Time to bring out the good old strategies that have failed recently ?

strategies in MT4 that are reliable ?, what is your standard of reliable strategies ?

Anyway, create one. or subscribe to signal service - some of them is free and maybe reliable to your standard.

Reliable in terms of Error_Handling or Reliable in term of Future_Profits? Standard Indicators, Custom Indicators and Expert Advisors are Different. The Macd Sample and Moving Average Expert Advisors were made by MetaQuotes and are Default Examples of Expert Advisors. They have no Error_Handling and most would argue that they're not Profitable. I could make Sample ATR and BB Expert Advisors within 3-Weeks of going through the Book.

https://book.mql4.com/basics/programms

https://book.mql4.com/build/errors 

https://www.mql5.com/en/articles/1462 

There is so much to take in. I am reading articles by  Antoniuk Oleg. Actually read some and skimmed through the rest. If becoming successful meant that all I had to do is understand what he was trying to covey then, yes, by all means I would learn. People have been on here for years and learning all this. Not all are rich and volunteering their time here. 

Fact is that there is so much to look in to. The quality of back testing. By this I mean there is slippage and a bunch of execution delays such as internet. Then there is the market changing. These are just a few problems that I can see. The solutions them selves are just as complicated. 

When some one gets in to this they are told that they have to learn this or that. But there is so much more. The idea or getting great returns in strategy back tester is a tip of the iceberg. I hate to say it, but I'm a slow learner.  

Like I said if it was as easy as learning the few articles I would do it. I probably will either way.

It seems like the nature of trading is all about fixing problems in all sorts of fields. 

Where do I focus my attention and what can I trust to be out sourced ?

On what you want to accomplish. For me the answer was simple Automated Trading. Everyone need to develop a Risk_World View. I'd already developed a Risk World View before I turned my attention toward trading. My life plan was simple [or at least thats what I taught] Become a Professional Blackjack Player > then Become a World Class Investor > then Become a Philanthropist.

Stage1: Blackjack Card-Counting, 1st thing I did there was to empty my Savings Account. Why: as a Novice, getting used to Thousands of dollars Swings from Hour-to-Hour was just too much. I always wanted to leave the Casino with more money than I entered with. This was a Personal Problem I had to deal with. I would self-sabotage after 10 Hours of Card-Counting. It's time to go-home but I cannot. Also at this point I'm exhausted and cannot do another +1. End up being like every other gambler in the building and blowing it-big-time.

I would go home and re-simulate everything. Asking question like why is this happening to me. Is this beating the house just a scam? Can I trust these Bj simulators and the optimistic numbers they produce? Are the system developers and blackjack book writers the only ones making money? I would cross reference different expectations from different simulations and they seem to produce the same results. And I'd think but of course, they're all in on it.

When it came to learning to program and confirming the numbers that way, I always said to myself heck-no, I rather be counting than learning some stupid programming which is just for geeks/nerds. Like you, I hate to say it, but I also consider myself a slow learner. My math skills sucks. And then on top of that I cannot program. Well finally with Blackjack, I decided to just take the numbers on Faith and play the game like I was a damm Computer. No gut feelings, no-lucky today, no-over-staying, no-over-betting. The way i simulated it was how It's gonna be.

This kind of change within a person is like someone trying to quit drugs. Your brain is tilling you one-thing and your body/hands is wanting to perform another. Anyways, we got through it, no-getting rich quick, no-millionaire, no-overspending, and pretty much nothing like you'd expected when you toke-up the venture. It was time to move-on to Stage2.

Stage2: Trading, Investment. What to Trade, What have Low start-up costs, What have low risk. While thinking about this, I run into Forex, No thousand of Stocks to evaluate, Perhaps just the Majors and thats if I feel like it. I can start trading with $10 accounts. Opened 24 hours a weekday. +Plus here's a free platform which allows you to Automate Trading. <-- Really!! you mean I don't have to sit there. I can actually let the simulations Play themselves out. Bingo.

Now, If I can just lay my hands on that Trading System. I mean there has to be one right. I mean Bj has a known system, trading gotta have it also, I mean this is the real Intellectual Stuff, we've all heard about these Traders. There must be a system. First thing you do is read the Books and Materials found on-line. Most material seemed to talk about Indicators, Trend, Money-Management. Of course like most people this is where I'm gonna start. But I need to Test this stuff before I commit myself on Faith toward any of these Systems <-- This is my World View#1.

Start testing some trend following systems like Macd_Sample and Moving_Average along with the stuff of the Code_Base and none of them seem to produce any Long-Term Profits. Forget about EV-Advantage/Expectations. Ok, I'm thinking I cannot use those, I clearly see what will happen to my money in the long-run. I just need to make my own Systems and Optimize them. Now though I wouldn't consider learning to program for Bj. I came to the conclusion rather fast that wouldn't fly with trading.

I coded and Optimized the heck out of a Macd-Expert Here. Of course it failed in forward testing. Which brings me to world-view#2. Don't be willing to part with one's hard earn Money easily. If none of theses system are going to pass a Long-term live demo testing, there's no way I'm investing a penny of my money upon it. And I'm sure as hell not going to start trading a method someone else recommends Manually | Automatically without knowing it has an EV. <-- Mathematical Long-term expectation which I'm familiar with from Bj.

I've now adopted my own Risk-World View on Forex | Testing | Optimization | mql4_Coding etc. You'll have to find your own, hopefully by testing and accepting even if it's difficult to accept.

If there is money to be earned I am in 100% , Like you I have been through allot already. I gave up. This I think was a good thing. Now I am only interested in the a system and testing it. From my view, it seems that  there are alot of people that know that a proper strategy is what is needed with good and ongoing analyses of different strategies. Combined with is good money management. In the end all we are doing is going back in time and seeing what would of worked. 

It is just data, in the end we get 1 and 0's or -1's to buy or sell. everything else like a chart or how markets are doing is just clothes that numbers wear.

Black jack coin flipping or what ever, they are all  numbers. This goes for sports too. 

Lets look at the headaches.

1. programming

2. software.

3. system going down

4. Order entry

5. slippage, internet speed. brokers 

Theres probably more.  

I was thinking about betting on sports, the data is more clear. and simpler software can be used often free. the system going down or execution speed isn't as bad as in trading.  Plus its just easier to follow the variables. chinas inflation need not be an issue. More importantly when there is news like an injury, you know which way to bet. 

Like all numbers, these numbers wear their clothes. why one is illegal in one country and other are not I will never understand. Both are betting on the same thing. And that is how people will react to things. NOT how a stock will do, rather how people will perceive a stock will do.

I can download historical data of sports and manipulate it very well. sure there is a headache at one part, I'm just wondering is all this worth to learn only to compete with people that know this already? Or is there another place to make money playing with statistics. 

I mean even though I am given links and stuff on a silver platter, I just still have no idea what to do. So I have to figure out that part,  do it over and over in different market times and accumilate 20 or so systems that work in different conditions.  then forward test or double check my results , get proper data. find a proper broker test him out work on my internet speed and what ever iron out any problems build money management systejms and entry and exits.

This is like 3 fields of work. It is like I need a PHD in each.

Any short cuts puts in a 1% chance of bad data/data snooping. Chance of error in a system made to make 1 % more money then it losses will eat me up. It all has to be perfect.

Great alot of work. I can do that ,  but is there any proof that doing it all right will pay off ? NO. none at all. I do not trust a single person that says they are making money. statements or not .

Actually, statistically there is a small percent chance that a system will not preform as it should. Maybe something like the tech boom, or currency one day being worth nothing, or even simply that that time is up for what was working.

Statistically the more one trades , the closer they get to the point of loss.

If one has a way of making profitable systems. They begin to make money and duplicate it , they reinvest in their account. The attain exponential growth and hire managers to manage the systems and keep it up to date. Th,ey would get an office, heck it would be worth it to buy the building and kick all others out of the building as they pose a risk to the electricity, hire security to stand in front of the building 24 7. I mean once a real good system is made the only limit is having to invest more then 1% of the total invested in each stock, even then you shoudl be able to adjust to move that volume, you still have currency and derivatives markets. You have all you need. 

are you gona spend your time helping the world ?, Invest in research in areas you are curious about ? try to cure cancer? go to space? help others trade ?

Or are you go and try to make 300 -10,000 $ selling EA's and market it yourself ?

So there's no proof. alot of work, no short cuts, alot of problems some of which may not be worth to over come (who knows).

If I understand the idea of trading, which I may not, am I dumb for not jumping in and finding out for myself ? Were you dumb when you went to the casino. Why the heck did you stop going ?

You cant make it at the casino, but can make it trading ? 

I should post on the work bord that Instead of paying people to make my EA, I will give them 1 % of all my profits for 10 years !  I wonder how much response that will get lol .

I am happy breaking even, or even making a couple of bucks a day as long as it is consistent. That is all I want. (not that making 1000$ a day should be that much harder) 

But what is the quickest way to get to that point ?  If I achieve that, then I will learn everything and even hire who ever helped me (though I would imagine he is happy with his own system) can I count on my data ? can i count on my internet or build a system that trades only once a day so slippage is not an issue. Or am i just missing a bit of programming knowledge and can have this up in a week or two ?

Thanks for your response by the way  

My girlfriend/mother/friends sure taught I was dumb for going to the casino. I never stopped going. I've made it within the Casino. I've made it in trading to an Extent. Earlier, I explained the reason for focusing on trading. It was never my intend to become a career Bj player. It was suppose to be a stepping stone.

Blackjack material/systems/etc is a piece-of-cake compared to trading. Why, IMO it's because the person who discovered the game could be beaten [American mathematician Dr. Edward O. Thorp] did the math and published his system to the public. <--No one in trading is dumb enough to repeat this.

The lessons learned with both Bj && Forex is this. What you hope in terms of Speed_Of_Getting_Rich usually isn't what you'll get. Amount you can earn is usually a Small fraction of what you currently have. Try to go any faster and you'll crash.

You see. I any other field 'i would let this go. But there is a contradiction. not only is it a contradiction to your casino story but also to trading as a whole. 

If no one is to repeat it and you stopped black jack, that would mean that your results probably were not what you wanted. As you mentioned the bit of speed or getting rich.

 SO you write some one found a way, (there's alot to read there, hopefully I get time to read it) I assume the way was based on math. It would have to be really precise. I see at some point he has a chart of the speed a roulette wheel is being turned.  To get an edge the math must be really well calculated to make sure we have the small edge.

So its all based on math,  as it should be. So how come all of a sudden the math fails when calculating the time it takes to make money. if there was a mistake in the math it should just be fixed. This means that draw down periodes were wrong and in trading our stop loss would of been hit at wrong times it throws the whole thing off ! probably that is why no one is dumb enough to try it again. 

 All we can conclude from this is that great ideas exist but there is no roof that a system has been made that makes money. All the math in the world does not seem to be able to defeat "randomness" Sure we can build systems that last for a while, just like i can see an imbalance in red to green ratios at the casino. but these trends end, in favour of now fixing an imbalance that we have not even thought of such as our internet speed beeing a bit too fast for a few days too much this month. 

You seem to be here alot and I can only assume you work for mt4 ? This is the only reason I continue the convo.  Is this not off topic ?

-1st) I do-not work for Meta-Quotes. I'm a System-Developer | Automated-Trader | Advantage Player. 2nd) I never quit Blackjack, I'll be playing tomorrow. 3rd) I'm answering your question [personally] because it reminds me of the type of questions I had when I was a novice to forex and forum-mql4.com. 4th) I'm trying to keep the thread about Automated Trading Focus, using Blackjack [which I already know] as an Example. If you feel it's off topic, you can stop responding.

Unfortunately, I felt it better to explain my position using some of my Background. At a Risk, it makes the thread feel like it's about gambling instead of Automated Trading. I consider my Blackjack system-development | experience a success. I would never have been interested in Statistics of Risk without Blackjack as the Context. In the same, I'd never been motivated in Programming without Automated-Trading as the Context.

I'm not giving you any answers, I'm asking you to form your own Opinions by Testing. My Opinion for Forex is not 100% Randomness [More Like 90% Random]. If I felt it was 100% Random, I'd Quit Immediately. Because the Spreads now takes the game from Coin-Toss to negative Ev. I'm not a Temporary System kind of trader. I'm a Long-Run System kind of trader.