To test for crowding effects of Absolute Momentum strategies employed by CTAs, the author explored and found significant returns for Absolute Momentum strategies during "turn of the month" days. The hypothesis is that during such days, CTAs would have to trade up their positions to put their new inflows to work in markets, temporarily pushing prices in their favour.

There are 3 important factors to guide my views on asset class allocations and to sniff out some opportunities in global markets.

These 3 factors are Valuation, Volatility and Price Trends. Valuation is a good indicator of long-term returns while Price Trend is helpful for guiding my short-term view (of less than 1 year). Low volatility is a helpful indicator for above average risk-adjusted returns over the long term.