Are you a full trader, part trader or don't trade at all

[lexys]

You mentioned mathematically oriented people - do you think that would apply to people who are more attention to detail types, who prefer being methodical rather than on their feet type ?

I think so; yes …

[CarlosRay]

I think so; yes …

I would imagine the aspergers may even help there

[kenshin]

Hi guys,
How do you account for forex data publish and news etc which could cause the technical factors to be unreliable. Can you factor that into your code as well ?

My program always has at least one trade open. I don’t account for news in my code. There is no need. My effective leverage is so low that I trade through NFP and Brexit with no issue and no surprises. I did not trade CHF during the crash, because I was already well aware that it was pegged. IMHO trying to predict news is a losing game. Without giving away any details of my system, I will just say that I am working with probability based trading as opposed to prediction based trading.

Hi guys,
Is there anything to the thinking that - no matter how sure you are on your code, it is still code right ? And since you wrote it you are responsible for it. Is that a factor you consider ? Because there is always a chance of a bug - an input data scenario you did not consider or something.

Sure, it’s a program. There is the possibility of errors, but errors are made by humans, not computers. I am the one who will screw up a trade entry or exit rather than my program. It’s been nearly six years now that I’ve been automated with no unexpected trading operations performed on my live account by my expert advisor. In that time there have been 2 complete rewrites of my expert advisor. The current version has had 63 different modifications made to the program. So you could say it is version v2.63. I am confident that my programming methods are fine. Think about air traffic control programs. They don’t crash a few planes with buggy software. Instead, the bugs are fixed before the program ever goes live. Of course, it is possible to miss a bug and it goes through to the live environment. This hasn’t happened to me though as I am pedantic about checking for bugs.

[element]

Hi Kenshin,

Thank you for the reply. Could you tell me

• How many lines of code is your EA?

• Have you coded for very few setups / scenarios , or many different ? Or is this a correct question at all ?

• what do you mean by “probability based trading as opposed to prediction based trading” - do you mean to suggest that if you add up all the probabilities, your are most probable to have a positive balance ?

• when you say versions, do you refer to your code versions or is it the upgrade by the product vendor ?

• Do you get vendor upgrades which affect your code - and you have to change ? Like communication protocol or something that is not backward compatible ?

• Do other trading platforms provide for EA ?

• Effective levergae - what do you mean by this ? Is your trade size very small ? Like 0.01 of a lot ? Is this what you mean by this ?

• Can anyone learn to code an EA (supposing they know how to trade to begin with for this)

Thank you

[kenshin]

• How many lines of code is your EA?

The latest version is 5489 lines of code.

• Have you coded for very few setups / scenarios , or many different ? Or is this a correct question at all ?

My ea only trades one type of setup, but I’ve spent a lot of time making sure it does that one setup extremely well.

• what do you mean by “probability based trading as opposed to prediction based trading” - do you mean to suggest that if you add up all the probabilities, your are most probable to have a positive balance ?

I can’t give away too much;)

• when you say versions, do you refer to your code versions or is it the upgrade by the product vendor ?

• Do you get vendor upgrades which affect your code - and you have to change ? Like communication protocol or something that is not backward compatible ?

I write and maintain my ea myself, so it’s my own versions of the ea. I keep them all just in case I need to look at a previous revision. There is no vendor. Occasionally MetaQuotes make changes to the MQL language which I may need to cater for in my ea.

• Do other trading platforms provide for EA ?

I believe CTrader has a programmable interface. I have never really looked though, because MT4 is doing what I want.

• Effective levergae - what do you mean by this ? Is your trade size very small ? Like 0.01 of a lot ? Is this what you mean by this ?

Effective leverage calculation:
(((L*Q)/B)100000)
where L is the total lots of open trades, Q is the current quote price, and B is your current account balance.
So, if I am trading 0.45 lots and the quote price is 0.785 and I have $10,000 in my account then it’s:
(((0.450.785)/10000)100000)
which equals 3.5325 meaning your effective leverage is 3.5325:1
This formula is good for any currency that has 5 digits after the decimal place such as EUR/USD. For any currency that has 3 digits after the decimal place like USD/JPY, then the formula is:
(((LQ)/B)*1000)

This description assumes that you are trading one currency. If you have trades open in multiple currencies then you will need to calculate the effective leverage for each individual currency that you have trades open in, and then add the results together to get the total effective leverage. Also, there may be some value in using the account equity with these calculations instead of the account balance.

My trade size varies, but is small enough in relation to my account size in order to keep effective leverage below 10:1 at all times.

• Can anyone learn to code an EA (supposing they know how to trade to begin with for this)

Like any programming language, MQL can be learnt by anyone with enough time and dedication.

I had been programming on various computer when I was younger like the TRS-80 MC-10, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Commodore Amiga. When I moved to Windows based computers I then learned DarkBasic, Blitz3D, BlitzMax, PureBasic, C#, and some C++. I did a lot of work on programming 3D graphics in game engines which involve some pretty insane mathematics, so that helped a lot. The crazy thing is that all the programming prior to MQL didn’t make me any money. It was just a hobby that I wasted so much time on just for the love of it. After all this, learning MQL was easy.

[harry29]

As being a newbie I cannot presently say what kind of a trader I am. But I initially started my trading with small amount of $200. So far as now I’m having good trading experience. And I will slowly and gradually build my trading personality.

[service]

I am a part time trader as I have already an offline job, forex is my 2nd source of income, I found forex lucrative and interesting business and I am earning reasonable amount, I will also stick with this business as part timer in future.

[NaguibSawiris]

Well, now I am using my live trading account as like a full time Forex trader, but my initial trading style was part time trading, then I spent only 2-3 hours! Actually, I have selected Forex trading as my permanent profession because of it’s flexibility! Such as, now I am making overall 15-20 monthly return quite comfortably, that is enough for me!

[sadip.tammat]

I`m a part-time trader, dreaming to become full-time. As well, as the majority of traders-beginners, I think.

[britneyalston]

Hi guys,

Thank you for the replies.

[B]Hi Lexys, [/B]

Thank you for the reply. Please let me know on the below as a full trader:

How much tim do you spend in a day doing trading ?

As a full trader, what is your schedule like ?

Do you get free tm for yourself - which is given to you by the fact that you are a trader ?

And if one only trades the how does one get social lif ?

[B]Hi Kenshin[/B]

What is expert advisor software ? I have heard but not sure exactly what it is ? Is it something like - you learn a coding language and then you code you trading into it ? Or is it like a software tool where rather than complex coding you just do some configuration ?

Also, in general what is done in Expert advisor - what is the logic implemented -because I dont understand how you can automate trading (unless you are a genius). Do you code conditions - like entry and exit and SL and TP etc ? What is you conditional clause based on? Is it on chart patterns ? If so, how is it possible at all to code such as to identify a pattern !! ? Please let me know - maybe you got the drift of the question right ?

Also, isn’t bugs an issue with software approach ? I mean what if some issue with the code you write and makes a ridiculous trade ?

[B]Hi tommor,[/B]

What is meant by long term in forex market especially in context of the fact that this market tends to range for this.

Thank you

An expert advisor is a software written specifically for Forex Trading Platform. An Expert Advisor can suggest traders which trade option is better or it can automatically execute the trades.

[rosolite]

I started trading when I was free it was a full time for me to learn trading . After some months I had a regular job so I continue trading as part time. Now I had no fix routine of trading. I try to do trading as my passion making extra income from it. I try to get my monthly target from forex trading with my plan.

[Peter_Siddle]

Right now, I am spending here more than 8 hours in a day! That’s way, I would like to introduce myself as a full time Forex trader! But I am working hard to make a healthy monthly income!

[baemax023]

Not trading at the moment because I’m still studying the School of Pipsology. My goal is to become full-time trader someday.

[Sophie01]

I trade and i’m a part time trader, because i have main job, but need extra money. So my colleague advised me to try such activity as trading on markets. I was skeptical at first, but my desire to earn more was bigger. I tried many platforms, but ITrader was the most suitable as for me personally. It is perfect for rookies and platform itself is very simple in using. It helps me to produce profit and i couldn’t wish more.