On this page you will find a general reference of the behaviour and characteristics of all our strategies and robots. We will also explain the indicators used and the behaviour when entering, following and exiting a position.
General criteria and basic configuration of our robots
We will understand strategy as the set of conditions for entry, monitoring, and exit of each operation. This does not change in automated trading; robots follow a strategy, and if the strategy is not good, they will not achieve good results, just as in manual or discretionary trading. The main difference and the advantage of automation is that we can have multiple robots applying multiple strategies in multiple markets, constantly and autonomously monitoring all the indicators we configure. They will also track positions, being able to exit at any time if the indicators and strategy dictate (not only can we configure stop loss, take profit, or trailing stops, but we can also exit directly if we see that the expected conditions change excessively).
We understand robot as the adaptation of a strategy to a specific market, with its own customization and parameterization. It is the robot that we install on our ProRealTime platform, and it runs autonomously, following a specific strategy.
Most of our robots operate on CFDs of the main international indices, although we also have or have had robots that operate in FOREX or commodity CFDs.
We can operate our robots on the Mini or Micro version of the CFD indices offered by the broker. Generally 1€ per point by default, but available usually from 0,5€ per point, allowing us making low investments from the start.
In any case, we can configure the number of contracts and the version of the indices that best suit our portfolio and risk management at that time. Up to 100 contracts can be configured, and we can also use the standard indices (which together constitute large investments). In any case, we recommend starting with our recommended minimum configurations.
Additionally, we can configure the robots to auto-increment the number of contracts by reinvesting the profits from previous operations (disabled by default, then the results shown are WITHOUT reinvestment). In any case, all our robots have a configurable loss control that allows the robot to stop automatically if necessary.
Common behaviour of the systems
While we do not disclose the exact behavior, strategy, and indicators of each of our robots, we would like to explain here the common aspects regarding the behavior of operations, strategies, and indicators.
Timeframes and ranges
Given that using CFDs on indices allows us to invest with reduced margins, we can perform mixed trading in terms of the timeframe or duration of operations. Generally, our robots hold positions for hours, possibly up to a few days, so we are not engaging in scalping. Most commonly, the operations are completed within the same day, meaning we usually perform swing trading, but not always.
Within this combination of market and timeframe, our strategies typically use stop losses ranging from 0.2% to 2% (and they ALWAYS have a stop loss configured).
Overall, these are strategies that take advantage of intraday market ranges, from the perspective of several hours.
Basic criteria of the strategies
After experiencing the volatility of market openings in the past, or the stress caused by having multiple operations running simultaneously, at CFD Auto Trading we have opted for robots that operate outside the opening hours of the markets they work in (and usually also outside the opening hours of the U.S. markets) and that generally perform few operations. This approach is taken because we seek to enter the market only when conditions allow and statistics additionally support it (resulting in a high success rate). However, we believe that the most important practical indicator is the loss/profit ratio, which nonetheless does not make us lose sight of operating with the least possible risk (and we believe our results demonstrate this).
Handling of entry, monitoring, and exit
Our robots are the result of our own experience and the hundreds of strategies and robots that we have discarded along the way.
Depending on the strategy and market, for market entry we use combinations of classic indicators such as MACD, Pivot Points, simple and exponential moving averages, or ATR. We use these indicators in different timeframes as needed. For example, even though a robot is configured with a 5-minute timeframe (meaning it runs and checks conditions every 5 minutes), it could check the MACD on an hourly range, or the ATR every 10 minutes.
In addition to indicators, backtesting (testing with past data) not only allows us to adjust strategies to specific markets but also to use simple and straightforward statistics that ultimately shape the robot by verifying the strategy adapted to a specific market. For instance, a highly effective strategy on NASDAQ may not work on FTSE.
Generally, we do not set a Take Profit for our robots; instead, we often use a Trailing Stop. We have strategies that dynamically adjust the trailing stop depending on whether the position is already protected or not, or based on the level of accumulated profit (almost like a dynamic take profit).
Additionally, beyond trailing stops, some of our strategies add the capability to control the position if the indicators become entirely unfavorable (exiting the position immediately or reducing the trailing stop points).
Do not hesitate to contact us for any inquiries, and be sure to visit our FAQ page.