<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[The MarketFighter Strategy]]></title><description><![CDATA[Follow the simple strategy that outperformed the market in 25 of the last 26 years. Monthly trading signals directly in your inbox.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6VZ9!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F993c4d55-1cfb-4acb-8342-2d19b735c1f5_1280x1280.png</url><title>The MarketFighter Strategy</title><link>https://www.marketfighter.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 01:16:45 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.marketfighter.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[marketfighter@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[marketfighter@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[marketfighter@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[marketfighter@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Trading Signal: June 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[See which two ETFs the systematic MarketFighter Strategy will be allocating money into in June.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/trading-signal-june-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/trading-signal-june-2026</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 31 May 2026 11:08:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3rAh!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3rAh!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3rAh!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3rAh!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3rAh!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3rAh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3rAh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png" width="1024" height="608" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;normal&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3rAh!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3rAh!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3rAh!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3rAh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fd2d79e-c6ac-4625-95c9-84f9cf8e207f_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>The financial markets are now closed for May. This means our system has all the data needed to deliver the trading signal and the two ETF selections for June.</strong></p><p>First of all, welcome to the 692 new subscribers who joined since I delivered the last signal 30 days ago. It&#8217;s a big pleasure for me to see the growth of this newsletter follow the growth of the investment strategy!</p><p>Before the first market opening of each month, I send out the trading signal provided by the systematic ETF strategy. The signal tells us which two ETFs the system will invest in for the coming month. This simple approach has outperformed the market in <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">25 of the past 26 years</a>.</p><p>If you&#8217;re just here for the trading signal, feel free to <strong>scroll down to find it!</strong> &#128071;</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><h4><strong>New to The MarketFighter Strategy?</strong></h4><p><em>I write about a simple approach to beat the stock market with only 15 minutes of monthly work that anyone can copy. Check out these links:</em></p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/about">The Quick Introduction</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-beginners-guide-to-the-marketfighter">The Beginner&#8217;s Guide</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">The Advanced Breakdown</a></p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>We had strong outperformance in May</h3><p>The stock market in general continued the strong performance from April, and the past two months combined have generated double digit returns for both the MSCI World and the S&amp;P 500 indices. This was mainly driven by a surge in AI and semiconductor-related stocks.</p><p>Our strategy did even better, outperforming both of the indices thanks to very strong development in the US Value position.</p><p>Interestingly, the value segmentation currently holds a significant amount of AI-related tech stocks like Micron and Intel. I don&#8217;t have an opinion on any specific companies, but it&#8217;s fascinating to see how the system picked up the early momentum in this field and allocated money into it.</p><p>As usual, I will publish the monthly performance report within the next few days when I have updated all the numbers. Stay tuned for this to see exactly how the MarketFighter Strategy performed compared to the market in May and how far we are ahead of the market benchmarks in 2026 so far.</p><div><hr></div><h3>The June 2026 Trading Signal &#128260;&#65039;</h3><p>For the coming month of June 2026, the MarketFighter Strategy will <strong>continue with an unchanged allocation</strong> compared to May. This means for the third consecutive month, it will be holding these two positions, equally weighted:</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p>THE FACTOR ALLOCATION (50%):<strong><br></strong>&#9654;&#65039;<strong> USA Value</strong></p><p>THE SECTOR ALLOCATION (50%):<strong><br></strong>&#9654;&#65039;<strong> Energy Sector</strong></p></div><p>Despite the recent decline in the energy sector, its relative momentum still indicates a high probability of near-term outperformance. US Value looks exceptionally strong at the moment, particularly carried by semiconductors.</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p><strong>US-market investors</strong> can implement the signal with these ETFs:</p><p><strong>&#9989; VLUE </strong>ticker (ISIN: US46432F3881)</p><p><strong>&#9989; XLE </strong>ticker (ISIN: US81369Y5069)</p></div><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p><strong>European investors</strong> can implement the signal with these ETFs:</p><p><strong>&#9989; </strong>QDVI ticker (ISIN: <strong>IE00BD1F4M44</strong>)</p><p><strong>&#9989; </strong>QDVF ticker (ISIN: <strong>IE00B42NKQ00</strong>)</p></div><p>Be aware that the European listed ticker names vary from one exchange to another. I have listed the Xetra (German) tickers, but they have different names on the London exchange, for instance. In general, going by the ISIN code is safer than the ticker codes for ETFs in Europe.</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-watchlist-see-the-15-tickers">See the full list of relevant ETFs for the strategy here.</a></p><h3>Why no changes is a good thing</h3><p>You may be wondering why the allocation is now the same for the third straight month. If this is a trading strategy, aren&#8217;t we supposed to trade?</p><p>Actually, it&#8217;s just a good sign. When the system sticks to the same allocation for several months, it&#8217;s usually a result of the same ETFs continuing to perform well. In most cases (like this) it means we&#8217;re making money.</p><p>My aim with this strategy was to keep the effort as low as possible, attempting to beat the market with as few annual trades as needed. I never wanted to be a day trader, but rather to build a system that would allow me to spend time on other things while it builds wealth.</p><p>Historically, the system has required an average of 9 allocation changes (selling one ETF for another). Roughly 4 for the sector and 5 for the factor. Months with no changes are very common with this setup, and I enjoy it every time it happens.</p><h3>My opinion on the picks</h3><p>I really try not to have an opinion on the selections the system gives me. But with the media, headlines, and recent market development in mind, it&#8217;s almost impossible.</p><p>It can be a real struggle to convince yourself to execute a trade that doesn&#8217;t match your current take on the market. And even though I have done this so many times over the years, it&#8217;s still not always easy.</p><p>Typically, when the system points to an ETF that has recently done well (like US Value at the moment), it feels good to continue with this. When it picks an ETF that has recently dipped (like Energy at the moment), it feels bad.</p><p>But as I&#8217;m sure you know, we can&#8217;t predict the future. And the truth is, we should try our best not to have an opinion on the outcome of the system or the direction of the markets. That&#8217;s what worked for me.</p><p><strong>Don&#8217;t forget to subscribe</strong> for future trading signals, strategic investment insights, and occasional updates about my journey after I left the corporate world to follow my passions for investing, writing and building.</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Most Investors Leave 80% on the Table]]></title><description><![CDATA[How to fix the $41,000 mistake and significantly improve average returns in the market.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/why-most-investors-leave-80-on-the</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/why-most-investors-leave-80-on-the</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 19 May 2026 12:31:57 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KNCL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3a5cfc33-7ca0-4e95-833c-5896e35b9a3e_1024x608.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a 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https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KNCL!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3a5cfc33-7ca0-4e95-833c-5896e35b9a3e_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KNCL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3a5cfc33-7ca0-4e95-833c-5896e35b9a3e_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KNCL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3a5cfc33-7ca0-4e95-833c-5896e35b9a3e_1024x608.png" width="1024" height="608" 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y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Hi, and welcome to my newsletter! &#128075;</strong></p><p>I&#8217;m an independent investor and software engineer in my 40s, who was recently able to quit the 9-to-5 thanks to my investment strategy. I write about my journey, my strategy, and my trades for anyone who wants to follow my path.</p><p><strong>In today&#8217;s post, I will reveal the scary numbers</strong> that show just how badly the average retail investor performs. I will uncover the traps that most people fall into, and give you the secrets that significantly improved my own returns.</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><h4>New to The MarketFighter Strategy?</h4><p>I write about a simple approach to beat the stock market with only 15 minutes of monthly work that anyone can copy. Check out these links:</p><p><strong>&#10145;&#65039; </strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/about">The quick introduction</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-beginners-guide-to-the-marketfighter">The beginner&#8217;s guide</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">The detailed breakdown</a></p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>What are the returns of an average investor?</h3><p>Over long time horizons, the stock market grows at an average of 7-10% annually, depending on whether or not you adjust for inflation.</p><p>Intuitively, you would think this number would be the expected average return for investors. But it&#8217;s not even close&#8230;</p><blockquote><p>Numerous studies have shown that even professionals and fund managers have a hard time competing with wide market indices like the S&amp;P 500 or the MSCI World in the long run. For instance, <strong>only 6%</strong> of active fund managers <strong>beat the S&amp;P 500</strong> over a 20-year period.</p></blockquote><p>The chart below is from the widely cited Dalbar Studies, which measure the average performance of investors like you and me, and compare it to popular asset classes:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eHkf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eHkf!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eHkf!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eHkf!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eHkf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eHkf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png" width="780" height="306" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:306,&quot;width&quot;:780,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:84896,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/198233470?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eHkf!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eHkf!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eHkf!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eHkf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9231ced0-e870-4a71-99d5-f7a94de1b8e0_780x306.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The numbers that are interesting from our perspective are these two annual returns, averaged over a 20-year period:</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p>&#129001; The stock market (S&amp;P 500): <strong>9.5%<br></strong>&#128999; The average investor: <strong>3.6%</strong></p></div><p><strong>That&#8217;s a gap of 5.9%</strong> of &#8220;lost&#8221; returns every year for the average investor. While this is uncomfortable already, the comparison gets much worse in the long run when compounding effects kick in.</p><p>Below are the <strong>profits of an initial</strong> <strong>investment of $10,000</strong> over a 20-year period based on these numbers (not accounting for fees and taxes):</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p>&#129001; The stock market (S&amp;P 500): <strong>$51,416<br></strong>&#128999; The average investor: <strong>$10,286</strong></p></div><p><strong>Think about this: </strong>Over a 20-year investment period, the average investor will only see one-fifth of the market returns, leaving more than <strong>$41,000</strong> or <strong>80%</strong> of the average market returns on the table!</p><div><hr></div><h3>Why is investing so difficult?</h3><p>Maybe you wonder how the math adds up. How can the average investor not make the same returns as the market average delivers?</p><p>Briefly explained, it&#8217;s because market returns are heavily skewed: A small number of high-performing super stocks account for the vast majority of the market returns. Meanwhile, the average return of the remaining stocks is much lower.</p><blockquote><p>In other words: If you don&#8217;t happen to pick one of the super stocks of the coming decade(s), it&#8217;s extremely difficult to beat the market, or even keep up with it. This was famously revealed by Hendrik Bessembinder in his studies of market returns.</p></blockquote><p>This means stock picking becomes a loser&#8217;s game, unless you possess a real edge: Some sort of knowledge, skill or information that gives you an advantage compared to other market participants. But the choice of stocks is not the only problem&#8230;</p><h3>Programmed like animals</h3><p>Even if we outsource the choice of stocks and simply buy market-wide ETFs, we&#8217;re faced with another challenge.</p><blockquote><p>Not so long ago (from an evolutionary perspective) our ancestors still roamed the savanna as hunter-gatherers, focusing on survival and hardwired to stay constantly alert for predators.</p></blockquote><p>Human beings are programmed like animals: To be controlled by fear and greed. From an evolutionary perspective on the savanna, this made a lot of sense. There&#8217;s just one problem: <strong>Evolution did not prepare us for financial markets.<br></strong></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c6Ze!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b9d25c9-1543-41f1-ac14-f89a3515e461_2681x1472.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c6Ze!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b9d25c9-1543-41f1-ac14-f89a3515e461_2681x1472.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c6Ze!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b9d25c9-1543-41f1-ac14-f89a3515e461_2681x1472.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c6Ze!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b9d25c9-1543-41f1-ac14-f89a3515e461_2681x1472.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c6Ze!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b9d25c9-1543-41f1-ac14-f89a3515e461_2681x1472.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c6Ze!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b9d25c9-1543-41f1-ac14-f89a3515e461_2681x1472.png" width="2681" height="1472" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0b9d25c9-1543-41f1-ac14-f89a3515e461_2681x1472.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1472,&quot;width&quot;:2681,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:3476153,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/198233470?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4e1d344-eddd-4ea7-8818-6a2a8af27b4b_2850x1472.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c6Ze!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b9d25c9-1543-41f1-ac14-f89a3515e461_2681x1472.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c6Ze!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b9d25c9-1543-41f1-ac14-f89a3515e461_2681x1472.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c6Ze!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b9d25c9-1543-41f1-ac14-f89a3515e461_2681x1472.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c6Ze!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b9d25c9-1543-41f1-ac14-f89a3515e461_2681x1472.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><br>On the stock market, fear and greed drag us in the wrong directions. When the news is bad and the market is low, our natural fear tells us to sell &#8212; often at the worst time. And when everything looks bright and the market is thriving, our greedy nature wants us to buy &#8212; at times that often seem unlucky in hindsight.</p><p><strong>This becomes a constant fight between our brains and our natural instincts.</strong> And our brains are more often affected by instincts than most people are aware of. The result is that we try to time the market. And humans are inherently and biologically bad at market timing.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/p/why-most-investors-leave-80-on-the?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/why-most-investors-leave-80-on-the?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>The Dunning-Kruger Effect</h3><p>The odds are stacking against us. On top of the skewness of returns, the low probability of identifying tomorrow&#8217;s winners, and our natural instincts working against us, we have another headwind coming, known as <strong>overconfidence bias</strong>.</p><p>There&#8217;s something magnetically enticing about trying to predict the future. <strong>Everyone seems to have an opinion on what will happen.</strong> Without any deep knowledge on a subject, it&#8217;s common to hear people make predictions about:<br></p><ul><li><p>When the stock market is going to crash</p></li><li><p>What&#8217;s about to happen with housing prices</p></li><li><p>Where the Nvidia stock will be in a year</p></li><li><p>Who will be the winners of the AI race</p></li><li><p>How the USD will fare relative to the EUR</p></li></ul><p><br>And it&#8217;s not a phenomenon specific to financial markets. It&#8217;s a common human trait that we overestimate our own knowledge on a subject and our ability to predict future events based on this knowledge.</p><blockquote><p><strong>This is known as The Dunning-Kruger Effect</strong>: The cognitive bias where people with limited knowledge or competence in a specific domain <em>overestimate</em> their own abilities, while experts in that domain tend to <em>underestimate</em> theirs.</p></blockquote><p>Or in my own simplified phrasing: <em>The more you know, the more you know that you don&#8217;t know.</em></p><p>This leads us to think we are much more capable of thriving in the markets, timing the ups and downs and predicting the future winners, than we are.</p><p>I believe most people are affected by this way of thinking. I&#8217;m no exception from the rule, but being aware of its implications, I try my best to stay away from making investment decisions that will be affected by psychology of any kind.</p><h3>The easy way to beat the average</h3><p>In the beginning of this article, I promised to give you the secrets to get significantly higher returns than average investors. It&#8217;s time for the most important one:</p><blockquote><p><em>The trick is to eliminate fear, greed, and overconfidence bias from your trading decisions.</em></p><p>How do you do this? It&#8217;s not as easy as it may sound. Manually picking a stock and timing the buying and selling are heavily affected by emotion, instincts and biases.</p></blockquote><p><strong>The easiest way to avoid them</strong> (and I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ve heard this one before) is to simply buy an index (ETF) and hold it. This recommendation has gained a lot of traction over the past decade. The so-called Bogleheads community has a simple recipe for this:</p><ol><li><p><em>Buy a low-cost index fund</em></p></li><li><p><em>Dollar-cost average into it</em></p></li><li><p><em>Stay the course</em></p></li></ol><p><strong>Buying that index ETF is the easiest part.</strong> The harder part can be to stick to it no matter what the market does. Our human psychology will still try to affect our desire to sell it all when the market is in panic mode.</p><p>If you can manage this (only buying and never selling until you need the money) you will end up with long-term returns that are close to the market returns, and significantly better than the average investor!</p><div><hr></div><h3>How I took it one step further</h3><p>While index investing is considered highly recommended for most people, some will find it boring, and some people just can&#8217;t seem to settle with something that is <em>pretty good </em>but not<em> amazing</em>.</p><p><strong>Personally, I belong to the latter group.</strong> I&#8217;ve been active on the stock market since 2004 and tried <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-investors-paradox-stop-playing">all the common strategies</a> with limited success. I&#8217;ve kept learning and studying, and today I know why I didn&#8217;t succeed back then.</p><p>If you have followed my newsletter or read some of my other articles, you will know that I developed my own systematic strategy back in 2021, which I have followed strictly since then.</p><blockquote><p>This strategy takes the knowledge of human instincts and biases into account, and instead of falling into the traps, it reverses them, utilizing the human behavior in markets to its own benefit via a set of simple mathematical rules.</p></blockquote><p><strong>My strategy has more than doubled the market returns</strong> since I started following it in 2021, beating the MSCI World index every year so far.</p><p>I only spend 15 minutes every month, executing an average of 9 portfolio changes (swapping one ETF for another) a year. By popular demand, I have put together an introduction to my strategy here:</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-beginners-guide-to-the-marketfighter">The Beginner&#8217;s Guide to the MarketFighter Strategy</a></strong></p><p>I hope you enjoyed this article. Subscribe for more insights like this and to follow my investment strategy and its monthly trading signals.</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Beginner's Guide to the MarketFighter Strategy]]></title><description><![CDATA[An introduction for new readers to my simple investment strategy that beat index investing in 25 of the past 26 years.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-beginners-guide-to-the-marketfighter</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-beginners-guide-to-the-marketfighter</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2026 12:17:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!n3yd!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!n3yd!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!n3yd!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!n3yd!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!n3yd!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!n3yd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!n3yd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png" width="1024" height="608" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;normal&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!n3yd!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!n3yd!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!n3yd!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!n3yd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F601b490e-8aa1-45a2-b044-1859cda0d528_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Hi!</strong></p><p>Welcome to my newsletter, where I share my investment strategy that outperformed index investing with high consistency over the past quarter of a century. An extra warm welcome to the hundreds of new subscribers who joined since last week!</p><p><strong>If you&#8217;re new to my strategy,</strong> and you don&#8217;t consider yourself a seasoned trader, this article is for you. I will explain in plain English what the strategy is all about, how it works, and the simple steps I take to follow this every month.</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p><strong>If you&#8217;ve already read my previous articles</strong> about the MarketFighter Strategy, you may see this post as a simplified summary. If you want the more technical deep-dive, you can find it here:</p><p><strong>&#10145;&#65039; </strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">The technical deep-dive on the MarketFighter Strategy</a></p></div><p>I&#8217;m starting to receive a lot of attention and questions from traders and professionals who want to know the details of my algorithm, which has returned an average around <strong>20% annually</strong> over the past 10 years.</p><p>But the point in sharing my strategy was also to make it available to regular people, who are not trading experts or professionals, but just want to improve their investment returns without a lot of extra work. <strong>That&#8217;s why I&#8217;m writing this article.</strong></p><div><hr></div><h3>The strategy in a nutshell</h3><p>It&#8217;s a <em>systematic</em> strategy based on ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) that can be traded via any stock broker account. The selected ETFs only contain stocks. No bonds, gold or crypto. No shorting and no leverage. Most of the time I own two ETFs:</p><ul><li><p>The strongest <strong>sector-focused ETF (</strong><em>e.g. Energy Sector)</em></p></li><li><p>The strongest <strong>factor-focused ETF</strong><em> (e.g. European Value)</em></p></li></ul><p>On rare occasions, one or both of them are sold and not immediately replaced. That happens as a defensive mechanism during extended market declines. This means I always own between 0 and 2 ETFs, but most of the time it&#8217;s 2.</p><p><strong>The ONLY time I execute a trade</strong> is on the first trading day of each month. This takes 15 minutes or less. The rest of the time, I&#8217;m free to do other things and not follow the market. This means each ETF is held for at least one month, regardless of what happens in the world.</p><p><strong>The choice of which two ETFs to own</strong> is handled by a system I created. It has a few mathematical rules based on price momentum. These rules dictate what I buy and sell.</p><blockquote><p>I follow them blindly with no questions asked, and I leave my emotions and gut feelings about the market behind. Experience has taught me that I can&#8217;t compete with the system.</p></blockquote><p>Most people either do index investing or individual stock picking. This approach is a third way called <em>systematic trading</em>, which is less common among retail investors. My strategy is a simple but efficient take on systematic trading.</p><p>Earlier this year I decided to let others follow my journey and my strategy. That&#8217;s why I&#8217;m now publishing every trade the system suggests (the exact ETFs I&#8217;m buying) every month to subscribers of my newsletter.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>Why should I care about this strategy?</h3><p>Before I explain the strategy itself, let me show you some numbers. The table below shows the returns by calendar year compared to the MSCI World Index. The last column shows the difference (<em>alpha</em>) between the two:<br></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5j7J!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5j7J!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5j7J!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5j7J!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5j7J!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5j7J!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png" width="576" height="1111" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1111,&quot;width&quot;:576,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:95303,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/196869688?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5j7J!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5j7J!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5j7J!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5j7J!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40eefbfa-5d31-43da-98a9-9dae7c14deac_576x1111.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p><strong>Did I trade this system since 2000? No.</strong> So, how can I know the performance 26 years back? I did what&#8217;s called a <em>back-test</em>. This means you download historical market data and apply the same systematic trading rules as you would do today.</p><blockquote><p>If anyone had executed the trading rules of my strategy every month, these are the returns they would have achieved (in EUR, not accounting for taxes and trading fees). But how can you know if this outperformance will continue in the future?</p></blockquote><p><strong>Short answer:</strong> You can&#8217;t. There are no guarantees in investing.</p><p><strong>The interesting part:</strong> I originally did the back-test in early 2021. Since then, I have traded the strategy with my own money. As you can see from the table, the numbers have continued to look good in real trading.</p><p>Don&#8217;t worry if you haven&#8217;t heard of the MSCI World Index. It&#8217;s just a way to measure the returns of the full global stock market (similar to S&amp;P 500 used for measuring the US stock market).</p><div><hr></div><h3>How does it work?</h3><p>To most people, a <em>trading system</em> sounds complicated. That&#8217;s not what this is. My strategy is not a full-time day trading job. I prefer to see it as an alternative to index investing. </p><blockquote><p>A trading system simply implies that buying and selling is decided based on a set of fixed mathematical rules - as opposed to anyone&#8217;s opinion or gut feeling.</p></blockquote><p>Trading systems eliminate all the human bias and feelings that tend to make us fail at investing. Instead it focuses on probability and data evidence.</p><p>My strategy is a monthly setup. This means, I only have to look at this once every month on the first trading day. The remaining time, I don&#8217;t worry about it at all. What happens is the following:</p><ul><li><p>After the <em>last</em> trading day of a month, I download market price data and feed it to the system.</p></li><li><p>Based on the systematic rules I have entered into the system, it tells me which two ETFs have the highest probability of outperforming in the coming month.</p></li><li><p>If the two selected ETFs are different from the two from last month, I execute the trades needed on the following day.</p></li><li><p>Before the market opens on the first trading day of the new month, I send out an email with the new trading signal (provided by the system) to all subscribers.</p></li></ul><h3>What are these trading rules?</h3><p>Trading rules are just simple mathematical checks applied to market data. In my case, I built a system that exploits so-called <em>momentum effects</em> in the market. Most of these are well documented in academic literature but not widely used among retail investors.</p><blockquote><p>Simply put, groups of stocks that have done well in the recent past have a higher probability of continuing to do well than other groups.</p></blockquote><p>The system compares certain current and historical price levels among a predefined list of ETFs (or rather indices).</p><p>Based on the probability of near-term outperformance (calculated from historical data evidence), it picks the most promising factor and sector ETF. The monthly selection process is illustrated here:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png" width="1456" height="794" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:794,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The main concept of my newsletter is to document my strategy, and anyone who&#8217;s interested can follow along by simply subscribing to receive the trading signals.</p><blockquote><p>Very often, I receive questions about the details of my algorithm from people who want to copy my strategy and construct the signals themselves. But while my algorithm is proprietary, I publish its output to anyone who&#8217;s interested.</p></blockquote><p>If you want to know more about the technical concepts behind the trading rules, I reveal everything except the core details in this article:</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">My Investment Approach that Outperformed the Stock Market in 25 of 26 Years</a></p><div><hr></div><h3>How did I come up with this?</h3><p>I&#8217;ve been active on the stock market for more than 20 years. I&#8217;ve been down all the wrong lanes, been a victim of my own fear, greed, and intellectual overconfidence. Made all the classical mistakes.</p><blockquote><p>But my stubborn obsession with outperforming the market has kept me going and I&#8217;ve learned from every mistake. Back in early 2021 I finally found a systematic way to achieve higher returns than the indexes through a set of rules.</p></blockquote><p>Since then, I have invested most of our family money using this approach. It has continued to work really well, and recently this gave me the financial flexibility to quit my job as a software engineer. This means I can now focus on my passions for investing, writing and building on my own terms.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-beginners-guide-to-the-marketfighter?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-beginners-guide-to-the-marketfighter?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>Is this too good to be true?</h3><p>Over the past 26 years, my strategy has delivered an average of roughly 10% above market returns annually. Theoretically, this is considered almost impossible by investment researchers. Most professional funds lag market returns in the long run.</p><p>But what I enjoy most about it is the consistency of the returns. It has performed exceptionally well during market crashes historically. The chart below shows how an investment of $100 has evolved with the strategy (yellow) compared to popular market benchmarks:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VhWx!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VhWx!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VhWx!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VhWx!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VhWx!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VhWx!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg" width="1456" height="883" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/fe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:883,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:557366,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/196869688?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VhWx!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VhWx!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VhWx!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VhWx!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe60c2b6-716c-4f53-beeb-b053d5ab62f1_3634x2204.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Some people have said my results almost look too good to be true. And honestly, that was also my thought when I initially put together the pieces for the puzzle in early 2021.</p><p>That&#8217;s why I spent five years quietly trading this strategy without telling anyone, except my nearest family. I was worried that it would stop working after I put money into it. But it has continued, and now, after 5 years it&#8217;s running most of my family investments.</p><div><hr></div><h3>What are my expectations for future returns?</h3><p>The big question is of course whether this can continue. And nothing can ever be guaranteed in investing. No one can predict the future.</p><p>My personal guess is that it will continue to outperform, because it&#8217;s based on momentum effects which are the results of human psychology that hasn&#8217;t changed for centuries.</p><p>But my guess is also, that the <em>level</em> of outperformance may not be as high going forward. You should never underestimate the effects of luck and randomness in back-tests, and as more people utilize similar strategies it may affect the level of excess returns. Time will tell.</p><h3>What&#8217;s my recommendation?</h3><p>It&#8217;s important for me to state that I&#8217;m not a financial advisor, I have no financial education, and I&#8217;m not here to recommend anything.</p><p>I&#8217;m just a computer scientist who used my skills and was lucky to find my own way to succeed in the markets. Now I&#8217;m sharing my journey with anyone who&#8217;s curious about my approach.</p><blockquote><p>The strategy I&#8217;m following is not a fit for everyone. It requires a lot of discipline to stick to a systematic strategy that sometimes tells you to execute a trade that goes against what you feel in the moment.</p></blockquote><p>In the beginning it was hard for me to do this, but now after more than 5 years, I&#8217;ve learned that it pays off to stay disciplined when you&#8217;ve found something that works for you. I try to have as little opinion about the market as possible.</p><p><strong>For further exploration, check out these other articles:</strong></p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-watchlist-see-the-15-tickers">Explore the list of ETFs I use for the system</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-investors-paradox-stop-playing">Find an investment strategy that matches your personality</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/factor-investing-the-lazy-investors">Learn what factor investing is and how to use it</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">Read the technical deep-dive about the strategy</a></p><div><hr></div><p><strong>If you simply want to follow my journey and my trading signals</strong>, just click the subscribe button below. For questions, don&#8217;t hesitate to leave a comment!</p><p>Thank you for reading!</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Performance Update: May 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[How the MarketFighter Strategy has performed so far in 2026 and how it compares to the MSCI World Index in a monthly review.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/performance-update-may-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/performance-update-may-2026</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 04 May 2026 12:51:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!krd_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1-rA!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46d3a806-c686-4001-b260-eb42726b4bd9_1024x608.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1-rA!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46d3a806-c686-4001-b260-eb42726b4bd9_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1-rA!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46d3a806-c686-4001-b260-eb42726b4bd9_1024x608.png 848w, 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data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/46d3a806-c686-4001-b260-eb42726b4bd9_1024x608.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;normal&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1-rA!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46d3a806-c686-4001-b260-eb42726b4bd9_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1-rA!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46d3a806-c686-4001-b260-eb42726b4bd9_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1-rA!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46d3a806-c686-4001-b260-eb42726b4bd9_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1-rA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46d3a806-c686-4001-b260-eb42726b4bd9_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Every month I send out a performance update for the MarketFighter Strategy:</strong> The investment approach I have followed for the past five years, which I&#8217;m now sharing with all subscribers to this newsletter.</p><p>In this post, I will give you a transparent look into how the strategy performed in April and how far we are ahead of the market in 2026 so far.</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><h4>New to The MarketFighter Strategy?</h4><p>I write about a simple approach to beat the stock market with only 15 minutes of monthly work that anyone can copy. Check out these links:</p><p><strong>&#10145;&#65039; </strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/about">The quick introduction</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">The detailed breakdown of the strategy</a></p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>April was a wild ride</strong></h3><p>Following a deep decline in March, the global stock markets rebounded sharply in April in what became the strongest month for stocks since November 2020. Here is our monthly performance so far in 2026 compared to our global market benchmark, the MSCI World Index:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!krd_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!krd_!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!krd_!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!krd_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!krd_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!krd_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png" width="1341" height="731" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:731,&quot;width&quot;:1341,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:146304,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/196400488?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!krd_!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!krd_!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!krd_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!krd_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd39fc28e-4d38-4cc0-a03d-e917de800683_1341x731.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>After three consecutive months of solid outperformance, we lagged the benchmark in April, despite a high return for the month of <strong>5.85% for the strategy</strong>. The relative underperformance was caused by the Energy ETF, which came down from recent highs due to volatility in oil prices.</p><p>We still haven&#8217;t experienced a negative month this year, and we are still comfortably ahead of market returns year-to-date (see the table further down in this article). Any strategy should of course be measured in years and decades, not in months. I&#8217;m just sharing these numbers for people interested in the latest development.</p><h3>Detailed monthly breakdown</h3><p>In the table below I have provided the exact performance of our strategy on a monthly basis compared to the MSCI World Index, as well as the <em>alpha</em> (the difference between our return and the market return):<br></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s9H1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s9H1!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s9H1!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s9H1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s9H1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s9H1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png" width="944" height="234" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:234,&quot;width&quot;:944,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:35404,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/196400488?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s9H1!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s9H1!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s9H1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!s9H1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3c38b4-8724-4374-a514-f82a31e756aa_944x234.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><br>Despite the first negative month relative to the benchmark, the strategy is up more than <strong>16%</strong> so far in 2026, and more importantly almost <strong>11% ahead of the MSCI World Index</strong>. This means we are in a good position to achieve a 14th straight year of outperforming the benchmark.</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">See this article for the full return overview of each year</a></strong></p><p>The table above also lists the allocation in each month. These are the two ETFs the system decided to allocate money into based on the relative price momentum rules that are the foundation behind the strategy.</p><div><hr></div><p>You can read more about the investment universe and the 15 indices and corresponding ETFs the strategy uses here:</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/revealing-the-exact-universe-behind">Indices and ETFs in our investment universe</a></strong></p><p>If you&#8217;re looking for the May trading signal and curious about which ETFs the strategy is currently allocated to, I wrote a separate article here:</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/trading-signal-may-2026">The May 2026 Trading Signal</a></strong></p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/p/performance-update-may-2026?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/performance-update-may-2026?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>The hardest part: Doing nothing</h3><p>Finding a good strategy for trading and investing is only half the job towards success. The other half is all about having the discipline to <strong>stick to it</strong>. This is a theme I will be digging deeper into in future posts.</p><blockquote><p>When I mention this now, it&#8217;s because I know that followers of the strategy may have a hard time sticking to an investment with high volatility that started to move down after a big surge.</p></blockquote><p>I&#8217;m talking about the Energy ETF. In April, it went through a heavy decline, while the market surged. This is never a good feeling.</p><p>Eventually, it regained some of the losses at the end of the month, but I suspect the urge to sell it prematurely was present for many. <strong>It was for me.</strong> However, I have learned from experience that when it comes to trading, I&#8217;m better off trusting the system I have developed than my own instincts.</p><div><hr></div><h3>Coming up next</h3><p>Hundreds of new subscribers have joined in recent weeks, and some of the feedback I have received was a request for an easy <strong>beginner&#8217;s introduction guide</strong> to the MarketFighter Strategy. I&#8217;m looking forward to providing this as my next post.</p><p>Stay tuned, and thank you for reading!</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Trading Signal: May 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[Revealing the two ETF allocations for the systematic MarketFighter strategy in May.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/trading-signal-may-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/trading-signal-may-2026</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2026 04:15:52 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IWGU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IWGU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IWGU!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IWGU!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IWGU!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IWGU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IWGU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png" width="1024" height="608" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;normal&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IWGU!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IWGU!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IWGU!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IWGU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83a6c77c-6526-4da4-9b37-690d7c8b4684_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>It&#8217;s time for the monthly allocation update of our strategy. The system has now calculated the relative momentum data, and the two selections for May are ready.</strong></p><p>A huge welcome to the 286 new subscribers who joined since last month. Great to have you all here!</p><p>Before the first market opening of each month, I send out the trading signal provided by my systematic monthly rotation strategy. The signal tells us which two ETFs the system will invest in for the coming month. This system has outperformed the market <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">in 25 of the past 26 years</a>.</p><p>If you&#8217;re just here for the signal, feel free to <strong>scroll down to find it!</strong> &#128071;</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><h4>New to The MarketFighter Strategy?</h4><p>I write about a simple approach to beat the stock market with only 15 minutes of monthly work that anyone can copy. Check out these links:</p><p><strong>&#10145;&#65039; </strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/about">The quick introduction</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">The detailed breakdown of the strategy</a></p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>April was a phenomenal month for stocks</h3><p>The global stock markets rebounded sharply in April, following a tough decline in March as a result of the Iran conflict and the spiking oil prices.</p><p>I will publish a full performance report early next week with the details of how the MarketFighter Strategy performed in April compared to the market.</p><p>I can already see from the numbers, though, that we are still comfortably ahead of market returns year-to-date. However, we lagged the surging market benchmarks in April due to the energy sector position, which retreated a bit after staggering returns in March.</p><div><hr></div><h3>The May 2026 Signal</h3><p>For the coming month of May 2026, the MarketFighter Strategy will <strong>continue with an unchanged allocation</strong> compared to April. This means it will still be holding these two positions, equally weighted:</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p>THE FACTOR ALLOCATION (50%):<strong><br></strong>&#9654;&#65039;<strong> USA Value</strong></p><p>THE SECTOR ALLOCATION (50%):<strong><br></strong>&#9654;&#65039;<strong> Energy Sector</strong></p></div><p>The price data shows that despite the heavy movements in April, the long-term momentum trend still indicates a high probability of excess returns in US Value and Energy going into the next 30 days.</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p><strong>US investors</strong> can implement the signal with these ETFs:</p><p><strong>&#9989; VLUE </strong>ticker (ISIN: US46432F3881)</p><p><strong>&#9989; XLE </strong>ticker (ISIN: US81369Y5069)</p></div><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p><strong>European investors</strong> can implement the signal with these ETFs:</p><p><strong>&#9989; QDVI </strong>ticker (ISIN: IE00BD1F4M44)</p><p><strong>&#9989; QDVF </strong>ticker (ISIN: IE00B42NKQ00)</p></div><p>Be aware that the European listed ticker names vary from one exchange to another. I have listed the Xetra (German) tickers, but they have different names on the London exchange, for instance. Let me know in the comments if this causes any confusion.</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-watchlist-see-the-15-tickers">See the full list of relevant ETF ticker names for the strategy here.</a></p><h3>Rebalancing the positions</h3><p>For new investors who joined since last month, it&#8217;s easy if you want to follow the strategy: Simply buy 50% of each of the ETFs listed above.</p><p>For existing investors, it&#8217;s even easier this month, as you don&#8217;t have to change anything! This happens when the two allocations from last month are still the strongest sectors and factors now, based on the relative momentum calculations we run at the end of every month.</p><p>There is, however, an option to rebalance if your two ETFs have grown far away from the 50/50 allocation. The strategy was developed and back-tested using a strict 50/50 allocation each month, but if your trading fees are high, don&#8217;t worry. Personally, I don&#8217;t rebalance unless the distribution drifts beyond 55/45 in either direction.</p><h3>How many trades can be expected?</h3><p>One thing I haven&#8217;t addressed is the number of trades this system can be expected to require. As with everything in investing, it&#8217;s impossible to predict the future. The best we can do is look at the history. Here&#8217;s what it says:</p><blockquote><p>The average number of annual trades for the factor allocation over the past 26 years was <strong>5.0 </strong>(changes from one factor to another). For the sector allocation, the corresponding number was <strong>4.1</strong>. This amounts to a total average of <strong>9.1</strong> changes of allocations annually.</p></blockquote><p>Why am I telling you these numbers? To let you know that a month with no changes to the allocations is not uncommon for this system. I intentionally designed it to keep transaction costs as low as possible, not trading more than needed. </p><p><strong>Don&#8217;t forget to subscribe</strong> for more information on the MarketFighter Strategy and for future trading signals.</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Factor Investing: The Lazy Investor's Guide to Outperformance]]></title><description><![CDATA[Follow the proven drivers of long-term wealth without active stock-picking. Profit from data hiding in plain sight.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/factor-investing-the-lazy-investors</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/factor-investing-the-lazy-investors</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 25 Apr 2026 12:10:47 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RhgU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RhgU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RhgU!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RhgU!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RhgU!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RhgU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RhgU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png" width="1024" height="559" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:559,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1236738,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/194393080?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RhgU!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RhgU!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RhgU!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RhgU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34376985-f213-431a-966a-8252592f4cf5_1024x559.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Have you ever wondered</strong> if there were certain common traits or DNA in stocks that are bound to outperform the market? If they shared some characteristics that increase their probability of achieving high returns in the near future? <strong>Look no further.</strong></p><p>Researchers already mapped out the factors that drive excess returns decades ago. Together, these <strong>factors explain more than 70% of above-market returns</strong> in stocks (more than 90% according to some research). They&#8217;re widely used in institutional finance, but most retail investors don&#8217;t know how to benefit from them.</p><p><strong>This post is my introduction to factor investing</strong>. I will explain what it is, how it works, and how you can easily use it in a strategy for outperformance.</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><h4>New to The MarketFighter Strategy?</h4><p>I write about a simple approach to beat the stock market with only 15 minutes of monthly work that anyone can copy. Check out these links:</p><p><strong>&#10145;&#65039; </strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/about">The quick introduction</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">The detailed breakdown of the strategy</a></p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>What is factor investing?</h3><p>You have most likely heard about <strong>small-cap</strong> stocks, <strong>value,</strong> or <strong>momentum</strong> investing. Maybe even <strong>quality</strong> stocks without fully understanding what that quality specifically meant. These are all called <em>factors</em>, and I will explain them individually in a minute.</p><p>Investing is mostly perceived through the lens of active stock-picking: You research and analyze a large amount of stocks based on a set of criteria you believe have positive effect on the future returns.</p><blockquote><p><strong>Here&#8217;s the interesting part:</strong> That <em>set of criteria</em> is not nearly as secret or vague as most investors tend to think. Our brains are wired to believe we are good at identifying complex patterns ourselves, and that we can somehow use these to predict the future. Unfortunately, we can&#8217;t.</p></blockquote><p>Most of the excess returns achieved by successful investors like Warren Buffett can be attributed to the factor exposure of their selected stocks. They may have picked these stocks directly or indirectly because of their high factor exposure. Or they may simply have been lucky to pick stocks that had these characteristics.</p><p><strong>Academic research has done most of the work for us.</strong> Since the early 1990s, researchers have mapped out the traits or factors that have a high probability of predicting near-term outperformance. Based on these findings, MSCI created specific indexes to track the factors, starting in the late 90s. This is how they have performed:</p><p></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3ghl!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3ghl!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3ghl!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3ghl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3ghl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3ghl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png" width="723" height="347" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:347,&quot;width&quot;:723,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:66587,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/194393080?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3ghl!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3ghl!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3ghl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3ghl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4023e89a-fb55-4c6b-a486-8cac367732f4_723x347.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Returns delivered by factor-filtered world indices compared to the full MSCI World index. Source: MSCI.com</figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>Notice how all four factors have significantly outperformed the general World index. Also, notice how they have done this <strong>AFTER</strong> they were published and revealed to every curious mind on the globe with an internet connection!</p><p>More than 200 investment factors have been documented, but the vast majority of them are either overlapping or simply other factors in disguise. The four factors I&#8217;m covering in this post are the ones behind most of the excess returns in stocks.</p><p>Each of the factor indices were created using a filter applied to the World index. The filters are different for each factor. Let&#8217;s dig into them.</p><div><hr></div><h3>The Value Factor</h3><p>The most intuitive of the four factors is the <em>value factor</em>. It simply filters companies based on their valuation, and only buys the cheapest ones. The definition of <em>cheap</em> varies. Typically, it involves looking at one or more of the following metrics:</p><ul><li><p>Price to earnings <strong>(P/E)</strong></p></li><li><p>Price to book value <strong>(P/B)</strong></p></li><li><p>Price to free cash flow <strong>(P/FCF)</strong></p></li></ul><p>The lower the values the better, and the more the company is said to be <em>exposed</em> to the value factor. This can seem intuitive: The lower the valuation, the more potential for price increases in the stock. Unfortunately it&#8217;s not always that simple, but historically it has generated excess returns over long time horizons, if you bought the 20-30% cheapest stocks and rebalanced consistently.</p><p>You can say that you are being paid a premium to take on the risk of owning businesses that other investors don&#8217;t want to own (hence, the low price).</p><p>&#128994; Annual outperformance:<strong> 2.92% (*)</strong></p><div><hr></div><h3>The Size Factor</h3><p>The size factor is equally easy to understand. You will often see it labelled as <strong>Small-Cap</strong>. It&#8217;s all about market capitalization size (the total market value of the company). Historical research shows a reverse linear connection between size and returns. In other words: The smaller the company, the higher the average future returns.</p><blockquote><p>Again, it&#8217;s not always as simple as that. Small stocks tend to be more volatile with a few big winners and a lot of losers. But if you bought a wide small-cap index at the turn of the millennium, you would have made a ton of money by now.</p></blockquote><p>The size factor (or small-cap) indices and ETFs simply filter the wider market index by size, buying all the 20-30% smallest companies and rebalancing consistently (typically monthly, or quarterly). In this case you are being paid a premium for owning smaller companies with a higher risk related to their business.</p><p>&#128994; Annual outperformance:<strong> 1.87% (*)</strong></p><div><hr></div><h3>The Momentum Factor</h3><p>Counterintuitive, yet undeniable, is the momentum factor. Research shows that the stocks with the biggest gains in the past 6-12 months have the highest probability of near-future outperformance. In other words: The 20-30% of stocks in the index that had <strong>already seen the largest gains</strong> in the recent past were bound to continue the outperformance.</p><p>Although the momentum factor is probably the least intuitive factor, it&#8217;s also the one that has delivered the highest returns historically. But it comes with a caveat of sudden reversals and steep declines when the market direction changes from time to time. As a long-term investor in momentum stocks, you will need to have the discipline to stick to it, even during these sharp reversals.</p><p>If you have the stomach to hold on to it, you may receive a significant risk premium.</p><p>&#128994; Annual outperformance:<strong> 6.38% (*)</strong></p><div><hr></div><h3>The Quality Factor</h3><p>What is quality? It can refer to almost anything, but when we talk about the <em>quality factor</em> in investing, it relates to the quality of earnings and profits. Business stability, predictability and business moats are all part of it as well.</p><p>You can look up the exact definitions used by MSCI for their index methodology, but in general you can expect a business to have a high exposure to the quality factor, if it is consistently and increasingly profitable.</p><p>It may seem strange that investors should receive a premium for investing in stable quality companies that consistently make a lot of money. And it is. But for a lot of people, these are perceived as boring investments. Quality companies are typically not rocket stocks with potential to go <em>to the moon. </em>They are the sleep-well-at-night stocks that just quietly grow their business year after year.</p><p>&#128994; Annual outperformance:<strong> 3.20% (*)</strong></p><p><em>(* The performance metrics cover the period from 1963 to 2024 and is based on long/short portfolio data from the Ken French Data Library.)</em></p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/p/factor-investing-the-lazy-investors?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/factor-investing-the-lazy-investors?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>The probability of outperformance</h3><p>In all of my work I look for high probability of outperformance. So does Andrew Berkin and Larry Swedroe in their amazing book <em>Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing</em>, which I highly recommend, by the way.</p><p>Here&#8217;s what they calculated based on historical data for the primary factors:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BwoT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46628389-4923-4258-9530-012335cd4366_3234x2425.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BwoT!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46628389-4923-4258-9530-012335cd4366_3234x2425.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BwoT!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46628389-4923-4258-9530-012335cd4366_3234x2425.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BwoT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46628389-4923-4258-9530-012335cd4366_3234x2425.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BwoT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46628389-4923-4258-9530-012335cd4366_3234x2425.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BwoT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46628389-4923-4258-9530-012335cd4366_3234x2425.jpeg" width="3234" height="2425" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/46628389-4923-4258-9530-012335cd4366_3234x2425.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2425,&quot;width&quot;:3234,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:2565538,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/194393080?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F87e3c295-8d74-4688-a1f7-cfbaebd0019c_4032x3024.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BwoT!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46628389-4923-4258-9530-012335cd4366_3234x2425.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BwoT!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46628389-4923-4258-9530-012335cd4366_3234x2425.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BwoT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46628389-4923-4258-9530-012335cd4366_3234x2425.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BwoT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46628389-4923-4258-9530-012335cd4366_3234x2425.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Premiums and probability of outperformance for the most important factors. Source: Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing by Berkin &amp; Swedroe.</figcaption></figure></div><p>The table shows another calculation of premiums based on long/short portfolios backtested all the way back to 1927. But what&#8217;s even more interesting is the calculations of the odds of outperformance while holding each factor. Notice how it increases with the holding time.</p><h3>Wait. Where&#8217;s the caveat?</h3><p>Did this almost seem too good to be true? If it was that easy to achieve market-beating returns, everyone would buy factor ETFs instead of the pure index funds. But here&#8217;s the problem:</p><blockquote><p>Although factors have exhibited excess returns over long time horizons, they have all faced severe drawdowns and prolonged periods of underperformance relative to general market benchmarks.</p></blockquote><p>It takes an immense amount of discipline and patience to stick to an investment through 10 years of underperformance. This is exactly what happened to the value factor not long ago in 2010-2020, and similar bad periods have occurred for other factors as well.</p><p>To sum up: What we have here is a range of premium effects that historically generated significant outperformance, if only you could stick to them long enough. But few people possess the patience and discipline to stomach this. The FOMO when comparing to an index fund that keeps winning as years go by is almost humanly impossible to stand.</p><h3>How can factors be used to outperform?</h3><p>I have been there, investing for the long term in factor-based ETFs, only to realize I had no clue which of the factors would do well in the near future.</p><blockquote><p>I realized the only way I could really <strong>benefit from factor investing</strong> was to find a way to rotate between the factors based on data. This led to a lot of research and to eventually developing a strategy that incorporates factor ETFs as a major pillar.</p></blockquote><p>ETF rotation is becoming increasingly popular. The idea is that you rotate between a well-defined basket of ETFs (e.g. factor-based ETFs) at consistent intervals, buying only the one that performs the best according to certain criteria.</p><p><strong>I found that relative price momentum can work really well with factors</strong>. This is a common technique used in trading systems design. By looking at historical price data you can compare the factors and order them by recent performance. And here&#8217;s the kicker:</p><blockquote><p>Choosing the factor with the strongest performance during the past 1-12 months takes out most of the bad &#8220;factor stints&#8221;, if you simply rebalance at consistent intervals (like at the start of each month).</p></blockquote><p>If you have followed my work, you may already know how my strategy works and how it has performed. If not, you can read about it here:</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">My Investment Approach that Outperformed the Stock Market in 25 of 26 years</a></p><p>The essence of the MarketFighter Strategy is to harness the power of relative price momentum on <em>factors</em> as well as on <em>sectors</em> with a drawdown protection layer on top. Having a system to calculate this eliminates all the gut feeling and human bias.</p><p><strong>Combining these three pillars</strong> has created a remarkably consistent strategy that significantly outperformed the market over the past 25+ years. It does not require any business analysis, stock picking or news reading.</p><p>My system calculates the trades needed to follow the strategy each month and I send them to subscribers before the market opens. I have traded the same system with my own money for more than five years now. Subscribe if you want to follow along.</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Watchlist: See the 15 Tickers I Rotate to Outperform the Index]]></title><description><![CDATA[Get the list of specific ETFs needed to follow the MarketFighter Strategy. Complete lists for the US and European markets included.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-watchlist-see-the-15-tickers</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-watchlist-see-the-15-tickers</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:51:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gR5c!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gR5c!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gR5c!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gR5c!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gR5c!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gR5c!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gR5c!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png" width="1024" height="608" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;normal&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gR5c!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gR5c!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gR5c!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gR5c!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2845d216-d6af-40b2-b02e-e6069088cef8_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>First of all, a warm welcome to all the new subscribers who joined since last time!</strong></p><p>The positive comments and feedback I have received since I started publishing my strategy have been overwhelming. <strong>Thank you all for that!</strong></p><p>A lot of you have requested lists of specific ETF tickers needed to follow the strategy. My intention with today&#8217;s post is to provide everything you need regarding that.</p><p>If you&#8217;re only here for the ticker lists, feel free to scroll down. &#128071;</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><h4>New to The MarketFighter Strategy?</h4><p>I write about a simple approach to beat the stock market with only 15 minutes of monthly work that anyone can copy. Check out these links:</p><p><strong>&#10145;&#65039; </strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/about">The quick introduction</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">The detailed breakdown of the strategy</a></p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>What&#8217;s the best way to invest in ETFs?</h3><p>ETF is short for <em>Exchange-Traded Fund</em> and represents an easy way for investors to diversify across a large number of stocks through the purchase of a single ticker on a stock exchange.</p><p>They are similar to regular funds, except most of them are passive, which means they automatically follow an index as opposed to having a fund manager actively pick each individual stock.</p><blockquote><p>The most common usage of ETFs is for <strong>passive index investing</strong>. With this strategy you simply buy and hold an ETF that tracks a broad market index like the MSCI World or the S&amp;P 500.</p></blockquote><p>This simple approach is reported to beat 95% of professional fund managers over time because it automatically avoids any form of bias or emotion in decision-making.</p><h3>How to optimize index investing</h3><p>Not many years ago I was doing passive index investing myself &#8212; convinced by the books and the research telling me it was next to impossible to beat this simple approach in the long run anyway.</p><p>But my analytical mindset and curiosity couldn&#8217;t stop thinking about ways to <strong>optimize</strong> or <strong>improve </strong>this. I have described my journey and the strategy it led to here:</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">My Investment Approach that Outperformed the Stock Market in 25 of 26 years</a></p><blockquote><p>Basically, I realized I could improve ETF returns significantly and consistently by systematically rotating between sector-focused ETFs and factor-focused ETFs, resulting in <strong>+20% annual returns</strong> over the past 10 years.</p></blockquote><p>I created a simple algorithm that picks the strongest sector and the strongest factor based on relative price momentum. This results in a maximum of two trades to be executed on the first trading day of each month.</p><p><strong>Sounds complicated? It&#8217;s not. </strong>Here&#8217;s the best part: It&#8217;s super easy to copy my approach, as I calculate exactly which trades should be executed (the signals) each month and send it to all subscribers before the market opens.</p><h3>What you need to know about the ETF market</h3><p>The global market for ETFs can be confusing and overwhelming. Different rules apply in different regions. The same ETFs can have <strong>different tickers</strong> on different exchanges. And the availability of specific tickers can differ from broker to broker, from country to country.</p><p>For these reasons (and because I&#8217;m writing for a global audience), I didn&#8217;t originally include a list of specific ETF tickers when I described the investment universe and the indices needed to trade the MarketFighter Strategy in this post:</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/revealing-the-exact-universe-behind">Revealing the Exact Universe Behind the MarketFighter Strategy</a></p><p>What I did in that post was to give you the overview of the 15 indices the strategy tracks and compares. Give it a read if you want to learn more about why the strategy works with the specific ETFs and corresponding indices. For now, I will just share this quick illustration from the article:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c2nY!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c2nY!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c2nY!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c2nY!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c2nY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c2nY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg" width="1456" height="794" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:794,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1206029,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/193955366?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c2nY!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c2nY!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c2nY!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c2nY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe156f6ab-3375-47f4-aa34-e678eb685027_2816x1536.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">An illustration of the 15 indices separated into factors and sectors, and how the monthly selection process is applied. The investment outcome is just an example.</figcaption></figure></div><p>It became obvious to me from all the requests, that it was not enough to simply list the indices. So I decided to assemble two detailed lists:</p><ul><li><p>One with specific ETFs available to the European market</p></li><li><p>One with specific ETFs available on US exchanges</p></li></ul><p>People living in the European Union have limited access to US-listed ETFs because of regulatory compliance rules. From most other regions of the world, you will have access to the ETF tickers on the US market.</p><div><hr></div><h3>List of ETFs for the European market</h3><p>The list below contains my suggestions for ETFs listed on the European market. These are the ones I&#8217;m trading myself, as I live in Denmark. They are all <strong>UCITS-compliant</strong> which means they fulfill the regulatory requirements for selling to retail investors living in the European Union.</p><p>Each element in the list is headlined by the index it tracks (the factor or sector to invest in). It includes the full name of the ETF, a ticker name and the unique ISIN code.</p><p>On the European market the ISIN code is the safest way to identify an ETF, as the ticker codes differ from one exchange to another. It&#8217;s important to note that the ticker names I have listed below are the <strong>Xetra Exchange tickers</strong> (listed in Germany):</p><p></p><p><strong>USA</strong> <strong>MOMENTUM</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares Edge MSCI USA Momentum Factor UCITS ETF<strong><br>QDVA</strong> &#128312; IE00BD1F4N50</p></blockquote><p><strong>USA QUALITY</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares Edge MSCI USA Quality Factor UCITS ETF<strong><br>QDVB</strong> &#128312; IE00BD1F4L37</p></blockquote><p><strong>USA VALUE</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares Edge MSCI USA Value Factor UCITS ETF<br><strong>QDVI</strong> &#128312; IE00BD1F4M44</p></blockquote><p><strong>USA SMALL CAP</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares MSCI USA Small Cap ESG Enhanced CTB UCITS ETF<br><strong>SXRG</strong> &#128312; IE00B3VWM098</p></blockquote><p><strong>EUROPE MOMENTUM</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares Edge MSCI Europe Momentum Factor UCITS ETF<br><strong>CEMR</strong> &#128312; IE00BQN1K786</p></blockquote><p><strong>EUROPE QUALITY</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares Edge MSCI Europe Quality Factor UCITS ETF<br><strong>CEMQ</strong> &#128312; IE00BQN1K562</p></blockquote><p><strong>EUROPE VALUE</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares Edge MSCI Europe Value Factor UCITS ETF<br><strong>CEMS</strong> &#128312; IE00BQN1K901</p></blockquote><p><strong>EUROPE SMALL CAP</strong></p><blockquote><p>Xtrackers MSCI Europe Small Cap UCITS ETF<br><strong>XXSC</strong> &#128312; LU0322253906</p></blockquote><p><strong>CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares S&amp;P 500 Consumer Discretionary Sector UCITS ETF<br><strong>QDVK</strong> &#128312; IE00B4MCHD36</p></blockquote><p><strong>CONSUMER STAPLES</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares S&amp;P 500 Consumer Staples Sector UCITS ETF<br><strong>2B7D</strong> &#128312; IE00B40B8R38</p></blockquote><p><strong>ENERGY</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares S&amp;P 500 Energy Sector UCITS ETF<br><strong>QDVF</strong> &#128312; IE00B42NKQ00</p></blockquote><p><strong>HEALTH CARE</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares S&amp;P 500 Health Care Sector UCITS ETF<strong><br>QDVG</strong> &#128312; IE00B43HR379</p></blockquote><p><strong>INDUSTRIALS</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares S&amp;P 500 Industrials Sector UCITS ETF<strong><br>2B7C</strong> &#128312; IE00B4LN9N13</p></blockquote><p><strong>INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares S&amp;P 500 Information Technology Sector UCITS ETF<strong><br>QDVE</strong> &#128312; IE00B3WJKG14</p></blockquote><p><strong>MATERIALS</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares S&amp;P 500 Materials Sector UCITS ETF<strong><br>2B7B</strong> &#128312; IE00B4MKCJ84</p></blockquote><p></p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-watchlist-see-the-15-tickers?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-watchlist-see-the-15-tickers?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>List of ETFs for the US market</h3><p>The American market for ETFs is in many ways less complicated than the European one. You can count on the ticker name, and there are less regulatory restrictions. This also means <strong>most other retail investors in other parts of the world</strong> will have access to trade these ETFs.</p><p><strong>One thing to be aware of though</strong>, is that some of the indices I use in the system are not tracked in exactly the same way by any US-listed ETF. This is the case for the following:</p><ul><li><p>Europe Momentum</p></li><li><p>Europe Quality</p></li><li><p>Europe Value</p></li></ul><p>In these cases I suggest the <strong>&#8220;International&#8221;</strong> (Ex-US) versions that include the full developed market outside of United States. Europe typically constitutes 60-70% of this. These alternatives are the closest matches on the US market, and I don&#8217;t believe their returns will be dramatically different, as they track the same risk premia.</p><p>Below is my list of suggestions for <strong>US-listed ETFs</strong>, headlined by the index they track, followed by the full ETF name, the ticker code and the ISIN code for unique identification:</p><p></p><p><strong>USA</strong> <strong>MOMENTUM</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF<strong><br>MTUM</strong> &#128313; US46432F3964</p></blockquote><p><strong>USA QUALITY</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF<strong><br>QUAL</strong> &#128313; US46432F3394</p></blockquote><p><strong>USA VALUE</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF<br><strong>VLUE</strong> &#128313; US46432F3881</p></blockquote><p><strong>USA SMALL CAP</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor ETF<br><strong>SMLF</strong> &#128313; US46434V2907</p></blockquote><p><strong>EUROPE MOMENTUM</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares MSCI Intl Momentum Factor ETF<br><strong>IMTM</strong> &#128313; US46434V4499</p></blockquote><p><strong>EUROPE QUALITY</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares MSCI Intl Quality Factor ETF<br><strong>IQLT</strong> &#128313; US46434V4564</p></blockquote><p><strong>EUROPE VALUE</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF<br><strong>IVLU</strong> &#128313; US46435G4091</p></blockquote><p><strong>EUROPE SMALL CAP</strong></p><blockquote><p>iShares MSCI Europe Small-Cap ETF<br><strong>IEUS</strong> &#128313; US4642884971</p></blockquote><p><strong>CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY</strong></p><blockquote><p>State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF<br><strong>XLY</strong> &#128313; US81369Y4070</p></blockquote><p><strong>CONSUMER STAPLES</strong></p><blockquote><p>State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF<br><strong>XLP</strong> &#128313; US81369Y3080</p></blockquote><p><strong>ENERGY</strong></p><blockquote><p>State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF<br><strong>XLE</strong> &#128313; US81369Y5069</p></blockquote><p><strong>HEALTH CARE</strong></p><blockquote><p>State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF<strong><br>XLV</strong> &#128313; US81369Y2090</p></blockquote><p><strong>INDUSTRIALS</strong></p><blockquote><p>State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF<strong><br>XLI</strong> &#128313; US81369Y7040</p></blockquote><p><strong>INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY</strong></p><blockquote><p>State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF<strong><br>XLK</strong> &#128313; US81369Y8030</p></blockquote><p><strong>MATERIALS</strong></p><blockquote><p>State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF<strong><br>XLB</strong> &#128313; US81369Y1001</p></blockquote><p></p><div><hr></div><h3>Leveraged ETFs for the fearless</h3><p>One subscriber requested a list of leveraged ETFs to follow the strategy with higher impact. First of all, I want to make it clear that <strong>I&#8217;m not recommending the use of leveraged ETFs,</strong> as I haven&#8217;t tested the strategy with these!</p><p>But for traders with a high risk appetite, there are actually 2x-leveraged sector ETFs available in the US. These track the daily changes with 200% exposure to the tracked sector index. They are listed with the following tickers:</p><ul><li><p><strong>ROM</strong>  |  Ultra Technology</p></li><li><p><strong>DIG</strong>  |  Ultra Energy</p></li><li><p><strong>RXL</strong>  |  Ultra Health Care</p></li><li><p><strong>UYM</strong>  |  Ultra Materials</p></li><li><p><strong>UGE</strong>  |  Ultra Consumer Staples</p></li><li><p><strong>UCC</strong>  |  Ultra Consumer Discretionary</p></li><li><p><strong>UXI</strong>  |  Ultra Industrials</p></li></ul><p>I have not managed to find any leveraged factor ETFs listed in the US. On the European market the use of leverage in ETFs is much less widespread, and I didn&#8217;t find any suitable solutions.</p><h3>How to use the lists</h3><p>Save these lists somewhere if you want to have an overview of the ETFs needed to follow the MarketFighter Strategy. <strong>If you are a subscriber,</strong> you will receive the monthly trading signals, which always include the two exact ETFs needed for the coming month, regardless if you trade on the US or the European market.</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Performance Update: April 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[How the MarketFighter Strategy beat the market by 5.72% in March, ended in the green, and continues to outperform in 2026.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/performance-update-april-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/performance-update-april-2026</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2026 18:55:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IiS7!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KvFk!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49c637af-7f40-4474-9b09-e45c0ba2b152_1024x608.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KvFk!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49c637af-7f40-4474-9b09-e45c0ba2b152_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KvFk!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49c637af-7f40-4474-9b09-e45c0ba2b152_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KvFk!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49c637af-7f40-4474-9b09-e45c0ba2b152_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KvFk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49c637af-7f40-4474-9b09-e45c0ba2b152_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KvFk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49c637af-7f40-4474-9b09-e45c0ba2b152_1024x608.png" width="1024" height="608" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/49c637af-7f40-4474-9b09-e45c0ba2b152_1024x608.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;normal&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KvFk!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49c637af-7f40-4474-9b09-e45c0ba2b152_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KvFk!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49c637af-7f40-4474-9b09-e45c0ba2b152_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KvFk!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49c637af-7f40-4474-9b09-e45c0ba2b152_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KvFk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49c637af-7f40-4474-9b09-e45c0ba2b152_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Welcome to the monthly performance update </strong>for anyone following the MarketFighter Strategy &#8212; a simple systematic investment approach with a high probability of outperforming the market (doing so in 25 of the past 26 years).</p><p>I&#8217;m writing this to give you a transparent look into the recent performance. If you traded the strategy in March like I did, I&#8217;m sure you will enjoy reading this update &#128071;</p><div><hr></div><blockquote><p><strong>New to the strategy?</strong> Check out these links:<br><strong>&#10145;&#65039; </strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/about">The quick introduction</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">The detailed breakdown of the strategy</a></p></blockquote><div><hr></div><h3><strong>What a month we had in March!</strong></h3><p>While global stock markets tumbled due to the war in Iran and the staggering oil price, followers of the MarketFighter Strategy experienced another month in green territory. Here is our monthly performance so far in 2026 compared to our market benchmark, the MSCI World Index:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IiS7!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IiS7!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IiS7!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IiS7!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IiS7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IiS7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png" width="1456" height="874" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:874,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:359682,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/193101291?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IiS7!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IiS7!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IiS7!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IiS7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e7ab67d-6649-4980-9284-b3fb67d8c6b2_2613x1569.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Three consecutive months of solid outperformance is not something you can expect to see often. Trading and investment strategies should be measured in years and decades, not in months or days. Still, it&#8217;s hard not to be very satisfied with the results so far in 2026.</p><h3>Detailed monthly breakdown</h3><p>In the table below I have provided the exact performance of our strategy compared to the World Index, as well as the <em>alpha</em> (the excess return, or the difference between our return and the market return):<br></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TSH9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TSH9!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TSH9!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TSH9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TSH9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TSH9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png" width="542" height="117" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:117,&quot;width&quot;:542,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:20480,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/193101291?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TSH9!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TSH9!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TSH9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TSH9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b21f9ea-da02-45be-af7b-269b3de36684_542x117.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><br>The table also lists the allocation in each month. These are the two ETFs the system decided to allocate money into based on the relative price momentum rules that are the foundation behind the strategy.</p><div><hr></div><p>You can read more about the investment universe and the 15 indices and corresponding ETFs the strategy uses here:</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/revealing-the-exact-universe-behind">Indices and ETFs in our investment universe</a></strong></p><p>If you&#8217;re looking for the April trading signal and curious about which ETFs the system is currently allocated to, I wrote a separate article here:</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/trading-signal-april-2026">The April 2026 Trading Signal</a></strong></p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/p/performance-update-april-2026?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/performance-update-april-2026?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>The main driver of returns</h3><p>The strategy stands on two legs: <strong>factor momentum</strong> and <strong>sector momentum</strong>. The two tend to outperform at different times. This means by combining them, we get a smoother return profile. In some months the sector allocation will be great, while the factor allocation is mediocre and vice versa.</p><p>Since the strategy moved out of Technology and <strong>into the Energy sector on February 1st</strong>, it has delivered staggering returns. No one could predict the war or the recent development in the oil price, but the system detected a high relative momentum in the Energy sector at the end of January &#8212; long before the headlines caught up.</p><p>This purely data-driven decision was the primary cause of the returns we have achieved in the past two months.</p><blockquote><p><strong>It&#8217;s pure math.</strong> The system doesn&#8217;t care why the market moves. It only recognizes the move, compares it to alternatives and suggests an allocation to the asset with the highest probability of near-term outperformance. </p></blockquote><p>The chart below (provided by <a href="https://get.ycharts.com/resources/blog/monthly-market-wrap/">YCharts</a>) illustrates how much of a game-changer it has been to be allocated in Energy compared to all other sectors in March:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oque!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33936a57-5e51-4a78-933d-de7a8106af0b_2000x1834.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oque!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33936a57-5e51-4a78-933d-de7a8106af0b_2000x1834.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oque!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33936a57-5e51-4a78-933d-de7a8106af0b_2000x1834.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oque!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33936a57-5e51-4a78-933d-de7a8106af0b_2000x1834.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oque!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33936a57-5e51-4a78-933d-de7a8106af0b_2000x1834.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oque!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33936a57-5e51-4a78-933d-de7a8106af0b_2000x1834.png" width="1456" height="1335" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/33936a57-5e51-4a78-933d-de7a8106af0b_2000x1834.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1335,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oque!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33936a57-5e51-4a78-933d-de7a8106af0b_2000x1834.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oque!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33936a57-5e51-4a78-933d-de7a8106af0b_2000x1834.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oque!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33936a57-5e51-4a78-933d-de7a8106af0b_2000x1834.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oque!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33936a57-5e51-4a78-933d-de7a8106af0b_2000x1834.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><h3>A note on the macro situation</h3><p>There are thousands of active macro analysts with strong opinions on what&#8217;s happening in the world at the moment. <strong>I&#8217;m not one of them.</strong></p><blockquote><p>My edge is my systematic approach. I will not try to predict anything, and I will not follow the same approach that leads most investors to mediocre returns, attempting to benefit from the same information that is available to everyone.</p></blockquote><p><strong>For my strategy to work well,</strong> I need to ignore the media narrative and all the analysis and opinions I see everywhere. Simply trusting my system has provided far better returns for me.</p><p><strong>Sometimes that means executing a trade that </strong><em><strong>feels</strong></em><strong> wrong in the moment.</strong> Sometimes it means going against your own opinion &#8212; whether it came from the media, from your own analysis, or from someone else.</p><p>If you consider following this strategy, you need to decide if you still want to study macro analysis, fundamentals and opinions, or if you are ready to pursue an entirely systematic approach to optimizing returns.</p><p>I hope you enjoyed this. Thank you for reading!</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Trading Signal: April 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[Revealing which two ETFs the systematic MarketFighter strategy is moving into this month.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/trading-signal-april-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/trading-signal-april-2026</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 04:59:42 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eWn2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eWn2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eWn2!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eWn2!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eWn2!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eWn2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eWn2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png" width="1024" height="608" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;normal&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eWn2!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eWn2!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eWn2!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eWn2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc0bfd2-0fef-4410-99e4-b03f59a852d4_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>It&#8217;s time for the monthly allocation change. As March came to a close, the system has now calculated the momentum data, and the selection for April is ready.</strong></p><p>Before the first market opening of each month I send out the trading signal provided by the systematic monthly rotation strategy. The signal tells us which two ETFs the system will move into for the coming month.</p><p>If you&#8217;re just here for the signal, feel free to <strong>scroll down to find it!</strong> &#128071;</p><div><hr></div><blockquote><p><strong>First time here?</strong> Check out these links:<br><strong>&#10145;&#65039; </strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/about">The quick introduction</a><br>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">The detailed breakdown of the strategy</a></p></blockquote><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3>March was incredible for the strategy</h3><p>For subscribers who followed along and traded <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-20-cagr-system-comes-to-substack">the March signal</a>, this month was a joy. I will put up a full performance report for March during the coming week, but I can already say it has been a pleasure to watch our strategy stay in green while the rest of the market has been in turmoil. I posted this little chart a few days ago:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_-lR!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_-lR!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_-lR!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_-lR!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_-lR!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_-lR!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png" width="438" height="506" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:506,&quot;width&quot;:438,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:23545,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/192096816?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_-lR!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_-lR!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_-lR!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_-lR!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80a6492a-8c64-48eb-ab5b-27798a5c15cd_438x506.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Returns in March 2026 (1st-27th) of The MarketFighter Strategy compared to common market benchmarks. Currency changes and fees not included. Actual results may vary based on individual broker execution.</figcaption></figure></div><p>This kind of outperformance is of course not to be expected every month. Such a large alpha achieved in only one month is out of the ordinary, even for this strategy.</p><p>As you might have noticed, it was entirely driven by the US Energy Sector ETF which benefited from the staggering oil prices.</p><blockquote><p>I&#8217;m not here to be a macro analyst and I will never attempt to predict anything. If you ask me if this performance in the energy sector will continue, my answer is:</p><p><em>I have absolutely no idea.</em></p></blockquote><p>My take on the market is entirely data-driven, and I move my money to the areas of the market where the historical probability of outperformance is the highest. This has worked well for more than 25 years, but there have been ups and downs along the way. March was without a doubt in the former category!</p><p>Now for the trading signal you have been waiting for&#8230;</p><div><hr></div><h3>The April 2026 Signal</h3><p>For the coming month of April 2026, the MarketFighter strategy will be holding these two positions, equally weighted:</p><div><hr></div><blockquote><p><strong>THE FACTOR ALLOCATION (50%):<br></strong>&#9654;&#65039;<strong> </strong>MSCI USA Enhanced Value</p><p><strong>THE SECTOR ALLOCATION (50%):<br></strong>&#9654;&#65039;<strong> </strong>S&amp;P 500 Energy Sector</p></blockquote><div><hr></div><p><strong>US investors</strong> can implement the signal by holding these ETFs:</p><p><strong>&#9989; VLUE </strong>ticker (ISIN: US46432F3881)</p><p><strong>&#9989; XLE </strong>ticker (ISIN: US81369Y5069)</p><p><strong>European investors</strong> can implement the signal by holding these ETFs:</p><p><strong>&#9989; IUVD </strong>ticker (ISIN: IE00BFF5RX68)</p><p><strong>&#9989; QDVF </strong>ticker (ISIN: IE00B42NKQ00)</p><div><hr></div><h3>Moving from European Value to US Value</h3><p>While the sector allocation remains unchanged in Energy, the factor allocation moves from European value stocks and into their American counterpart.</p><blockquote><p>This is the result of a significant performance in the MSCI USA Enhanced Value Index relative to the European index in recent months.</p></blockquote><p>As systematic observers we simply rely on the momentum-based rules to identify the asset with the highest probability of outperformance in the coming month.</p><h3>Actions and rebalancing</h3><p>If you are new to the strategy and want to follow along, simply buy and hold the two positions until you receive the next trading signal in your inbox, when we reach May.</p><p><strong>If you traded the March signal</strong> and want to follow along, it means you will already own an ETF tracking the S&amp;P 500 Energy Sector, which will <strong>continue </strong>in April. You will also own an ETF tracking the MSCI Europe Enhanced Value Index, which you need to <strong>sell</strong>, and use the money to <strong>buy </strong>an ETF tracking the MSCI USA Enhanced Value Index instead, as mentioned above.</p><blockquote><p>The strategy is designed to have an equal <strong>50/50 balance</strong> between the two ETFs at the beginning of each month. However, drifting a bit from the 50/50 does not mean the system will break. If your trading fees are low, feel free to rebalance as much as you want, but don&#8217;t worry if your positioning moves closer to 60/40 or 40/60.</p></blockquote><p><strong>Don&#8217;t forget to subscribe</strong> for more information on the MarketFighter strategy and for future trading signals!</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Investor's Paradox: Stop Playing the Wrong Game]]></title><description><![CDATA[Why your strategy is likely failing &#8212; and how to find one you can actually succeed with.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-investors-paradox-stop-playing</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-investors-paradox-stop-playing</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2026 16:11:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pBK_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0838f18-72b6-4d9e-8618-d854c9b31626_1024x608.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pBK_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0838f18-72b6-4d9e-8618-d854c9b31626_1024x608.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pBK_!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0838f18-72b6-4d9e-8618-d854c9b31626_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pBK_!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0838f18-72b6-4d9e-8618-d854c9b31626_1024x608.png 848w, 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https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pBK_!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0838f18-72b6-4d9e-8618-d854c9b31626_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pBK_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0838f18-72b6-4d9e-8618-d854c9b31626_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pBK_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0838f18-72b6-4d9e-8618-d854c9b31626_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Most investors fail before they even place their first trade.</strong> Not because they lack intelligence or capital, but because they pick a fight they don't have the time or resources to win.</p><blockquote><p>They try to out-research Wall Street next to a full-time day job. They try to time the market with a gut feeling that changes with the news cycle. They&#8217;re playing a professional's game with a hobbyist's schedule.</p></blockquote><p><strong>It&#8217;s time to take off the blindfold</strong> and find an approach that actually fits your life. Today, I&#8217;m putting the world&#8217;s most popular investing styles under the microscope to find a strategy that matches your personality and your return expectations.</p><p>Let&#8217;s get to work.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>The truth about strategies</h3><p>Success in the markets is not just a matter of high intellect, but also about playing the right game. Most retail investors are playing a game where the odds are stacked heavily against them. Here&#8217;s the truth that Wall Street doesn&#8217;t tell you:</p><blockquote><p><strong>Every investment strategy comes at a price &#8212; a burden you have to take, which is measured in your hours, your stress levels, and your mental bandwidth. What you need is a strategy that works specifically for you.</strong></p></blockquote><p>To find this, you have to be humble and honest about your own weaknesses. If you keep grinding, but feel you&#8217;re getting nowhere, it&#8217;s probably because you&#8217;re paying a price you can't afford for a game you weren't built to play.</p><p>Now, let&#8217;s walk through the most common strategies and their <strong>hidden prices</strong>.</p><div><hr></div><h3>#1: Passive Index Investing</h3><p>Buying a simple index fund or ETF that simply tracks the S&amp;P 500 or the MSCI World Index has become increasingly popular in recent years. It removes the entire workload from the buyer, and it doesn&#8217;t require any specific knowledge. Anyone can play this game.</p><p>Research even shows index investing outperforms most professionals and fund managers. But where many people fail is during the occasional deep market declines where it can be tempting to sell out &#8212; only to wait too long before entering the market again when the train has already passed.</p><p>At the same time, the index investor has to accept they will never beat the market, and that there&#8217;s a natural ceiling to their returns. The urge to sell out during declines or to move into higher performing stocks has to be controlled.</p><div><hr></div><p>&#9989; <strong>Pros:</strong> Easy, low effort, no skills required. Performs better than most professionals.</p><p>&#10060; <strong>Cons:</strong> It&#8217;s boring and you have to accept you&#8217;ll never beat the market.</p><p>&#9888;&#65039; <strong>The hidden price:</strong> Lack of control, opportunity cost and FOMO from high performing stocks. Requires patience and discipline not to sell out.</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <strong>Conclusion:</strong> A rock-solid choice for those who are truly content with market averages and have the iron stomach to do nothing when the world feels like it&#8217;s ending. But if you&#8217;re looking for outperformance, this strategy won&#8217;t cut it.</p><div><hr></div><h3>#2: Active Stock Picking</h3><p>The standard for stock market investing. Active stock picking is a very broad term that actually covers many focused sub-strategies such as value, quality, growth, momentum, or contrarian investing, along with various forms of technical analysis.</p><p>For the select few Warren Buffetts out there, stock picking can lead to outsized returns and remarkable performance. This is what we all dream about. The enemy is often our ego and our perception of our own intelligence.</p><blockquote><p>In psychology, this is known as the Dunning-Kruger Effect: The cognitive bias where individuals with limited knowledge or competence in a domain greatly overestimate their own expertise.</p></blockquote><p>As a retail investor you are up against supercomputers, AI, PhD researchers and professional 90-hour-workweek analysts. Our odds of winning at this game are very low. On the positive side, the fun and entertainment of this style is much higher than for index investing.</p><p>Succeeding is not impossible, but you need to have a very strong edge &#8212; some knowledge or ability that clearly brings you ahead of the crowd. If you don&#8217;t know what your edge is, chances are you will eventually lose your money to the bigger fish that actually have an edge.</p><div><hr></div><p>&#9989; <strong>Pros:</strong> Fun and entertaining. Theoretical possibility of getting rich quick.</p><p>&#10060; <strong>Cons:</strong> Your competition in this field is huge. You are David vs. Goliath.</p><p>&#9888;&#65039; <strong>The hidden price:</strong> You pay in hours and ego. The workload needed to stand a chance in this game is beyond a full-time job.</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Do this for fun, education and entertainment and for the intellectual rush. But I don&#8217;t recommend investing your entire portfolio like this, unless you are one of the select few.</p><div><hr></div><h3>#3: Day-Trading</h3><p>Speaking of games, day-trading is a completely different beast. It&#8217;s not about investing in the market or in companies for business reasons. It&#8217;s much more speculative and the mental barriers to succeeding are extreme. It typically involves buying and selling the same assets again within hours, minutes or even seconds.</p><p>What draws people to try day-trading is almost always the thought of getting rich quick. And in theory this is possible. Theoretically, you can earn the same amount by day-trading for one day, as you can by index investing for a decade.</p><p>Data shows only about 1% of day-traders make consistent profits in the long run. The fraction that actually make big money is even smaller. The problem is day-trading is a high-stress job with no guaranteed salary. You constantly have to worry and the mental load is extreme. 95% of day-traders fail within two years.</p><div><hr></div><p>&#9989; <strong>Pros:</strong> The excitement and the idea of getting rich quick.</p><p>&#10060; <strong>Cons:</strong> Requires heavy tooling, heavy workload and a superhuman mentality.</p><p>&#9888;&#65039; <strong>The hidden price:</strong> When things get tough, this strategy is extremely hard on your mental health and this makes most people quit.</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <strong>Conclusion:</strong> My recommendation for 99.9% of people is to stay away from this strategy. It&#8217;s dangerous for your capital and your health. Only do this if you have the mental strength of a mountain.</p><div><hr></div><h3>#4: Dividend investing</h3><p>You can argue that this could be categorized under stock picking, and you&#8217;re not wrong. But I often see people investing primarily for the dividend in a company and not for the business value.</p><blockquote><p>The idea of an income-generating portfolio of dividend stocks is great if you are retired and want a steady flow of money without selling stocks all the time.</p></blockquote><p>The other argument often cited is that high-dividend stock historically outperformed stocks with no dividend. While it&#8217;s not wrong that this used to be the case, the reason for the outperformance could typically be attributed to the profitability and valuation of the companies, not particularly the dividends.</p><p>Dividends are not a free lunch. The amount that is paid out to the investor is withdrawn from the stock price. This means a dividend payout is equivalent to selling a small fraction of your holdings in a stock. This is very important to understand.</p><div><hr></div><p>&#9989; <strong>Pros:</strong> It feels good to receive regular income. Makes sense for retirees.</p><p>&#10060; <strong>Cons:</strong> There&#8217;s no added value in dividends. Your returns are still tied to the returns of the stocks you selected.</p><p>&#9888;&#65039; <strong>The hidden price:</strong> In many cases, you are just watching the &#8220;left pocket&#8221; pay the &#8220;right pocket&#8221; while the share price stagnates. Often the dividend is high because the company is not doing well.</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <strong>Conclusion:</strong> For retirees it can make sense. If the stable income makes you feel good, it can make sense as well. But for optimizing long-term wealth, there&#8217;s no benefit to dividend investing.</p><div><hr></div><h3>#5: Systematic or data-driven investing</h3><p>Most investing approaches involve a lot of qualitative analysis, gut feeling and guessing. The systematic or data-driven investor attempts to eliminate this through mechanisms to signal when and what to buy or sell.</p><p>The first half of this involves finding a strategy with a consistent edge, meaning if you follow the strategy long enough, you can expect to beat the market. The second half is about sticking to the system, even when the suggested trades feel counter-intuitive.</p><blockquote><p>The idea is to find repeatable patterns in historical data. If a certain pattern tends to be followed by gains, you can trade it. You move your focus away from analysing companies and markets to analysing data. It&#8217;s all about figuring out which factors or parameters have caused future outperformance with the highest possible probability.</p></blockquote><p>This is a probability game, because there is no way you can predict the markets. The hard part is finding an edge with a high probability that you can actually trade. There are many pitfalls to this, from overfitting a backtest to simply not having the stomach to cope with the inevitable drawdowns and relative underperformance.</p><p>But if you can find a systematic approach with a long and consistent track record that resonates with your personality, all that&#8217;s needed is your ability to stick with it.</p><div><hr></div><p>&#9989; <strong>Pros:</strong> If you&#8217;re in it for the money, this strategy has the highest expected returns with the lowest effort (depending on the system).</p><p>&#10060; <strong>Cons:</strong> No entertainment and lack of intellectual excitement or the ego-boost of being in total control.</p><p>&#9888;&#65039; <strong>The hidden price:</strong> Looking at average returns of a system may seem promising, but beware of the drawdowns. You have to be able to stick with the strategy, even when it feels wrong.</p><p>&#10145;&#65039; <strong>Conclusion:</strong> This is an overlooked option for many retail investors. If you&#8217;re investing for entertainment, this is not for you. But if you&#8217;re serious and in it for highest returns, this could be your winning strategy.</p><div><hr></div><h3>Why the paradox exists</h3><p>The paradox is that the most &#8220;exciting&#8221; games (stock-picking, day-trading) are usually the ones where you have the lowest chance of winning. Meanwhile, the &#8220;boring&#8221; systematic approach&#8212;the one most people ignore&#8212;is actually the one designed for the highest probability of success.</p><p>What people often miss is the hidden price of a strategy. We focus on the upside, the ceiling and the potential returns a strategy may deliver. Much less the risk, the effort needed and the burdens it puts on us.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-investors-paradox-stop-playing?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-investors-paradox-stop-playing?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>My revelation</h3><p>I strongly believe our chances of succeeding in the markets are highly aligned with choosing the right strategy that fits our personality, our strengths and our mentality.</p><p>Personally I spent many years trying out these strategies, playing the wrong games and fighting the markets. You can read more about <strong><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">my journey here</a></strong>. Ultimately, I was never able to beat the market &#8212; until I finally had a breakthrough:</p><blockquote><p>With the goal of securing financial independence, the big revelation for me was realizing I was able to build a systematic strategy that outperformed the market with high consistency and eliminated emotion and bias.</p></blockquote><p>Knowing my personality and my (low-to-medium) risk appetite, I knew such a system could only work for me if the expected drawdowns were lower than for the general market. The table below shows the returns my system has delivered. 2000-2020 was backtested, while 2021-2025 is real trading:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png" width="576" height="1111" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1111,&quot;width&quot;:576,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>You can read more about the simple system behind these results here:</p><p><strong>&#10145;&#65039; <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">My investment approach that outperformed the stock market in 25 of 26 years</a></strong></p><p>If you want to join me and believe this strategy could be a fit for you too, just subscribe below to receive the free monthly trading signals in your inbox.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Revealing the Exact Universe Behind the MarketFighter Strategy]]></title><description><![CDATA[Meet the 15 indices powering one monthly signal. Why a professional-grade strategy doesn't have to be complicated.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/revealing-the-exact-universe-behind</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/revealing-the-exact-universe-behind</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 15 Mar 2026 14:12:49 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uwdf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uwdf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uwdf!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uwdf!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uwdf!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uwdf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uwdf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png" width="1024" height="608" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;normal&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;An illustration of planets in the universe separated into two large baskets&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="An illustration of planets in the universe separated into two large baskets" title="An illustration of planets in the universe separated into two large baskets" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uwdf!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uwdf!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uwdf!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uwdf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1272ca94-2f63-4bb0-8e7c-af054d604b9d_1024x608.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Planets of the universe separated into two baskets, illustrating our strategy.</figcaption></figure></div><p><strong>How does a consistently market-beating strategy work?</strong> In my first two articles I described the system behind the MarketFighter Strategy, the historical track record and how I achieved it.</p><p>If you missed them, you may want to read this article first:</p><blockquote><p><a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed">My investment approach that outperformed the stock market in 25 of 26 years</a></p></blockquote><p><strong>Today, I&#8217;m opening the hood.</strong> I&#8217;m revealing the exact universe of assets that makes the MarketFighter Strategy tick. The same 15 indices and two baskets that allowed for a 25-of-26-year outperformance and a <strong>+20% CAGR</strong> over the past 10 years.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>The MarketFighter Universe</h3><p>The strategy exploits a systematic momentum-based edge, which can be found in many areas of finance. Our focus is on the two segmentations of stocks called <strong>Factors</strong> and <strong>Sectors</strong>. These are easily accessible for retail investors through focused ETFs.</p><p>We don&#8217;t utilize all possible sectors and factors. Instead we focus on those with the <strong>best and most consistent historical track record</strong>. We want to invest in assets that tend to outperform the market in trends that can be recognized by the system.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png" width="2816" height="1536" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1536,&quot;width&quot;:2816,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:5654375,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Monthly selection process for The MarketFighter Strategy&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/190707366?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd5c2e8ee-cbf4-4d56-8bd7-1c7c64b4a41f_2816x1536.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="Monthly selection process for The MarketFighter Strategy" title="Monthly selection process for The MarketFighter Strategy" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u6Ft!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16cbc659-62b4-464e-a402-5f5819d8da52_2816x1536.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Therefore, in both segmentations we work with a preselected basket of indices (which can be tracked using ETFs). These baskets are fixed and look like this:</p><div><hr></div><h4>&#127919; The Factor Basket</h4><ul><li><p>MSCI <strong>USA</strong> <strong>Momentum</strong> Factor</p></li><li><p>MSCI <strong>USA Quality</strong> Factor</p></li><li><p>MSCI <strong>USA Value</strong> Factor</p></li><li><p>MSCI <strong>USA Small Cap</strong></p></li><li><p>MSCI <strong>Europe Momentum</strong> Factor</p></li><li><p>MSCI <strong>Europe Quality</strong> Factor</p></li><li><p>MSCI <strong>Europe Value</strong> Factor</p></li><li><p>MSCI <strong>Europe Small</strong> <strong>Cap</strong></p></li></ul><div><hr></div><h4>&#127941; The Sector Basket</h4><ul><li><p>S&amp;P 500 <strong>Consumer Discretionary</strong> Sector</p></li><li><p>S&amp;P 500 <strong>Consumer Staples</strong> Sector</p></li><li><p>S&amp;P 500 <strong>Energy</strong> Sector</p></li><li><p>S&amp;P 500 <strong>Health Care</strong> Sector</p></li><li><p>S&amp;P 500 <strong>Industrials</strong> Sector</p></li><li><p>S&amp;P 500 <strong>Information Technology</strong> Sector</p></li><li><p>S&amp;P 500 <strong>Materials</strong> Sector</p></li></ul><div><hr></div><h3>Why the specific factors?</h3><p>You may know that factors represent characteristics identified by academic research to have a <strong>high probability of near-term outperformance</strong> compared to the broader market. There is a wealth of empirical evidence supporting this.</p><p>Specifically <strong>Momentum, Quality, Value and the Size (Small Cap) factors</strong> all have strong historical performance over long time horizons, and all four of them represent risk premiums caused by basic behavioral biases &#8212; these will most likely never disappear.</p><p><strong>The split between US and Europe</strong> is a way to capture the market trends, and there&#8217;s a tendency for the market preferring either US stocks (which has generally been the case since 2008) or European stocks (which has been the trend lately).</p><p>These two markets together make up ~85% of the total developed market, and splitting factors between the two opens up for better opportunities for taking advantage of market-specific trends.</p><h3>Why the specific sectors?</h3><p>All US stocks can be categorized into one of 12 well-defined sectors. The historical performance and trends within in each sector is documented and can easily be analyzed.</p><p>Sectors tend to move up and down in trends, but <strong>some more than others</strong>. My research has revealed the seven selected sectors above represent the best combination of assets for capturing long term <em>alpha</em> (outperformance).</p><p>This happens because they follow different patterns and react differently to macroeconomics, changing interest rates, and media narratives. When one of them is underperforming the market, others are outperforming.</p><p>The system detects <strong>when to jump to the next wave</strong> based on historic probability caused by the recent relative momentum.</p><h3>Past versus future</h3><p>Be aware that both of these baskets are selected based on historical data.</p><p>I have a mindset of <strong>never attempting to predict the markets</strong>. The only information we have available is historical data, so we have to get the best out of this.</p><p>Since the patterns we exploit have been remarkably consistent over multiple decades, there should be a good probability that they may continue this. But as always, there is <strong>no such thing as guarantees</strong> in investing.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/p/revealing-the-exact-universe-behind?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/revealing-the-exact-universe-behind?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>Finding the right ETFs</h3><p>You may wonder why the process deals with indices and not ETFs. This is because I&#8217;m writing for a global audience, and investors don&#8217;t have access to the same ETFs in all countries.</p><p>To follow the strategy, you just need to find an ETF on your trading platform that tracks the relevant index. In a future post I will provide lists of ETFs specifically suited for investors in Europe and in the US. Readers from other parts of the world will most likely have access to similar products.</p><h3>The monthly signal</h3><p>This system could be traded and rebalanced at any possible frequency or time interval. It could most likely be optimized for even better returns if you dig into alternative time frames. What I wanted to achieve, however, was a system so simple and easy to use, that <strong>anyone will be able to follow it</strong>.</p><p>That&#8217;s why I settled on only using monthly signals. This means we will only have to check the system &#8212; and potentially make a trade &#8212; once a month.</p><p>At the closing of each month, I run the algorithm that does the momentum check. In most cases the outcome is two ETFs to invest in for the coming month. Often one or both of them will be identical to last month, which means you don&#8217;t have to execute any trades.</p><p>On rare occasions the system will tell us to <strong>go cash to protect our capital</strong> in one or both of the sector/factor segments. This only happens if we are in significant market declines and it recognizes the same pattern of negative momentum that historically has been synonymous with high probability of continued declines.</p><div><hr></div><h3>Your job</h3><p>So, what&#8217;s your job? First of all, make sure to subscribe, so you <strong>don&#8217;t miss a monthly signal</strong>.</p><p>The only thing you have to do after this, if you want to follow the strategy, is to execute the trade as suggested by the monthly trading signal (if the signal differs from the previous month) and make sure to allocate 50% of your money into each ETF.</p><p>Then you have to <strong>stick to the strategy</strong>. This may sound easier than it is, as all trading strategies (yes, even <em>this</em> one) has periods of relative underperformance compared to the market. If you trust the consistency of the historical returns, remind yourself that there will be good and bad months on the way.</p><p><strong>&#9989; Here is your checklist:</strong></p><ol><li><p>Subscribe to receive the trading signals (it&#8217;s free!)</p></li><li><p>Check your inbox when the signal arrives each month</p></li><li><p>Check your existing holdings</p></li><li><p>Execute the trades needed (if any) to follow the signal</p></li><li><p>Wait. Be patient. Repeat the process next month.<br></p></li></ol><blockquote><p><em>&#8220;The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient&#8220;</em></p><p><em>&#8212; Warren Buffett</em></p></blockquote><p><br>Finally, you will have to accept that this strategy may be boring. Not everyone can handle the FOMO of not buying the hot stock picks of the time as most other investors do. But if you have a long term mindset, you possess the most important ingredient in getting success with a strategy like this.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[My Investment Approach that Outperformed the Stock Market in 25 of 26 Years]]></title><description><![CDATA[How I built a simple system to consistently outperform the World Index without taking more risk. It's easier than you think.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 22:14:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3heT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3heT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3heT!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3heT!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3heT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3heT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3heT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg" width="1456" height="883" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:883,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:557366,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/189891121?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3heT!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3heT!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3heT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3heT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff384bb75-d4ba-47ac-8fb1-95e82fffccd0_3634x2204.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Performance delivered by the strategy vs. major indexes, viewed on log-scale.</figcaption></figure></div><p><strong>Can you beat index investing in the long run?</strong> Most people can&#8217;t. Even most professional fund managers and analysts can&#8217;t. Anyone can hit a lucky streak of a few good years, but very few manage to persistently win over a decade or more.</p><p>In this article, I will explain how I found a way to consistently outperform the markets. The system is simple. It has worked for more than 25 years. And it&#8217;s easy for anyone to copy, if you follow along.</p><h3>Why is it so difficult?</h3><p>Outperforming the market is notoriously difficult because stock returns are heavily skewed. A tiny fraction of "superstar" stocks account for nearly all of the index's long-term gains. If you don&#8217;t happen to own those few massive winners, you are almost guaranteed to underperform the aggregate average.</p><div><hr></div><p><strong>My own journey of investing illustrates the point:<br></strong></p><ol><li><p>When I first started out more than 20 years ago, I pursued <strong>&#8220;hot tips&#8221;</strong> in newspapers and shady internet communities.</p></li><li><p>Figuring I wouldn&#8217;t be able to gain an edge doing fundamental analysis, I started studying <strong>technical analysis</strong> and <strong>trend following</strong>, inspired by the Turtle Traders and countless other books I read on the subject.</p></li><li><p>Then I read books on <strong>contrarian investing</strong>, convinced that doing the opposite of the &#8220;losing crowd&#8221; would eventually make me a winner.</p></li><li><p>At some point, after many years of failing to beat the market, I concluded that <strong>index investing</strong> was the only way forward. At least it provided better returns than all my previous attempts.</p></li><li><p>Somehow the index returns were just not enough for me, and my curiosity led me to research <strong>factor investing</strong>, partly inspired by Jeremy Siegel&#8217;s famous book <em>Stocks for the Long Run</em>.</p></li></ol><div><hr></div><p>The list above is a brief breakdown of 15 years of my own mediocre experience on the stock market. None of the strategies materialized into returns that fulfilled my quest for <strong>winning in this game</strong>.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>How can you actually beat the market?</h3><p>If you haven&#8217;t heard about factor investing, it&#8217;s a term for investing based on factors that academic research has identified as having high probability of predicting above-market returns.</p><p>Simply put, stocks with high exposure to one of the following factors have historically performed better than the overall market (on average, and over decade-long time horizons, that is):</p><div><hr></div><ul><li><p><strong>VALUE &#129689;</strong><br><em>Stocks that are trading at relatively low prices</em><br></p></li><li><p><strong>MOMENTUM &#127939;<br></strong><em>Stocks that have recently performed better than most</em><br></p></li><li><p><strong>QUALITY &#128142;<br></strong><em>Stocks with high and consistent profitability</em><br></p></li><li><p><strong>SIZE &#128035;<br></strong><em>Stocks with relatively small market capitalization value</em></p></li></ul><div><hr></div><p>An ETF consisting of stocks with high exposure to any of these factors would have outperformed the market significantly, if you had owned it for 20+ years.</p><p><strong>But here&#8217;s the problem:</strong></p><blockquote><p>The relative performance of these factors is very inconsistent and has extended (sometimes decade-long) periods of underperformance relative to the market. This makes it psychologically next to impossible to stick to these strategies.</p></blockquote><h3><br>The missing ingredient</h3><p>Obsessed with the idea of outperforming the market, I kept studying, reading books, blogs, academic research and everything that could get me closer to my goal.</p><p>A book titled <em>Dual Momentum Investing</em> by Gary Antonacci inspired me to do my own research into ETF-rotation. <strong>The idea was simple</strong>:</p><div><hr></div><ol><li><p>Find a small set of ETFs that tend to move up and down in trends, but with low correlation to each other - when one goes down, one of the others typically go up.</p></li><li><p>Then set up an interval (1 month for instance) for checking which ETF had the best performance over a given period (12 months for instance).</p></li><li><p>Finally, put your money into the ETF with the best relative performance over the defined period.</p></li><li><p>Repeat the steps above each month.</p></li></ol><div><hr></div><p>It struck me, that this concept could be the missing ingredient for factor investing. If I could find a way to rotate successfully between specific factor ETFs, that would make things <em>really</em> interesting.</p><blockquote><p>I wanted to build a simple system like Antonacci&#8217;s that could tell me each month which factor to invest in. At the same time, turning it into a system would eliminate all human emotion and gut-feeling in the decision-making.</p></blockquote><p>Most investors fail because they sell during drawdowns or buy the top of a fad. Having a simple system make my decisions would be a game-changer. </p><h3>Back-testing and confidence</h3><p>I was also aware that I would never fully rely on this system, if I didn&#8217;t feel 100% confident in its performance and consistency. The only way I could gain this confidence was to build a huge back-test. So I found performance data for the MSCI factor indices going back to 1999 and tested various combinations of rebalancing and look-back intervals, factors to include and regions to consider.</p><blockquote><p><strong>And that&#8217;s when it happened.</strong> No matter which look-back period or rebalancing interval I tried, the resulting system outperformed the market significantly!</p></blockquote><p>I was mind-blown. The concept of mixing academic factor investing with simple momentum-based rotation turned out to be a recipe for winning in the stock market.</p><p>These were the results I originally got when testing over the 21-year period from 2000 to 2020:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nelu!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63777e97-14f8-40ab-9eea-b973356510da_4004x2349.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nelu!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63777e97-14f8-40ab-9eea-b973356510da_4004x2349.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nelu!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63777e97-14f8-40ab-9eea-b973356510da_4004x2349.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nelu!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63777e97-14f8-40ab-9eea-b973356510da_4004x2349.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nelu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63777e97-14f8-40ab-9eea-b973356510da_4004x2349.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nelu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63777e97-14f8-40ab-9eea-b973356510da_4004x2349.png" width="4004" height="2349" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/63777e97-14f8-40ab-9eea-b973356510da_4004x2349.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2349,&quot;width&quot;:4004,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:485484,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/189891121?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5363d37-716e-454b-ba34-86200ac912e5_4004x2349.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nelu!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63777e97-14f8-40ab-9eea-b973356510da_4004x2349.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nelu!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63777e97-14f8-40ab-9eea-b973356510da_4004x2349.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nelu!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63777e97-14f8-40ab-9eea-b973356510da_4004x2349.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nelu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63777e97-14f8-40ab-9eea-b973356510da_4004x2349.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Performance of the Factor-specific step in the strategy vs. MSCI World on log scale.</figcaption></figure></div><h3><br>The skepticism</h3><p>I&#8217;m always extremely skeptical when someone claims they are able to beat the market. Usually it can be attributed to one of the following scenarios:</p><div><hr></div><ol><li><p>You were lucky to pick some stocks that did well for a while (<em>fooled by randomness</em>), but you believe it was pure skill.<br></p></li><li><p>You hold an ETF or fund that did better than the market over a given timeframe and believe it will continue indefinitely.<br></p></li><li><p>You created a trading system and overfitted it, to make the back-test look great.</p></li></ol><div><hr></div><p>Since my case of outperformance was based on a back-tested trading system, you would think the last bullet (overfitting) played a part. And even though the entire system is based one single piece of output (monthly prices), I was still worried that my back-tested results would not continue.</p><p>That&#8217;s why I didn&#8217;t <em>go public</em> with my idea in the beginning in 2021. I just started trading it myself, putting more and more money into it and gaining more and more confidence as the numbers continued to shine.</p><blockquote><p>The volatility and declining markets in 2022 was a great proof of the concept. Not only did the system survive. It smashed the index, delivering a positive return of more than 10%. This was real, and not just back-tested data anymore.</p></blockquote><p>And here I am, five years later. Five years of continued outperformance in each calendar year compared to the MSCI World Index. Now with the confidence that my finding was real, and not just the result of a poorly designed back-test.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/my-investment-approach-that-outperformed?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>Combining factors with sectors</h3><p>Still buzzing over the potential of my finding, I kept thinking about other applications of the concept. I wanted a system that would be easy to implement as a retail investor, and factor indexes are super easy to implement, because there are ETFs available that capture these already.</p><p>This soon led me to apply the same concept to sectors. There are ETFs available for each sector of the market as well, and applying the same simple momentum-based rotation principle to these yielded even better results, although with slightly higher volatility and annual fluctuations:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mLvT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73f2f6a6-6b1f-444f-8c1d-f1ec7c611128_3919x2343.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mLvT!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73f2f6a6-6b1f-444f-8c1d-f1ec7c611128_3919x2343.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mLvT!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73f2f6a6-6b1f-444f-8c1d-f1ec7c611128_3919x2343.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mLvT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73f2f6a6-6b1f-444f-8c1d-f1ec7c611128_3919x2343.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mLvT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73f2f6a6-6b1f-444f-8c1d-f1ec7c611128_3919x2343.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mLvT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73f2f6a6-6b1f-444f-8c1d-f1ec7c611128_3919x2343.png" width="3919" height="2343" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/73f2f6a6-6b1f-444f-8c1d-f1ec7c611128_3919x2343.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2343,&quot;width&quot;:3919,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:472518,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/189891121?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F51d30b65-a3ff-4f72-9f6d-ba19d4bd8f47_3919x2343.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mLvT!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73f2f6a6-6b1f-444f-8c1d-f1ec7c611128_3919x2343.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mLvT!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73f2f6a6-6b1f-444f-8c1d-f1ec7c611128_3919x2343.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mLvT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73f2f6a6-6b1f-444f-8c1d-f1ec7c611128_3919x2343.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mLvT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73f2f6a6-6b1f-444f-8c1d-f1ec7c611128_3919x2343.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Combining the two strategies created a huge diversification benefit: Both delivered strong outperformance, but at different times. Sometimes the Momentum Factor stocks would be down, but then the Energy Sector stocks would go up, for instance. This helps in smoothing the distribution of returns and makes you sleep better at night.</p><p></p><h3>The final piece: Drawdown protection</h3><p>As a final piece to the puzzle, I had a theory growing in my head that I would try to apply the same momentum logic to the market itself - not rotating it with other assets, but with <em><strong>NOT</strong> <strong>being in the market</strong></em>. If this could work in practice, I would get a means of drawdown protection - systematically going cash, when momentum tells me to.</p><p>So, again I sat down and played with the data, trying out variations of simple lookback intervals of momentum. And again I had positive results, almost no matter which combination I tried. Momentum really is everywhere, and the possibilities for application are vastly underestimated.</p><p>Testing on monthly S&amp;P 500 data all the way back to 1871, my simple drawdown mitigation mechanism would have delivered superior returns and avoided the deepest drawdowns on the way:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JIGu!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91440ebb-c25f-4371-a314-0287b8dbf1cd_784x536.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JIGu!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91440ebb-c25f-4371-a314-0287b8dbf1cd_784x536.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JIGu!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91440ebb-c25f-4371-a314-0287b8dbf1cd_784x536.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JIGu!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91440ebb-c25f-4371-a314-0287b8dbf1cd_784x536.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JIGu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91440ebb-c25f-4371-a314-0287b8dbf1cd_784x536.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JIGu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91440ebb-c25f-4371-a314-0287b8dbf1cd_784x536.png" width="784" height="536" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/91440ebb-c25f-4371-a314-0287b8dbf1cd_784x536.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:536,&quot;width&quot;:784,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:44515,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/189891121?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a26d170-dc6e-4b77-977d-d1af9bef8899_784x536.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JIGu!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91440ebb-c25f-4371-a314-0287b8dbf1cd_784x536.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JIGu!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91440ebb-c25f-4371-a314-0287b8dbf1cd_784x536.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JIGu!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91440ebb-c25f-4371-a314-0287b8dbf1cd_784x536.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JIGu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91440ebb-c25f-4371-a314-0287b8dbf1cd_784x536.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">The Drawdown Strategy vs. S&amp;P 500. Notice the massive outperformance during the depression of the 1930s and during the GFC in 2008.</figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>You may notice that most of the outperformance comes during the great crashes: The Great Depression of the 1930s, The Great Financial Crisis in 2008, the DotCom Bubble in 2000-2002 and the great oil crises of the 1970s.</p><p>This setup was achieved <strong>ONLY</strong> by applying a simple rotation filter that looks back on monthly prices of the market index.</p><h3>Putting it all together</h3><p>Now, let&#8217;s put it all together to form the system I have been investing my personal funds in for the last five years.</p><p>In both the <strong>Factor</strong> and the <strong>Sector</strong> strategies I apply the drawdown protection strategy. This improves the average returns significantly, but only by going to cash in certain months during deep crashes. These are rare occasions. The system has been invested in the market in 93% of the entire period.</p><p>Now that both of the core strategies have been improved by the drawdown strategy, I simply put 50% of my money into each of them.</p><p>So, to put it short: At the turn of each month, I check which factor index had the best relative momentum according to my lookback. Then, unless the drawdown check signals a move to cash, I put 50% of my money into the corresponding ETF. Exactly the same procedure goes for the sector strategy.</p><blockquote><p>Execution of this strategy takes less than 15 minutes per month.</p></blockquote><p>Finally I ended up with a chart like this, where the 2000-2020 period comes from back-tested results, while 2021-2025 is real data, where I actively traded the strategy:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H93-!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H93-!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H93-!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H93-!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H93-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H93-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png" width="1456" height="883" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:883,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:179213,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/189891121?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H93-!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H93-!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H93-!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H93-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ee2a4eb-3661-4441-9d3f-5dde1bf9edca_3634x2204.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>It looks almost absurd in a linear-scale chart on such a long timeframe. That&#8217;s the power of compounding that really kicks in, when applied over multiple decades, but it also illustrates the extreme long term potential of the system. Personally though, I prefer to look at long term charts using logarithmic scale, which allows me to see the fluctuations and linearity of the returns over time:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cm60!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cm60!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cm60!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cm60!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cm60!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cm60!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png" width="1456" height="883" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:883,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:283508,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/189891121?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cm60!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cm60!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cm60!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cm60!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F482f6e55-5753-4d79-a1fc-9f7adbaa3894_3634x2204.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Notice the y-axis in this chart. Notice the nice linearity of the yellow line, representing the robustness and consistency of the combined strategy, which is remarkable compared to both the MSCI World Index and the S&amp;P 500.</p><h3>Distribution of returns</h3><p>The performance and absolute returns of the strategy are excellent on their own, but where this strategy really shines is in its consistent distribution of returns and the absence of bad years. This illustration is at the core of the strategy. The part that gives me most confidence in bad periods. And the part that I&#8217;m most proud of:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png" width="576" height="1111" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1111,&quot;width&quot;:576,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:95303,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/i/189891121?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tllP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1409d5-fa0c-4a9a-892a-7d2526491f9c_576x1111.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong><br>A few highlights are worth paying attention to:</strong></p><ul><li><p>The strategy beat the MSCI World Index in <strong>25 of the 26 years</strong> where data exists</p></li><li><p>The worst year of relative performance was <strong>-1.18%</strong> compared to the index in 2012</p></li><li><p>The worst year of absolute performance was <strong>-10.24%</strong> during the GFC in 2008</p></li><li><p>It massively outperformed the index in <strong>bad market years</strong> like 2001, 2002, 2008 and 2022, which all resulted in alpha values above 20% for the strategy.</p></li></ul><p></p><p><strong>Performance data for the full period, 2000-2025:</strong></p><div><hr></div><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Strategy CAGR:</strong> 16.21%</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>World Index CAGR:</strong> 3.84%</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>$1,000</strong> invested in 2000 would now be worth <strong>$49,646</strong></p><div><hr></div><p>Be aware that this specific period is a bit special because it starts at the heights of the DotCom Bubble in 2000 - hence the very low CAGR for the World Index in the period.<br></p><p><strong>Performance data for the last 10 years, 2016-2025:</strong></p><div><hr></div><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Strategy CAGR:</strong> 20.16%</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>World Index CAGR:</strong> 9.44%</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>$1,000</strong> invested 10 years ago would now be worth <strong>$6,274</strong></p><div><hr></div><h3>The house always wins</h3><p>Using the MarketFighter strategy I&#8217;m no longer trying to guess the market or acting on emotion. Instead I rely on data evidence and the statistical edge.</p><blockquote><p><em>It has become a probability game, like in casinos where the house always wins in the long run. I feel like I&#8217;m the house now.</em></p></blockquote><p>For five years I have invested most of my money using this strategy, and I&#8217;m planning to continue doing so for many years. You can do the same by simply subscribing, wait for the free monthly trade update and invest accordingly. <strong>Be a MarketFighter.</strong></p><p>Let me know your thoughts in the comments!</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em>All numbers and performance metrics in this article are before taxes and trading fees, measured from a Euro-based investor perspective. The numbers are slightly different for a USD-based investor because of currency fluctuations, but the principles remain the same.</em></p><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The 20% CAGR System Comes to Substack]]></title><description><![CDATA[Why I&#8217;m sharing the algorithm that beat the 2022 crash &#8212; and your first systematic trading signals for March 2026.]]></description><link>https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-20-cagr-system-comes-to-substack</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-20-cagr-system-comes-to-substack</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[MarketFighter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 01 Mar 2026 16:05:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!coN_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!coN_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!coN_!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!coN_!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!coN_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!coN_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!coN_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:2934847,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://marketfighter.substack.com/i/189548182?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!coN_!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!coN_!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!coN_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!coN_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa56ea467-efc4-47d0-a5d4-f83cbe6ab575_5600x3733.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Hello, and welcome to MarketFighter!</strong></p><p>Most investors are fighting a losing battle. They fight the 24-hour news cycle. They fight &#8220;expert&#8221; predictions. They fight their own psychological impulses: greed, fear, bias, and FOMO.</p><p>Research shows that between 80% and 90% of all retail investors lose money in the stock market. This is staggering, considering that simply holding a market-wide index returns 7&#8211;9% annually if you hold it long enough.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h2>The Breaking Point</h2><p>A late night in February 2021, I found a way to beat the system. For years, I had fought the same fight, struggling just to keep pace with general market returns.</p><p>Real change began to materialize when I started researching trading systems, algorithms, and systems design. I wanted to build a strategy that:<br></p><ul><li><p>Could beat the market by at least 5% annually over a long-term horizon.</p></li><li><p>Would not experience drawdowns as deep as the general market during crashes.</p></li><li><p>Would be simple to trade for a regular retail investor.</p></li><li><p>Would only require action once a month.</p></li><li><p>Would be completely systematic, eliminating emotional decision-making.</p></li><li><p>Would prove its worth consistently over 25 years of market data.<br></p></li></ul><h2>The Quantitative Proof</h2><p>To be honest, when I found the solution and the backtest results first materialized, I approached them with extreme skepticism. I spent months trying to "break" the system or find data errors. I didn't want a black box. I wanted a repeatable, logical edge.</p><p>The system consists of just a few basic momentum rules. I will elaborate on <em>why</em> this works in later posts, but for now, I want to share the historical results. These figures represent a 25-year commitment to momentum logic:<br></p><ul><li><p><strong>Annual outperformance vs. MSCI World (2000&#8211;2025):</strong><br>10.48%</p></li><li><p><strong>Worst year of outperformance:</strong><br>-2.15% (2012)</p></li><li><p><strong>Best year of outperformance:</strong><br>29.11% (2022)</p></li><li><p><strong>Worst year of absolute return:</strong><br>-10.33% (2002)</p></li><li><p><strong>Best year of absolute return:</strong><br>37.79% (2009)</p></li><li><p><strong>Annual absolute return (last 10 years):</strong><br>20.79%</p></li></ul><p><br>These results are remarkably consistent, and the risk-adjusted returns are beyond anything I have ever seen. This is not just a backtest&#8212;I have invested the majority of my personal funds using this system since 2021, and I can tell you that it continues to shine here in early 2026.</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-20-cagr-system-comes-to-substack?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/the-20-cagr-system-comes-to-substack?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h2>The plan for MarketFighter</h2><p>Having tested this over a five-year period, I am now ready to share it with the world. I&#8217;ve moved the MarketFighter blog and domain to Substack to deliver monthly trading signals to anyone who wants to follow the same system.</p><p>By moving to Substack, I hope to build a community of "MarketFighters" who value logic over hype, evidence over emotion, and probability over "hot tips."</p><p>As with any investment, I cannot guarantee that future performance will match the past. You must judge for yourself whether you believe these simple momentum patterns will continue to work. What I <em>can</em> provide are the monthly signals. At the beginning of each month, I will publish a post specifying exactly which ETFs to own for the coming month.</p><p>The system is simple. It consists of two groups of ETFs: <strong>Factors</strong> and <strong>Sectors</strong>. Most months, the system will suggest one ETF from each group. On rare occasions it will move to cash, and suggest investing in none of them or just one of them.</p><p>I promise to give you more details in coming posts!<br></p><h2>The March 2026 signals</h2><p>For the coming month of March 2026, the MarketFighter system will hold the following positions, equally weighted:</p><div><hr></div><blockquote><p><strong>THE FACTOR ALLOCATION (50%):<br></strong>MSCI Europe Enhanced Value</p><p><strong>THE SECTOR ALLOCATION (50%):<br></strong>S&amp;P 500 Energy Sector</p></blockquote><div><hr></div><p><strong> US investors</strong> can implement the signal by holding these ETFs:</p><ul><li><p><strong>IVLU </strong>ticker (ISIN: US46435G4091)</p></li><li><p><strong>XLE </strong>ticker (ISIN: US81369Y5069)</p><p></p></li></ul><p><strong>European investors</strong> can implement the signal by holding these ETFs:</p><ul><li><p><strong>IEVL </strong>ticker (ISIN: IE00BQN1K901)</p></li><li><p><strong>QDVF </strong>ticker (ISIN: IE00B42NKQ00)</p><p></p></li></ul><p>Hold the two positions until you receive the next signal from the MarketFighter system, when we reach April. Don&#8217;t forget to subscribe for more details on the system and for future trading signals!</p><div><hr></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.marketfighter.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The MarketFighter Strategy is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not financial advice, and the author is not a licensed investment advisor. Investing in ETFs involves significant risk, and past performance is never a guarantee of future results. You are solely responsible for your own trades and financial outcomes. <a href="https://www.marketfighter.com/p/disclaimer">Read the full Disclaimer here.</a></em></p><p></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>