Frequently Asked Questions

1.  What do you mean by 'market timing'?

Market timing is simply identifying when a market such as the stock exchange is attractive for investors and when it’s not. But first and foremost it's a tool for managing market risk ... read more

2.  How can I succeed in timing the market? 

You can ride share market rallies and avoid crashes by applying our signals to buying and selling exchange traded funds (ETFs) that move in synch with the overall market  ... read more

3.  What are Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)?

ETFs such as STW, VAS, SFY and RDV are trust funds that invest in the top 50 to 300 listed Australian companies. Units in these funds can be bought and sold on the stock exchange.   read more

4.  How can I use MarketTiming's signals?

MarketTiming offers three stock market timing strategies. As a subscriber, you can check out the current signals for each timing strategy at any time. To get started all you need to do is ... read more

4a.  How can I apply MarketTiming signals to my industry or retail superfund?

If you want to use market timing signals for a superannuation fund or an unlisted managed fund, first find out the maximum time they take to strike a price on their units... read more

4b.  Who can offer me an automatic share trading service using MarketTiming signals?

YBR Securities, a reputable licensed broker, offers an automatic trading service for appropriate exchange traded funds using MarketTiming’s buy and sell signals... read more

5. How do MarketTiming’s signals work?

A ‘Buy’ signal flags when it's best to be 'In' the share market, and a ‘Sell’ signal flags when it’s best to be ‘Out’ of the share market.  ... read more

6.  Why should I time the stock market?

Because it's evidence based. Because it's supported by our own back-testing. Because it works in both rising and falling markets. And because it's mechanical.  ... read more

7.  Does market timing work?

Reputable studies show that quantitative models using recognised technical trend indicators not only beat a buy and hold approach to shares, but do so with less risk. ... read more

8. How has MarketTiming performed?

Back-testing shows each of our market timing strategies has beaten a buy and hold strategy in terms of higher capital gains and significantly reduced risk (as measured by volatility).  ... read more

9.  What are the risks of market timing?

The main ones are the possibility of false timing signals due to ‘whipsawing’ of the share market, or signal execution delays or the bringing forward of capital gains taxes. ... read more

10. Are there false signals? 

A signal can prove false if the market ‘whipsaws’- sharply reverses direction - shortly after the signal has been issued. False signals are quickly corrected to stem losses. ... read more

11. What does MarketTiming offer?

For one subscription fee, MarketTiming offers a choice of Active, Conservative and Ultra-Conservative strategies for signaling when you should be in or out of the Australian share market . ... read more

12. How does MarketTiming generate its buy/sell signals?

Unlike market tipsters we don’t try to guess the future, but instead use recognised technical indicators of trend and momentum to gauge changes in the share market’s direction. ... read more

13. Why is market timing new to Australia?

Frustration with buy and hold is a much more recent phenomenon in Australia than it has been in America where most shares are worth less than ten years ago.  ... read more

14. Why don’t financial advisers recommend market timing?

In the US they now do, but in Australia most advisers are unfamiliar with it and in any case were trained to believe there was no alternative to buy and hold. ... read more

15. What’s the outlook for the Australian share market?

Forecasting the share market is a fool's game. Instead we gauge when the Australian share market is buoyant (a ‘Buy’ signal) and when it’s sinking (a ‘Sell’ signal). ... read more

16. How long do bear markets last?

Structural imbalances that caused the global financial crisis (GFC) could take many years to resolve. Only market timing based on trend following works in both bear and bull markets. ... read more

17. Why use an Australian market timer instead of an American one?

The correlation between the key ASX and NYSE share price indexes – even when it appears strong – is no where near perfect enough to underpin a serious market timing approach.  ... read more

18. How to distinguish ‘good’ from ‘bad’ timers?

One way is to check whether they subject their signals to real time auditing by an independent and objective market timer monitoring service.  ... read more 

19. Where can I learn more about market timing?

There is a good deal of excellent literature available demonstrating that simple trading and market timing rules work, or discussing technical analysis in depth. ... read more