Signals Matter, LLC was founded in April 2017 by Thomas Lott and Matthew Piepenburg as an online publishing company to provide subscribers with timely financial market analysis and specific portfolio investment ideas.

No, although we are working towards launching a hedge fund for accredited investors at Signals Matter Advisors in Q1 2024 that will automate Model Portfolio investing. On the publishing side, for Signals Matter subscribers, we provide information and illustrations for informational and educational purposes only that are not intended as investment advice or as a recommendation to buy or sell any security. The information provided reflects our views and research and should not be interpreted as investment advice, an offer or solicitation, or a direction to purchase or sell any financial instrument. Our views concerning economic market trends and risk probabilities are based on market conditions that will fluctuate. There can be no assurance that a subscriber will achieve profits or avoid substantial losses by investing in the Portfolio Suggestions presented by Signals Matter. The past performance of any posted Suggestion is not indicative of future results.

Market signals matter when investing, building all-weather portfolios, and managing risk. We created Storm Tracker, our mathematically derived algorithm, to inform on market risk and determine appropriate cash exposure across our portfolios.

Storm Tracker tracks the probability of stormy weather ahead (market stress) by monitoring over a hundred metrics that track GDP, Sector Trends, Leading Indicators, Yield Curves, and Déjà Vu, our in-house risk indicator that compares yield spreads with stock movements. Storm Tracker measures overall market risk from 0% (no market risk) to 100% (extreme market risk).

As broad market risk rises, cash allocations within the Conservative to Moderately Aggressive Portfolios also rise. There are no Storm Tracker allocations for the Aggressive Portfolio.

Constructing portfolios that hold up in all weather conditions is more than a science. It's an artful science that builds upon informed investing, market cycle discovery, meaningful diversification, risk reduction, technical analysis, and proper benchmarking — all geared to optimize return and minimize risk.

We encourage subscribers to choose a Model Portfolio suited to their capacity to take on risk, risk tolerance, and potential market instability, as indicated by Storm Tracker.

Signals Matter draws heavily on exchange-traded products (ETP) to populate its portfolios. ETPs are exchange-traded investment vehicles that include two subsets, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), with allocations to ETFs by far the greater of the two. The universe of ETPs provides traditional but also actively managed solutions that enable investment subscribers to diversify away from traditional stocks and bonds during adverse market conditions for traditional investing. Signals Matter tracks over 2,000 US-domiciled, liquid ETPs across stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, actively managed, and inverse ETPs (the inverse of long-only indexes). Inverse ETPs provide simple, cheap, and liquid solutions to hedge (i.e., short) specific market sectors within our portfolios, enabling subscribers to profit should stocks fall. Unlike mutual funds, which price at the end of the day, ETPs are priced continuously during each market session, affording frequent and continuous price discovery.

Alternative investing is a core strength at Signals Matter, is deployed across all Signals Matter portfolio solutions, and is a prime differentiator from traditional Financial Advisors (FAs) and Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs). FAs and RIAs invest primarily in stocks and bonds. Alternative investing relates to investing in anything that's not a stock or a bond, as with private equity, venture capital, real estate, hedge funds, managed futures, art and antiques, commodities, derivatives contracts, and alternative-oriented Exchange Traded Products (ETPs). Alternative investing diversifies portfolios and can be performance-enhancing during systemic market change or stress.

Active portfolio management takes a hands-on approach to portfolio construction, going when and where the opportunities arise. Passive investing involves less buying and selling, often resulting in portfolios populated with traditional stocks and bonds. While active and passive investment approaches each have a role to play, both are highly dependent upon the macro environment.

At Signals Matter, we believe that active portfolio management beats passive portfolio management hands down during periods of extreme market stress, at market tops, and during changing interest rate regimes. For us, meaningful diversification is more than growth vs. value, high-cap vs. low-cap, or stocks vs. bonds. It's about allocating smartly across less-correlated asset classes, including real estate, currencies, commodities, precious metals, sector-focused funds, countries, and other alternative choices, including inverse investments that make money when traditional stocks and bonds fall.

Portfolios managed actively can zig when the markets zag, reducing portfolio volatility, thus providing a calmer ride with the potential to compound to higher place over time.

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