General questions on running automated systems

• 01/11/2018 at 10:46 AM #58969
  rdcarvajal

  Hi Everyone:

  I have some code I want to start testing with real money. My trading is a portfolio approach and the code is a conversion from Metastock language which I currently trade manually. It is a few questions but YES/No replies should suffice, except for the last 2 question. Responses will be really appreciated.

  1. Is it necessary to have one trading system written per instrument?
  2. Can you use the same system across instruments without having to copy/paste and re-name?
  3. Is it necessary to have one trading system written per time-frame?
  4. Can one system reference another system? (application would be to use a single equity for the portfolio)
  5. Is it possible to pause/halt a system while trades are still open? (to prevent too many open positions on the whole portfolio?)
  6. Is it possible to edit or make changes to an open system? (system with open trades? this would be useful for updating portfolio equity)
  7. Can you use guaranteed stop losses? (based in Australia)
  8. Can you use or reference other countries time of the day? (i.e. place trades at 8AM London time from Australia)
  9. Does PRT automatically adjust for daylight savings?
  10. Can anyone comment on speed of system-trade execution? (i.e. stop orders executed late resulting in bigger losses)
  11. Any comment on common problems experienced? (orders not executed, systems not working, bugs, big gaps, etc…)

  Thank you. If anyone else has other similar questions please feel free to post in this topic.

  

  rdcarvajal

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  01/11/2018 at 11:19 AM #59004
  jebus89

  Im gonna put my 2 cents in even tho im pretty noobish still 🙂

  1. Is it necessary to have one trading system written per instrument? No you can use the same system for any instrument/market. But i find that there are quite a few differences which requires me to customize any system for every marked. U’ll see fast in backtest wether or not you need to optimize/customize for that spesific market-
  2. Can you use the same system across instruments without having to copy/paste and re-name? The system it self is just a set of rules that you run. You can run the same set of rules on any market, name being the same or not doesnt matter. Its the same set of rules/conditions, just different market.
  3. Is it necessary to have one trading system written per time-frame? Again i think you will find it VERY hard to create a system that works for any market, on any timeframe without having to  optimize. A 100 pip trend looks VERY different on 1h timeframe vs 5 min timeframe… to make a system that captures all the 100 pips on both timeframes.. wow i would want that system 🙂 
  4. Can one system reference another system? (application would be to use a single equity for the portfolio) Not 100% sure but im like 95% pretty sure the answer is no… sadly… If this IS possible i would very much like to know 😀
  5. Is it possible to pause/halt a system while trades are still open? (to prevent too many open positions on the whole portfolio?) Again not 100% sure, more like 95%, the answer is no. If you change anything with the system (moving stop loss/target/pausing it) it will consider the trade done and put the system on Pause until you start it again. The trade it self will not CLOSE unless you want it to. Meaning you can start a system, it takes the trade, then you can “pause” the system and do whatever you want with your trade (move stop loss etc..) but you cant start the system again, with the trade still active. It will not “count” the live trade anymore.
  6. Is it possible to edit or make changes to an open system? (system with open trades? this would be useful for updating portfolio equity) See 5.
  7. Can you use guaranteed stop losses? (based in Australia) This has been asked here before and im pretty sure the answer is No. Not 100% sure tho
  8. Can you use or reference other countries time of the day? (i.e. place trades at 8AM London time from Australia) Yes, you just tell it when to place trades during what hours. You can even change the timezone the whole chart is in to match the country of origin. Or just use same timezone ur in now, but only trade during “01.00 – 15.00” because whatever reason.
  9. Does PRT automatically adjust for daylight savings? Not sure but i think so.
  10. Can anyone comment on speed of system-trade execution? (i.e. stop orders executed late resulting in bigger losses) This absolutely depends on what happens, personally i’ve never experience more then +/- 1 pip in difference between where i SHOULD have bought and where i did buy. So its fairly fast and no problems here. Ive read about massive drops and people not getting filled at the stop they should have been filled at. not sure how why or where … maybe someone with personal experience could tell the story.
  11. Any comment on common problems experienced? (orders not executed, systems not working, bugs, big gaps, etc…) Big gaps is obviously a thing and if you could predict them you would be very rich 😛  So this is basicly luck/unlucky depending on direction of your trade and direction of gap. Orders not executed has happened, a belive Despair (member of forum) complained that his system had opened 2 orders when it should have opened just 1? never seen this happen personally and ive never read about it before or after his post, not sure what happened.

  Thank you. If anyone else has other similar questions please feel free to post in this topic.

  

  jebus89

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  01/12/2018 at 8:59 AM #59140
  rdcarvajal

  Thanks for the reply Jebus.

  I have a few more questions I hope you or someone else can answer. Also, if anyone has something to add to Jebus’s answers above please feel free to do so.

  Can you call the currency FX rate of any  pair in a system? (i.e. buy GBP/JPY using an automated system but calculate position size based on current AUD value?)

  Can a trading system call current available equity or account balance?

  Can you make the stop guaranteed after an automated trade is executed?

  Has anyone used dynamic position size? (i.e. Position size is adjusted automatically using a formula to call current available funds/equity of the account)

  Can you instruct PRT to limit the amount of open positions on the whole account regardless of how many systems are “ON” at any given time?

  Is there a PRT mobile app, and if so, can you manage systems in it?

  In order to manage the portfolio and position size, has anyone tried to create an “Indicator” that acts like a master data containing your equity/ position sizing? (i.e. All automated systems would use the CALL function to this mock “indicator” to position size based on current FX rates and current funds…)

  Thank you. Cheers,

  Ruben

  

  rdcarvajal

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  01/12/2018 at 9:30 AM #59146
  jebus89

  Can you call the currency FX rate of any pair in a system? (i.e. buy GBP/JPY using an automated system but calculate position size based on current AUD value?) No, i dont belive you can call other markets/currencies. Im very sure this is possible with other softwares. But with PRT its basicly a firm set of rules that you apply to a market. You cant call a “Daily RSI” on a 2 h system. You cant call the Dax or eurusd index when trading Wall st. or eurgbp etc..

  Can a trading system call current available equity or account balance? Yes, im 99% sure there are sytsems that have a re-investment code inside it, where you basicly create a starting balance and the system calculates the current balance after each trade (if im not mistaken!) havnt used myself so im not 100% but pretty close to 99% haha.

  Can you make the stop guaranteed after an automated trade is executed? only 95% sure: no

  Has anyone used dynamic position size? (i.e. Position size is adjusted automatically using a formula to call current available funds/equity of the account) Yes, for example look at Reiners Pathfinder, it uses statistical data regardan seasonal stuff, so the amount of contracts is multiplied with the seasonal stats. Say March is historicly a great month, you can program in “If march then positionsize x2”..

  Can you instruct PRT to limit the amount of open positions on the whole account regardless of how many systems are “ON” at any given time? It cant check how many positions are open in other systems, but you limit the maximum amounts of contracts/shares when you activate a system, also the position size you set in the system. So basicly no, but basic math 5+5 = 10 will help you determine the max limit…

  Is there a PRT mobile app, and if so, can you manage systems in it? 99% sure: no, wish there was ofc..

  In order to manage the portfolio and position size, has anyone tried to create an “Indicator” that acts like a master data containing your equity/ position sizing? (i.e. All automated systems would use the CALL function to this mock “indicator” to position size based on current FX rates and current funds…) Sorry i think i misunerstood this the first time.. You cannot have a “master data indicator” inside PRT. Sure you can create this in basic Excel if you’d really want to! But in PRT, no. 

  “Problems” like the last one your talking about is probably not your biggest issue for now. I mean just try to create 10 profitable good strategies. If you want dynamic position sizing through all the systems, you would have to put a dynamic variable inside each system. might be the same indicator, but that indicator is “locked” to that system. If you build a second system, you can re-use the same indicator ofc, but you cannot … “use it on both systems at the same time” as you might have wanted to. I might be reading your post wrong/misunderstand it tho 🙂

  Hope this helps

   

  

  jebus89

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