The Investing Upgrade Most People Still Don’t Have VIEW IN BROWSER  | BY KEITH KAPLAN
CEO, TRADESMITH |
A big thank you to everyone who showed up… Last Tuesday, along with Wall Street legend Marc Chaikin, I debuted our latest breakthrough – a Flash Stop system to protect you from sudden drops in stocks. More than 10,000 people joined our Tipping Point 2026 event to learn how it works… and why it’s critical to have it on your side in 2026. Marc worked on Wall Street for 50 years before launching a leading data and analytics business aimed at retail investors, Chaikin Analytics. He’s warning his more than 800,000 followers around that world that next year will be the “Year of the Bear.” That means a 20% drop or more in the major indexes and steeper drops in many of today’s high-flying stocks. And our Flash Stop system is just the latest in a string of investment technology innovations we launched this year. It joins new tools for finding seasonal patterns in stocks… maximizing profits in the options market… and finding trade setups using an AI model to forecast short-term price movements. And we have even more powerful software tools in the pipeline for 2026. Today, let’s zoom out from the market action… and our busy launch schedule… and look at what really separates successful investors from everyone else. Because investing has quietly crossed a line. The people winning today aren’t working harder – they’re augmenting their investment process with cutting-edge technology. How to Become an Augmented Investor If you’re over a certain age, you’ll remember the hit TV show The Six Million Dollar Man. Lee Majors played Steve Austin, a U.S. Air Force Colonel who crash-landed during a test flight and was nearly killed. But thanks to a secret government program, he was rebuilt – better, stronger, faster. Doctors replaced Austin’s right arm, his legs, and his left eye with “bionic” implants. These boosted his strength, speed, and vision beyond human limits. He could run at 60 mph… he had a 20:1 zoom lens and infrared capabilities in his eyes… and his limbs had the power of a bulldozer. He was still human, but he’d been augmented with some of the most advanced technology of his time. That’s what modern investing can be like, too. For decades, Wall Street has used high-powered computers, high-frequency trading, and advanced algorithms to tilt the playing field in its favor. You may think you’re trading with a human when you buy and sell stocks. But more than likely, you’re trading with an algorithm. Between 70% and 80% of daily trading volume in the U.S. is done by computers. By some estimates, half of those automated trading bots have integrated AI capabilities. But as computers grow more powerful and more accessible, everyday investors are leveling the playing field again by using their own cutting-edge tech. It’s still a small subset of retail investors. But more than 134,000 people use TradeSmith’s tools and analytics to track $29 billion in portfolio assets. And that number is growing every year. These are using advanced screens, analytics, smart trailing stops, and AI trading models to make smarter, more profitable decisions with their money. And judging by our 94% customer satisfaction among surveyed members, these tools are a huge help. They don’t replace human decision making – they augment it. They help you spot opportunities as they emerge and act with greater confidence and precision. More important, they help you anticipate risks before they hit. Winning by Not Losing Most rookie investors think making money in the markets is about finding the next big winner. That’s certainly part of it. But it’s a smaller part than you might think. In his classic book How to Win the Loser’s Game, investing legend Charles Ellis made a simple point: For most investors, the market isn’t won by brilliance. It’s lost through mistakes. Most professionals don’t beat the market by swinging harder. Investment firms would go out of business that way – and many do. The ones that survive to make money are the ones that avoid the errors that sink everyone else – panic selling, overtrading, and holding losers too long. Said another way, investing rewards discipline more than daring. The only problem is that discipline is one of the hardest skills to master. Psychologists figured this out long ago. In a famous experiment, children were offered a simple choice: Take one treat now, or wait and receive two later. Many couldn’t wait. The impulse to grab the reward right away was overwhelming. Adults aren’t much different – especially when money is involved. Fear and greed push us to act at exactly the wrong moments. That’s why risk management software is a game changer. - Computers don’t feel panic when markets drop.
- They don’t get euphoric when stocks soar.
- They follow rules – consistently, calmly, and without second-guessing.
This helps you stay disciplined – especially when emotions are running high. And as Marc warned last week, there’s a 65% chance of a bear market next year. That’s why, today, I’m continuing my campaign to make sure you have your financial house in order. That starts with a plan about how to manage your money and a way to keep your emotions at bay. Step 1: Review Every Long-Term Investment You Own If you’re holding anything long-term – index funds, dividend stocks, or even crypto – ask yourself why you own it. Write it down: What was your reason for buying? Has that reason changed? Is the company still growing earnings? Or has hype taken over? Most investors never do this audit. But markets reward clarity and punish complacency. And now is a great time to tighten up your thinking. Step 2: Define Your Exit Before Emotion Takes Over Every great investor I know defines, in advance, what would make them sell. It could be a fundamental reason – slowing earnings, rising debt, or a broken growth story. It could be valuation related. Or it could be a decisive drop below a key support level. Whatever the trigger, you’ll want to decide on it before emotion takes over. Step 3: Protect Yourself with an Exit Strategy If you’re not sure where to start, here are four different exit strategies you can use: - The 25% Rule: Place a trailing stop 25% below your entry price. If the stock falls that much from a peak, sell automatically. It’s a mechanical, emotion-free way to protect your capital.
- The 2x Rule: Once a stock doubles, sell half. That locks in your original capital and lets the rest ride on “house money.”
- The TradeSmith VQ Stop Loss: Every stock has a unique Volatility Quotient or VQ – its natural rhythm of movement. Some swing 10% in a week. Others barely move. Our algorithm tracks this pattern and issues a sell signal when a move breaks outside its normal range.
- Flash Stops: These also look at volatility outside of a stock’s normal range as a warning signal. But they’re tuned for shorter-term moves than our longer-term VQ Stop Loss system. This is great for the stocks you’re holding for the short to medium term.
Whatever method you use – use something. Define it NOW. Make it a rule that you follow, no matter what. That’s the best way to kill the emotion-based decision making that drives so many investors into the ground. Sincerely, 
Keith Kaplan
CEO, TradeSmith P.S. My publisher is taking down the replay for Tipping Point 2026 at midnight tonight. This is your last opportunity to catch the full details of Marc’s forecast and my demo of how to use our new Flash Stops to protect your downside. You can watch it here for another few hours. Note from Michael Salvatore, Editor, TradeSmith Daily: Starting tomorrow, we’re bringing back last year’s Anti-Predictions series – a daily, high-odds trade setup from every one of TradeSmith’s talented minds that’s backed by hard data and uses the best of TradeSmith’s toolkit. We call them “Anti-Predictions” because, unlike the broad-based price targets and recession calls you hear everywhere in financial media this time of year, this series is all about the data and the tools TradeSmith’s users have at their disposal. You’ll get a brand-new Anti-Prediction every day from now until the end of the year, when I’ll share my own to ring in the new year. I hope you look forward to reading this series as much as we enjoyed putting it together. | 
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