Collaboration

Notes on trading system design and the pursuit of automation

The Benefits of Collaboration, 08/29/05

Last Thursday, a colleague mentioned an idea for a scalping system he was working on. Over the weekend we went back and forth, separately and together working on the system. Throwing things in, tearing things out. Comparing control charts. By the time it was over, we had something that was quite amazing and perfect for automation with a 77% win rate, a z score of 5.8, and nice stable control charts.

More interestingly, this is the second time this has happened to me in the last month: a colleague mentions an idea and we each mix and match our own tools and insights to come up with something together that is better than what we would have built alone.

This has been true in my pure research endeavors, too, where the presence of a like-minded collaborator, carried me to heights I wouldn't have achieved alone.

Trading itself is a naturally solitary endeavor - no one could, or should, push the big trading button for another. But I have benefited greatly from collaboration in all the events that lead up the actual trade, research, system development and the simple camaraderie of a shared fate.

Henry Carstens
Vertical Solutions
carstens@verticalsolutions.com