Hi, Can anyone direct me to proper information.

IMHO automation of a trading strategy doesn't necessarily remove the emotions of trading.
  • Are you going to stare at the screen while the strategy is running?
  • What if the strategy takes five losses in a row? Are you going to hit the Oh Shit button and turn the strategy off?
  • Just as in mechanical trading, you have to fully trust your auto strategy to turn it on and let it run.
i was thinking about running an automated strategy on one account and use another account to trade manually myself. And compare the two after say 3-6 months to see which one has more shortcomings. and then stick to the one that is less stressful. If the difference is not too great then use automated feature but if there is a huge difference in results then just go with one that is better.
 
i was thinking about running an automated strategy on one account and use another account to trade manually myself. And compare the two after say 3-6 months to see which one has more shortcomings. and then stick to the one that is less stressful. If the difference is not too great then use automated feature but if there is a huge difference in results then just go with one that is better.
Without knowing much about your strategy and if you are decent at excel, you can probably automate your strategy utilizing Sierra Chart and the spreadsheet for trading study which is similar to excel . It can handle pretty complex strategies. If you use it, don't try to take shortcuts. Read all the documentation about it. Other than that, you should learn how to code.

If you learn to code, do yourself a longterm favor and learn, c++, c#, or python.
 
Currently i am manually trading ES based on signals generated by my customized indicator. I am having a very good run for the past 1 month. No red day and my win % is around 70%. Even though i trade around 40 contracts average on a day, i feel lot of it is over trading, where in i exit at a profit but then get in again at same exit price to continue the trade. even with position sizing and proper exit, i feel my emotions are coming to play and i exit lot sooner at first sign of price stagnation or reversal. I would like to get some of the trades automated, but i am really not well versed in coding or anything related to it. whats the best way to go about it, if i need to hire someone. Also what safeguards do i have if the information i provide wont be divulged by the coder.
Thanks if some could provide me some pointers how to go about it, would really appreciate.
It is not matter of over-trading or under-trading.
I get a feeling that you don't know what you are doing ....and you want to blame your emotional factors when your trades go wrong.
 
Currently i am manually trading ES based on signals generated by my customized indicator. I am having a very good run for the past 1 month. No red day and my win % is around 70%. Even though i trade around 40 contracts average on a day, i feel lot of it is over trading, where in i exit at a profit but then get in again at same exit price to continue the trade. even with position sizing and proper exit, i feel my emotions are coming to play and i exit lot sooner at first sign of price stagnation or reversal. I would like to get some of the trades automated, but i am really not well versed in coding or anything related to it. whats the best way to go about it, if i need to hire someone. Also what safeguards do i have if the information i provide wont be divulged by the coder.
Thanks if some could provide me some pointers how to go about it, would really appreciate.

Since you have a customized entry indicator; can you not create a customized exit indicator?

You would likely benefit more from teaching yourself to code and develop the program you need as well, which would facilitate the privacy of your strategy, as well.
 
It is not matter of over-trading or under-trading.
I get a feeling that you don't know what you are doing ....and you want to blame your emotional factors when your trades go wrong.
I am sorry if i was not very clear on my posting. I am not blaming my emotional factors for trades not going in favor, as i have a stop loss mechanism in play that takes me out of the trades if i am wrong. My conflicting emotions that are a hindrance to me is in regards to profit taking. Most of trades that i execute i tend to exit after 2-3 points. Even when i have set a profit target and all my indicators point towards it, i tend to exit at first signs of price stagnation. If i could have made 7-10 points still my instincts kick in and i exit at first sign of price movement weakness. That is why if i had an automated trading strategy on, i am sure i would be able to ignore those tendencies.
 
Since you have a customized entry indicator; can you not create a customized exit indicator?

You would likely benefit more from teaching yourself to code and develop the program you need as well, which would facilitate the privacy of your strategy, as well.
Yes the customized indicator is so far very effective in entry and exit signals both. But sticking to the exit signal manually is very hard, as when price fluctuates towards my break even, i tend to exit. I am not complaining about it as i am still making profits but i am little displeased as many such trades would have bagged me larger points but due to my emotions i tend to exit early. for those kind of trades i would really benefit from an automated strategy. Also a factor could be i tend to trade in very small time frames but there are certain break out trades that i am very confident about bagging 7-10 points and also can recognize those moves on my larger time frame screen but since price does not move in one direction, i tend to exit those when there is a slight stagnation or small reversal.
 
Without knowing much about your strategy and if you are decent at excel, you can probably automate your strategy utilizing Sierra Chart and the spreadsheet for trading study which is similar to excel . It can handle pretty complex strategies. If you use it, don't try to take shortcuts. Read all the documentation about it. Other than that, you should learn how to code.

If you learn to code, do yourself a longterm favor and learn, c++, c#, or python.
which of these languages would be suitable for complete novice in terms of coding and also easy to code with other platforms. currently i use TOS and MT5.
 
which of these languages would be suitable for complete novice in terms of coding and also easy to code with other platforms. currently i use TOS and MT5.
The only one that is somewhat easy is sierra chart's spreadsheet for trading, . Again, read all of the documentation. The rest of them you have to learn the language. I chased easy and that is a much longer road that is actually much harder. It will lead you to learning how to code if you stick with trading. I learned easylanguge and thinkscript. It is much better to learn c++, C#, or python.

There is also TT and amibroker.
 
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Yes the customized indicator is so far very effective in entry and exit signals both. But sticking to the exit signal manually is very hard, as when price fluctuates towards my break even, i tend to exit. I am not complaining about it as i am still making profits but i am little displeased as many such trades would have bagged me larger points but due to my emotions i tend to exit early. for those kind of trades i would really benefit from an automated strategy. Also a factor could be i tend to trade in very small time frames but there are certain break out trades that i am very confident about bagging 7-10 points and also can recognize those moves on my larger time frame screen but since price does not move in one direction, i tend to exit those when there is a slight stagnation or small reversal.

I mean taking a profit is something you should be proud of, as it is not something everyone can do. I would ask, have you taken the time to calculate how much you have missed out on? I would think any material amount would require either a significant change to your script or a significant extension in the holding period to waver through that initial downturn.

If you are so confident in your entry signals, and it sounds like you are and that you should be, you should be confident in your so far successful exit signal. you may need to adjust it over time but better to take green than leave red.
 
There is quite the buzz these days around terms like 'artificial intelligence' and 'machine learning' and 'robotic process automation' and even just to 'algorithmic trading'. Don't get caught in the hype.

Rules-based trading -- what you're after -- is no more than stating ahead-of-time what your trading entries and exits will be, as defined by conditions you set. Paint them on the side of your neighbor's house, they're still rules by which you trade.

That's the beauty of it tho... Algo's will never have an imagination, that's the advantage. Institutional algo's with massive funding, constant news streaming, yea those are sick for sure... But generally speaking, a good human trader will outperform a good algorithm system in long/short option equities. I will never understand how a retail trader would want to automate entry, it doesn't make sense, one is much better off with lower volume of trades but really researched entries.
 
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