Are Bots any good for a Newbie trader?

Hi all,

I want to know as a new trader if I should focus on playing around with bots..having no programming experience, I would just have manual control of parameters only and not the programming bit to modify the bot...that would also mean that I will have to purchase a bot ...after doing my research on them..

I am, ofcourse going to be trading my account manually as well but I as thinking about getting another account and devoting it to bot development and research...

Any traders ( new or experienced) operating an EA successfully are welcome to comment!

no bot until you know what you are doing

I have been a 'robotic' trader for many years, mainly because I cannot handle the emotional stress of trading larger accounts. Also, I have more free time, less stress and better sleep, not to mention better trading results. So I have never looked back to my old days of manual trading.

I also have to add that I have no clue how to program an EA, so I utilize the help of an excellent MQL4 programmer who translates my algorithms into tradable EAs. And it is affordable, $25-$75 depending on complexity.

Psychology of trading is a major part of MANUAL trading, so one should not underestimate its importance. (Many experts consider it as 80% of trading success.)

I did not know MT4 gives us option to use programmers to make EAs for us...and that too at such low prices...

In addition to perfectly executing trading plans (you know: 'plan your trade, trade your plan'), EAs are also good to eliminate bad trading ideas with quick backtests.

Nevertheless, good backtest results carry absolutely no guarantees about future performance. But again, they can help to save time and money by eliminating bad trading concepts very fast.

The major disadvantage of most EAs is that they cannot adapt to changing market conditions and usually they are performing well only under certain market conditions, which don't last forever.

Started discretionary trading about 8 months ago and experienced plenty of great ups and very nasty downs where I moved from enjoying myself (mostly) to the point where the stress and psychology was beginning to have a detrimental impact on me. In the last 8 weeks I have started trading robotically as well as discretionary 30% the former and 70% latter. Currently my robotic trades have led to a less stressful experience (albeit at the expense of profit - but which is made up by the volume of trades that I would simply not have seen or had the balls to take).

For me, I would recommend that the shot nerves and the lows and highs are a probable necessity in the first steps that you take as a trader but that unless you are very fortunate/brave and emotionless (and are good enough to stay that way - and maintain good performance) then discretionary is great, but if you want to have a decent nights sleep, have modest goals and a modest equity to invest - then robotic trading deserves a look see once you feel that you have an understanding of the markets you are trading.

This is because no algorithmic trading (however good you and the robots are set up) will ever give you 100% profitable results so your early days/weeks of learning the basics will be valuable at those times when the robot and the market go against you both.

And yes you do not need to have programming skills yourself in order to set up and use a robot.

FxMasterGuru posted:
I have been a 'robotic' trader for many years, mainly because I cannot handle the emotional stress of trading larger accounts. Also, I have more free time, less stress and better sleep, not to mention better trading results. So I have never looked back to my old days of manual trading.

I also have to add that I have no clue how to program an EA, so I utilize the help of an excellent MQL4 programmer who translates my algorithms into tradable EAs. And it is affordable, $25-$75 depending on complexity.

Psychology of trading is a major part of MANUAL trading, so one should not underestimate its importance. (Many experts consider it as 80% of trading success.)

But of course you had to start manual, after knowing the trade well you used robots.

@sid4spd My advice is not to use bots until you handle the trade well.

sid4spd posted:
Hi all,

I want to know as a new trader if I should focus on playing around with bots..having no programming experience, I would just have manual control of parameters only and not the programming bit to modify the bot...that would also mean that I will have to purchase a bot ...after doing my research on them..

I am, ofcourse going to be trading my account manually as well but I as thinking about getting another account and devoting it to bot development and research...

Any traders ( new or experienced) operating an EA successfully are welcome to comment!

I think you want to do a lot of things at the same time. If you are a new trader do not complicate the existence. Step by step you build a good profit.

After all the journey you are going to thank this advice.

ilian1 posted:

FxMasterGuru posted:
I have been a 'robotic' trader for many years, mainly because I cannot handle the emotional stress of trading larger accounts. Also, I have more free time, less stress and better sleep, not to mention better trading results. So I have never looked back to my old days of manual trading.

I also have to add that I have no clue how to program an EA, so I utilize the help of an excellent MQL4 programmer who translates my algorithms into tradable EAs. And it is affordable, $25-$75 depending on complexity.

Psychology of trading is a major part of MANUAL trading, so one should not underestimate its importance. (Many experts consider it as 80% of trading success.)

But of course you had to start manual, after knowing the trade well you used robots.

Not necessarily, except for the fact that manual trading had FORCED me to realize that - emotionally - I am incapable of manually trading larger funds.

Although spending LOTS OF HOURS in front of charts - not necessarily live trading - can help develop trading ideas. (According to Malcolm Gladwell's famous book, 'The Outliers', it is 10,000+ hours...)

Nevertheless - from purely technical point of view - it is enough if you have a TRADE CONCEPT (i.e. a hypothesis) in your MIND, and you can VISUALLY BACKTEST it on your charts going back a few weeks. If this visual backtest looks promising, then my next step is WRITING UP A VERBAL TRADING ALGORITHM (in normal layman terms) and sending it to my programmer who converts the steps of the trading plan into an EA. He says that if I can write it down, he can program it...

FxMasterGuru posted:

ilian1 posted:

FxMasterGuru posted:


 If this visual backtest looks promising, then my next step is WRITING UP A VERBAL TRADING ALGORITHM (in normal layman terms) and sending it to my programmer who converts the steps of the trading plan into an EA. He says that if I can write it down, he can program it...

Does he work exclusively for you or is this programming his business?

Trust yourself :)

New trader not bots - bots not new trader.

Update a little so we know what you have decided.

sid4spd posted:

FxMasterGuru posted:

ilian1 posted:

FxMasterGuru posted:


 If this visual backtest looks promising, then my next step is WRITING UP A VERBAL TRADING ALGORITHM (in normal layman terms) and sending it to my programmer who converts the steps of the trading plan into an EA. He says that if I can write it down, he can program it...

Does he work exclusively for you or is this programming his business?

He works for others, too. By profession he is an engineer in India.

CliveBarrett posted:
Trust yourself :)

Easier said than done... Once you trade with 10+ lots at a time manually and in a DD, well, that self-trust might just evaporate pretty fast...

FxMasterGuru posted:

ilian1 posted:

FxMasterGuru posted:
I have been a 'robotic' trader for many years, mainly because I cannot handle the emotional stress of trading larger accounts. Also, I have more free time, less stress and better sleep, not to mention better trading results. So I have never looked back to my old days of manual trading.

I also have to add that I have no clue how to program an EA, so I utilize the help of an excellent MQL4 programmer who translates my algorithms into tradable EAs. And it is affordable, $25-$75 depending on complexity.

Psychology of trading is a major part of MANUAL trading, so one should not underestimate its importance. (Many experts consider it as 80% of trading success.)

But of course you had to start manual, after knowing the trade well you used robots.

Not necessarily, except for the fact that manual trading had FORCED me to realize that - emotionally - I am incapable of manually trading larger funds.

Although spending LOTS OF HOURS in front of charts - not necessarily live trading - can help develop trading ideas. (According to Malcolm Gladwell's famous book, 'The Outliers', it is 10,000+ hours...)

Nevertheless - from purely technical point of view - it is enough if you have a TRADE CONCEPT (i.e. a hypothesis) in your MIND, and you can VISUALLY BACKTEST it on your charts going back a few weeks. If this visual backtest looks promising, then my next step is WRITING UP A VERBAL TRADING ALGORITHM (in normal layman terms) and sending it to my programmer who converts the steps of the trading plan into an EA. He says that if I can write it down, he can program it...

If you trade good enough you can go to the next step, so you will improve what you have.

CliveBarrett posted:
Trust yourself :)

That has to do with the bots?