FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

I've subscribed to VTS, now what?

Thank you so much for joining the VTS Community! In your welcome email after you signed up there is a link that takes you to the "VTS Welcome Package" along with a login.

It's a short series of videos that will guide you through the initial steps, share some of my investing philosophy, introduce the daily email format, and then there's a video for each of our tactical strategies.

It's not a long course, less than 1 hour, but it will help you get started with VTS the right way. Watch those videos, ask questions if you have any, and I hope you have a fantastic investing experience and we can establish a long term commitment to building your retirement.

Is there a login or members area?

There is a members area at VTS for the "Welcome Package" that explains VTS and what you'll experience. (see article here)

For functionality and ease of use I've chosen to do everything through a daily trade signals email so that people can easily get everything in a single place.

Every VTS daily email will have:

1) All the trade signals for every strategy, along with allocation sizes, instructions, and links to further education.

2) All the Volatility Dashboard metrics updated just before the daily email goes out, along with links to relevant articles and videos.

3) The blog section which will usually include an article, video, link to a livestream, or highlight some of my best content.

* Everything you need to follow VTS is in the daily trade signals email.

What time do the emails go out?

VTS emails are sent out every single trading day, even when there are no trades that day.

* No emails on weekends or US holidays.

Officially they are sent out before 12:00 pm eastern time, but I typically send around 11:15 - 11:30 eastern time to give people in different time zones a little more time to execute trades.

I'm not getting the emails, what do I do?

If you're not receiving any emails from me there's two potential reasons for this:

1) They're going to your junk folder. These days spam filters are getting more strict, so if there's nothing in your inbox you can check the junk folder first, and approve the sender. Emails will only ever come from these email addresses. Please approve the sender:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

2) You have the setting deactivated in your member settings.

Check this article for a 30 second video showing how to activate the right setting.

(see this article)

Can I follow you on social media?

You can follow me at the following links:

YouTube

Twitter

Seeking Alpha

Facebook

What is the minimum capital I need to follow?

As with all investing, higher levels of capital will mean it's more efficient in terms of trade fees and scaling allocations. Having said that, I do realize we all start with smaller accounts and I have made all my strategies accessible for people trading on smaller account sizes. It's not a hard rule, but in general:

Below 5,000$: It would probably be best to choose 2 strategies and follow just those until you have more capital. You can choose, but perhaps the following allocation:

60% Tactical Balanced (or) Defensive Rotation

40% Strategic Tail Risk

Above 10,000$: This is enough to follow all the strategies but again, the more capital you have the more efficient it will become.

How long have you been managing VTS?

I launched VTS in January 2012 so we're at 12 years and counting now.

I have no plans to ever stop doing this so I'll be here for many more years to come and I really appreciate your support.

Do I have to follow your recommended allocations?

How you allocate your portfolio will be up to you, but no you don't have to follow everything I do exactly. If you're experienced and you understand the risks you can make adjustments to match your goals.

All I can do is present the portfolio exactly how I trade it in my own account, and 100% of my net worth is invested in my VTS strategies.

Just note, the more you deviate from what I do, the less reliable the correlations may be. Smaller changes are ok, but you may want to avoid large deviations.

I just joined, do I take the trades now or wait for new positions?

That decision will be up to your own comfort level, but there's typically two ways people do this:

1) Start now. Since all the trades I take are optimized for the day they are given, technically every daily trade signal is actionable for that day. If you feel comfortable you can take the positions you see in the daily email and start immediately.

2) Wait for new positions. If you feel more comfortable you can also wait for the next fresh change of position in a strategy before starting. So for example if we are currently in GLD Gold in the Tactical Balanced strategy, you could wait until the strategy moves from GLD Gold into a different position, and then take that new position.

In the long-run, a few weeks won't matter so just do what you're most comfortable with.

What time of day do I take the trades?

This is entirely up to you. I send out the daily trade signal emails before 12:00 pm eastern time so you'll have plenty of time throughout the rest of the day to execute trades.

There's no way to effectively time intraday prices, so the fill prices we get are pretty random for those 4 hours. In the long run it will all average out the same. Some days you'll execute for better prices, and other days worse prices. In the long run, trust me it'll be a wash.

Do you offer annual discounts?

Yes, if you're interested in the service and really want to dive into it for a full year I do offer a substantial 20% discount.

* There are also additional options trades within our Volatility Trend strategy and some additional education that goes with that. If I know I'm speaking to a longer term audience and people are not going to get themselves into trouble going rogue, there are some things I can expand upon within that annual subscriber community.

Click here to explore the annual subscription

Where can I download data for the Volatility Barometer?

This is a very common question and I'm happy to see it! The VTS Volatility Barometer is in my opinion the best measure of market volatility out there. I'm glad so many people want that data.

Video: VTS Volatility Barometer

I may release those values at some point in the future, or perhaps release time delayed values, but currently the only way to see those values is through subscription.

The most up to date Volatility Barometer level is shown in every daily email for all subscribers.

If I miss a trade signal, do I take it the next day?

All the VTS trade signals in the daily emails are actionable on the day they are sent. That means that if you miss a trade signal, or if you're a new sign up and still in cash, it's perfectly fine to take any of the trade signals on any day that the daily email still shows that position is active.

Example: If the Tactical Balanced strategy went long DDM Stocks on the 1st of the month, and you joined on the 10th of the month and are still in cash, if the daily trade signal says "Long DDM" it means that even if you're not currently in the trade, you can take the trade that day.

* Now some people do like to wait for the next fresh change of position and that's fine if you prefer that. Either way it'll work out the same in the long-run.

For Options trades:

Because options trades are more time sensitive, if you miss a trade signal it's best to skip that trade and only take any new positions on the same day they are sent.

Can I trade your strategies in my IRA account?

You'll have to contact your broker if you have any issues with this as I'm not American and don't address specific account structures. We have subscribers from over 65 countries around the world and there's no way I can keep up with all the regulations for anyone's specific situation.

Having said that, our VTS Tactical Rotation strategies are just ETFs and we don't short anything or use any undefined risk options.

For most people in most account structures, these trades should be accessible.

Can I trade your strategies in my 401k account?

I'm not American and have no experience with 401k accounts so it would be best to contact your employer for assistance here, but I've had numerous subscribers mention that finding funds for some of the asset classes we use is difficult.

Stocks and bonds are easy enough, but we also use gold, utilities, real estate, and long volatility. As I understand it, those assets are difficult to access in a 401k.

Can Europeans follow your strategies? (MiFID II regulations)

I have a full article you can check out on this subject (European Investing Solutions)

1) ETF replacements. You can contact your broker as there are several European based ETFs that will be suitable replacements for the US based ETFs my strategies use.

2) Using stock replacement through options is another alternative that may work. Since stock replacement involves long only options, these may be accessible for you. I have a 2-part stock replacement series here you can check out if you want to know how it's done. When you do it once or twice, you'll see it's just as quick and easy as buying ETFs so don't let the options component scare you.

Click here for Stock Replacement Part 1

Click here for Stock Replacement Part 2