[Kiwi]

MK's point is very good.

Choosing to automate is likely to be a choice to forgo some strategy options. If the context is too hard to program then you can't do it. I am finding that trying to code things generates an enormous number of questions as I make new "discoveries"- but also that 5 years of discretionary trading gives me enormous resources of ideas and intuitions about what might work that I didn't have before I traded.

A question for the intuitive is "what is it about the context that is so hard to program and what edges might that give us?"

[brownsfan019]

Originally Posted by Kiwi »

MK's point is very good.

Choosing to automate is likely to be a choice to forgo some strategy options. If the context is too hard to program then you can't do it. I am finding that trying to code things generates an enormous number of questions as I make new "discoveries"- but also that 5 years of discretionary trading gives me enormous resources of ideas and intuitions about what might work that I didn't have before I traded.

A question for the intuitive is "what is it about the context that is so hard to program and what edges might that give us?"

For me Kiwi, I haven't gone automated b/c my exits are not exactly a perfected science. I guess in that regard I do rely on some intuition b/c there's plenty of times where my predefined exit is within a couple ticks of being executed but price starts to pause and I just hit the flatten button. I suppose something like that could be coded, but sometimes I just rely on my gut to take a trade out.

[tradedayworknight]

Originally Posted by Kiwi »

......so my adaptation will consist of periodically reviewing the Main Variables to see if they should change because the way that market participants are acting has changed.

Is it possible for you to talk about what these main variables are?

What are those rectangle shape in the background of bars on your charts, are they higher timeframe bars?

Thanks for your inputs.

[Kiwi]

The rectangles are higher timeframe bars. They usually have nothing to do with the strategies - I just like to know where things are wrt the longer time bars.

Main variables are whatever they are. They are the things that make your strategy succeed or fail or the things that change in the market. One example might be some criteria for how much a double top can be tested before it becomes a break. Over time the players in the market will move such things around - can't make it to simple for the plebes after all. Or maybe you use the slope of an ma as a qualifier - does it change in summer or something.

The issue is that you design a strategy to catch some sort of activity. Then you test it to see if it does. But the nature of that activity will change over time as the market evolves and you need to adjust the strategy to reflect the change in its nature. Or design it to be so crude and robust that it doesn't need that. One needs to be careful that you are really adapting to market changes and not just curve fitting though or you will always find that today doesn't fit your curve - a nice thing about Peewee is that it is performing better now than it did in its test period.

[DugDug]

Interesting as I have been struggling with trying to more automate my trading....

Me - I have traded for many years, and combine both systems and intuition. I use the systems to give me triggers, and to position size. That way everything becomes consistent.
But I use intuition to avoid certain trades that just dont fit into the "context" that a binary fully automated system would probably take. Otherwise I try to keep to my rules as much as possible.
While I would like to more automate the trading as i would like to spend more time away from the computer, currently my intuition reduces my PL volatility as I avoid certain losses and hence generally means I make more money.

A few points i would like to add. Intuition is only really relevant if you have experience....otherwise its just guess work.
plus i think a lot of the intuition people talk about is actually the media/blogs/other peoples ideas, that cloud their thinking. Before allowing intuition into the mix i think traders should first be able to define their rules, have a plan and ONLY then use intuition to enable them to add to the trading.
Even the most discretionary traders have a plan or strategy..... I am sure its not completely random.

[MightyMouse]

What exactly are you calling intuition?
Do you wake up in the morning and think, "there is no way this market is going up?" Or, do you look at your charts, hear the news, and get a feel that there is no way the market can go up?

IMO, one is intuition, the other is not.