Better System Trader is the podcast and blog dedicated to systematic traders, providing practical tips from trading experts around the world.
Today I want to share a story with you. This is the true story of Maxim (Max), and how he turned a poor trading strategy into a potential competition winner, using the strategy to take out 3rd place in the World Cup Trading Championships of 2017. How did he do it? First, let's start with … [Read more...]
Happy New Year!2017 was a big year but I have a feeling 2018 is really going to be huge, how about you?Last year I was posting to this blog weekly, but as the haze of Christmas and New Years celebrations clears I realise I've been doing you a disservice.There is so much to share, so many trading … [Read more...]
Well here we are, another year gone (and so fast too!). I’m glad you could join me for this final episode for 2017, where we’ll be reviewing all of the special guests we had on the show this year, the topics and insights they've shared plus their top trading lessons. I think this is a great … [Read more...]
Our guest for this podcast episode, Dimitri Speck, first became interested in the markets as a child when he found gold while diving at the beach. And even though trading isn't usually as easy as just picking up gold off the ground, Dimitri has spent years diving deep into the markets and … [Read more...]
A few weeks ago we organised a family holiday for December. We booked a luxury villa in Port Douglas and we’re all really excited to get there and start enjoying the holiday. Last year the Huffington Post published an article about vacations, and shared a study in a journal claiming that just … [Read more...]
I can’t believe it’s only 4 weeks until Christmas! We’ve got the Christmas ads running on the TV here already... The local grocery store has the Christmas decorations up... And they’re even playing Christmas carols - can you believe that? At home my 5-year-old daughter is already priming … [Read more...]
The Petronas towers in Malaysia are the tallest twin towers in the world at 452m (1483 ft) tall. Because of the ground underneath the building site, they had to put in some deep foundations, up to 114m (374 ft) deep. Without these deep foundations, the building would run into problems. In … [Read more...]
And we're back for the final episode in this 3-part series on building Mean Reversion strategies with Cesar Alvarez from Alvarez Quant Trading. In the 1st episode we discussed the goal of Mean Reversion trading, how to select a trading universe, a number of effective techniques to measuring Mean … [Read more...]
A few weeks ago I got the fright of my life. I found myself in a situation where I could potentially be crushed by a car, or perhaps even a bus or truck. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I like to go riding on my mountain bike, and when I ride my bike, I like to go pretty fast and do things that … [Read more...]
I’ve just arrived back home from a few weeks in the States, I had a great time there but it’s also good to be home. I’m a bit jet-lagged today so let’s hope what I share today actually makes sense, wish me luck! A few weeks ago I had the honour of speaking at the ATAA members meeting here in … [Read more...]
And we're back for the 2nd episode in this 3-part series on building Mean Reversion strategies with Cesar Alvarez from Alvarez Quant Trading. In the first episode we discussed the goal of Mean Reversion trading, how to select a trading universe, a number of effective techniques to measuring Mean … [Read more...]
Have you ever wondered: Why the word "abbreviate" is so long? Why are wise men and wise guys opposites? Why is it called quicksand if it takes you down slowly? Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?" Why is it that when we transport something by car it's called a … [Read more...]
As you probably know, we’re currently focusing on Mean Reversion trading strategies. In episode 127, Cesar Alvarez shared a number of techniques to measuring Mean Reversion and identifying setups. There was probably close to 10, maybe 12 different ideas Cesar shared with us, so there are lots … [Read more...]
We’ve got something special organised for you here... This is the 1st episode in a special 2-part series on building Mean Reversion trading strategies. And to discuss Mean Reversion we have a special guest, someone who has been on the podcast a couple of times already - Cesar Alvarez from … [Read more...]
It seems from the emails I’ve been getting lately that more and more traders are becoming concerned about the state of the markets, especially the stock markets, which is understandable. And the concern is really around what’s going to happen when the stockmarkets start falling. What could … [Read more...]
In this weeks ‘Trading thought’ we’re going to discuss an issue that all traders have to face... How do you know when to stop trading a strategy? A common approach is to wait for a strategy to reach the maximum historical drawdown and then either stop trading the system or look at modifying or … [Read more...]
Trade management is a critical component of a trading strategy. It can often be the difference between a profitable trade and a loss... However many traders focus on the entry only and leave trade management as an afterthought. In episode 49 of the podcast, Linda Raschke, said "trade … [Read more...]
In this weeks Thursday Trading Thought we’re going to discuss a market pattern that was identified over 80 years ago, perhaps even longer, that could indicate what happens in the markets for the rest of 2017. Now, I can imagine some traders are probably thinking, “who cares about some old, dusty … [Read more...]
In this Thursday Trading Thought we're going to consider the demise of price-based edges. With the explosion of computing power, more and more resources are being deployed to analyse the markets. Edges that used to work are being eroded away or destroyed as traders from all around the world … [Read more...]
In this episode we’re going to explore a topic we don’t cover much on this podcast and that is options trading. 2 of the mains reasons we don’t discuss options trading much, is firstly because I don’t trade options myself and have limited knowledge of how to use them, but also because there are … [Read more...]
