David Lundgren: Going Until the Wind Changes

Off The Charts

Among the many things that stood out during our conversation with David Lundgren, it was this quote: “I want to find a way to listen, and learn, and get a little bit better every day.” This is a mindset that every trader, every human, can benefit from. In his early days, David described himself as a “systematic researcher.” This process of discovery held sway for him, and when striking out on his own, he employed the same systematic philosophy to portfolio management and trend-following trading. David firmly believes that “the best teacher I have ever had is the Market itself,” and “the only way to learn is to do it.” Trend followers or those interested in trend trading will find a lot of nuggets for further meditation from our conversation including: * “Trendfollowing is contrarian.” – doing what nobody wants to do: buy high, sell low. * “There is no such thing as trendfollowing on the short side.” You need targets when holding a short position, which is the opposite of what trend followers do. * Expect to lose. * Misplaced Expectations - “If you are anxious about the market, it’s because you aren’t getting what you expected. Which means you aren’t listening to the market.” Traders lose due to misplaced expectations. * “When all you want to do is avoid losses, you manifest losses simply by obsessing over them.” * “In trendfollowing, there is no target. You go until the wind changes.” * In horse racing terms, “the benefit of a trendfollowing portfolio is you can change your horse in the middle of a race.” These are just a handful of an overabundance of trader pearls of wisdom that were shared in this conversation with David Lundgren, please enjoy.