This page provides you with crucial guidance on how to make the optimum use of the VitalQuant website and get the most out of your Premium Strategy.
VitalQuant updates all strategies and written reports on Sunday afternoon each week. We will send an email to all subscribers when the updates can be viewed on the site.
Trades are scheduled to be made on Monday - unless Monday is a holiday, then Tuesday.
This schedule is only interrupted if there is a market event that justifies ourVital Risk Control™ system issuing a global buy or sell recommendation during the middle of a week. These conditions are exceedingly rare, but can happen during periods of unusual turbulence affecting markets.
You may also occassionally see a mid-week sale recommendation if a position has received bad news and is crashing hard. The sale can be executed when you receive the email notice, or you can place a "Market at Close" order to sell the stock or ETF just before the market closes for the day.
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Most VitalQuant Premium Strategies trade equities or ETFs that have plentiful liquidity, meaning that there is an ample volume of trades and dollars changing hands each trading day. You shouldn't have an issue opening or closing a position and getting a fill close to the quoted price.
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You should avoid placing your trades in the first 30-45 minutes of the market open (9:30am EST) on Monday. There is too much volatility during this time, as automated trading systems and high-frequency traders are executing rapid-fire transactions.
After the first 45-60 minutes, prices have usually settled down. However, you should still use a Limit Order to place your trade. Don't use a Market Order entered before the open. While it can be very appealing on Sunday evening to place an easy order to buy/sell at the market price at Monday's open, the price you get is often be very different from what was quoted on Sunday (showing Friday's closing price).
Getting your transaction filled is more important than saving a fraction of a percent on the trade. To insure you get a reasonable fill, you should place a Limit Order within 2¢ of the listed bid or ask price — depending on whether you are selling or buying.
Because your limit price is slightly aggressive, the exchange will treat it with the speed of a market order and fill it instantly. However, the limit price acts as a hard ceiling, legally protecting your portfolio from a sudden, freak price spike.
The motivation to always try to "get a deal" can bite you when you prioritize pennies over dollars. When buying, it is more important to own the equity than it is to get a great "deal" on the equity. Trust the systematic process!
We once had a subscriber write, "I have been trying to get a fill on XYZ stock for the last month, looking to get it on a dip. But it has just climbed and climbed, gaining 46% already!"
This lady was a very experienced investor and someone who had earned a PhD, so clearly not ignorant. Nevertheless, she fell into a classic trap that can befall all users of systematic strategies.
A desire to "Buy-the-Dip" with Momentum strategies is one of the worst classic cases. Momentum is a factor used in nearly all our ranking systems. It is a time-proven, successful investment approach that has worked for a century. A position that has been going up is likely to continue to climb higher.
Our models screen out positions that are showing floundering momentum, which can be a precursor to a selloff. It’s a mistake to try to rethink the trade with your personal approach to "save a bit, buying on a dip." If you override your strategy’s decisions, don’t expect to achieve its performance!
This desire by investors to "rethink" the trades recommended by a systematic strategy is natural and pervasive. As an experienced investor, you have probably learned lessons that have served you well over the years. It's normal to want to overlay your hard-earned hueristics on a VitalQuant trade recommendation. Nevertheless, it is a significant mistake to override the VitalQuant trades with your own take on those trades. It is a sure way to get dramatically lower performance than your model.
While it might work on a few trades, systematic strategies earn their edge by removing human emotions and the "heuristic judgments" that sabotage discretionary traders. For your own success, please don't reintroduce this discretion into your systematic strategy.
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You can manage your subscription using the "My Account" link on the right side of the footer of every page (or at the top of the Member's Dashboard page). This link provides resources to make changes to your account. You can add another strategy, change strategies, change the card or bank account for billing, change your password, and cancel your account if necessary.
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Support
If you need support or need to contact us for any reason, please use our Support page, available via the link on the right side of the footer of any page.
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Important Disclosures: For informational purposes only to demonstrate the effectiveness of systematic investment strategies. VitalQuant does not offer personalized investment advice. Neither Vital Quantitative Research, LLC (dba VitalQuant.com), nor its employees, service providers, associates, or affiliates are responsible for any losses you may incur as a result of using the information provided. Investing in publicly traded securities is inherently risky, and you may lose money. Past investment performance may not be indicative of future returns. All quantitative strategies developed by any provider must use simulated or hypothetical performance results in their creation, which have inherent limitations and do not represent actual trading. All VitalQuant Premium Strategies must have a minimum of five years of out-of-sample, live performance to be considered for our lineup of flagship investment strategies. The content herein may not be copied, reproduced, or distributed in any way. See all Terms and Conditions for use of this website.