Pioneer of computerized trend-following systems

Ed Seykota

Ed Seykota (born 1946) earned an electrical engineering and management degree from MIT in 1969 and around 1970 began building computerized trend-following systems for futures on punched-card mainframes. He was profiled in Jack Schwager's Market Wizards (1989) and later founded the Trading Tribe Process, a group method for working through traders' emotional issues.

What they argue

A trading system does not need constant changes; the real task is for a trader to build a system they are personally compatible with.
Every trend measurement compares a current reading with a historical one, so there is no single 'the trend', only trends defined by the method chosen.
Trading results are driven by the trader's feelings and habits as much as by the method, which is the premise of his Trading Tribe work.

Sources

seykota.com: A Simple Trading System, Exponential Average Crossover seykota.com: FAQ on trends (exponential lag formula)Wikipedia: Ed Seykota

Summaries are Be The Puck's paraphrase of public material. Be The Puck has no affiliation with the people listed.

Books and papers

The Trading Tribe (2005)

The full reading list

Ed Seykota's 15/150 exponential crossover

Rule and full record

Trend following · daily

The teaching system on Seykota's own site: long while a fast exponential average sits above a slow one, out otherwise. Never short.

Calls right25%9,229 closed calls on 377 stocks.

Beat buy and hold (Sharpe)89 of 371On raw return: 72 of 371.

In right now254 of 377As of the Oct 13, 2026 close.

Best risk-adjusted results against buy and hold:

PYPLOUT PETOUT ARISIN PSKIN ATHIN BSXOUT NFIIN POUIN TRI.TOOUT SUPXOUT PEYIN APPOUT All 377 stocks →