Full-Time Trading for Testing

I'm looking for 1 or 2 traders who would be interested in contributing to a strategy testing exercise. This would involve working 8-10 hours a day along side me where we test some strategy ideas i have compiled... I'm looking for some help with processing a large number of trades (around 5000) and to provide objective feedback.

A little about me.

I have 5 years trading experience, mainly as a longer term trader or a swing trader trading US equities and options. I have been trading Forex for 18 months now, 12 months of that has been full-time, along side studying for a PhD. I consider myself an intermediate trader who is looking to improve. I live in North London, UK and would be happy to have you work at my house - i can also travel if that works better. I would like someone of a similar experience to me, but more important is the ability to commit to the testing and enthusiasm to work and learn. The techniques i use are largely focused on Price Action, some of these ideas are available on this forum - some are not.

I realize i'm putting my head above the parapet here but i'm willing to do so if i can find one committed, motivated trader who shares my passion and ideals. I look forward to any replies and if anyone shows any interest i will send you my email address so we can discuss how to move this forward.

Thanks

James

Also, just to add. I use Forextester 2 (www.forextester.com)

anyone willing to work with me will need a copy of this. It cost $150 + VAT and is worth every penny.

Are you looking for programmers? What is the reward system here?

no i'm not looking for programmers. my style is not mechanical and mainly based on Price Action - i barely use any indicators. i'm just looking for someone to work alongside me, to share in the testing and creation of expectancy.
i want to know - how many trades i can expect a month, average win/loss, strike-rate and most importantly - drawdown. i want to refine the way i trade and generally test my way of trading across 10 years worth of data. it's an extensive task and i'm looking for some help with it.

the reward is a shared learning experience, a fairly accurate system expectancy, a lot of experience and improved trading ability. im just looking for people to join me on this journey because i believe working along side a peer would be beneficial to me and that person.

i'm mainly testing Price Action strategies as these tend to stand the test of time - Price Action doesn't really change as it's based on psychology. What i have noticed are there are times where it works better and times when it does not work so well - yet remains profitable. I mainly trade support/resistance breakouts, Moving average boomerangs and flags/pendants... old fashioned stuff. These trades are identified by their Price Action, if they indicate certain behavioral patterns. I don't need a programmer and having one won't make me a better trader... observing Price Action and sharing ideas on it will.
I use 4Hr and 1Hr charts. I'm not looking for an easy option - as i don't believe there is an easy option in trading, im looking for a committed individual who wants to learn, work hard and improve as a trader.

Good luck with finding this person ..

you can also use www.fxstat.com to analyze your results after you have created the strategy.

thanks meanreversion - i have some traders that i do work with, but they are quite busy. it's not easy to find someone but i live in hope.

thanks for the link drivatives... seems useful for assessing my current trading and completing yearly reviews.

It sounds like you're looking for a partner for a small hedge fund. There needs to be some money on the table here... "shared learning experience" is a very nebulous concept. You could either hire a programmer (a quant, someone with a PhD - but they're expensive) or maybe someone doing a maths degree who might respond to a relatively small sum of money. Otherwise I don't see the angle here ... what's in it for the other person ...

not really... i'm not looking for a partner for a small hedge fund. maybe the phrase 'shared learning experience' is rather nebulous. there is no money on offer, i do not wish to hire a programmer as for my method of trading it would be pretty difficult to programme and i like trading my own opinions rather than letting a computer trade - just my style.
you don't need a Phd or a maths degree, just a reasonable level of trading experience and knowledge (1 year is fine) and a desire to improve your trading.
what is in it for them?? the experience of taking 5000 backtested trades, the improvement of their own trading... thats about it.
if someone is interested in this for money - then they are not the kind of trader i'm looking for. the trader i am looking for is someone who has been about break even, won a bit, lost a bit - and wants to improve their consistancy and ability to read Price Action.

So you want someone to spend 40 to 50 hours a week backtesting a strategy with the only reward being a shared experience ?

I think you will more than struggle to find anyone to do this at all. Is there no way to do this testing automatically ?


Paul

What is the subject of your PhD?

It sounds a little as though you are looking for an unpaid research assistant to help with your thesis.

This is not necessarily a criticism; it could be a good opportunity for the right person.


Will all the testing be done on historical data, or will any live trading be involved?

you're right - i may well struggle to find someone who wants to test with me. but i thought it was worth seeing if anyone would be interested.
im not looking for someone to do the work for me - far from it. im looking for someone to work with me, in my home office. the benefit from this is endlessly observing Price Action, it is perhaps not the easiest thing to explain on the board - hence i would prefer to explain it in person. if there is someone genuinely interested i would be happy to explain what exactly i wish to do and how i want to do it. there is a genuine method to my plan. from the experience of backtesting with others so far - is that it is excellent, i have met with a few other traders at the odd weekend to backtest together... all im looking for is someone who is interested in some intensive testing to do it alongside me. it is a long and laborious process and it is easier if it is shared.

testing automatically removes the learning process, by testing the way i am doing - it is like doing 5000 real life trades. i knew this would divide opinion, yet i hope some traders might be able to see the value in this.

James

Hello Mike,

my Phd is in Urban Design and completely unrelated to trading. i'm not looking for help in this matter.

i guess you could say im looking for a trading peer, a backtesting buddy. the testing is done on historical data initially - forextester comes with 10 years of data and allows you to trade it as if it was live data - hence the value in this exercise.

i would also like to do some live testing with this as well... that would be the next stage in the testing. i'm really looking for a trader who is a little dissatisfied with their trading. i'm big enough to admit that the way i trade has not always been successful, i have some methods based on Price Action that are successful and i have been able to trade with some moderate success. What i want is to fully test these methods over 500-1000 trade each, to develop a reasonable expectancy. If i can find a trader with a similar temperament and trading profile to mine (and on this board there are plenty) then they should be profitable with these methods as well.

I've done plenty of backtesting myself. I'm more than happy to converse with you on email/Skype if you wish, and we can chat about issues we have encountered. That's about the best offer you'll get I think.

Why would a successful trader take time off trading to share the learning??? you might get an unemployed newbie.

sounds like ******** to me.

Surely for any PA based strategy to work effectively some discretion will be required ?

I've backtested a vast ammount of data, a structure or certain rules can help frame your trading but even then live market conditions with real money on the line is the true test.

Taking 5000 virtual trades based upon a sim maybe beneficial but definitely far from conclusive.

I tend to agree with some of the other posters whats in it for others is not enough of a draw, and I expect your search maybe in vain.

Off topic - Are you the James/MrOsbiston that was involved in Davie Robertsons live room to the end before the thread here was removed? I think I remember reading you were helping running it at one point. Are you still involved with him in anyway ?

All the best

Limey

im not necessarily looking for a successful trader, just anyone who wants to do some serious backtesting.

i knew this would divide opinion but i thought i would post anyway on the chance i might find some people genuinely interested. i guess the ideal person would have some experience and perhaps be new to full-time trading... but i'll speak to anyone who is interested.

indeed there have been some people who have expressed an interest so i will continue the search.

i guess my point is that most people don't backtest thoroughly enough, it really needs to be with a lot of data and minimum 500 trades. most traders don't do things to this level because of the time and effort involved, what i am proposing would reduce the time and effort, whilst still delivering the results of a thoroughly tested method. i just want to check what i am trading at the moment works over the course of time and to learn all the idiosyncrasies of the method... something only manual backtesting can offer.

Have you though of posting your set ups and ideas on a separate thread etc and let everybody test them and respond to your ideas?It might be easier than getting individuals to spend a lot of time testing an individual's beliefs .

Are you a successful trader? if so ,perhaps you could entice someone by agreeing to devote some of your time mentoring them. You want them to give up their time - so you should give something back in return.

If you are not successful then I fail to see what the point is of working horrendous hours on a system which probably won't work. The only thing you'll learn is not to use this system.