The Merlin Trading System
Merlin is a fully rules-based trading system designed to help you swing trade stocks and ETFs over a multi-week time horizon so that you can achieve strong risk-adjusted market returns.
MEASUREMENT | Merlin Margin | 60/40 Buy & Hold Portfolio |
---|---|---|
Compound Annual Growth Rate | +17.86% | +6.72% |
Largest 3 Drawdowns | -25.83%, -22.10%, -17.60% | -32.57%, -22.78%, -21.70% |
Sharpe Ratio | 1.08 | 0.59 |
MAR Ratio | 0.69 | 0.21 |
Correlation to 60/40 Portfolio | 0.46 | Benchmark |
(Measurement definitions. Margin portfolio invests up to 150% at times, see Performance Disclosures: Portfolio Statistics)
Get to know Merlin by reviewing its month-by-month performance
Click on any of the links in the table below to read our performance letter from that month.
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | YTD | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | +1.58% | -2.61% | -6.71% | -0.29% | -7.98% | ||||||||
2022 | -16.38% | +2.10% | +1.79% | -5.71% | -0.96% | -3.22% | +2.85% | -0.66% | -1.74% | +0.09% | +0.59% | -0.39% | -20.91% |
2021 | +12.44% | -0.77% | +1.31% | +9.90% | -3.26% | +5.09% | -6.32% | +9.25% | -8.21% | +5.03% | -4.20% | +2.25% | +22.01% |
2020 | +4.29% | -8.25% | -7.38% | +0.73% | +0.17% | +1.51% | +0.92% | +5.23% | -1.32% | -0.20% | +12.40% | +7.55% | +15.65% |
2019 | 0% | +0.42% | -0.84% | +0.77% | -0.01% | +2.63% | +1.89% | -1.57% | +5.32% | +1.11% | +8.19% | +5.42% | +16.53% |
2018 | +18.01% | +0.32% | -0.74% | -0.75% | +2.26% | +0.66% | +1.07% | +8.22% | -1.1% | -7.5% | 0% | -5.67% | +14.78% |
2017 | +7.07% | +8.82% | +1.09% | +3.34% | -4.02% | +4.84% | +4.28% | -5.38% | +4.91% | -0.61% | +2.10% | +1.84% | +28.28% |
2016 | -6.99% | -1.61% | 0% | 0% | -0.10% | +1.39% | +5.65% | +0.1% | +1.88% | +2.77% | +9.12% | +5.25% | +17.45% |
2015 | -0.38% | +5.38% | +0.54% | -0.67% | +1.42% | -1.1% | -2.11% | -0.25% | 0% | +2.64% | -0.02% | +1.13% | +6.59% |
2014 | +2.17% | +5.65% | +1.09% | -3.83% | +5.24% | +8.01% | +1.74% | +4.49% | +0.66% | +1.18% | +2.25% | -1.52% | +27.14% |
2013 | +9.94% | -0.76% | +3.39% | +4.77% | +7.42% | -1.87% | +8.4% | +0.56% | +0.37% | +5.6% | +4.48% | +2.95% | +45.26% |
2012 | +1.29% | +1.22% | +2.23% | -0.49% | -4.18% | +4.74% | +4.89% | +3.4% | +7.03% | -1.43% | -5.03% | +4.96% | +18.63% |
2011 | +5.61% | +4.52% | -0.47% | +6.88% | +1.1% | -7.35% | -1.58% | -4.63% | 0% | +0.83% | 0% | +0.40% | +5.29% |
2010 | +7.09% | +1.31% | +17.12% | +10.7% | -8.52% | -5.35% | +1.97% | -0.4% | +9.29% | +8.28% | +0.7% | +2.85% | +45.06% |
2009 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | +0.37% | +2.97% | -2.13% | +3.28% | +5.06% | +9.55% |
2008 | -3.99% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | +0.75% | +0.73% | +1.46% | 0% | 0% | 0% | -1.05% |
2007 | +6.42% | +1.34% | +0.69% | +6.72% | +2.96% | +3.34% | -1.26% | -2.35% | +3.08% | +2.28% | +1.41% | 0% | +24.62% |
2006 | +0.38% | -0.05% | +2.57% | +4.48% | -4.5% | -2.39% | +0.79% | +1.53% | +1.89% | +8.92% | +2.54% | +1.39% | +17.54% |
You are in control of the trade size you take for each signal. Want higher returns? You can choose to risk more per trade. Want smaller drawdowns? Dial the size back. These are the portfolio returns of the default margin portfolio position sizing algorithm, which will invest up to 150% at times, see Performance Disclosures: Monthly Performance.
What subscribers are saying
"So far three months in, I am very satisfied with the service. I track things closely and the returns in my Trade Risk (TR) account are significantly better than when I trade on my own in other accounts. I have been a trader for several years, but unfortunately, I never found the consistency that I needed. TR has really made me a happy trader!"
"Merlin has been on fire! Wow! Great and courteous support by Evan. Texts are timely and clear. A true bargain. Highly recommended!"
"Your Merlin system is amazing, simple to understand, and on a fundamental level, it completely makes sense to any seasoned trader. I have seen much success with your system and it looks like Merlin is here to stay in my playbook!"

How trading with Merlin works
When you subscribe to the Merlin Trading System Membership, you'll receive daily trade reports with all of the information you need to follow the system with ease.
All you need to do is log in once a day, anytime after the market closes, to review the latest trade signals and member-only pages. Most traders spend 5-minutes or less per day on average reviewing the trade reports and placing Merlin orders.
Frequently Asked Questions
A fully rules-based system means all of the buy and sell decisions are pre-determined and based on extensive historical market testing. There’s no gut feel or subjective analysis – the system contains all of the rules to make the best decisions possible.
There are many benefits of fully rules-based trading:
- Decisions are based on real research and extensive testing of historical markets
- 100% discipline, the system always executes flawlessly
- No emotional biases
- The system is easily measurable and can be enhanced over time
What makes Merlin extra special is that it was built by a trader first.
Evan’s market observations and live trading for over a decade are at the core of Merlin’s decision making process. That means Merlin is not just applying random and impossible to explain mathematical theory, instead, it’s a simple system based on how markets really work.
No, absolutely not.
We’re doing all of the heavy lifting and number crunching for you. Internally, we have the Merlin algorithm running in real-time measuring and monitoring markets and systematically producing signals.
As a subscriber, all you need to do is log in to your Trade Risk dashboard each night to see what the trading system has generated for signals. You can follow along at your own pace and place orders with any broker of your choosing.
Merlin is a long-only algorithm that buys retracements in momentum stocks during healthy market environments. It trades individual stocks, equity ETFs, and all signals are generated using daily closing prices. You can place all of your Merlin orders after the market closes and be fully prepared for the next session — no intraday screen watching is required.
Measurement | Merlin System | Lamorak System |
---|---|---|
Average Trades Per Year | 110 | 311 |
System Win Percentage | 65.07% | 64.07% |
Average Size of Winners (%) | 11.54% | 2.30% |
Average Win-to-loss Ratio | 1.10 | 0.81 |
Average Trade Hold Time | 37 trading days | 4 trading days |
See Performance Disclosures: Portfolio Statistics.
You can see Merlin is more profitable on a per trade basis than our Lamorak system, however, it trades slower and makes fewer trades per year on average.
The strategy has been backtested and validated across thousands of stocks and ETFs with careful considerations not to data mine or overfit. Merlin has been running live since 2019.
Yes, absolutely!
We built two model portfolios that you can follow once you become a Merlin subscriber, one is called Merlin Margin and the other is called Merlin IRA. Both portfolios take the same exact signals and trade identically to one another, they simply use different position sizing algorithms for each signal.
With the Merlin IRA portfolio, you should expect to get lower overall returns but you'll also enjoy smaller drawdowns and less volatility.
Merlin is a professional trading strategy that focuses on producing strong risk-adjusted returns. It’s designed to scale and handle large account sizes.
Account minimums are a personal decision and will vary greatly from trader to trader depending on your circumstances, goals, and risk tolerance. Here are some general guidelines to get the most out of the Merlin trading service.
- Minimum account size: $25,000
- Recommended account size: $50,000+
We offer a fourteen day $1 trial to our trading system so you can take them for a test drive to make sure they live up to your expectations. There are no auto-enrollments or strings attached. The trial will end automatically after fourteen days.
We recommend all new users start with the $1 trial.
Once you subscribe to any of our memberships, all sales are final. To view our full refund and cancellation policy, click here.
Merlin is right for you if you're someone who
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Wants to beat the returns of buy and hold with lower drawdowns
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Enjoys trading less & holding leading stocks + ETFs for big moves
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Understands the benefits of research-driven fully rules-based trading systems
Monthly Membership
- Member-only dashboard
- Daily trade reports
- Position size calculator
- BONUS: TR150 watchlist
Annual Membership
- Member-only dashboard
- Daily trade reports
- Position size calculator
- BONUS: TR150 watchlist
- Get 2 months free choosing annual!
Please note: bonus TR150 Watchlist access is granted to active Merlin Trading System memberships. Cancellation of your Merlin membership will revoke TR150 Watchlist access. Looking for a trial before you commit? Test drive our Merlin and Lamorak trading systems 14-days, for just $1. No auto-enrollment and no strings attached. Sign up here.
TRADING SYSTEM DISCLAIMER
Please be advised that trade signals are provided as an educational tool for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Signals, trading tools, and all published analysis should always be used as a starting point for doing additional independent research so that you can form your own opinion regarding investments. Under no circumstances should trade alerts be treated as financial advice.