HenryWatch: The buy signal worked

Past performance may not guarantee future results, but it’s sometimes close. Count on Merrill Lynch to get its retail investors out at a bottom, and count on John W. Henry & Co to manage a rebound when the drawdown hits 40 percent.

It’s never a good time for an asset manager to get cut off by Merrill, and this moment was spectacularly inopportune. Perhaps for Merrill and its customers, because JWH’s current decline—near 40 percent in its flagship Strategic Allocation program—is in the neighborhood of an historically reliable buy signal.
NakedShorts, Apr. 23 2007

In April, the performance-challenged trading advisor had its first profitable month since Nov. 2006, with the flagship Strategic Allocation program, accounting for more than 60 percent of its assets, up an estimated 2.35 percent; the long-running Financial & Metals program made 7.78 percent.  Both programs still have substantial losses over year-to-date, 12-month and 36-month periods.

The April gains were not large enough to outweigh the impact of continuing redemptions, based on estimates posted to the trading advisor’s website Friday, May 4. JWH’s assets under management declined by $62 million, to $1.26 billion; adjusting for performance, however, it appears that net redemptions during the month totaled approximately $110 million.

JWH Investment Programs & Performance

Earlier NakedShorts coverage after the jump:

r inSay hello to Pawtucket (May 4. 2007)

Henry’s real ‘life extension’ challenge I (Apr. 23 2007)

Henry’s real ‘life extension’ challenge II (Apr. 24 2007)

Comments

[Patrick Kerr]

good mention in Wall Street Journal today ---seems like this happens to the long-term trend guys every 4-5 years-----