OVERCOMING THE JINXED JANUARY SYNDROME A seasonal pattern seems to exist for monthly currency managers' performances: taking the MAR Currency Manager Sub-Index as proxy, January is the only month of the year that turns out to be a serious on-average loser over the past 12 years. Another typical phenomenon is PAC's frequent ability to be profitable when other currency systems are losing and losing when other currency systems are winning. A good trading system will surprise observers by exactly this behaviour: its trading signals as well as it results will often seem illogical. Whereas the average currency trader is often clueless whether the euro or the yen has made a top or not, systematic and statistical rule-based systems sniff out profits that seem to come out of the blue. To appreciate the potential of a good trader or trading system, the investor or evaluator must go the full distance: nothing short of a twelve-month period should be used to measure performance! Institutional investors look at a minimum of several years.

ACI | Adversity | Prudence | Hazards | Hope | Beware | Surprise | Black Holes | Make a Killing | Random | Patience | Regret | Timing Toast