Profit from bull, bear and sideway markets

We can profit from bull, bear and sideways markets with minimal effort and no knowledge in investing. This can be determined by my version of Death Cross /Golden Cross, or using 350-SMA (Simple Moving Average). When the average line and the price line cross each other frequently, it should be a sideways market.

There are many major strategies described in different markets. I define short-term trading (a.k.a. swing trading) into three categories: priced-based strategy, strategy-based strategy and sector rotation. They are all covered in this book. The first two are for beginners. The last one is the main book and it has 15 strategies. It is for advanced beginners and experts and they require more effort and knowledge; they should have more profit potentials but at higher risk.

The duration of most strategies could be a few days to three months. Some rocket stocks could last for years. To me, "buy-and-hold" has been dead since 2000 and there are no evergreen strategies and no evergreen stocks.

The priced-based strategy is simple to use. First, we need to determine what the current market is. In a bull market, we trade stocks (preferably in the best sectors) that have simple indicators showing the market is trending up or down. In a bear market, we can short stocks, buy puts and/or contra ETFs betting the stock trending down.

I started simple techniques that do not need charting as opposed to most other similar books and added more technical indicators. They are all available free from the internet. You should paper trade your strategy and gradually and slowly increase your portfolio size.

For short duration, we pay more attention to price movements and less to fundamentals. All the fundamental metrics, income statements, earnings...can be faked and/or manipulated but not the stock price with the exception of manipulations by big traders. It also applies to all news on the economy. The profit of the stock is better predicted by its price momentum. The price momentum also tells us when the momentum is reversed.

We also ignore market timing as it is built-in with the stock price movements. We just follow trends. However, your trades would be more profitable if you follow market timing, which I have a detailed description. When the market rises, most stocks rise too and vice versa.

The only trend killer is a sideways market which usually does not fluctuate a lot on price. With the right stops, we could make profits even in this market. Since WW2, the year before the election is profitable as of this writing. Most likely it is profitable for buy SPY (or other market ETFs) when the market YTD return is negative for this year.

This book is divided into 5 books or primary sections. The first two books describe very simple but effective sector rotations.

This book is intended for a retail investor and I am one myself. It is not written by a journalist who may never make a buck in the market. I have conducted exhaustive simulations to back-test these strategies over the past 12 years and I have been trading for decades. It also describes the pitfalls and benefits in using artificial intelligence for investing.

Deepseek's (AI) gave 4 stars. The review summary:

"Profit from Bull, Bear, and Sideway Markets* is a valuable resource for traders seeking a versatile toolkit. Its structured advice on adapting to market shifts, coupled with robust risk management frameworks, makes it a worthwhile read. While not without minor flaws-particularly in depth and modernity-it succeeds in delivering actionable insights across market cycles. Recommended for intermediate traders aiming to build resilience in volatile environments."

Initial date: 10/2017
Update date: 02/2025
Size: 435 pages (6*9)