How long do you test an idea/strategy before moving on?

Discussion in 'Trading' started by Cam12, Jul 18, 2024.

  1. Cam12

    Cam12

    I'm curious to learn from the experience of other discretionary traders about the process and duration of testing new trading strategies, setups, or theories. Specifically:

    1. Testing Duration: How long do you typically spend testing a new strategy or setup before deciding whether to continue refining it or move on to something else?
    2. Variables Adjustment: If a strategy doesn't work initially, how much time do you dedicate to testing and adjusting various parameters before concluding it's not viable?
    3. Decision Criteria: What criteria or signs do you look for that indicate it's time to abandon a strategy and focus your efforts elsewhere?
    I'm interested in hearing about your personal experiences, any rules of thumb you follow, and how you balance between persistence and knowing when to cut your losses (time, focus and energy).
     
  2. RStrauss

    RStrauss

    recently stumbled upon this podcast interview and I feel it will answer a lot of your questions.

     
    Cam12 likes this.
  3. markets and themes that play a said role in those markets change. A strategy can work if applied in numerous instruments instead of just one. All analysis or indicators are looking for how predictive repetition of prior action is persistent. Its dynamic meaning nothing works all the time, so the strategy applied needs to be based on:

    - implied order flow (volatility)
    - reversion against trend (entry buffer)
    - session time (price escape/travel away from entry)

    if you have no vol, much harder to make money for day trading strategies. Themes can work over multi session (days/weeks).
     
  4. shine

    shine

    I tested, supplemented and optimized my trading strategy for about six months. Only after that my trading statistics began to show positive results and I switched from a demo account to a real ECN account with the fxopen broker, which gave the opportunity to open it starting with an amount of 100 dollars. This would be my first real trading account.