Forex Robots VS Manual Trading?

Hi all Babypips friends,

It may seem to be quite obvious question here…

Do you prefer Forex Robots or Manual Trading?
(I assume most serious traders here will support Manual Trading)
(Never assume, I may get some surprise answer here :slight_smile:

I personally favor Manual Trading & quite against using forex robots…

Let’s share your useful analysis & opinion to benefit all of us here :slight_smile:

Feel free to exchange ideas here…

I’m quite interested in using forex robots as I’ve had quite a bit of success, but I’m interested in hearing what others have to say as well …

Best Regards,
Matt Jones

Are you using your own forex robots? Do you regularly update the robots?

Because I think forex robots couldn’t really generate profits for a real long term…

Anyway, let more people share their views here…

Fellow friends, feel free to share your view…

Predictability is predicated as a quality system. Thus, any decision you could make as a human, discretionary or otherwise, can be written as a set of booleans. If your system works profitably, there is no reason not to think about getting it coded. I wouldn’t really trust the closed-source robots, though. You’re investing money in something that you have absolutely no knowledge on, process-wise. It’s kind of like going to a casino to play some blackjack and the dealer says that they will be playing a whole new game with rules he just made up and will not tell you.

sophieolivia,

I personally favor Manual Trading & quite against using forex robots…

I use robots, but I am not against manual trading…

Your viewpoint here is shared by many though…allow me to make a point.

What is your experience with robots and why are you against them?

I trade mainly with robots these days

For me personally, automated trading became an intellectual challange. After a couple of years, the investment in time and money became just too great to walk away from, although in retrospect, that would have been the wiser decision.

My Bollinger DNA method is nearing completion and a PDF describing the method is due soon.

I already do some indicator programming and will look to furthering this knowledge to allow me to write a robot program to trade the method for me!! :smiley: :smiley:

I use GFT and the program comes with a full charting program with instruction so that you can write your own indicators/live trading programs. :slight_smile:

I think mainly because I use other people robot… those that sold in clickbank…

As what other said, since there is no control over the code, so it failed me many times.

sophieolivia,

As what other said, since there is no control over the code, so it failed me many times.

Mmmmmmm thats about as clear as mud. I seem able to control my robots just fine.

Have you put much time and work into learning how to use robots? A month, 2 months, 6 months? a year?

How many robots did you try?

I’m really not a fan of “robots” for trading. I think the market is dynamic and as such it’s impossible for a set of rules to reasonably account for all of the unknown variables at play. Eventually, market conditions will change beyond the scope of the original programming and the “robot” will become obsolete and need updating.

In my experience the most profitable long term trading happens manually. A human being can use their understanding of the buying and selling habits of other humans and combine that with their knowledge of human greed and herd mentality (all of the prior mentioned attributes essentially being what the market really is) and make decisions that would be impossible for a computer program to consistently make over a long span of time. Besides that, the time and effort spent in trying to find the easy way out with “robots” is wasted time to me. It seems practical to instead invest that kind of time into mastering one’s personal understanding of trading and building one’s skills and discipline.

In my opinion it isn’t that most people suck at knowing how to trade that causes them to fail at forex. It’s that they lack discipline, consistency, confidence and an understanding of how the daily grind of trading really works. You win some. You lose some. You might even be 50/50 wins and losses. But if you’re disciplined and you have effective money management combined with realistic expectations and controlled emotions you will win many more actual dollars than you lose. That’s what makes all of the difference. “Robots” are not a substitute for that kind of trading. They just follow pre-determined rules for action. But the market doesn’t always play fair and it can be irrational longer than any individual’s account can hold out if they don’t know how to roll with the irrationality and come to trust their “gut” along with their skills.

As I already stated, with good observation, “discretionary” trading CAN be programmed. The “state” of the market does not change in a manner that is completely unpredictable. You will always have periods of consolidation and trending and this is remarkably consistent no matter how far you look back. Thus, it is a matter of building a system based on [B]relatives[/B], instead of [B]absolutes[/B].

I still am not convinced that computer programs are best suited for trading, despite there being the potential for transient success.

Certainly there can be times when a program is completely on it’s game. But what I was referring to earlier about the market remains true: It’s dynamic. Any segment of the market can be in retracement, consolidation, volatility, or in a break out in any direction, at any time. Often times the market is doing a bit of everything at once. The complexity required to program a “robot” to handle the task is beyond practical consideration, which is probably why so many people who support the practice of trading with automated systems so often find themselves spending much of their time and effort just trying to keep their system current. It’s very strange to me when I think that they could just as well expend that energy becoming better traders. It’s like doing all kinds of extra work for the benefit of being lazy. It’s so much easier to just do it right and then you’ll find that it’s not so hard doing it all for yourself once you truly get the hang of it.

I trade as a full time professional and have been doing so for quite some time now and I don’t know a single professional trader that relies on a “robot” for their success, (though I suppose there may be a few in existence, even if I haven’t run across any). In my experience it’s usually joked about how ridiculous the notion of trying to program a successful trading strategy is. Trading is not an exact science. It simply isn’t. It can’t be because humans aren’t exactly scientific in their behavior and they are the ones that are doing the trading. So to be successful in trading you have to learn to deal with intangibles. You have to learn to feel your way through it.

To me people who try to trade with an automated system are trying to fit the ocean in a tea cup. They’re like a wanna be dancer who flawlessly learns the steps to a choreographed routine but then looks really stupid attempting to dance the routine because they have no sense of how to feel the movements. I know what I’m writing from another person’s perspective might read as very touchy feely and unscientific. But I’ve found that is just the way it is sometimes. Sometimes things work out exactly as my plans dictate. Most often however, they do not and I have to feel it coming and improvise my way through it based on a solid foundation of trading skill and experience. You just can’t get that from a “robot”. But to those that still want to try “robots” I say: Knock yourself out.

I certainly agree that anyone whose trying to use simple conditional logic to specify a system is going to find it tough.

In the real world, very few things are an exact science but thankfully we have well established statistical techniques for dealing with that.

I dont know but i would not get on a aeroplane with no pilot, but thats just me…

I preffered manual trading and not against robot trading.
Not to comfort not knowing my trade. :slight_smile:
Just personal choice.

I dont know but i would not get on a aeroplane with no pilot, but thats just me…

but if you think about it, planes basically fly themselves and the pilots only monitor and make adjustments, kind of like trading with ea’s which I am a fan of.

If you believe in trading based on a “rules based system” then there is no reason you can’t trade using a robot.

If you believe in trading based on a “rules based system” then there is no reason you can’t trade using a robot.

Rules used at the discretion of a human being can be broken on the spot depending on the circumstances. With a “robot” it MUST follow program. Any exceptions would have to be considered prior to and as such would require a person to already have anticipated such exceptional occasions. At this point I don’t think there is programming that is comprehensive enough to take into account the myriad of possibilities for exceptions to the rules in every given situation. If you try to program like that you’ll be spending your life constantly updating your rules. That’s wasted time in my opinion, when you could easily just learn to trade and do it yourself with great success.

Believe me, if there was a “robot” that was consistently trading long term, significant profit EVERY professional trader would use it all of the time. But because trading is so dynamic and professional traders know this, nobody who really makes good money at trading (that I’ve ever known) takes robot trading seriously. It’s basically a time wasting gimmick to me. Sure occasionally it can work out. But occasionally a fool can trade successfully also. The important matter is consistent, significant profit over time. No “robot” is doing that. That’s why there are so many people pimping their “robots” as though they are the solution to your trading woes. I see it as actually a sign of how people will foolishly go to greater stress and hassle chasing the illusion of ease and automation instead of walking through the fire of learning how to use their heads and intuition.

But as I said before: If you fancy working with a trading “robot” then knock yourself out.

Thats a rather ridiculous statement to make. On many exchanges the majority of volume is traded by robots.

I know a handful of people who trade exclusively with robots, so if you want to define what you mean by “good money”, I can tell you if I, or indeed anyone that I know qualifies.

I don’t know that to be a fact for Forex. It could be true. But if it is then I’m sure there is an explanation that makes sense. Perhaps (assuming for the sake of argument that what you’re asserting is true, and I don’t know that to be the case) those trades are somehow calculated to be inherently less risky than typical single trader, single account trading. The latter, which I can speak from experience in saying, is not what I consider practical at all to attempt to do in any monetarily significant way by relying on a “robot”. So I think it remains to be investigated whether or not your implied argument is sound.

I know a handful of people who trade exclusively with robots, so if you want to define what you mean by “good money”, I can tell you if I, or indeed anyone that I know qualifies.
I too know a handful of people that trade exclusively with “robots” and I and all the other full time professional traders I know beat them in profitability every month, without exception. That’s why we joke about it being a waste of time to fiddle with “robot” gimmicks.

Mind you I’m not saying that one shouldn’t do what they feel like doing. This is all just my singular opinion expressed here. If you like “robots” and they work for you, do it. If you have doubts, my advice is to trade on your own. It makes no difference to me one way or the other so long as you find what you’re looking for.

Well, it works for me!

MoneyChick, your statement that programming is not comprehensive enough to deal with a myriad of possibilities is just nonsense. I have seen some pretty complex programs and they can deal with the market far better than you could ever hope to.

Also, last time I looked, none of the manual systems here on BabyPips relied on gut instinct as an input to the system. They all seem pretty rule bound to me.

You can make a joke of robot trading…but its headed your way, that is a fact. You can fight it as much as you like, but as a trader, you will be superfluous before you know it.