Formalizing a strategy: from handtrading to cTrader cbot

Gotfreeld
07 Sep 2021, 13:06

LOL, I didn't even try. I don't think that strategies based on visual patterns recognition and price action can be formalized clearly enough. 

modimeena37
08 Sep 2021, 12:54

RE:

Well, that's an opinion that some people share and other people challenge :)

Nikor
09 Sep 2021, 23:33

RE: Formalizing a strategy: from handtrading to cTrader cbot

modimeena37 said:

Several years I’ve been working in a hand-trading mode and recently (over a year ago in fact AHAHHA) started moving in a direction of creating a ctrader cbot to delegate all this decision-making crap to a heartless machine and enjoy my pina colada on a deserted carribean island while it makes money. AHHAHAA again.
What I wish I knew before I started programming cbots?

1. The trading patterns that we can perceive visually from the charts are VERY difficult to explain clearly to a machine. To be totally sincere, I found them difficult to explain to a human either. At certain moments I felt like punching the programmer in his face if he asked again “yeah, but what are the exact parameters that allow us to understand that the price has consolidated here?”
2. You can learn programming yourself, but you can’t develop algorithmic mindset fast enough. When I started collaborating with professional developers, I realized that the algos and solutions I use and they offer differ like a lego spacecraft differs from Perseverance rover.
3. Programming ctrader cbot takes time. I used to think that developing an algo would take 2 week at max and if I’m not finished by then, I will hire someone at upwork and some geek will do the job over the weekend otherwise. Huh! Automating a complicated trading system requires a lot of polishing. I wonder if it requires continuing polishing (I start suspecting it is so!) You really can make your bot function somehow in a little while but polishing is what makes the equity curve pretty. You know, it’s never pretty enough. The sky is the limit.

Did you ever try creating a ctrader cbot? What were the insights?

That's a very useful post. I'd also add another point to this 'I wish I knew' before creating a Ctrader cbot list:
It's a very time-consuming task. Timewise you can't efford having a full-time job and seriously working on the strategyalong with continuing your hand-trading experiements. If you do so, the burnout is around the corner.