Automated <> easy
As the subject states, automated isn't necessarily easier. You must believe in your system with enough conviction to trade it and at the same time be on the lookout for a system failure. Some people can't handle that.
Currently I have 14 strategies that I consider profitable and I use in my automated trading. Every so often, depending on the strategy (anywhere from every 1-6 months) I have to re-tweak these systems. That alone is a lot of work. Occasionally, these systems break. That means system development is ongoing. Creating new systems is highly time consuming and even more time consuming is testing them for robustness.
I spend about 20-30 hours per week "working on" my systems. I trade a portfolio of currencies and my average month returns 20% with a maximum drawdown of no more than 10%. Profitable, yes. Easy, not.
For comparison my "best" single automated system on one currency does about 7% per month with a 3% max DD. I don't consider my systems the best. There are guys I know who are easily doing 2x as good with half the drawdown. They are also serious math and serious, serious programmer geeks.
FYI if you are interested in automated trading it will take a lot of your time (try at least 1000 hours) if you know nothing about automation. To be skilz you also need to spend at least another 1000 hours becoming your own programmer. You are so not going to find someone else to do the work (right) unless you have uber $$.
Lastly, most of my programming and hard work goes into testing my systems. Not creating them. Got that? So important.
BTW for those of you discretionary traders looking into getting automated, the grass is always greener. Now that my automated trading is running smoothly, I'm look at ways to trade discretionarily. Why? Because I'm always looking at better ways to trade and so are you. And I might just learn something from getting up at 4 a.m. and following the market.
Also for those who care, there are a few people selling systems that are legit. But they are half as good as anything I can come up with and probably 1/4 as good as someone who really knows something about automated trading.
Lastly, I do watch my automated trading - sometimes. But it really boils down to how bullet proof your whole trading system is. I personally have a backup workstation, backup internet, backup power and I like to live dangerously (which is why I don't watch my automation 100% of the time). Also, I've debugged my code 100 ways from Sunday - so I know the snafus aren't in my code. But if you don't have all that, then yeah, you better watch it while it trades.
Edward
