There were no position changes in the Country models this week. The Basic model led the way thanks to treasuries clawing back some gains, however the levered nature of this position will continue to generate larger moves for this model, up or down. Both models put in positive weeks with all three holdings closing higher.
The SPY closed out February with the largest monthly gain since October 2011. While the SPY did put in new all-time high closes in February, in reality the bulk of that move was just retracing the recent trading range.
This Week’s Strategy Lesson: Tour of Website Features
We have built a number of interesting features, information, and ways to keep track of our ETF models into the MarketGauge.com website. We thought it would be helpful to go through these pages and explain how the information is organized.
From the marketgauge.com homepage, you can navigate to each model’s section under the “Trading Ideas” section. After entering your log-in information, this takes you to the member area. The site navigation for each model is very similar with slight variations which we will cover here.
The main navigation for each section is on the right-side of each page:
Position Updates
This page displays the most recent trade updates as well as historical trade updates dating back a year or two. Whenever a trade event occurs, either entering, taking profits, or exiting, those updates will be posted here. The content here mirrors the information sent out in the daily update emails. So whenever there is an email that includes a trade alert or position update, that information is duplicated here.
Model Portfolio
This page displays the majority of information and tools to keep track of the official model. For our Sector and Country members, this section is broken up into “Basic” and “Stops & Targets” pages since the two versions are tracked separately. For the Complete model, all the information is consolidated on one page.
Everything on these pages is updated daily after the close, usually by 5 PM eastern time—but if there is any doubt, we display the “Last Updated” date and if it matches today’s date that means the website was updated with the latest closing information.
The first part of this page has the open positions. This will show the holdings for each model with important information such as entry date, price, daily change, current stops and targets (if it’s not a “basic” model), and total return. We also have a “notes” section for each trade that will track recent position updates or other useful information.
The second part tracks the model performance. Here you can see total returns, year to date returns, as well as daily and weekly performance. We also provide an equity curve and yearly return charts.
The third part of this page shows the complete list of ETFs for each model and their current ranking based on TSI. This section can be useful to see what ETFs beyond the top three might be leading or lagging.
The final section on this page keeps track of all closed trades dating back to the beginning of 2012.
Strategy Insights
Each week we write an article related to our models (you are reading one right now). We cover a diverse range of topics from how we built and designed the models, performance insights or metrics, and helpful information for following or executing these models. Past articles are archived here for reference. If you are a newer member, you might find it interesting to browse through past articles to learn more about these models.
Monthly Webinars
This section archives past “Live Coaching” webinars. During these webinars we may cover a variety of topics and also spend an extended amount of time answering customer questions. You can watch past webinars here and each new webinar will be added to page usually within a couple days of the live event.
How to Use the Model / FAQ
These pages provide written instructions and extra information about how to setup and follow the models as well as answers to some frequently asked questions. If you haven’t had a chance to look at this information, it would be worth taking a look at it. It covers topics ranging from maintaining your portfolio to what a “buy zone” is.
Trade Tracking Tool
We provide an optional Excel spreadsheet that members can use to keep track of their own trades including entry prices and position sizes. It is up to you to decide if and how you want to track your own trades. Some members will find this tool helpful while others might use their own method of keeping track of trades or use broker statements.
Manage Mobil Alerts
This final page allows you to add “mobile alerts” to your product. As a member, we send out daily emails to help you keep track of the model and any position changes. If you find it helpful, you can sign up for mobile alerts that send a text message to your phone any time a trade update or rotation occurs. Simply put in your cell phone number on this page to add this feature.
We hope you have found this tour helpful. We have tried to design and incorporate useful information on our website to help our members get the most out of the ETF models. As always, if you have any suggestions for additional information you might like to see or ways that we can improve the site, please reach out to us. The best way to contact us is through email: [email protected].
The Current Condition of the Model
For the country model, we are in FXI, IFN, and TMF. FXI is currently in fourth place, and while we are up in this position, SSO continues to outpace it and we could see a position change soon if this trend continues.
Stay tuned to daily updates for any position changes.
Here is a summary of the weekly performance of all the ETFs that the strategy monitors.
Best wishes for your trading,
James Kimball
Trader & Analyst
MarketGauge
