Market analyst Mark McMillan was featured this week on CNBC to discuss the benefits of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and his unique investing system. Days later, he joined the blogging team of Beverly Hills’ EQUITIES Magazine with his blog, EQUITIES Special Situations.
McMillan, who holds Bachelors degrees in History and Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and completed the Masters program in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis in Computer Science at the same alma mater, began his career as a software engineer and evolved into a marketing specialist in hi-tech firms. He was intrigued by currency fluctuations while planning a trip to England in the mid-80s and correctly forecast and hedged against the 50% increase in the value of the pound.
His interest was soon drawn to equities while trying to understand the incredible success of Peter Lynch and Fidelity’s Magellan Fund. It wasn’t until he participated in his first IPO, as an employee of Network Equipment Technologies, that he became hooked on tech stocks. That IPO occurred less than 12 months prior to Black Monday in October 1987.
Fascinated with the downside potential of the markets, he nevertheless continued to invest in tech and continued to work in the tech industry for two decades, working for such firms as British Telecom, U.S. Robotics, 3Com, Sierra Wireless, and WatchGuard Technologies. His responsibilities increased from individual contributor technical and marketing roles to executive marketing and general management positions.
Since 2003, he turned his full attention to trading the markets and developed a system to deliver absolute returns under any market condition. He drew upon his engineering training to develop a rigorous trading system that was based on probabilities of the behavior of market participants, both across the entire market, in specific sectors or individual industries and in some cases, individual stocks. He also draws on his research background, training in economics, and work experience to conduct market research and competitive analysis. He brings these tools to bear when conducting fundamental analysis of companies he is considering investing in.
Living through the bear market that began in 2000, and in particular being heavily invested in tech, he became more interested in downside protection and profiting from the market, in whichever direction it moved. His system performed well in 2006 but it was the beginning of the bear market in 2007 when his system really began to show it true potential. The more volatile the market, the better the system performed and the more the market moved lower, the better his returns looked in comparison.
Recent successes include:
McMillan’s trading strategies involve combining fundamental analysis and behavioral economics. The fundamental analysis identifies value that may be hidden in specific companies while economic analysis provides a macro view of the global and country specific economies. This is overlaid with McMillan’s trading system to improve optimal entry and exit of positions. McMillan believes in adapting to the market rather than forcing trades and trading activity is adjusted to the market environment.
Read his blog and others at EQUITIES Magazine.
About EQUITIES:
Since 1951, EQUITIES Magazine has been a leading media company providing business editorial content designed to serve the needs of business leaders, professionals, institutional investors and retail investors. We are focused on business and the business of making money, not on lifestyle subjects. We publish original reporting in print and on our website, as well as select content at www.nasdaq.com. For 28 years we have hosted our own branded investor conferences that connect public company CEO’s with our loyal readers in the investment community.
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