If You Can’t Write It Down… How Can You Trade It?

A great line from one of the oldest running trend followers:

“I’m very uncomfortable with black box trading where I’m dealing with algorithms I don’t understand. Everything we do we could do on the back of an envelope with a pencil.”

That “back of an envelope” remark must be a revelation for those people that imagine trading to be wildly complex. The real lesson here is the discipline to stick with rules during tough times.

Filed under Black Swan Thinking, Holy Grails, Systems Trading, Trend Following