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Hey thanks for a great forum, I would really appreciate some advice from more experienced traders on basic choices I need to make to define my path.
So far I have read books and websites about discretionary trading for forex, I spent about 10 months learning but struggled to make money, I bought Forex Tester 2 and backtested my methods and found I wasn't profitable in reality.
Next I read a load of books on automated trading, I subscribed to FX Dreema and created some EA's, I got some data from Tickstory and backtested / optimized my EA,s, I have two system which seem to work. But I feel really limited with MT4, it only allows backtests of a short window in time (4G data) especially for a daily method, there are very few performance measures for results and you can only test one system on one instrument at a time.
Now I have downloaded the trial version of MultiCharts and Ninjatrader which seem as though they will do what I want once I've learned to use them.
What's the best way to get going with automated trading with say a $20,000 dollar account? Forex? Futures? Stocks? Indices? Take the step up to Multicharts for example? It seems a serious step considering cost of platform + datafeed + VPN...
When I do things I like to do them properly, I know we all need to start somewhere and progress but i'd like to take as professional an approach as possible.
Thanks and sorry for the length of this ha!
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
I can try and help a bit with a few tips from my past automated trading trial and error.
I believe for starters, you need to make sure you have very good quality data, when testing your strategies.
I found Multicharts to be very convenient in coding strategies and testing them out, but you need to feed it with
good data for reliable back-testing. One such source that I used in the past is CQG's data factory. It's not cheap,
but I believe it is very reliable, and helps with peace of mind regarding the relevance of your testing.
$20k is a nice size to start off with, in forex or in futures, but you need to make sure that you have some
good strategies that you tested thoroughly in simulation trading, taking into account fees and commissions, and
unrealistic fills, meaning fills that you wouldn't have gotten in a live account.
Thanks yes that helps, I have subscribed to MultiCharts and now i'm at the data / broker part, thanks for your advice on data I saw the CQG data factory i'll consider this
I don't have experience in Forex, but I think what I learned in trading equities can be relevant.
I traded stocks the first year and lost money. I broke even the second year even though I had the same methodology. After analysis of my trades, I learned that implementing a solid plan and sticking to it was the reason why my system worked.
Have a trading plan (and stick to it), do a lot of research and practice self-control.
Besides having a trading plan and sticking it to it, you need to have a methodology that works and more importantly that you BELIEVE in. go back to Forextester 2 and test your method until you are happy that with the results.
Because if you can not achieve the results on FT2 you will not do it live, you will lose everything and then go back to FT2 on your hands and knees ........
