VectorVest Views 03/04/05
Let's face it. Every investor would like to have a stock picking system that works every time. I would, but I know that's impossible. There are just too many uncertainties in the stock market to have a perfect stock picking system. So we're all looking for the next best thing, something that works most of the time.
That's what I set out to do many years ago. VectorVest wasn't created in a day, a month or even a year. It is something that evolved over a period of time. My goal never changed, however: I wanted to become a better stock picker. So I adopted the philosophy presented in the chapter on "How to Pick Stocks" in my book, "Stocks, Strategies and Common Sense." The results of this work show up everyday in Stock Viewer. When you're looking for stocks to buy, Stock Viewer is the place to start. Yes, I know there are all kinds of reasons why people say they don't want to buy high VST-Vector stocks as displayed in Stock Viewer. But they haven't done their homework. We have. See my essays of March 5, 2004 and December 3, 2004. The system works. Take the time to prove it to yourself.
Nevertheless, people always say, "Those stocks have already gone up a lot. I want to buy stocks just when they start going up." Ok, that's where UniSearch comes in. UniSearch is truly a work of genius. I didn't design it, but I know it's unbelievable what this tool can do. We demonstrate its capabilities just about every week in our "Strategy of the Week." Indeed, it has taken us a long way toward learning how to consistently pick winners and avoid losers. But we also had to develop other tools such as Quick Test, Portfolio Manager and AutoTester to allow UniSearch to really show its stuff.
Now we have The Simulator. It allows us to bring everything, basic concepts, complex searches, esoteric exit strategies and sophisticated money management techniques together in a single study. As far as I know, it's the ultimate back-testing tool. If Stock Viewer is the Alpha of stock picking systems, the Simulator is the Omega. We're still working on the Holy Grail.