Frequently Asked Questions

If you don't find an answer to your question here, please feel free to contact us.

New Members

Q. I'm a new member. Is it prudent to place an order immediately based on the current buy/hold signal posted on the Members' Page?

A. The answer depends on two very important factors:

1. When was the original buy signal issued? If it's a recent signal and the entry price is not too far off from your prospective date of purchase, then your price risk should be low.
2. The difference between your entry price and our current posted stop price shall not be more than 0.5% for Treasury Bond ETFs (TIP), 1% for Corporate Bond ETFs (JNK & LQD), and 2% for all Equity ETFs that we time.

Q. I have never bought nor sold individual stocks, bonds, or index funds. I have only bought mutual funds through my broker. Can I start investing by following your program?

A. Yes, you can. Our system is easy to use, even for beginners. You can view tips for getting started, and how to use our trade signals, on our What We Do page.

Q. If I subscribe to your service, do I get one signal only, or do I get all 10 signals?

A. If you subscribe to our service you will have access to live daily updates to all 10 ETFs that we trade. All signals are posted in our Member's Page. Once you login you will see all of them.

Using Our Signals

Q. Can I trade other ETFs that I prefer using your timing signals?

A. You may find other index funds that have the same objective as our preferred ETFs. However, the stop price safeguards we issue will not be applicable, thereby removing the risk management factor of our services.

We have done exhaustive research to find high-volume ETFs that are on the radar of many institutional investors. Liquidity is a major deciding factor for us. When choosing your own ETFs, please be cautious with daily volume numbers, keeping in mind that 500,000 shares per day is our absolute minimum. In fact, our bond ETFs, LQD and JNK, offer the most liquidity of any fixed income ETF trading in the North American exchanges.

Q. Can I buy traditional mutual funds based on your signals?

A. Yes you can, but please do your homework to find out if your mutual fund of choice has the same objective as the ETFs we time, and keep in mind that you will not be able to place stop price signals. Also remember that with mutual funds, your entry price is at the closing NAV price of the next day, and settlements are not provided until three business days after the purchase date.

Q. Do you offer short sell signals to take advantage of downturns in the market?

A. We decided a long time ago not to take the risk of short selling. Short selling may have done very well during the 2008 market meltdown, however, it is prone to higher volatility and increased risk exposure. We are sticking to what we know best – steady plodding – which has done very well for us.

Q. Would you recommend placing a high percentage of my portfolio under your timing program?

A. Not immediately. Please use ETF Trade Advisor as a diversification tool. Start by allocating a small percentage of your portfolio while you become familiar with the quality of our timing program. As you gain more confidence using our signals, you will then be able to allocate more funds to this style of money management.

Our Experience and Method

Q. How many bear markets have you witnessed and traded?

A. ETF Trade Advisors have experienced the bear markets of 1987, 1993, 2000-2002, and 2008.

Q. How would you compare your trading style to other market timers?

A. Our system leans toward the conservative side, with preservation of capital as our top priority. We believe that steady plodding brings prosperity and hasty speculation brings poverty. We refrain from short selling and buying on margin. Our use of stop prices acts as insurance for new buys, and also locks in profits as we adjust them according to performance.

Q. Is the timing of your signals generated only by computer models?

A. Not entirely. There is a human element involved. We've combined our decades of hands-on market experience with state-of-the-art technology to keep us systematic and disciplined, because no computer can replace real trading experience.

Q. On what basis have you chosen your primary ETFs?

A. We choose our primary ETFs based on liquidity. Our minimum requirement is a daily average of 1,000,000 shares for equities, and 500,000 shares for bonds.