Especially if people are using the leverage that is at their disposal.... if these guys are using that kind of leverage then they are playing with a time bomb.. only a matter of time before they blow out... it would take some exstreme luck to flirt with that sort of leverage for 8 whole weeks without it catching you one time..... will be interesting to see next week how many people who are in the top now are no longer there IB should do these competions a few times a year.. its good entertainment.. or maybe i'm just easiy entertained
It would be interesting if they showed the average stats across all entrants, or better yet, the risk-weighted return of the top systems. Historical trade detail would also be a plus. Just showing the top 10 balances skews the presentation in my opinion. Are we really seeing the performance of the best designed systems, or simply this week's craps table winners?
It seems that, in the end, that is what the contest is. A viable real-life strategy would not win this contest, and the strategy that wins this contest would likely not be viable in the real world.
I recall one of last year's winners tried to write a NN system but gave up and had the system buy GOOG instead (days before it was added to the S&P). best of luck to those participating...
I wonder what happened to the original poster? I really do not think he was lying to us... so either that wasn't his name..... or he blew up trading forex last night and fell out of the rankings..... before IB compiled the stats on everyone
well, i think the poster was pure BS. I look at it like this... it's a forum... if you brag about huge numbers, like I own this mansion or this car, then it's pointless and probably not true. i am up ~$1250.
princetontiger, You are up that much today, or since the competion began? Eitherway, thats not that bad.. from the looks at it if you just keep going steady finishing in the top 13 and winning 10k should be "fairly" simple... A decent strategy should get you a finish in that area..... the only ones who have a shot at the 3rd through 1st are the ones who go crazy risky... so risky that they risk blowing their chance at winning 10k..... I think thats just nuts... play safe and get yourself 10k.. thats cold hard cash.. unless you dont need the 10k.. then just go buck wild and hope you get lucky
Well, that is total. yea, $10k would be nice. i am not super conservative, but i am conservative. i also plan to go to a hedge fund once i graduate and i want to use this $100k as a practice ground for when i am playing it for real. in the real world, you wouldn't go on margin and place $100,000+ in a stock unless you were very sure what was going to happen. the market today was just a buying opportunity +/- a few swing trades.
It's too bad the competition is only open to students. Or else, the % would be much higher. I say a minimum of 500+ % returns for that kind of reward being offered. That is very easy with high leverage with forex. And this being a funny money account, who cares? You have no chance if you trade conservative. Too bad, all the good coders and traders are older than student level. Hehe.
Hello again. Yes, I'm still here. Yes, my name is Raleigh Cross. Yes, my strategy is doing poorly. No, I haven't blown my account yet. I e-mailed IB a couple hours ago asking why I'm not ranked, but they haven't responded yet. I was still at $118,000 until about 3:00 AM last night, but since then my losing trades have outnumbered my winning ones. I'm currently hovering around $113,000. The common characteristic I've noticed with my losing trades is that the price will move a bit and I will enter a trade, then the price will come to a halt, and I will be forced to hold a trade hours after my entry indicator has become worthless. To try to avoid that problem, I may start limiting my trades to Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday when the markets are more volatile. Or maybe I'll try trading GBP instead. Sorry, I was not trying to brag. I just wanted to talk with other participants and liven things up in the dead between ranking updates. I've been honest in all my posts.