Fundamentally I trade on volatility: many small trades closed quickly when they become profitable. It is a version of Swing Trading that is based on a grid with a 1200 point range of the UK100 index. More info on the Strategy page

Over the first year of being part of the Popular Investor Program (PIP) I am poised to return between 30% and 40% (after deducting of eToro fees). Before entering in the PIP the return of the portfolio was much higher but I was using twice as much leverage making the portfolio much riskier.

There is normally between 60% and 70% of the money of the portfolio that sits as uninvested cash. This is part of the risk management strategy and it is what allows me to keep in excess of 30 positions open at all times, knowing that if there is a sudden market swing, I have money to extend the stop losses enough to avoid closing positions at a loss. If I were to invest this cash, I would have to reduce either the number of positions open on the UK100 or the value of each position. This would have a negative impact on returns, unlikely to be compensated by the return of that invested cash.

Market volatility is the fuel that makes the portfolio run. Extreme volatility, like in a Market collapses however is a problem. I monitor the portfolio continuously, and this allows me to make corrective actions in cases of extreme volatility. A market crash would most likely mean losses. My mitigation actions will reduce the extent of them.

Any time is a good time to start a copy, however there are times when starting a copy, or indeed adding money gets an extra lift to the profit. These times are when the UK100 index is outside the central zone of the grid, i.e. UK100 < 7500, or UK100 >7700. For more see the strategy page.

I recommend to open a copy and to increment the copy by $300 or multiple thereof. The absolute minimum so that all the trades are copied is a little less than that, but it is always better to err on the side of caution.

This option used to be available but it is not anymore, now all the time you start a copy or add money to the copy the money will replicate the trades that are already there. Being this so, it is important to keep in mind the minimum recommended copy amount both for startin a copy and adding to a copy.

It is always a good time to add money 😁. It is marginally better to add money when the UK100 index is outside the 7500-7700 range, but the benefit is not massive. Back in the days when I was not trading in both directions it was a more pressing issue to choose the entry point, but now there are always plenty of positions opened in the red to profit from.

The best time is never, but if you need money that might not be an option. Consider not reinvesting the monthly profits as a first instance. Other than that, the best time is when the UK100 index is at or close to 7600. This is the point in which I will have less position in the red.

You can get monthly dividends at no cost. You can close partially or totally the copy, but you’re likely to reduce the earning of the copy as I always run a number of contract at a loss.

The portfolio operating value is $100,000. At the end of each month, if there is a profit and if the cash indicator is above 50%, whatever amount above $100,000 is reimbursed to the investors in the form of a dividend. They can then decide to reinvest it in the portfolio or direct it to other ends.

The cash indicator is a percentage value representing the ratio between cash in the portfolio and realised value of the portfolio. For example: if the realised value of the portfolio is $98,763 and the cash in the portfolio is $64,730 then the cash indicator would be 65.54%

Dividends are paid as close as possible to the beginning of each month.

Dividends suspended as, due to the new copy trading rebalancing feature in the platform there is no way for the PI to trigger with a withdrawal a distribution to the copier. I am interacting with eToro to see if it can be reinstated as an optional feature.

When valuing the portfolio one can refer to two different values: realised and unrealised. Realised value is the value of the portfolio if the assets were sold at this very moment, i.e. realising all profit and losses that are in being at the moment of reporting. Unrealised value does not take account of the profit and loss that have not being realised. While eToro reports the realised value, as it gives a more realistic view for the investor coming to the decision of investing or not, I, not closing trades at a loss, prefer to report the unrealised value, as it gives investors a better idea of where the portfoli is going.