Manual trading is your best way to lose money

[AriaS]

The logic:
1. If you can't tell a machine how to perform your strategy, then you simply don't have a strategy. Strategy = clear rules. No clear rules = no strategy.
2. If you do have a strategy, but insist on performing it yourself, your emotions will inevitably get in the way, sooner or later. Automation is the best way to prevent it.
3. Most strategies can't be reliably back-tested manually. No reliable back-testing = loss.

 

[Tytus_Barnowl]

Backtest manually by recording the price action. Then Forward test using the strategy you have developed on a paper trade basis. This allows you to record results as and when they happen. Also reasons why your strategy does not work sometimes. Only after knowing the asset price action can you have success in trading it. Automation is effectively "one size fits all".

 

[AriaS]

Backtest manually by recording the price action. Then Forward test using the strategy you have developed on a paper trade basis. This allows you to record results as and when they happen. Also reasons why your strategy does not work sometimes. Only after knowing the asset price action can you have success in trading it. Automation is effectively "one size fits all".

Can you manually backtest a statistically representative group of trades? It's not 10 trades and sometimes not even a 100. Do you have so much time? Besides, you nee to back test different setups. So it may well become thousands trades to backtest.