Greg Taunt, Author at IASG

Running on a treadmill is one of my least favorite activities: you expend a lot of energy but end up exactly where you started, only out of breath. So far in 2026, financial markets are behaving similarly. There’s intense activity, but the major indices have gone almost nowhere. As of mid-February, the S&P 500 is […]

Investors face many choices when selecting investments. Historically, the main divide was between fundamental and technical trading. The growth of computer systems for trading has introduced a potentially larger variable that will only increase as AI advances, whether in systematic (rules-based) or discretionary (human judgment) trading. In just my 20 years working in the industry, […]

Markets often communicate more clearly through price action than through headlines. The dramatic surge in metals contracts is sending a powerful signal, but what exactly is it telling us? Traders frequently monitor inter-market relationships for early warnings. When one asset class moves unusually, it can ripple across the system or reveal deeper structural issues. In […]

Competing head-to-head to outsmart others doing the same strategy is often a tough road. In trend following circles, giants like Man AHL, Winton, and Aspect dominate assets under management. This enables them to hire top PhDs, deploy better technology, test ideas rapidly, and outspend smaller players on sales and marketing. So how can a smaller […]

History never repeats itself, but it often rhymes. This is even more so the case this year, as Trump began his second term with similar but different disruptions to the markets. Rising stocks, normalizing inflation, and the AI boom took center stage. We discuss some of the key events below and try to anticipate where […]

Proper forest management requires clearing dead brush, protecting high-risk areas, and conducting controlled burns. As January 2026 approaches, marking the one-year anniversary of the devastating Southern California wildfires that destroyed over 16,000 structures, we examine the mistakes made and how those lessons apply to the financial markets. Much like forest fires, risk can be mitigated […]

“If everything in your portfolio goes up and down at the same time, you have a bad portfolio.” This simple but powerful observation from Mark Rzepczynski, former CEO of John W. Henry & Company, is one I think of often – for both my customers and my own investing. A losing position in your portfolio […]

Is AI the next step in the evolution of trading? History proves new tools storm the markets, then high adoption erases their edge. What can futures trading history teach us about AI’s trajectory? The 1980s: Rise of Rules-Based Trading Building on simple regression models that aimed to identify patterns across sectors, the 1980s showed that […]

For anyone who has ever ridden a roller coaster, the distinct sound of the chain nearing the top of the first drop echoes in our ears. Click, click, (slower) click…. Anticipation builds right before we experience the massive first drop, picking up speed on the way down. If only the equity markets provided the same […]

Identifying weakness in markets can be a difficult task. Metrics like gross domestic product (GDP), equity market gains, and unemployment paint in broad strokes. Lenders often try to identify risk at a granular level. This might include tracking payments arriving late, higher credit card balances, increases in line of credit usage, or non-payment of insurance […]

Once left for dead, gold speculators can sleep easily in 2025 as the yellow metal sits at all-time highs once again. Despite the shift to Bitcoin and other digital assets, the enduring nature of gold as an inflation hedge continues. What is driving this surge, and will cryptocurrencies still win the battle? Reasons for optimism […]

New investors to the futures world often ask, “How does opening an account work?” It is a good question. Unlike traditional brokerage accounts, the rules of margin, how trades clear, and the counterparties involved operate differently. A Futures Commission Merchant, typically called by its FCM acronym, is a key player working between all the various […]

After months of telling the public that “Inflation is transitory,” the Fed finally admitted that it kept policy loose for too long in 2021. Months of rate hikes followed in 2022, dragging the stock market down as assets repriced. Now, the rates in the United States outpace those of major economic zones across the world. […]