Is it possible to make money automated trading?

I would just add that adaptability to changing conditions is key. Automation is cool, but I think a lot of folks reading this have had API's die on them.

It's nice to just sit back and watch the green numbers go up, but when market conditions change, or even the policies of your prop firm change, you'd better have something else you're ready to implement.

The answer is yes. But you should always be wondering how long it will last. The best will always have a few things they've been working on which they are ready to put to work when the current one dies a painful death.
 
Quote from themickey:

Noobs like you don't get it. It's called jest re the previous post. Duh!
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Changing the words to something completely irrelevant doesn't not make for wit.

But then, you use the word 'Noobs'. I should expect your level of intellect to be on par with your age.
 
well... like.. wow! If people aren't going to heed the warnings of our academics then I don't know what the future holds..
 
Quote from jnbadger:

I would just add that adaptability to changing conditions is key. Automation is cool, but I think a lot of folks reading this have had API's die on them.

It's nice to just sit back and watch the green numbers go up, but when market conditions change, or even the policies of your prop firm change, you'd better have something else you're ready to implement.

The answer is yes. But you should always be wondering how long it will last. The best will always have a few things they've been working on which they are ready to put to work when the current one dies a painful death.
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Bingo! You can't just develop something, throw it online, click "go" and expect it to work all the time.

I trade an automated system (I lease it but as an engineer I pretty much know how it works) and am very pleased with the results this past year. However, when the markets got into heinous goofyness over the summer, I turned it off for a few weeks. When I ran the performance report, I saw that it had taken several full-on (though capped) losses on some trades during that time even though it had a few full winners, too. But I didn't care -- I did what I needed to do based on my own assessment of the market at that time. Sumetimes discresion is the better form of valor, and if that helps me further minimise a possible loss in a chaotic environment, that's great!

Bottom line, automated systems can work, and I have become a fan of them to scalp to take away some fairly consistent 'mad money' from the intraday index futures markets, but they are not a fire-and-forget all-weather solution. IMHO the key ... automated or not .... is to maintain objective situational awareness to the market conditions, and if necessary, step aside and let Mr Market do his thing for a while. :)
 
Quote from rickf:

I trade an automated system (I lease it but as an engineer I pretty much know how it works) and am very pleased with the results this past year. However, when the markets got into heinous goofyness over the summer, I turned it off for a few weeks.
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By definition, doesn't that make your system not automated?
 
Quote from sprstpd:

By definition, doesn't that make your system not automated?
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LOL, if you want to get technical, yes. However even an airplane's autopilot gets turned on and off by the pilot, so it's not truly an "autopilot" either. :)
 
Quote from themickey:

We let our guard down, get greedy, sloppy, careless...
there is more to go wrong unless it is built with lots of safety features.
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Bingo.
I read that most HFT firm algos are coded without safety features to make them faster.
Faster = greedy, sloppy, careless = Flash Crash.

As for the original question, "Is it possible to make money automated trading?"
Yes and No.
Yes, for a deep pocket firm.
No, for anyone else.

To break down "anyone else":
A) Computer geeks - No, they lack the balls to go for it (it will always be a theory on paper).
B) Those not in group "A" - No, they lack computer skills to create such systems.
 
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