@David: Best post I've seen here in ages, it neatly sums up the job of the trader. Idea -> Measure -> Implement.

Inescapable Truths

Indeed, I liked this one... "Algorithmic trading which, we know, can make money does belong to the realm of technical (not fundamental) analysis. But I am skeptical of the broader forms of technical analysis where the question of randomness (or lack ...

Interesting Interview

There might be something in that

What is your most profitable trading method?

Nice links BlackMage! That will keep me busy for a couple of days...

Systematic trading

A threshold on the first derivative of a smoothing spline applied to the price.

How do you define a trend?

I know some people think this is a dumb idea, but it been proven in my testing to increase my profit anyway...I don't take profit in a strict sense, I scale into breakouts. I will slide a stop, when the stop gets to break-even, I open a new trade in ...

If you use a breakout model, how do you determine your TP and SL?

Nobody knows where the end is.

If you use a breakout model, how do you determine your TP and SL?

I use a measure of the standard deviation of the candle sizes, so as to place the stop far enough away so that only big negative move will take it out. Why have a TP on a momentum play? Breakout systems need to ride their winners to the end.

If you use a breakout model, how do you determine your TP and SL?

Yep, judicious use of the ignore list is a must, there are some gems however.

Optimized Risk vs Reward Equation

Hey mikkom, if you're interested their is quite an interesting thread on ET at the moment, search for 'can linear regression analysis...' the posts of 'MAESTRO' are particularly interesting, that is what I call hint dropping.

Optimized Risk vs Reward Equation

I have to disagree here, there is a difference between dropping hints and posting a whole lot of obfuscated garbage. I consider myself fairly mathematically literate and after trying to read this thread a couple of times I still have no idea what is ...

Optimized Risk vs Reward Equation

Probably the biggest realization was that I was crap at manual trading (revenge trading, trading too big, no stop loss, getting all emotional...the whole nine yards), so I needed to automate, which I did. Second big realization, even if you have ...

My trading strategy - Money management

I don't want to be a negative but...you're toast if you follow this plan. 1. Fixed stop losses: Bad, it makes no sense to pick an arbitrary stop size, Google 'volatility adjusted stops', market volatility changes every day. 2. Chasing momentum: Bad, ...

My trading strategy - Money management

Magic, how do you deflect these requests without causing offense?

Programming Request: Hall of Fame

I went back and re-read the post, you are correct, I had mis-read your post, I thought you had said 'not straight = waves', so my apologies on that. BTW, I don't argue for the sake of arguing, I'm not tdion, I replied because I thought 4 was ...

Inescapable Truths

So to restate axiom 4, "The price does not move in a straight line, therefore, it moves in waves". Pretty rigorous stuff, "It is not a cat, therefore, it is a dog". BTW, I'm not playing devils advocate, I'm simply holding you to what you said, the ...

Inescapable Truths

You're not answering the question, you said quote: 'strong empirical evidence'. Where is this 'strong empirical evidence'?

Inescapable Truths

Can you point me at this evidence? (I'm hoping that it does not consist of a carefully chosen chart).

Inescapable Truths