3/12/2010 Tiffany:

Q: Ulli: I studied your TTI tracking newsletters and greatly appreciate your hard work and sharing. So if I were to invest on my own following your newsletter, is it ok to do the following?

For example, RZV has the highest momentum value in domestic ETF list in your 03042010 newsletter. I then purchase $100k RZV on the following Monday. If the next week, another ETF has the highest momentum, I sell RZV and buy the highest momentum one on Monday. Is this how one should use the momentum figure?

A: Tiffany: No, that's not what the StatSheet is for. You're planning on doing short-term trading, which I don't advocate. Our approach is long-term, and we select funds/ETFs from the list depending on the risk profile of the individual. The higher the M-Index ranking, the more volatile the fund and the more aggressive the investor should be.

I have never selected the top ranked fund, because it will also be the first one to trigger a sell stop once the market declines. Remember, trend tracking is about investing and not trading.

03/05/2010 Wayne:

Q: Ulli: Can I use the year to date percent gain/loss to get out of a fund if it drops 7% or more using Morningstar's information?

A: Wayne: No, you should use the high point of the fund since you bought it as a basis to calculate your trailing stop loss. Morningstar's data has nothing to do with it.

02/26/2010 David:

Q: In your weekly StatSheet, you use the term "Buy" and "Selective Buy." Just what is the difference as the basis for selection?

A: David: Sector and country ETFs run on their own respective long-term trend lines to generate buy and sell signals. Hence, selective buys refer to those funds that are hovering above or have just broken through their respective trend lines to the upside. Those below their trend lines should not be chosen.

02/19/2010 Mark:

Q: Ulli: Had a question on this statement I found while reading an ETF prospectus for KRE one of your top ETF's in last week's momentum master list. Specifically, what is the "turnover rate" they mention and is it something deducted from any capital gains you have from the fund?

A: Mark: A turnover rate of 50% simply means that 50% of the portfolio was replaced with new holdings during the last year. A 100% rate means that all holdings were replaced. With mutual funds, a high turnover rate could mean more taxable distributions at the end of year regardless whether the mutual funds gained in value or not.

02/12/2010 Richard:

Q: Ulli: What stop loss do you use for domestic investment grade bond funds? Since those bond funds are not as volatile as stock funds, a standard 7% trailing stop loss seems severe. I have read that a 60-day MAV is more appropriate for bond funds. What do you think?

A: Richard: You can/should use whatever you are most comfortable with. You don't need to use a different M/A, simply reduce the sell stop point to 5% or 4% rather than 7%. There is no hard rule, it depends on the risk tolerance of the individual.

2/5/2010 Frank:

Q: Ulli: In today's blog about the sideways market, you mention JNK and that you have positions in it. I too own that ETF, as well as some other high yield bond ETFs.

Back in December you talked about adjusting the sell stop price for dividends and capital gains. Do you adjust your high price for JNK every month by the amount of the dividend?

I have owned this ETF since last August and my high price is currently 40.10 which was set on Jan. 11th. Should I reduce that price by .34561 when the dividend is paid on 2/9? That would adjust the high price to 39.75 which I would then use to determine my sell stop. Is that correct?

What if that price then stays as the high price through March when the next dividend is paid? Should I reduce it again by the March dividend and then keep reducing each month until a new closing price high is made?

A: Frank: Yes, that is correct. You deduct the dividend from the high price whenever it occurs…whether it's monthly or quarterly. If you don't, your trailing sell stop is incorrect and you may get a false signal prompting you to get out when in fact the 7% level has not been reached yet.

01/29/2010 John:

Q: Ulli: Would you be so kind as to remind me of your practice of what you do when your indicator shows the markets are still in an uptrend but a position you have gets stopped. What is it you do next in regards to getting back in to that position if the position reverses back upwards? I find myself in that situation after the three down days last week. I'm using a 7% sell stop. I have been putting in sell stops that will trigger intra-day. I know you don't do that, but I feel it protects me against a big spike down in the market.

Thank you for your insightful newsletter and for the reply I hope to receive.

A: John: If you like the funds you got stopped out of, you could re-enter once their old high (from which you measured the sell stop to begin with) gets taken out. That’s what I do.

And yes, you are correct, I do no support placing intra-day stops and prefer calculating my exit points based on day-ending prices only. However, your comfort level is all that matters; just be aware that you might experience more whipsaws when using the intra-day stop strategy.

01/22/2010 Ken:

Q: Ulli: I am a 79-yer old who sometimes struggles finding your StatSheet data when your mailing gets stuck in a spam filter. What is the best way to access current and past StatSheets?

A: Ken: First, congratulations for being 79-years old and using a computer and the internet. The best way to have access to all StatSheets is via the archives, which are available at this link:

http://www.successful-investment.com/newsletter-archive.php

You might want to bookmark it so you can get to it quickly.

01/15/2010 John:

Q: Ulli: As it sit here, I can't but help believe I should go 50% cash....my intuition tells me we are operating on a momentum vs. reality basis. I'm no economist but historically I've been lucky...e.g. went into cash November 07. Not asking you to make any moves on my portfolio...just putting my thoughts out there.

A: John: The idea still is to avoid making emotional decisions. The trends are up, and we have our sell stops in place, which will give us an unbiased opinion as to when to get out.

01/08/2010 Steve:

Q: Ulli: Following your advice I have placed 7% trailing sell stops on all the equities including ETFs in my portfolio but I run into broker resistance or incapacity when I attempted to set stops on conventional mutual funds. For some reason (they say), you can't trigger a price not known until 4PM that day at closing. Why not at that price?

In short: How to use sell stops on a mutual fund?

A: Steve: I addressed all sell stop issues in my blog over the past couple of months or so. Here’s one reference:

http://thewallstreetbully.blogspot.com/2009/09/sell-stops-and-mutual-funds.html

Please revisit the articles from October, November and December, which are easily accessible on the right side of my blog layout.