Discipline is the first you should practice

[deaddog]

You should write an Ebook or Book on How to Develop an Effective and Profitable Trading Plan.

Here is the condensed version: For the effective part; as for the profitable part that's up to each individual.

Why are you trading; be very specific.

What are you trading; be very specific

Where are you entering your trade and why?

What is your position size and why?

Where are your exits.

Come up with every possible scenario that might happen and determine what you will do if that happens. (price moves up or down, price gaps, price is halted, power goes off, internet goes down, lose contact with you broker, anything else you can think of.)

For every point you make in your plan be able to answer Why.

 

[Tradex]

Most traders here rely on automation, see https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/poll-automated-trading.346153/

Yes, but automation (buy/sell signals generated and executed by a computer) has nothing to do with backtesting, even though most backtests are also done by a computer.

 

[Tradex]

so you can't backtest 20-30years of data and even if you did pretty meaningless.

Sure, so 3 day "backtests" are more meaningful?

 

[easymon1]

Discipline

Walter, what is the dictionary definition of discipline as relates to your post?
That will simplify your quest to spread the word.
Define the Terms. Thanks

 

[geneticien]

Yes, but automation (buy/sell signals generated and executed by a computer) has nothing to do with backtesting, even though most backtests are also done by a computer.

About or more than 50% of people voted that everything (~25%) or almost everything (~25%) is automated. Hard to imagine that a substantial ratio of these people didn't backtest their automated systems. Thus, to say "automation has nothing to do with backtesting" is likely to be wrong in most cases.

 

[SimpleMeLike]

I am talking about backtesting a system with 20 or 30 years of historical data.

The trader cannot "test" a system and then calls it "profitable" after 19 trades (for instance), that's a total joke.

But believe it or not, that's what a lot of traders do.

You right Tradex, lol I am one of those. It takes more sample size to get good practice and underestanding

 

[Turveyd]

Most traders here rely on automation, see https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/poll-automated-trading.346153/

I'd say the top 2 are manual so exactly 50/50, never trust polls personally, everybody lies.

 

[geneticien]

I'd say the top 2 are manual so exactly 50/50, never trust polls personally, everybody lies.

This particular question does not disclose much, i.e., it is not about performance or strategy. The second answer is formulated as "My trading strategy suggests trades but I perform/validate them manually" so I would call it semi-automated where the signal generation is automated.

 

[Turveyd]

This particular question does not disclose much, i.e., it is not about performance or strategy. The second answer is formulated as "My trading strategy suggests trades but I perform/validate them manually" so I would call it semi-automated where the signal generation is automated.

you could argue anyone with some kinda setup logic not automated would also fit into that group??

we'll go 40 manual / 60 Auto split the difference, still no everyone/most but more.

 

[geneticien]

you could argue anyone with some kinda setup logic not automated would also fit into that group??

we'll go 40 manual / 60 Auto split the difference, still no everyone/most but more.

Hard to say what exactly people had in mind while making their selection.

The poll-size is too small to get the exact picture (you would need at least 10x to be sure) but clearly a substantial part of members use automated systems.

The more interesting question is how it correlates with performance and other indicators. However, putting this question in might drastically reduce the number of answers.

Personally, I tend to think that automated systems tend to free their designers from manual labor to creative intellectual labor. Of course, automation comes with its own cost of development and support. Also, some complicated strategies cannot be easily automated and a few very profitable traders might be just very clever 'manual' participants.