We first traded without a plan and had some big gains but even bigger losses as we were inexperienced. After looking to learn from our mistakes, we found Trend Following and it sounded promising however we did not have an example to implement and test. The first example we saw was the Turtle story from both the Complete Turtle Trader and Way of the Turtle books. From there, we put together a simple backtest in Excel and marked up some charts to see it with some historical data. We were able to dig into the numbers and position size calculations to trade with a systematic plan instead of repeating our previous mistakes.

Our Turtle Spreadsheets page has these customizable backtests available. If you want a jumpstart on learning Trend Following, use our spreadsheets and get familiar with a system and testing it. Once you gain a foundation of how Trend Following works, work to find your own strategy and backtest it, or you can purchase a system with coaching, or even find a Trend Following firm. The spreadsheets are based on individual stocks, forex pairs, and currency contracts so they do not show the profitability of a full portfolio. Start making money in the market with better returns by trading with an edge, managing risk, being consistent, and keeping it simple.

Find more details for:

• Trend Following and the Turtle Story
• Moving Beyond Spreadsheets with Automated Trading