To begin, we assign a value which represents our measure of trend strength on each of the instruments in our portfolio. A full short bias has a score of -100, a full long bias has a score of +100, and there are four waypoints in between.

Since we have no long or short bias, we use the absolute value of these scores and compute the average of the entire portfolio to derive our Totem Trend Index (TTI). We walk through this process on the Trading Futures with Anthony Crudele show.

Rather than attempting to predict where any thing is going, we follow our rules as they guide us along the thing's path of least resistance. By observing all of the things in our portfolio and their relationship with each other, we gain insight into what the prevailing market regime looks like. We then use this constantly changing information to systematically adjust for changes in market regimes. Contact us in person to discuss how.

Most trading strategies may be generally separated into 2 broad categories:

1. CONCAVE
   Some strategies prefer that markets do not move around much at all, or return to their longer-term averages after having drifted far away. You can call those "short volatility" or "mean-reversion" strategies.

2. CONVEX
   Other approaches, such as ours, tend to thrive when markets do move and shift to new levels of equilibrium as new or sometimes unexpected information causes a change in factors affectiong price, such as supply, demand, fear and greed. You can call these "long volatility" or "trend following" strategies.

While a supply or demand shock may hit any specific instrument at any time to cause a large, isolated move, there is a large body of statistical evidence to suggest that trend following strategies make much of their returns in relatively short periods of high or increasing volatility and cross-market correlation. In order to generate the really strong returns, "long vol" strategies need at least a few things to be moving, and generally speaking the more the merrier.

Our TTI ranges in values from 0 - 100. With over 5,000 daily observations since the year 2000, we break the data down into 4 quartiles which help us to determine which regime we are currently in.

Time	Regime	TTI	Characteristics
20%	Strong Trend	over 52	Suggests that many markets are trending and a generally favorable trading environment with increasing or high levels of volatility and cross-market correlation.
65%	Limited	30 - 52	Does not preclude the possibility of trending moves in individual markets which are still driven by supply/demand factors and external shocks. Possible nascent trend formations.
15%	Challenging	below 30	Lack of overall trending activity and low levels of cross-market correlation. May be a good time to gain or add to trend exposure in investment portfolios.

Don't be a screen scraper! We can see you doing so. And if we can see you, don't you think that also means we can block your IP address? If you find this information useful, contact us to discuss consulting arrangements where we may provide clean and current data files via FTP at the end of every trading day.