How can i bring this system to the next level

[wrbtrader]

I am a single father raising a child of 5. I am not going to make the sacrifice to see my child only 30 minutes a day. That's not worth it in my opinion.

I agree. I'm a single father of two kids and I can easily understand your situation.

Looks like multiple years to scale it to a decent size with 1 contract via the current job...most have done such. The other alternative is to fully automate your trading system...that in itself may still take several years to learn and then execute.

With your child as the key factor...that would eliminate most other options.

 

[Xela]

I do understand lending money to trade is very risky, however right now it is one of the only options i have.
Unfortunately not everyone with a good idea has the money to back it up, so i have to figure out an alternative way to get there.

That's what TST does for a living ... find a way to make it Combine-friendly? Look seriously at adding another instrument or two, to speed it up. If it holds up, it wouldn't take you all that long to be able to trade 5 contracts there and retain 80% of the profits.

Look at it this way: looking at your figures, if for some reason it can't get you through a Combine there and get you a funded account, then it's hardly going to be a resounding success by finding a different way to fund it, is it?

A Combine would also be a pretty good "real world test" of what you've produced.

Looking at it superficially, at least, if your results are entirely valid (and I'm certainly not trying to imply anything different), then there's no immediately apparent reason why that wouldn't work?

 

[Dekor]

It will definitely get me through a combine, only problem there is i can only trade 2 contracts in a 50K combine to be absolutely sure not to hit the max loss limit or draw down with the results i have had so far.

So then it would take 2 months to pass the combine and another 2 months to pass the FTP.
Include taxes and profit split when funded and it would take around 3-4 years to get up to 50K.
So this is a long term solution, however now i am trying to find a short term solution, if i am unable to find one then i have no other choice then going this way.

 

[Dekor]

I agree. I'm a single father of two kids and I can easily understand your situation.

Looks like multiple years to scale it to a decent size with 1 contract via the current job...most have done such. The other alternative is to fully automate your trading system...that in itself may still take several years to learn and then execute.

With your child as the key factor...that would eliminate most other options.

I am meeting with a friend who is a professional and very talented coder next week, hopefully he can help me.
One other option i might have to get started sooner is to partner up with this guy in a business (he is quite wealthy and might be interested in my system), so then the money wouldn't be a loan, he can code the stuff for me and he would get a share of the profits.

 

[wrbtrader]

I am meeting with a friend who is a professional and very talented coder next week, hopefully he can help me.
One other option i might have to get started sooner is to partner up with this guy in a business (he is quite wealthy and might be interested in my system), so then the money wouldn't be a loan, he can code the stuff for me and he would get a share of the profits.

Several people here at ET have used this option because going back to some school to learn how to be a programmer is not an option for most.

Trading is not like it was 20 - 30 years ago where those with small accounts can get started "out of the gate" with little or no sacrifices. Back then...you were either rich, rich relative gave you the capital, you inherited, sold off your possessions, young without any obligations, can easily move from job to job if trading didn't work and many other options.

Until then...just keep improving your system because market conditions change every year. Thus, you'll always need to make adjustments...adapting.

 

[Dekor]

Several people here at ET have used this option because going back to some school to learn how to be a programmer is not an option for most.

Trading is not like it was 20 - 30 years ago where those with small accounts can get started "out of the gate" with little or no sacrifices. Back then...you were either rich, rich relative gave you the capital, you inherited, sold off your possessions, young without any obligations, can easily move from job to job if trading didn't work and many other options.

Until then...just keep improving your system because market conditions change every year. Thus, you'll always need to make adjustments...adapting.

Making it 100% automated is something i can not do on my own, it is automated for a large part now and for now it is workable for me to do to manual stuff myself, however in the near future i would like to get it fully automated with some help.

Indeed markets keep changing, and that is why i also want to understand how it is coded so i can do small changes myself and don't need to rely on other people all the time. That's why a friend would be an ideal option to code it for me.
Being partners in a business would even be better

 

[wrbtrader]

That's what TST does for a living ... find a way to make it Combine-friendly? Look seriously at adding another instrument or two, to speed it up. If it holds up, it wouldn't take you all that long to be able to trade 5 contracts there and retain 80% of the profits.

Look at it this way: looking at your figures, if for some reason it can't get you through a Combine there and get you a funded account, then it's hardly going to be a resounding success by finding a different way to fund it, is it?

A Combine would also be a pretty good "real world test" of what you've produced.

Looking at it superficially, at least, if your results are entirely valid (and I'm certainly not trying to imply anything different), then there's no immediately apparent reason why that wouldn't work?

I thought about this too...a TST combine or similar like to get funded (although you can not successfully do this from work) or a prop firm (requires quitting your real job...the safety net).

Yet, due to his current job and obligations with a child...a combine or prop firm is not suitable.

Its just so much easier to get involved in trading with no obligations to a family, children or you're already retired with pension to support you if trading fails.

Thus, I think for him, putting the time & effort in becoming fully automated by himself or with the help of someone else would be a good solution for his personal situation.

 

[wrbtrader]

Making it 100% automated is something i can not do on my own, it is automated for a large part now and for now it is workable for me to do to manual stuff myself, however in the near future i would like to get it fully automated with some help.

Indeed markets keep changing, and that is why i also want to understand how it is coded so i can do small changes myself and don't need to rely on other people all the time. That's why a friend would be an ideal option to code it for me.
Being partners in a business would even be better

You're another good example of why some traders become fully automated besides the old norm of doing it to take their emotions out of trading.

Some go the route of fully automation to not compromise or put at risk (minimize the risks) their personal obligations to others they care about.

I was thinking about an old thread here at ET about why do people automate ?

 

[Dekor]

First entry of the day, short at 152'20 30 minutes ago. Lets see if it can get to 152'15

 

[SteveH]

Dekor,

Will your system work on the CL contract? Volume is very thick these days and the CME initial intraday margin req is like $1578 (from Interactive Brokers which follows CME guidelines). It's going to move a lot more so you should get many more signals per day. That could make up for any lack of initial funds to build up your capital more quickly.

I didn't check his website but I thought GlobalArbTrader (GAT) on these forums, who wrote a book on automated trading, has his python automated trading software available that might be worth checking out. I'm sure it's very robust as it's managing over 20 different futures contracts for his system. If so, then to plugin your logic to take a trade should be no big deal. It's the software infrastructure that's the hard part, not the decision-making logic to get in a trade. At any rate, I suggest you talk to him. He strikes me as a very nice, helpful person to automated trading newbies.