Thursday, September 01, 2011

Automated Robots and Systems

These scams encompass Expert Advisors (also famously known as EAs) and other automated systems.

What is a robot?

In the forex world, a "robot" is a program that strictly uses technical signals to enter in trades and lets the human sleep in a hammock on a beach while he "makes" money.

Red robotWith a push of a button, the robot runs continuously, making trades signaled by mathematical algorithms applied to past price history. In order words, they run automated mechanical systems, whether or not the user is in front of the computer or not.

The problem is that robots and their pre-wired thinking do not compensate for ever-changing market conditions.
Market behavior is dynamic, constantly moving in an infinite variation of three movements: up, down, or sideways.

Most robots are not programmed for all environments, or to recognize a change in the trading environment. As a result, losses occur and they can be huge if not closely watched or managed.

Now, the scam isn't the robot itself but how they are marketed. Scammers will often try to sell these robots and automated systems as the "holy grail" of trading, promising you'll retire sometime next week. And they sell them at "human affordable" prices ranging from $20 to $5000.

OMG!! Only $20?? For the chance to make ridiculous money??? That sounds like a bargain!
All right, stop. Collaborate and listen.

If the creator is making big bucks with the system, why would he/she try to sell it and share the profit?
And why for only $20?! You can barely get a decent meal at Chick-fil-A for you and your sweetums with $20!

The only real profit for these fraudulent people is the revenue generated from the sales of their forex "R2-D2s."

The scammer will try to entice you with historical data and back-testing logs.
DOUBLE OMG!! It's back-tested!! It must work!!! And it's only $20!! That's less than a PS3 game!
All right, stop. Collaborate and listen. Again.

Sure, it might look highly profitable. However, in the forex market, there is no such thing as a consistent market. Conditions are changing all the time. The past has little effect on the future in a changing market.
We don't know for certain that what happened in past will happen again in the future.

There are too many variables to consider. Plus, you don't know if these scammers are making up the results anyways. They could just input random numbers into an excel file as most people wouldn't bother checking if they are accurate or not.
Our advice?
Stay away from automated systems and robots until you become a master trader AND programmer.
BlockadeBeginners know nothing about trading or how forex markets behave, so they will not understand how the robot works, what environments they are best suited for, or how to tweak and adjust the system.

It is best to actually learn how to trade consistently before you make the decision to let a program do it for you.

Think about it this way: Would you give a total stranger (with no brain to boot!) your hard earned money to invest without having a clue on what he/she was doing? Didn't think so!

Robots can be a great tool, but let's be real -there's no perfect "one" that will work in all environments, all the time. Shoot, even the quant funds and algorithmic traders on Wall Street can lose money, and they have PhD mathematicians and financial engineers creating their programs!

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