Signal Type	Trade Date	Return since issued
		World	U.S.
			Nasdaq 100 (QQQQ) Russell 2000 (IWM) S&P 500 (SPY)

Market Update

Stocks experienced up and down action this week but managed to close with gains. The main averages posted modest losses Monday as investors took some profits following last week's big rally. Stocks resumed their march forward the next day, sending the Nasdaq Composite 4.1% higher. The bounce was triggered by a better-than-expected report on U.S. home construction that showed a big increase in housing starts during the month of February. The main indexes added to their gains on heavy trade Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced an aggressive plan to unlock credit markets by spending up to $300 billion to buy long-term Treasury bonds and an additional $700 billion to buy mortgage-backed securities. Investors cheered the news, helping the S&P 500 gain an additional 2.1% by day's end. Stocks initially opened higher Thursday but could not sustain their intraday gains as they reversed to close the session with modest losses. Negative action continued Friday as all major averages retreated further, with the S&P 500 shedding 2.0%. As has often been the case lately, the decline was triggered by weakness in the financial sector that spilled over to the rest of the market. Talks that the Fed's planned injection of cash into the economy could revive inflation also did not help.

For the week, the S&P 500 (SPY) and the Russell 2000 (IWM) respectively gained 0.81% and 1.55%. Both ETFs remain located below their 50-day and 200-day exponential moving averages (EMAs). As for the Nasdaq 100 (QQQQ) , it posted a 1.55% weekly gain. The ETF has now crossed back above its 50-day EMA but remains located well below its 200-day EMA.

For its part, our World portfolio posted a 2.33% gain this week. The portfolio consists of the 5 top-ranked world ETFs as of February 27, which marked the beginning of the current 4-week holding period. Please note that since we now have an active Cash signal, the World approach calls for selling your holdings if you follow the "Long Only" or "Long and Short" strategy. Only if you follow the "Buy and Rebalance" strategy should you remain invested in the top 5 ETFs, as the strategy calls for staying invested at all times. Please go to the "Our Service" page for all the details.

Our current Cash signal remains in effect.

Trend Timing School

Are you mastering time?

Most investors, regrettably, spend their life digging through mountains of information such as financial news, fundamentals of individual companies and endless economic indicators. Being very busy and distracted loading up on trivial facts and knowledge, or learning very complicated trading methods, most of them never identify and develop an understanding of the most important ingredients of successful investing: time and patience. Trend Timers have the luxury of an extremely simple wealth building system which takes care of the basic mechanics of how to invest, what to invest in, and when to trade. This simplicity lets us fast forward to the real challenge and learning.

As we are currently facing an unprecedented financial and economic crisis, we need to force ourselves not to succumb to panic or any other irrational behavior. It is during these challenging times that it is important to understand the power of time and patience.

Unless you inherit or win the lottery, building wealth and financial independence involves three components: money, an investment method producing repeatable returns, and time. Time is the great equalizer because no one controls it, it is the same for everyone (except maybe for Einstein and his band of relativists), and ultimately it is the most important factor in the wealth building equation. Time is often defined as a space less continuum marked by an irreversible succession of events and actions between past, present, and future. Time is nothing by itself; it is what we do or don't do along this continuum that matters. The sooner we understand this, the sooner will we take action. Then, as soon as we act, the waiting game begins. This leads us to this week's topic: patience.

Americans and westerners in general tend to be impatient. We don't like to wait and we would much rather have instant gratification. In today's fast-paced, action-oriented, computer-driven world we live in, there still are no get-rich-quick schemes. Patience is one of the hardest things to master in life. Patience comes from the Latin word pati which means "to suffer", and means something like bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint. Wise men, old fishermen and Buddhist monks alike, master patience. The fisherman will tell you that fish turns out to be just a byproduct of patience, and that instead it brought understanding and wisdom. For the monk, patience is one of six perfections that form the foundations of the path to enlightenment. The good news is that we don't have to stand in a river or move to a monastery to learn patience.

We can start with tolerance. Accept the markets for what they are. Don't complain. Learn how to relax and reduce your stress. Breathe deeply, serenity will come. Calm and persistence will go a long way in achieving your financial objectives. Derive hope and optimism from knowing that in time your dreams are yours. Do not get swayed by the market's daily gyrations, but don't despair if the markets or your emotions trick you. Failure is a necessary learning tool for us common mortals. All it takes is to learn from the mistake, and reset the clock of time by trying again.

The stock market gives us plenty of pains and trials. Markets by definition are unpredictable and their constant ups and downs play havoc with our emotions. We go from excitement one day to panic the next. Two steps forward, one step back. All of us have certainly experienced this mix of emotions last year as we saw the market collapse. Depending on our mood we must have been either thankful that our early September Cash signal saved us from one of the biggest crash in market history, or frustrated not to have had a Sell signal to further benefit from the situation. This long lasting Cash signal is certainly testing our nerves as most of us would like to see more action, but we need to remind ourselves how fortunate we are not to have lost a dime through the recent market meltdown. Time is on our side and our model will tell us when the risk/reward conditions are there for us to go back to the playing field.

Trend Timing and patience bring you the power of timing the markets combined with time in the market. And in the end, financial wealth may only be the smallest of your blessings because patience is the wisdom of knowing that all valuable things and understanding in life take time to happen.

FAQ of the Week

Question: Can I convert from a monthly to a yearly subscription plan?

Switching to a yearly plan is quite advantageous as it will give you two months free over a 12-month period compared to a monthly plan.

How do I do it?
It is very easy. Simply click on the "Show me how" button located at the top of the "Signal and Ranking" page (the page displayed after you log in). A small popup window will guide you through the process.

Warm wishes and until next week.

The TimingCube Staff