Wow, interesting to think after all this time people are still opinionating on this thread. I've concluded that it IS possible to automate profits. From a practical standpoint, "automated trading" means opening and closing trades unattended (without human intervention). The ultimate goal for speculators is by the designated deadline (hourly, daily, weekly, etc) the equity is GREATER than when we started. The equity curve must continuously rise in some sort of consistent manner to make a living from it. Like sales or commission-based jobs, , you may have winning trades or losing trades. but your net gain over time must be positive to live from it. Like any business, you must check in once in a while to ensure it is running properly. No different than owning a car. It must be serviced every so often and . Even while you are using your car, you glance at the gauges every so often to make sure they r in the normal ranges. Factories have automated equipment, but you still have workers or someone do periodic inspections and QA tests to ensure the batches are coming out properly. While an automated trading system may not necessarily be an ATM machine, you can certainly leave it unattended for days or even weeks. Although forex brokers like interbank fx have gone in the right direction and began introducing debit cards for withdrawal options. https://www.ibfx.com/Corporate/post/2010/01/08/Ta-Da!-The-Global-Debit-Card-Makes-Its-Debut!.aspx But i can confirm with experience that it is possible to automate strategies and make money unattended. But not completely unattended forever. It needs maintenance an tweaking like any other equipment.
that's great ! to me it's like the whole world is awakening to what what i've known for many years. that it is possible to have a mechanical trading system and have it auto execute trades. what is even better is that the cost of transactions have gone down over the years as well. but the competition has gotten harder is the downside. upside is it gives me something to do and keeps me interested in staying on top. downside to that is it will take 20 more years for anyone to believe i'm at that next level when i choose to disclose it. mb
To deny the exsistance of such a system would be incorrect of me, however the computing power and programming needed for such thing to be possible, is out of the retail traders reach.
you can automate everything, the question is will it make money on a constant basis, and that is somethingthat if it is out there, it would not be for sale...and if someone is selling it, it would cost a gazillion dollars
I would disagree. If that retail trader has the programming skills or has access to the necessary programming skills, then it is not too bad. Futures and especially forex has come a long way in commissions reduction for discount/direct-access electronic trading platforms with level 2 quote access. Although access to the broker API often may require a higher starting balance, the "retail" platforms have become quite sophisticated. TradeStation, Multicharts, ZenTrader, NinjaTrader, MetaTrader, OpenEcry, StrategyRunner, AmiBroker, and hundreds more client-to-broker access software with programming capability. Whether it would consistently make money depends on the strategy itself. only forward tested results count in this regard. Demo first until it meets your expectations. Then you must take the risk to be alive and put the money where your programming is eventually. That is the proof. Correct. you wouldnt sell it. You might sell the signals, manage peoples accts, or give it to loved ones or a really good friend. But you wouldnt retail it. Focus on acquiring initial capital and trade your own strategy.