Do you use forex robots? if so, do you buy them/find on the web or program by yourself? I think you should first be a successful manual trader and then approach to automatic trading. What do you think?
I use Expert Advisors for trading forex and have a mix of commercial EA and a couple of free EA that I’m testing. I’ve disgarded far more commercial EAs than I actually trade though, so its been an interesting learning process.
Essentially automated trading is not autopilot trading.
I dont think you need a long track record of being a successful manual trader, but you need to have a detailed understanding of systemic trading…aka the trading by using a fixed set of rules for entry points, exit points, and money management. If you are relying on some “black box” EA to do all this for you…then you will fail. The EA will do what it is programmed to do, for better or worse, but unless you understand the system it is trading you will not trust the program through a drawdown period.
However…having some experience in manual trading would give you some experience in money management and the emotional control required for this.
My recommendation: Search out Free Expert Advisors both on babypips and donnaforex, pick them apart to learn why they take trades, and what kind of risk:reward ratios they have. You’ll see the different types of EAs and hopefully learn to optimize/backtest in the process 
Cheers,
-Hamno
Yes you are right Marcelofox.It ain’t a bad thing to convert your successful system into coded form.After all,It will work as your personal assistant.
Free Forex Robot "e-BJF-FractalsFalseBreakout"
Download link:
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I did not use robots so far and I am a manual trader. I prefer to only manual trading.
I think it’s best to start off a manual trader. Learn the conditions that cause different indicators to work. Learn how these different indicators and filters can fit together to make a strategy.
Once you’ve seen consistent profits by following your set of trading rules, code these rules into an automated strategy. If you can’t code yourself, there are a lot if different places to have programmers write the code for you.
I think manual is the best way to go since you have total control moreso than using a robot.
Manual of course…
I hear this argument made a lot about “control” regarding robots. Allow me to make this distinction.
If you are blindly buying an EA online and running it on a live account, it’s true you have no control. But if you coded an EA yourself or paid someone to code your manual trading system, I’d venture to say you would have MORE control since robots follow instructions without making mistakes.
You can program your robot to do whatever you want. Do you want to program your EA to not trade around major news? There is code that could be implemented to do that. Do you not place trades on Fridays because you fear a weekend gap? You can program your system to not trade on Fridays.
ANYTHING you would like to control for your strategy can be done through a robot. I think robots give you more control.
Autotrading Robot can give you time to trade manual during fundamental news release which Robot cannot detect as most Robot use history chart to give trade setup. So both robot and manual actually support each other.
I just use robots, never been good at manual nor do I have the time for it.
They should design robot trading which will prompt for human intervention when encounter harsh trading environment.