses in financial derivatives for both MBA and undergraduate business programs on a part-time basis for a number of years. I have also written four books on options and derivative strategies.

Everybody Loves Fridays

Posted on April 18, 2012 by

We all use economic, fundamental, and/or technical data to gain insight into market movements.  Some data may appear to lead the market, but there is often no plausible explanation for their supposed predictive abilities.  This can be disconcerting for a … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in COT Analysis, Futures, In-Depth Article, Market Commentary, Market Timing, Seasonal Tools, Technical Analysis | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Look at the Big Picture

Posted on April 11, 2012 by

We all have a few favorite technical indicators.  However, almost all technical indicators calculate indicator values for a specific look-back period and then plot those values over time.  With this approach, we can only analyze one look-back period at a … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in COT Analysis, Futures, In-Depth Article, Market Commentary, Market Timing, Stocks & ETFs, Technical Analysis, Trade Analysis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Stop Loss Orders are Not Enough

Posted on April 6, 2012 by

Using stop loss orders on every trade is a critical component of risk management, but stops are only part of the solution. Even when using stops, most traders still take far too much risk.  In many cases, they completely overlook … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Futures, In-Depth Article, Risk Management, Stocks & ETFs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Key to Trading Success

Posted on March 31, 2012 by

We all have losing trades. The key to trading success is limiting the magnitude of those losses, allowing us to return to profitability quickly.  Unfortunately, our very nature makes it extremely difficult for us to control our losses. Numerous studies … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Risk Management | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Trade With the Experts

Posted on March 28, 2012 by

How would you like to know the current and historical positions of knowledgeable experts, with proven track records in almost every market – for free? Very few traders take advantage of this resource provided weekly by the Commodity Futures Trading … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in COT Analysis, Futures, In-Depth Article, Market Commentary, Market Timing, Technical Analysis, Trade Analysis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

The Secret Weapon of Technical Analysis

Posted on March 28, 2012 by

The vast majority of technical indicators perform a computation on the price or volume of an individual security.  While these indicators can provide valuable insights, most traders ignore the most effective type of technical indicators. 

Share
Posted in Economic Indicators, In-Depth Article, Market Timing, Risk Management, Strategy Development, Technical Analysis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

The Easiest Way to Identify Trends

Posted on March 28, 2012 by

The exponential growth in processing speed and computer memory over the last 30 years has spawned countless new technical indicators and a wide range of new analytical tools.  Unfortunately, the ever increasing array of choices has complicated the situation for … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in In-Depth Article, Market Timing, Strategy Development, Technical Analysis | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Welcome to Trader Edge

Posted on March 1, 2012 by

Welcome to the Trader Edge website.  The goal of this site to provide information and ideas that will help you enhance your investment process and improve your trading results. We recognize that each individual’s background, financial situation, and objectives are … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Welcome | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment