Building Winning Algorithmic Trading Systems

PART I A TRADER’S JOURNEY 7

CHAPTER 1 The Birth of a Trader 9

CHAPTER 2 Enough Is Enough 15

CHAPTER 3 World Cup Championship of Futures

Trading® Triumph 23

CHAPTER 4 Making the Leap—Transitioning to Full Time 33

PART II YOUR TRADING SYSTEM 41

CHAPTER 5 Testing and Evaluating a Trading System 43

CHAPTER 6 Preliminary Analysis 53

CHAPTER 7 Detailed Analysis 61

CHAPTER 8 Designing and Developing Systems 71

PART III DEVELOPING A STRATEGY 77

CHAPTER 9 Strategy Development—Goals and Objectives 79

CHAPTER 10 Trading Idea 83

CHAPTER 11 Let’s Talk about Data 93 CHAPTER 12 Limited Testing 103 CHAPTER 13 In-Depth Testing/Walk-Forward Analysis 115 CHAPTER 14 Monte Carlo Analysis and Incubation 129 CHAPTER 15 Diversifi cation 133 CHAPTER 16 Position Sizing and Money Management 139 CHAPTER 17 Documenting the Process 147 PART IV CREATING A SYSTEM 153 CHAPTER 18 Goals, Initial and Walk-Forward Testing 155 CHAPTER 19 Monte Carlo Testing and Incubation 163 PART V CONSIDERATIONS BEFORE GOING LIVE 175 CHAPTER 20 Account and Position Sizing 177 CHAPTER 21 Trading Psychology 187 CHAPTER 22 Other Considerations before Going Live 195 PART VI MONITORING A LIVE STRATEGY 203 CHAPTER 23 The Ins and Outs of Monitoring a Live Strategy 205 CHAPTER 24 Real Time 219 PART VII CAUTIONARY TALES 233 CHAPTER 25 Delusions of Grandeur 235 Conclusion 243 APPENDIX A Monkey Trading Example, TradeStation Easy Language Code 247 APPENDIX B Euro Night Strategy, TradeStation Easy Language Format 255 APPENDIX C Euro Day Strategy, TradeStation Easy Language Format 259