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Automatic Trade Management
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Latest Update: Monday June 29 at 02:00 ET
Last week the ATM bot was running every day with a basic parameters setup that is used to test the rigidity of the code. The new code is embedded in the old one is such a way that it does not affect the stability of the trade signals generation as we know them and have traded with for years now.
My primary concern has been to carry out the development work with the minimum disruption to the 15 hours each day that the bot runs live. So except for a few times that the system was crashing a few weeks back we had a full week without any system crashes and the existing trade signals generation run uninterrupted.
However there were bugs that caused the ATM cycle not to complete a single digit number of 5 seconds steps each day, out of the 4,862 steps that the bot takes each regular hours session. This resulted in production of some erroneous ATM trades and major disruption in the data collecting that goes on in the background.
It is absolutely essential to have all bugs corrected before the ATM trades will be tradeable. I have spent the best part of last week and all my weekend free time to detect them and resolve them. As a result a large part of the old and new code has been rewritten to trap any bugs but also in the same time to reduce the run time to the minimum possible.
As a result the total code runs now in less time than the original code, that is less than 100 milliseconds plus the sounds time when they are produced. I do expect to see the bugs eliminated today so that I can proceed to the next step, which is the introduction of the advanced setups that I have been preparing with the offline machine.
To test the code real time with the minimum disruption to members trading, I will need to run the Regular Hours session bot everyday for 2 hours from 07:00 am ET to 09:00 am ET when normally there is enough market action. During these hours the bot will be shown in hotComm and when needed to stop for debugging, there will be discussion in the room, so that all members will be out of a trade.
Reminder: There will be an extensive Webinar on Monday, as usually at 16:15 ET.
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Latest Update: Saturday June 20 at 17:00 ET
The new Version 5 of GemsBot for regular hours trading has been tested, debugged and is now in a stable condition. From now on it will run everyday. A basic static setup with four different trade managements for ES (stop loss, trailing, profit targets) will be shown, while essential data is being collected. Each static setup will run for a full day and during the initials weeks this will only be changing at the end of the day, probably most days of the week. Of course this work is taken care of inside the Excel algorithms and all you need to do is to observe and eventually follow the ATM trades diligently.
At the same time another offline machine has been built that is using the collected data to develop a large number of setups. Gradually this is going to form the basis for live dynamically variable setups, in a similar fashion as the Market Strength is being calculated for the last few years.
In addition a large number of filters, for example the second leg of a crossroads pattern which will be handled differently, will be added to the setups in due course.
The only modifications and improvements to the standard way of trading, as it was shown in version 4, are the calculations for Spread and Bold counters where now they do not show numbers when a trade signal has been removed and a new one is not yet produced.
We will have an extensive Webinar on Monday at 16:15 ET when all new developments will be discussed in detail, right after the normal introductory discussion for new members.
Thank you for your patience the last few weeks. The new “choco” trade that some of our members are monitoring and has proved to be more than 70% successful so far, is my reward for the numerous hours that I have spend in developing the ATM addition. I hope it is already adding a new dimension in the way you trade and eventually will enhance your profitability.
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Introduction
The existing spreadsheet has been developed over the last 6 years, incorporating many new ideas at each stage of development. Starting with version 1 when only ES trend trades were produced to the latest version 4 that was used until May 22nd, 2009. New instruments were added YM, TF and NQ and additional trade signals like Fast, Sync, Spike and Spread were added.
Trade management to suit individual profiles is included in the site so that you are in a position to pick the trade signals from the live video and trade them according to your style. This is the most profitable way to trade with GemsBot and will continue to be so. Universal trade management for all to follow is not yet included since it would be impossible to apply to all of us, particularly since we are trading different lot sizes.
The most difficult trading style is trading 1 contract at a time, since it does not offer the flexibility of partial entries and exits, that enhance the profitability while maintaining reduced trading risks overall. However I have noticed that particularly new members wish to trade just 1 contract at a time profitably with simple to follow entry and exit without bothering to learn GemsBot trading system. To cover this need the new ATM trade is now under development. Once it is complete for ES it will be applied to the other instruments too.
The next step then will be the Auto Trading of the ATM with one of the established companies in the field that has still to be selected.
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Stages of development
New code into the existing system
This has already been accomplished off line and needs to be tested for a few days on line to fix any bugs in it.
Collection of data
This has started since May 7th, 2009 and goes on daily in the background. It is apparent that substantially more data is required and the more feedback it produces the better the results.
Establishing setups
Each setup contains conditions to enter and exit the ATM trade. Currently 5 main setups exist for manual trading, each one corresponding to one of the Main or Continuation trades.
A large number in the area of 100 are needed to offer a sufficient variety for the program to select and apply for the next trade automatically. New conditions are established weekly and are added to the existing ones. For each setup, variable trade management (stop loss, trail and profit target) are tested and applied.
This work is ongoing and is the most crucial part of the system. It will last until there is no apparent room for improvement. However I expect starting June 1st, 2009 to have a reasonable set of setups ready and coded in, so that we can begin the “acid” test, that is real time trading.
Adding YM, TF and NQ ATM trades
Currently the four visible areas of testing the ATM correspond to ES trades only. Once the system reaches a satisfactory level for ATM ES trades the other instruments will be added. This stage will be very short since most of the hard work will have taken place already.
Auto Trading
We will cross this bridge when we reach it. More details will be available and discussed in due time. The auto trading will not replace the existing arrangements with GemsBot. It will be available as an independent add on service.
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Comments
During the webinars we will be discussing the ATM trade in detail. Please refrain from asking many questions during trading hours, since there will be much work done in the background all the time. However your comments and ideas are not only welcomed but are required to help complete ATM as soon as possible.
Believe me, there is no one more eager to get it finished than me. I have the patience and I devote sufficient time to get it done.
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Legend
The following image depicts the contents of each cell that is shown in the video, for regular hours trading.
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| ATM cells legend |
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