Regardless of the asset class, there are only two strategies

Jack Schwager often points out that there is no universal holy grail. Market wizards come in all shapes and forms, sometimes even with contradicting strategies. They have one thing in common though. They excel at managing risk and controlling losses. They consistently focus on the downside. Winning positions take care of themselves. Market participants' job is to take care of losers.

Market participants usually define themselves by "what" they trade (asset class, markets, time horizon), rarely "how" they trade. Regardless of the asset class, there are only two types of strategies: trend following and mean reversion. The reason why there are only two strategies is not entries but exits. How you choose to close a trade determines your dominant trading style. The mean reversion camp closes early when inefficiencies are corrected. The trend-following crowd loves to ride their winners. A classic example...