The ITM Swansong |
The new ITM book is finally live. This is the definitive edition, bringing together everything from the previous books into one place. The earlier titles are now being retired.
What's new?
Both strategies are now included – the bull (SPY / SPYG / QQQ) and the bear (SPY).
Backtesting has been updated through to late 2025, and independently verified by a professional accountant.
Results and full details are here: Backtesting
ITM Reader HUB
This is the real addition. AI is changing how people consume information – so the book now comes with a full companion site. Every chapter has summaries, podcasts, visuals, a glossary and quizzes, so you can reinforce what matters (or prove to yourself that you know it all!).
Here’s the link: ITM Reader Hub
Cost Price Until Wednesday
I’ve dropped the price as far as Amazon allows – hardback royalties are about 8 cents a copy.!
The book is printed in colour (for the charts and tables), which pushes up the printing cost, so prices will go back up on Wednesday.
Reader Reviews
Here’s a request
(one that really matters)
Reviews are the lifeline that keeps the books in Amazon’s eye and so reduces my advertising costs.
So – please – if you like the book can you leave a review?
It doesn’t have to be long. 2-3 lines are fine just actually leave something rather than just give it a star rating.
Keep the Blog Free
I have been keeping the blog free, although it costs around $2,000 per year to keep going when you include the software, server, mailing etc. I have no plans to introduce any fees, but I do ask this as a favor:
Please leave a review.
Here’s the link:
In The Money: Bull & Bear Markets
(Only if you like it, of course! And if you need some inspiration please look at some of the reviews of previous books )
To the markets . . .
As I write this I see that the talks with Iran have broken down – not a surprise, and probably already priced into the market. I can’t help but follow the news compulsively right now and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
SPY Charts
SPY has been on an upward trajectory for 2 weeks now which looks promising – until you check the volume (pink box). There doesn’t seem to be much conviction in this rise, more like some bottom-feeding, buy-the-dip hopefuls. Yes, we use objective signals to get back in, but it helps to understand what is driving the market.
My reading is that there are a lot of traders doing what we are doing: sitting on the sidelines waiting for that duck to decide which way it is going to swim.
And as yet we haven’t got any indication.
Long term SPY is returning to the previous uptrend. If it pierces it that’s a good sign – if it bounces off (which I think more likely given the volumes) it means we are still in limbo.
SPYG Charts
SPYG has rebounded. We don’t take any notice of the volumes on SPYG as it is much less traded than SPY, but the lack of volume in SPY means that the rebound is on shaky ground.
In the longer term it has broken through the previous support / resistance line. Which is normally a good sign just a shame about the lack of volume.
QQQ Charts
Similarly for QQQ – nice rebound but low volumes.
On the long term chart, we see QQQ back at the lower bound of the trading channel.
VIX Chart ( Volatility)
Volatility has dropped markedly. Back in low volatility territory.
ITMeter
We are still out of the market – no IN signal just yet.
The week ahead
Likely to be dominated by the Iran situation I expect. I have just read that new talks are being scheduled so that’s the reason they have bounced since I last looked. The big banks are reporting this week, but I think everything other than the war is going to take a back seat.
Monday – April 13
• Existing Home Sales.
• Earnings: Goldman Sachs, Fastenal.
Tuesday – April 14
• Producer Price Index (PPI).
• Earnings: JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, Citigroup, Wells Fargo.
Wednesday – April 15
• Empire State Manufacturing Index, Import Prices, Fed Beige Book.
• Earnings: Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, ASML.
Thursday – April 16
• Initial Jobless Claims, Philadelphia Fed Index, Capacity Utilization, Industrial Production.
• Earnings: PepsiCo, Netflix.
Friday – April 17
• No major U.S. economic releases.
• Earnings: Ally Financial, Truist Financial, State Street.
The futures
Not down as much as I expected – in fact they are up a bit since I last looked- probably because more talks have been announced. Maybe the situation in the Middle East is becoming the ‘new normal’.
So – a last request – please leave a review if you like the book.
It keeps my costs down and the blog free!
Fingers crossed for a good week!
Heather
Trade the tide, not the waves
66 Responses
Greetings, Heather!
I bought your new book — both in hard Cover and Kindle formats.
I searched the Kindle version, but found no answer to this question:
What percentage of your account(s) do you allocate for the ITM strategy? Do you buy just 1 contract, or do you buy N contracts, using X% of the money in your account(s)?
Thanks in advance for your answer, and overall thanks for your time, effort, and experience that you share with your readers.
Stephen
Hi Stephen
I cover that in Ch 18 Keeping Your Balance / The Sleep-At-Night Ratio.
It really depends on the size of your balance, your tolerance for reversals, and your time horizons.
The backtesting is all done on being fully invested – but while that may suit younger people with a long time to retirement and small balances that they want to grow quickly, as yo get older you may want to squirrel a portion of your capital in unleveraged investments – e.g. SPY or QQQ stocks rather than options.
Have a look at Ch 18, and get back to me if you have any questions.
Hope this helps
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Greetings, Heather.
OK, I read chapter 18.
Reading between the lines, it sounds like you put most of your money to work in the market (a mix of shares and Options) after an ITM IN signal.
What % do you park in cash?
I know people who are over 90% in the market and less than 10% cash.
Do you think this is the way of most successful traders?
Thanks,
Stephen
HI Sephen
I don’t have any rules about exactly what percentage is in cash or unleveraged.
It often depends on what I am doing at the time. I have frequently been 95% ITM trades with 5% ‘play’ trades – but that is only when I am in a place with a reliable internet connection.
I usually trravel for about 4 months every year – for instance, last year i was up above the Arctic circle with some pretty flaky internet connectivity, so I upped my unleveraged and cash.
I love trading, but it has to fit in with my loifestyle – after all, that’s why we do it!
I really don’t know about successful traders – I have met so few! I’ve met hundreds of temporary traders, but long term ones are few and far between. I’ve read a lot and even the successful ones can crash and burn – Jesse Livermore ended bankruppt and killed himself, after being unbelievable rich and successful.
So the answer is: I really don’t know. Just make sure that you always are positioned so that you can stay in the game – thats the most important thing.
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Hi Heather – Bravo to you on the new ITM Book. “Everything should be as simple as possible, but no simpler” – some attribute this to Einstein (I don’t really know but it is one of my favorite quotes). I think you hit this principle “nail” on the head. The previous 2 books were great, but not nearly as concise and sometimes just a bit cumbersome – I found myself going back-and-forth many times in making my own notes for what I considered to be most salient to ITM and ITMB. The new one is superior in conciseness and easier to ‘manage’, yet no less complete. Well done and thanks for all of your labor and willingness to share your expertise. May God bless you richly.
HI Brad – thank you so much for your kind words.
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In new book, on page 103, in sentence beginning “Conversely…” do you not mean “if you BUY you will be caught?
Hi Rick
no sell is correct. That sentence assumes you’re already in a bear trade.
So the point is that a temporary rally can make you exit your short (bearish) position, only for the market to turn back down again — in that case, you’ve been caught by the move.
If you were buying that rally, then yes — that would be the classic bull trap.
Hope this clears it up.
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Hi Heather, According to the new rule, we avoid entering a new trade during Christmas/New Year time. Does this mean initiating a trade during that time (between Dec. 25 and Dec. 31) or avoiding the expiry date during that time window? Thank you!
Hi Eli – it just meant initiating a new trade over the christmas / New Year period.
Its about entering a trade, not the expiry date of the options.
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Hi Heather. I saw your special blog post but it didn’t really answer my previous question. When the golden cross is confirmed (1.5%) the cost of the options will be higher than the price when I sold. Is this a problem or no big deal. Thank you again. Sincerely, Andy C.
Hi Andy
Yes this is one of the situations where the OUT signal got us out but it proved to be a false alarm – in which case we may have to buy in at a higher price.
Annoying I know. No system can guarantee no losses, and this is the price of safety.
It has hapened before – false alarms I mean – and usually we have to buy in at a higher price.
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Great books
Kevin – thank you – much appreciated!
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Your latest book says white gap 1.5%,the backtest section of ITMHub says 1.0%. Which is correct? Thanks.
Giidness Yu, you gave me a fright – went dashing off to look.
It is correct – White Gap 1.5% – I think you are reading time value which is 1%.
Hope this helps.
h
Hi Heather, I noticed that we had a Golden Cross on the SPY today, but I am not sure if the white space, as you refer to it in the book is 1.5% above the 200MA? Also I don’t see any Options on the SPY for October or November, so would it be better to go out further to Dec. or in with a Sept. call option? I have until tomorrow to make a decision as the markets just closed here on the East coast of the USA.
Hi Richard – I’ve just done a special BLOG on it – can you read that and get back to me if it doesn’t answer your questions?
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Heather, I bought your book yesterday and read it in one day! I gave glowing review. Thank you so much for your incredible work!
I couldn’t find the ITMB roll up % like the 55% you recommended for the ITM 60% approach. Did I miss it?
Hi David – no, you didn’t miss it 0 its not there!
Because bear markets move so quickly – and they are all so different – it isn’t possible to have the same kind of roll-up rules – just not enough data so all the backtesting is done with no roll up.
The average length of a bear trade is much, much less than the average length of a bull trade, where we can roll up several times during the trade (which can go on for years).
Bear trades have to be monitored daily and during a bear trade I will be posting every day – you can’t afford to let them run.
Hope this helps.
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Hi Heather, I love everything about the ITM books and this blog. I bought the new book and can’t wait to give it glowing reviews. I do have a question about the crazy market this week. The bulls are supposed to take the stairs but this week the bulls took a rocket ship to new highs. By the time the white space showed up and I cashed in my Schwab money market (which takes one whole day) the options cost a whole lot more than what I sold them for. Not sure that really matters but I wanted to get your thoughts on this situation. Thank you for everything you do. I agree with the reader that suggested you have a tip jar on this blog so we can all share in the expense of running this blog.
Regards
Andy C
Hi Andy – thank you for your kind words – I very much appreciate them!
Re the golden cross – I’ve just done a special blog post on it, can you read that and get back to me if it doesn’t answer your questions?
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Congrats on the new book, Heather! I’m loving it. My review will be up soon.
Am I reading my chart right that we have an ITM in signal on the SPY today? So fast..,.I’m not psychologically ready with the Iran situation still open ended lol
Hi Michael – thank you! Much appreciated.
Yes, there is a golden cross but it is not confirmed – I’ve just donw a special blog post on the situation – can you read it, and get back to me if it doesn’t answer your questions?
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Purchased ITM-Bull Market in October (now well-worn and dog-eared) and anxiously awaiting the new book which was ordered tonight on Amazon. Also downloaded Timing the Market for free after watching your interview on Talking Trading: Thank You! Wasn’t expecting an ‘OUT’ and ‘IN’ trigger so soon for SPY but looks like we might be there. Noticed a mention on the Blog that the 10/200 cross signal has been revised from .3% to 1.5%? Is that for both OUT & IN? Looks like it hit about .29% today although like you mentioned-on low volume. I would appreciate being on the list for any ‘Special Updates’ on notifications for ITM-IN/OUT signals. Appreciate all that you’ve done-valuable information. The price of this tuition has been pretty cheap compared to what I’ve paid so far elswhere! 🙂 Joe
Hi Joe – thank you! Yes, If I added up all the courses and gurus I paid for it would be eye-watering!
I have just written a blog post on the current golden cross situation – can you have a look at that, and if it doesn’t answer your questions please get back to me.
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Got a couple of hardbacks and a kindle version. I hope to get the hardbacks signed when you come to California to have some great wine.
Heather I think you could leave a tip jar somewhere on the website-.explaining your costs makes me feel guilty- I had no idea it cost that much for you to share your ideas with us. Give us a way to contribute and I’m sure some people will kick in.
I look very much forward to reading the new book and leaving an appropriate review. I wish you all success. Kate
Hi Kate,
actually I would love to come back to the US – I was there briefly last June but only in NY. Maybe its time for a road trip!
Re the tip jar – a lovely idea – thank you – but I have been incredibly lucky and I just want to give back.
Karma, you know?
I do like to write, and having to explain things really makes sure you know your stuff – so it is a good way of keeping myself sharp, not becoming blase and complacent.
PLus – I like the freedom – if people haven’t paid for the service then I can do it exactly how I want – that is important to me too.
But thank you for your lovely idea – much appreciated.
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Well dinner then, i expect you to make to CA some day
Its a deal!!!
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On https://heathercullen.com/backtesting/, under Bull Market Strategy, QQQ and SPYG should be swapped to match the buttons.
Hi Noel – yes you are right, all fixed now!
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On https://heathercullen.com/backtesting/qqq/, the performance is showing SPY dividends reinvested, not QQQ. Noel
Hi Noel
Yes, that’s is intentional – as in we are trying to beat the market so SPY is what we measure ourselves against.
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On the SPYG backtesting page, the “buy” dates don’t seem to be correct. They all equal the “sell” dates from the previous bull run. This is not the case with the SPY and QQQ backtesting. Thank you for all you do. I just bought several copies of your new book to pass out to family members. Jeff
HI Jeff – my bad.
I was using the SPY tables as a template for the SPYG and ws pulling the first buy date from a cell that I hadn’t changed.
All fixed now.
Thank you for letting me know!
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Hi just read your new book Thank you I really appreciate the clear voice through all the noise! Just wondering about your thoughts on calendar spreads when we get a golden cross 2 ideas 1 keep rolling the short leg up for a credit while leaving the long leg where it is or 2 moving both to atm always for a credit(short term is always around 45 days and rolled at 14) Shmuel
HI Shmuel I have looked at calendar spreads in the past and have never found it to be worth while – the numbers just didn’t stack up.
But maybe it is time for another look – I’ll put it on my list of possible blog topics!
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Thank you for your work Heather. I will be buying your new book today. I use my own systems for short term Trading but I really like your approach and find your system to be a very viable approach and an excellent adjunct to my own trading. l love it when someone gut punches the stupid buy and hold Advocates. I never bought their entirely false line based on my years of experience and knowledge. It is great to buy and hold and let the market do the work for you, but only as long as it is trending in your direction. I personally cannot stand to take the losses buy and hold can leave you with. Compounding is the secret but compounding or suffering major drawdowns is always disastrous. Thanks again.
HI Jeff – yes, the buy-and-hold myth makes me very cross – it is so easy to disprove, yet every day in the financial press you see someone spouting it.
And thank you!
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Congrats in completion of your new book Heather. I purchased it today and look forward to leaving a nice review.
Thank you for all you provide for your readers!
Best, Camille
THank you Camill – lovely of you!
Really appreciate it!
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While a lot of tech stocks have experienced volatility EQIX stands out as a consistent bullish stock since 12/1/2025.
Hi! Just looked at it and seen it described as the “landlord of the internet” (via data centres). Technically it is a REIT (Real Estate INvestment Trust) that owns data centres (rents out rack space / power / connectivity) so definitel sounds like something that is going to do well.
I don’t trade individual stocks . .. but occasionally I am tempted.
I may have a closer look at this one!
Thank you for the heads up!
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Heather,
As usual your commentary and analysis is spot on! I always start my monday’s with your email as it has been extremely helpful to me. And, greatly appreciated of your sharing.
HI Andrew
Thank you – it is always good to hear from readers that they find it helpful.
And I am happy to do them on any topics you like if I think they will be interesting to others, so don’t hesitate to suggest.
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In your first book you define SPY WhiteSpace as 0.3% and in your new book it’s 1.5%. That is a big difference. Am I missing something. If we were using 1.5% wouldn’t we still be invested? Love your books, I have all of them and they have really changed my investing strategy for the better!!
Hi Art – no, you are not missing anything.
In the first books I was writing about a strategy that worked – but hadn’t exhaustively tested all possible combinations. IN the new backtesting I separated out the the 50% and 60% strategies and tested hundreds of srike / time value / white space / roll up combinations and so refined the numbers to what they are now.
At the death cross the 200 SMA was approx 662, so 1.5% is 9.9, so we would be out when the 10 SMA reached 652 which it did on the 30 March.
I know the gap is less now, but we wait for a crossover and white space on the other side.
Does this make sense?
Hope it helps
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Yes, thank you. Being out of the market now and armed with your new book is the perfect time to to reset and wait for a new entry point. Thanks for all you do it’s much appreciated!
Can’t wait to read the new book !!
HI Joseph – I hope you like it.
I am feeling very pleased with it – I took a lot more time and care over it than the others – revised and revised, cut out bits, expanded others – till I was as sure as I could be that it all hung together correctly.
So really hope you like it.
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Hey Heather ! Does today’s cross and confirmation in anyway differ from that of the new book? My book doesn’t show up until Thursday 🙂
HI JOseph – I’ve just done a special blog on the cross – can you read that, and if it doesn’t answer your questions please get back to me.
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Good morning, Good morning!!
So great to wake up this.morning and find your new book out for purchase. Bought the kindle and 4 paperbacks for the kids and for you my friend
left a 5 star review which you well deserve
Hi Michael,
thank you so much! I really appreciate it! I am not sure which review is yours – they are all so lovely and I am so grateful.
What wonderful readers I have!
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Heather,
YAY!
Before the sun began to rise, I eagerly checked your blog, as usual. I bought the Kindle version to start reading instantly and bought 4 paperback copies to pass along to friends and trading companions. I live each day anticipating that this could become the best day of my life. So far, as dawn awakens, today is looking pretty good.
Thank you for all you do.
Many Blessings
Uncle Dave
HI Dave – before dawn? that’s very keen! Thank you for buying the books – and great that you pass on the friends.
I hope today is the best day of your life – what a great attitude.
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Hi Heather, finally 🙂 I have ordered your book (this time as paper verion). Will also get the kindle version to leave a review. ~Marijana
Hi Marijana (you’re from Croatia? Did I get that right?) thank you – hope you enjoy it and yes, I would really appreciate a reuvew!
Thank you so much.
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I look forward to the latest edition of the blog each week. As a relatively new trader, I find the market insights valuable and truly appreciate the perspective that’s shared.
I’m sure you’ve given extensive information regarding gaps… As I understand them they’re revisited by price unless heavy volume makes non eventful. And I’ll be acquiring the new versions and participating in the reviews. Iran seems to be acting like a badger that attacks a bear… We’re not bears! Long line of military ppl dating back to the revolution.
R
Does your new book cover SPYG bear market in and out rules?
Yes, Jay – Bull: SPY / SPYG / QQQ and Bear: SPY.
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Sorry to be a bother, Heather, but I’m just trying to clear. Of the choices SPY, QQQ, and SPYG, we only trade the Bear with SPY. We do not do Bear trades with QQQ or SPYG.
Thanks much.
HI Jay – no bother! – yes I have only tested the bear strategy on SPY.
I would be very twitchy about doing it on QQQ as it is more volatile, and not on SPYG as bear trades are more risky than bull trades so for those traders with small accounts it is probably best to sit out the bears rather than try to trade them.
I may look at QQQ soon – but right now I need a rest from backtesting!
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Thanks so much Heather. Got it and understand why. A wonderful day to you. Cheers, Jay