hi all, i'm a computer programmer who's in the process of preparing to dip my toe into the murky waters of the futures markets (or is that stick my finger in a light socket?). any advice greatly appreciated. sincerely hope to keep you all amused with descriptions of my inevitable crash and burn. regards, gonzotrader
So you can program? What you are missing is Quantitaive Risk Management and Market Knowledge. I've learned to program after I was able to trade discretionary comfortably... Reverse path of my career but I think we all come up to the same place. Become a Jack-of-all-Trader. Anyways, I pointer to you would be to PM a guy called "nitro" in ET. Met him in person... very bright guy. He comes from the same background as you. (serious post)
Gonzo, I have a thread, Chabah on Automated Trading, that describes my failed attempt to crash and burn. I have a similar background to you, and I trade on TradeStation using a fully customized automated system. Unfortunately I've done about 18% this year so it doesn't look like I'll be bankrupt anytime soon. Be sure to educate yourself on the market - my best recommendation is Trade Your Way To Financial Freedom for knowledge. Automated trading requires some more skills but you'll come across those if you dig a little. Good luck, Chabah