Portfolio Management in Bear Markets
Getting rekt is all too common when the market turns against you.
This quick guide will walk you through how to leverage the CoinRotator screener to manage your altcoin portfolio more effectively during bearish conditions.
🧠 Think Allocation First, Not Coins
It’s rare to hear altcoin traders talk about position sizing—but it’s way more important than picking the “right” coin.
Start with the worst-case scenario and work backward. Ask yourself:
How would I feel with daily swings of 20–30%?
What about 10%? Or 5%?
This is the mindset needed when allocating capital to individual positions. If you’re uncomfortable with that level of volatility, scale down.
🔄 How Actively Are You Rotating?
Next, decide how hands-on you want to be.
Are you a “HODL until zero” type? (If so, you're probably still holding DOGE or SOL, waiting for another blow-off top.)
A more realistic approach: rotate based on momentum signals. Even during bull runs, the best moves often lasted only a few weeks. Example:
In 2021, Solana (SOL) pumped for 8 weeks straight without a single meaningful pullback. CoinRotator helped traders stay in that run while the trend was alive.
Knowing when to hold—and when to rotate—is key.
🚪 What If the Trade Goes South?
Not every entry is a winner. Here's how to manage a bad setup:
Sell half after X days of price moving against you. (Use visual backtesting to find a sweet spot—how long do most winning trades take to go green?)
Exit fully when the signal flips from Buy to Sell.
HODL and wait for breakeven. (This happens more often than you'd think.)
Even weak trades often offer exit opportunities before the real damage kicks in.
👩💻 Build a Correlation matrix
Crypto is generally correlated with TradFi, but uncorrelated setups exist within altcoins.
Here’s how to find them:
Use CoinRotator to generate a list of strong signal coins.
Plug those coins into Cryptowat.ch to generate a correlation matrix.
Look for low or negative correlation (e.g., below 0.3 or above -0.3).
Holding highly correlated coins = essentially adding leverage. Avoid this unless that’s your intention.
Pro tip: Many low-cap gems won’t be listed on major exchanges like Binance or FTX. So watch for liquidity risks if you’re diving into deeper waters.
📊 Position Sizing for Long-Only Portfolios
Let’s say you’re working with $10,000 in USDT, BTC, or ETH.
Allocate a maximum of 25% of your portfolio to fresh weekly signals.
Select a few coins from your filtered, uncorrelated list.
Example:
This week, you pick two coins from the CoinRotator scan:
XHV → $1,250
CITY → $1,250 Total Allocation: $2,500
Wait until the next weekly scan to add more. If these two are still in profit, continue scaling in another 25% using the same filtering process until fully allocated.
Use daily in-profit closes as your exit trigger.
📉 Adding Shorts for a Balanced Bear Strategy
In bearish or sideways markets, a long-short portfolio can significantly improve your performance.
If you’re mixing in shorts, cut your average position size in half:
Long-only example: $1,250 per coin
Long-short strategy: $625 per coin
Run a weekly scan for fresh Sell signals using CoinRotator. For shorts, you’ll need to find coins that:
Are margin-tradable (Binance and FTX are solid options)
Have low funding rates
Are not highly correlated to your long picks
💡 Tip: The safest way to short is owning the coin and selling it spot. But in practice, you'll often need to use margin. Stick to 1:1 leverage to keep your liquidation risk near zero.
🛠 Example: Short Portfolio Setup
Fresh weekly CoinRotator Sell signals:
ANC, ANY, RON → Available on Binance Margin
LOOKS → Tradable via FTX Futures
That’s enough to build a simple, balanced short portfolio—even in a rough market.
📌 Final Thoughts
Portfolio management in a bear market doesn’t need to be complicated. Using CoinRotator’s screener, signal streaks, and correlation filtering, you can maintain a disciplined, scalable strategy.
Got questions or want to talk setups? Find us on Discord or Twitter @coinrotatorapp. We're always up for a trade chat.
📈 Good trading!
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