The Striker Report

Important Note Regarding Date of This Publication: All results noted within this article are as of closing September 29, 2009. To get the most up-to-date performance, please login to our client section as we post actual results every business day.

Portfolios: (as of 9-29-2009)
We have been suggesting the portfolio approach to clients for a number of years. The theory here is to trade multiple trading systems to help smooth out the equity curve, thereby helping to mitigate draw down periods and increase investor peace of mind. We have a variety of portfolios available to clients, but by far the most popular is the Polk Portfolio, developed by the Presidential Portfolios development group, which day trades the e-mini S&P market exclusively. We have traded this portfolio since January of 2008 and have seen excellent returns. Since that time it has an average annual return of 120.2% with a max monthly drawdown of 16.7%; it was up 4.2% in September and 41.8% on the year. This developer also has a number of other programs with varying capital levels, each of which has shown respectable returns. If trading the e-mini S&P exclusively isn't to your taste you may want to consider portfolios from The Auto Trading Systems, Inc. development group. While these portfolios do include some mini stock indices they also trade commodities such as grains, metals and energies; most also include financials. Their Index and Interest portfolio has been traded at Striker since December of 2008, and has an average annual return of 40.5% with a 20.3% drawdown. This year it is up 22.4%, finishing September (as of the 9-29-2009) up 3.3%.

Day Trading Systems: (as of 9-29-2009)
Day trading continues to be the method of choice for many systems investors. While so far this year's performance can't touch last year's historic returns, many programs continue to thrive. If you prefer to day trade an index, look no further then the Systematic Signals programs. The Charge ES (20.4%), Battalion (9.7%), Brigade (21.2%) and Saturn (17%) programs are doing a good job of following up last year's fantastic results, while the Charge WS ER program is up 67.5% this year. Many investors are interested in trading systems which trade markets other then the stock indices. The rise of the electronic market has increased efficiency and speed of order execution, and has led to a longer trading day. We feel these factors will probably lead to more trading systems for these markets. Metals and energies continue to be popular; those of you interested in the Crude Oil market may wish to look at the Black Gold, up 98.1% this year, while investors looking to take advantage of the metals markets may like the Pullback DT GC program. This trades the gold market and has an average annual return of 35%, as of Sept 29, 2009.

Swing Trading Systems: (as of 9-29-2009)
For investors willing to hold positions overnight, a wealth of options awaits. The most talked about trading system of recent memory is the Gina system. This program is unique in that at times it will hold a position for multiple days, while other times it will attempt to buy and sell the tops and bottoms of range bound trade. The program came to Striker in actual trade in May and is already up 96.3% this year. Gina is by no means the only swing trading e-mini stock index system doing well; the Countertrend ES and Maxim ER programs continue to outperform this year, up 75.5% and 30.6% respectively. Swing trading the financial sector has seen a gain in interest of late and the Countertrend programs are designed to capture those opportunities. Auto Trading Systems, Inc. has developed a few programs in the interest rate markets with the Countertrend TU, Countertrend TY and Countertrend US, all yielding average annual returns of between 25% to 55%, as of September 29, 2009.

Value Picks:
Looking to "buy the dip" in a system with a long and successful track record? If a program with historically good results is in a cyclical drawdown (one which does not violate historic levels), this may be the best entry point. The theory here being that the system will soon revert to the mean having already given up its traditional gains, and thus the investor's risk/reward ratio is significantly improved. A few possibilities in this group are Compass ES, Compass S&P, Ultramini ES, & Impetus ER.

Online Trading:
A quick note about online trading: many investors do not want to relinquish the "reins of trading" to someone else, and thus prefer to trade themselves online. When most people think of Striker they naturally think of systems trading, but Striker also offers a state-of-the-art online trading platform. Our platform includes free quotes and charts and has all the bells-and-whistles of other platforms, but by trading online at Striker you also get Striker's excellent customer service at a competitive rate. You can sign up for a free demo at www.strikeronline.com.

Written by: Dan Neenan (Series 3, 7, and 63 licensee, in futures industry since 1991)