At its core, trend-following is an investment strategy that seeks to profit from markets that are showing price trends in any given direction. If prices are trending upwards, trend-following strategies will go long the market; if they are trending downwards, trend-following strategies will go short. The mechanics are a little more complicated and making a success of it comes down to things like which markets you trade, how you size your positions and how you control your risk. But that is the basic premise.