A trading system includes aset of rules for viewing markets and making trades. The benefits oftrading systemscan be hidden when they become associated with trading platforms involving trade order submission and processing. A clarification of their roles might help explain the advantages ofusing atrading system. This can be done without identifying a particular platform or system. When the platform infrastructure is isolated, a brief look could be taken at why an investorcan usually benefit froma trading system.
An online trading platform consists of the infrastructure for viewing market prices and making trades. While platforms utilize user provided hardware and also the internet itself, platforms consist of software linked to a database while displaying price quotes, enabling order entry and routing orders for an exchange. A platform of software and order routing services is providedby many people brokers. It often includes programmable charting software that enablesa userto select froma range of formats for price, volume and technical indicators. Links to real-time databases are utilizedduring the day traders while free delayed quotes are very adequate for position traders who analyze data following the markets close to minimize the emotional stress of changing prices. Platform software saves time and reduces errors by automating repetitive tasks.
Some platform tools have grown to be quite sophisticated, allowing a personto add his personal rules for making trades. Rules tell the program which group of indicators and pricesto monitorand the levels at which traded instruments should betraded. Automated systems forex trading platforms are preprogrammed with trading rules enabling them to make trades with minimal user input. These software modules, created by3rd party vendors to operate under existing platforms, are based on algorithms that identify price trends and market turning points. Since their accuracy is restrictedby the presumed market volatility, an algorithmis needed to recognize when market volatility falls outside the envelope thatthe software rules were designed. The caliber ofsome rules could be estimated from historical back testing on past market prices stored in a database. It is usuallynoticed that back testing lacks the realism of real time emotional stress and that past performance isn’tan indication of future performance. While the latter is validin all cases, the nature of trading plan rules reduces emotional stress as far asthat the rules are consistently followed.
In any case, it’s the rules themselves define the trading system. In their purest form, trading systemsgo ahead and taketype ofa compactalgorithm written in writing.
The ability to consistently make error free decisions amid changing prices in an environment of fear and greed is not likelywith no discipline that rules provide. It will little good tohave allthe price monitoring, charting, order submission and routing infrastructure if a persondoes not havea consistentalgorithmfor making trades. The majority of us find this thepainfully costly way, judging in the statistic that only about 12% of stock traders are successful. For futures traders the amount is closer to 5%. It is not just a coincidence thepercentage of traders that depend ona proventrading system is near these same levels. The consistent use ofan establishedtrading plancan bemost appropriate to traders with alllevels of experience.
Seeing the main difference between trading systems and platform infrastructure makes the characteristics of a good trading system more obvious. A greattrading plan explains when trading should not be attempted, thereby, avoiding forced trading under inopportune conditions. It ought to specify how to independently generate a strong watch listing of candidate trades to eliminatethe necessity to chase following the latest hot tip from a specialist advisor. For self-evident reasons, an investing system should beeasy to use, totally objective, take little of a trader’s some time and make consistent profits. It should also avoid large draw downs and provide clear trading signals.
An investingsystem is best learned from a master trader who remains actively involved in teaching. The actualmight helpa student tailor the machine to his personality, financial means, risk tolerance and level of skill. The nextultimate wayis to simply read what has been written and adopt it to one’s personal situation. But on no account should one attempt tofluked itwithout the support of thegroup of trading rules. The benefit of rule based trading strategieslies in their objectivity and consistency. When followed consistently, emotional trading and its associated errors are removed from the equation. As an investment, trading strategiesa lot more thanpay for themselves, not only in profits gained, but additionallyin theamount of capital preserved. This is correctnot just for advanced automated trading strategiesbut in addition fora concisealgorithmin writing.