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#089: THE 3 STAGES OF TRADING BLINDNESS

A common phenomena I call “system trading blindness” is one of the biggest obstacles towards long-term trading success and is one of the key reasons why so many system traders fail. It usually appears in 3 stages and the last one is the hardest to overcome. Let me explain this phenomena and the 3 stages with a short story from my own life. Since childhood, I’ve been wearing glasses and pretty strong ones too (+5 dioptres). That means I couldn’t survive without them. A year ag

#053: WHEN TO TURN YOUR SYSTEM OFF AND WHEN TO TURN IT BACK ON

One of the most difficult decisions that every automated trader has to make is when to turn the system off because its performance is starting to be questionable and when to turn the system back on because it is getting back to profits. In this article, I will try to describe the way I see it. First of all, I need to say that this is one of the most difficult questions in automated trading. In the past, I made a lot of mistakes by turning the systems too early off or by turni

#035: WHAT MARKETS SHOULD YOU USE FOR YOUR PORTFOLIO?

A couple of years ago I made a fundamental mistake: until then I had my portfolio focused mostly on index futures markets. For years I have had with this approach really nice results. But that year, I experienced how frustrating it can be, to go through a couple of periods when index markets are underperforming. That was when I have decided to work really hard and improve my intraday portfolio composed of automated trading systems (ATS). Smooth equity isn’t just about the sys

#026: 5 THINGS I DIDN’T DO, EVEN THOUGH I SHOULD

In today’s article, I will give you 5 very simple, yet very important tips that are helping me today to better results of my ATS. I didn't do any of these things in the beginnings and it was a big fault - you should avoid such a mistake. 1. Regular reoptimization - I wasn't doing it. Some time ago I have performed an interesting analysis of several of my systems and it showed me really important point: The difference between regular reoptimization and long-term trading of fi

#022: UNNECESSARY LOSING QUARTERS (AND WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM THEM)

With broader diversification and better portfolio management, I am getting more and more close to avoiding from losing quarters. Yet, sometimes they can also come, and I must say that for me they have a positive value - I can always learn something new and motivate myself to work on further improvements and further testing of my ideas. The unprofitable quarter itself is not a problem; it is something an experienced trader knows can come time to time - and it is necessary to r

#018: HOW I SPENT TOO MUCH TIME WITH 3D OPTIMIZATION CHARTS

Some traders ask me if I use 3D optimization charts for my own trading. Do I have good experience with this tool? Would I recommend it for robust ATS development? The answers are quite simple: NO! I have spent a lot of time with it, so I can explain it more in detail (luckily I have never actually started using it for my ATS development). First, let's make a small recapitulation - what exactly is the 3D optimization chart? It is a simple visual aid that helps us to find globa

#008: HOW “BEING SMART” ALMOST KILLED MY TRADING CAREER

This one is going to be a bit longer, but a really serious one, definitely applicable to most traders, as I´ve had the chance to witness it during the years of my trading career. Generally, in trading, you have to face many challenges every single day. For example, you have to fight against technology almost nonstop; you see things in the market that you’ve never seen before, which you aren’t ready for yet and you constantly doubt your abilities when things don’t go the right

#004: I WAS ONCE ONE OF THE MILLIONS OF FOOLS WHO BELIEVED THAT YOU CAN BECOME A SUCCESSFUL TRADER Q

The biggest problem of the trading industry is that it’s, unfortunately, full of dishonest people (mainly brokers and vendors) who constantly feed you with totally unrealistic promises and expectations (just to sell you their products). An average Joe usually thinks that trading is an easy occupation, where you open a USD 500 FX account and the next week you’ll quit your job. That´s really hilarious! The truth is far from that. When I started with trading and especially autom

#001: TRYING TO SMOOTH EQUITY WITH MULTIPLE SYSTEM FILTERS IS A REALLY BAD IDEA

In the past, I used to be like most of the ATS traders and developers: I put an enormous amount of energy into each single strategy and had a vision of getting a perfect, smooth, stable equity. Yes, sometimes perfectionism is a good thing. Many times, however, it is a curse. In the case of ATS development, it often does more harm than good. The more you try to make your strategy (and especially equity) perfect by adding more and more filters, the more you curvefit and overfit

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What others are saying

"Tomas is one of the most creative traders I know. He is able to generate unique trading ideas and elegant solutions to system development challenges."

Andrew Swanscott, BetterSystemTrader.com

"Tomas has been a professional trader for more than a decade and I have had the privilege of monitoring his accounts in action since 2006. His systems are performing as some of the best I have ever monitored and executed. I have been in the trading industry since 2002 and worked with many developers from all over the world. Tomas is definitely the one to consider."

Martin Lembak,

Systems Trading Expert,

MFRM, CAIA

"Tomas is a professional trader, who for the last 10 years has specialized in developing trading systems. We have been tracking his trading systems for about 5 years and they generally show very robust, stable and above average performance. Striker is pleased to work with someone like him - a real professional with enthusiasm and deep knowledge of trading."

William Galwas,

President Of Striker Securities, Inc

"Tom's approach to Automated Trading Strategies design, tests of robustness and portfolio diversification is really unique. He has been a professional trader for many years and the depth of his understanding of Breakout strategies and Market Internals is hard to find elsewhere."

Antonin Fisher,

Hedge Fund Manager,

Czech Republic