Better System Trader

143: The 'DNA approach' to trading with Bruce Vanstone

18 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The discovery of DNA as well as the understanding of its function and structure may be one of the most important discoveries of the last century. As r...

142: Mastering the Fundamentals with Martin Lembak

04 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The idea for this podcast episode has its roots in a trip I made to the States last year. I was at a conference and one of the speakers was 1993 Karat...

141: Models are like unicorns - with Kevin Saunders

18 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We have a really interesting one here for you today, one that may challenge your existing thoughts on trading models. I know this episode has certainl...

140: Forecasting a Volatility Tsunami with Andrew Thrasher

04 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast episode we're going to be talking about something that can have a huge impact on the markets and on trading strategies. It's something...

139: Generating alpha from institutional activity with Jason Bodner

07 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the first podcast episode for 2018, happy new year! I hope that you had a great Christmas or holiday season and all the best for 2018. In t...

138 - 2017 roundup: the year in review

24 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Well here we are, another year gone (and so fast too!). I'm glad you could join me for this final episode for 2017, where we'll be reviewing all of th...

137: Profiting from persistent market anomalies with Dimitri Speck

10 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest for this podcast episode, Dimitri Speck, first became interested in the markets as a child when he found gold while diving at the beach. And...

136: Anticipating market action and "pain points" with John Carter

26 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A few weeks ago we organised a family holiday for December. We booked a luxury villa in Port Douglas and we're all really excited to get there and sta...

135: How "balance" can make us better traders

24 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I can't believe it's only 4 weeks until Christmas! We've got the Christmas ads running on the TV here already... The local grocery store has the Chris...

134: Constructing a strong portfolio for higher returns and lower drawdowns

17 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Petronas towers in Malaysia are the tallest twin towers in the world at 452m (1483 ft) tall. Because of the ground underneath the building site, t...

133: Building Mean Reversion trading strategies with Cesar Alvarez - Part

12 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

And we're back for the final episode in this 3-part series on building Mean Reversion strategies with Cesar Alvarez from Alvarez Quant Trading. In th...

132: How to track poor strategy performance

10 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A few weeks ago I got the fright of my life. I found myself in a situation where I could potentially be crushed by a car, or perhaps even a bus or tru...

131: What strategies work best in low volatility environments?

02 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I've just arrived back home from a few weeks in the States, I had a great time there but it's also good to be home. I'm a bit jet-lagged today so let'...

130: Building Mean Reversion trading strategies Part 2 with Cesar Alvarez

28 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

And we're back for the 2nd episode in this 3-part series on building Mean Reversion strategies with Cesar Alvarez from Alvarez Quant Trading. In the ...

129: Does it actually make sense to ALWAYS use a stop loss?

26 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wondered: Why the word "abbreviate" is so long? Why are wise men and wise guys opposites? Why is it called quicksand if it takes you do...

128: Where to find 'phenomenal' trade setups

17 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As you probably know, we're currently focusing on Mean Reversion trading strategies. In episode 127, Cesar Alvarez shared a number of techniques to...

127: Building Mean Reversion trading strategies with Cesar Alvarez - Part 1

14 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We've got something special organised for you here... This is the 1st episode in a special 2-part series on building Mean Reversion trading strategies...

126: Protection in a market downturn

13 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It seems from the emails I've been getting lately that more and more traders are becoming concerned about the state of the markets, especially the sto...

125: Are your trading strategies sick or healthy?

06 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this weeks 'Trading thought' we're going to discuss an issue that all traders have to face... How do you know when to stop trading a strategy? A co...

124: Managing Trades with Linda Raschke

01 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Trade management is a critical component of a trading strategy. It can often be the difference between a profitable trade and a loss... However many t...

123: Will history repeat in 2017?

28 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this weeks Thursday Trading Thought we're going to discuss a market pattern that was identified over 80 years ago, perhaps even longer, that could ...

122: Competing with Machine Learning and PHDs

21 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

With the explosion of computing power, more and more resources are being deployed to analyse the markets. Edges that used to work are being eroded awa...

121: Volatility and Systematic Options Strategies with Luca Giusti

17 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we're going to explore a topic we don't cover much on this podcast and that is options trading. 2 of the mains reasons we don't discu...

120: 3 trading inspirations

15 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this weeks Thursday Trading Thought we're going to inject some inspiration into the podcast. Trading is a really tough business and sometimes as tr...

119: Fear, Hope and Greed

07 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Fear, Hope and Greed are 3 dangers that traders of all levels need to watch out for. They can have sometimes have a dramatic impact on our trading res...

118: Game Theory with Brian Miller

04 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

So here it is, the 2nd part of our conversation with Brian Miller from Optimized Trading. In the chat today we're going to combine some new topics wi...

117: How to make better trading decisions

01 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A common misconception with systematic and algorithmic trading is that it removes the impacts of human psychology on trading. But that's really not th...

116: Building entries without curvefitting

25 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

You may have noticed over the past few weeks of 'Thursday Trading Thoughts' that we've been following a theme. In episode 113 we heard about a test K...

115: Intelligent strategies that maintain themselves - David Stendahl

20 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Glad you could join us today for our chat about intelligent systems that maintain themselves. Sounds good doesn't it? Well actually, that's not all we...

114: How to quickly identify when an edge has gone

18 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Last week we reviewed a technique Kevin Davey shared to measure the effectiveness of entries and exits using something he calls 'the monkey test'. Thi...

113: How good are your entries and exits... really?

11 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we're going to have a quick chat about the effectiveness of entries, and a simple technique you can use to determine how good an entry or exit ...

112: Intraday Trading with Stefano Serafini

06 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Glad you could join us today where we get to chat with Stefano Serafini – the current leader of the World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®* I ...

111: Managing Monte Carlo

04 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As systematic and algorithmic traders, we have a number of tools and processes we can use to test and validate trading strategies. For example, in-sam...

110: George Costanza tip for Traders

28 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

T Today I want to share with you one of my favourite Seinfeld episodes ever. It's the episode where George Costanza realises that all of the decisions...

109: Adaptive Trading Systems with Brian Miller

23 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The markets are in a constant state of adaptation. Conditions change. Strategies fall in and out of sync with the market, causing periods of good and ...

108: What Market Breadth can reveal about current market conditions

21 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Over the last few months you may have noticed an increase in the number of articles being published on the internet using Market Breadth to predict wh...

107: Indicators that adapt to changing market conditions

13 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

"I think most traders use canned indicators like a stochastic or RSI or MACD, with a fixed length without thinking much about them." - John Ehlers Th...

106: Can meditation give traders an edge with Adam Grimes

09 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I have to admit… I'm a bit of a sceptic. However, I've had so many people recommend meditation to me in the past. Successful people. People I have a...

105: A Dangerous Optimization Assumption

07 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today I want to share an optimization insight from Perry Kaufman. I was reading an article on a trading website and the author was making some assumpt...

104: Pulling the trigger in paradise

30 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A few years back I was on a holiday with friends at Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays. We were cruising around the island in a golf buggy when a frie...

103: A New Responsive Indicator with John Ehlers

25 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Indicators often form a large part of trading systems, however there are a number of issues caused by indicators that can result in under-performing t...

102: Is simple or complex better?

22 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I'm currently in Sydney for a week doing some work, and I'm staying in one of the hotels near circular quay, overlooking Sydney Harbour. I won't share...

101: Trading price patterns with Brent Penfold

18 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Most trading strategies are built to find repeatable patterns in the market and then attempt to exploit any future occurrences of the pattern to make ...

100: Ask Jack Schwager

11 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Jack Schwager returns to answer all your trading questions. Jack is a well known expert in the industry, working for some of wall streets leading firm...

099: Where to focus for top trading performance

09 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When I was learning to snowboard, I still remember the first time I got off the lift chair, strapped myself in the board and looked down the mountain....

098: When is a strategy ready for live trading?

02 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It can be really interesting and exciting to research the markets and test different ideas but at some stage we need to decide if the strategy is read...

097: Optimization Myths with Jack Schwager

28 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Jack Schwager needs no introduction. He's a well known expert in the industry, working for some of wall streets leading firms. Plus he's the author o...

096: Could you be throwing away good trading strategies?

25 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know there are some situations that can cause traders to throw away perfectly viable trading strategies, without even realizing it? Imagine th...

095: What makes a successful trader?

18 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wondered what exactly is it that makes a trader successful? Is it based on personality? A specific approach to the markets? Pure luck? D...

094: Cornering the market with Kurt Sakaeda

14 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How many traders do you know that have successfully cornered a market? If you're not familiar with the term 'corner the market', it means to get enoug...

093: Trading in an emergency

12 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Last week I had to make an emergency trip to the hospital. It highlighted a gap in my trading 'operation' (pardon the pun) so I wanted to share that w...

092: Trading for a Living with Nick Radge

04 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever dreamed of leaving your day job to trade for a living? Or living a life of freedom - travelling the world or hanging around at home, do...

091: Leveraging Exits with Laurent Bernut

30 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

" When you have a bad entry, you can always work your way around it, but when you have a bad exit, this is final… This is when the P&L gets printed...

090: How to find trading ideas every single day

28 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I recently received an email asking me where all the trading ideas are. I think every episode provides at least 1 idea of value, but one that stands o...

089: Automated trading – 'Set and forget' or 'Forget and regret'?

21 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

One of the appeals of automated trading is that it can be automated. You can 'set it and forget it' if you want. However there can be some dangers wi...

088: Protect and Grow Capital during Corrections with Ivanhoff

16 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Market corrections can be a stressful and challenging time for some traders, but it can also be a time of incredible opportunity. How can we not only ...

087: What's your risk of ruin?

14 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this week I was on a flight from LAX back to Melbourne. As we were sitting on the plane waiting for our departure I overheard a flight attenda...

086: Why consider future market conditions?

07 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

"Basing your decisions on past data is like driving down the road, looking in the rear-view mirror". For the most part, traders don't know what's goin...

085: Intraday Trading Strategies with Gary Hart

02 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest for the episode is Gary Hart, the founder of Trendfinder Trading Systems, a company offering mechanical intraday and swing trading strategie...

084: Handling noisy markets

31 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

One of the biggest challenges we face as traders is strategies that either fail or experience a reduction in performance over time. There are a number...

083: How to get better at anything, faster

23 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Last week I finished reading a book called 'Peak – Secrets from the new science of expertise'. I wanted to share a concept from that book with you t...

082: Machine Learning with Kris Longmore

19 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Machine learning has seen a huge amount of growth over recent years with the increase in available data and processing power. It's an incredibly pow...

081: Trading the Mean Reversion Curve

16 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

One of the main challenges with Mean Reversion trading is when to get into a trade, which can have a huge impact on profit and drawdown levels. How fa...

080: "My Best Losing Year Ever"

09 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

"My best losing year ever" and how traders can become better by learning from drawdowns, losses and other trading challenges.   Disclaimer: Trading i...

079: Strategy Validation with Dave Bergstrom

05 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

With the toolsets we have available to us today it's really quite easy to create a trading strategy by just mining market data. As we've just heard in...

078: Deadly snake face-off

02 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

My face-off with a deadly brown snake - what can traders learn?   Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a substantial risk of loss an...

077: Choosing the right exit

23 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the previous podcast episode with Larry Tentarelli, we opened up the opportunity to submit questions for Larry and received quite a few pages. Surp...

076: Entries, Exits and Trend Following with Larry Tentarelli

19 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As traders, we can sometimes get tempted into making things more complicated than they need to be. Entries... Exits... Position sizing... Trade manag...

075: Green Eggs and Traders

17 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that Dr Seuss wrote the book "Green Eggs and Ham" on a bet that he couldn't write a book with 50 words or less? That's right, in 1960, th...

074: A deeper understanding of optimization with Andrea Unger

10 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most common uses for optimization is to find the best value or best group of values for a trading strategy, but is this approach only givin...

073: Combining simple concepts to build robust strategies with Art Collins

05 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest for this episode is Art Collins. Art's story is interesting because in his younger days he was an expert card counter in black jack, and he'...

072: Become a better trader by NOT trading

02 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Let me tell you the story of 2 lumberjacks and how we can become better traders by NOT trading.   Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets invol...

071: Does that strategy belong here?

26 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Let's have a bit of fun today. It's Australia Day, so we're going with an Aussie theme for this Thursday Trading Thought... I'm going to share an emai...

070: Risk Management with Robert Carver

22 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Risk Management… It's not as sexy as the latest hot indicator… Or the undiscovered penny stock poised for an explosive move… Or the trading guru...

069: What's all the fuss about?

19 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today we have a quick chat about technology and in particular Blockchain. Yes, Blockchain has been around for a few years now but we're really seeing...

068: Is it time to move on?

12 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How do we know when it's time to quit working on a trading strategy and move on to something else? Here's a lesson from the TV show Gold Rush.   Disc...

067 - Quantitative Momentum with Jack Vogel

08 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The guest for this episode is Jack Vogel from Alpha Architect, a quantitative asset management and consulting firm. Jack has published a number of pa...

066: What can traders learn from Sully?

05 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What can traders learn from airline pilot Captain Sullenberger and his response and actions landing a plane in the Hudson River?   Disclaimer: Tradin...

065: The Top 10 Trading Lessons of 2016

24 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

So here it is: The Top 10 Trading Lessons for 2016! I have to admit, creating this list was really fun. Not only because I got to look back and rememb...

064: Cryptocurrencies and Machine Learning with Bert Mouler

11 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As markets become more mature and more efficient, it can be become increasingly difficult to find sustainable edges. Many traders are looking at the s...

063: Market Regimes with Alan Clement

27 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Most trading strategies have an optimal type of market condition where they work at their absolute best, so having an understanding of market conditio...

062: Mean Reversion strategies with PJ Sutherland

13 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The performance profile of Mean Reversion is extremely desirable to a lot of traders. Mean reversion trading strategies can produce high win rates and...

061: Foundations of Trading with Dr Howard Bandy

30 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

There are a number of different aspects to trading that we really need to get a handle on to increase our odds of success. Some aspects we often put a...

060: Strategy Optimization with Robert Pardo

16 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Why is it that some traders can create trading strategies that perform well in real-time trading while other strategies fall apart? How do some trade...

059: Reducing Drawdowns with Scott Phillips

02 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Who wants a steadily rising equity curve with little or no drawdown? I'm sure most traders do, but unfortunately it doesn't usually end up that way. ...

058: Adapting to market conditions with John Ehlers

18 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Building robust trading strategies that can detect and adapt to market conditions can be a real challenge, and failure to do so can often result in p...

057: Trading on Sentiment with Richard Peterson

04 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Trading algorithmically based on sentiment data is a relatively new field compared to more established approaches. With the explosion of social media ...

056: Allocating capital for higher returns with Michael Melissinos

21 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Whether you're a retail trader with a small account or a fund manager with millions or billions under management, something that we all need to consid...

055: Adam Grimes discusses market behavior, discretionary vs quant approaches and the application of Keltner channels in trading.

08 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Today's guest is a trader that has been requested quite a few times actually, I've had a lot of requests to have this person as a guest on the show, a...

054: From trading ideas to robust strategies - lessons and highlights from episodes 21-40

24 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

When I was preparing for the previous podcast episode on system trading through the Brexit, I had to review some of the past podcast episodes so that ...

053: Should system traders ever override their systems?

10 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The results of the Brexit decision took a lot of people by surprise and the markets reacted accordingly. What was interesting about this market event ...

052 - An 'unfair trading advantage' with Tomas Nesnidal

26 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Traders are always looking for an edge and today's guest shares a simple approach he calls an 'unfair trading advantage', that can have a dramatic imp...

051: Strategy evaluation techniques, flaws and solutions with Dave Walton

12 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Today we're covering a topic which can really be a concern for traders of all levels, from beginner to pro, and that is the topic of strategy evaluati...

050: Linda Raschke shares the work of Nelson Freeburg, his approach to model development and what we can learn by studying his work.

29 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Nelson Freeburg was the editor of Formula Research, a newsletter that developed systematic timing models for the stock, bond, and commodity markets. H...

049: Linda Raschke on trading edges, modelling the markets, identifying market behavior, trade management and day trading techniques.

15 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Markets are constantly changing. Trading edges come and go. In an industry with such a low survival rate, where some areas are changing at an ever in...

048: John Ehlers discusses indicator lag, applications of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) in trading, the MESA approach, Cycles and regime switching.

01 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Trading can be tough, markets are noisy and finding signals in the market noise can be challenging. Also, applying indicators to trading strategies ca...

047: Nitesh Khandelwal on how to choose an algorithmic trading platform and trading statistical arbitrage

17 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Backtesting and execution are such key parts of algorithmic trading so choosing the wrong platform can have a huge impact on our trading. There are lo...

046: Perry Kaufman discusses strategy development and the issues and mistakes traders make when creating robust trading strategies.

03 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I'm sure we all want to create trading strategies that perform better and last for longer but there are a number of issues we need to look out for wh...

045: Andrea Unger explains how the traditional approach to entries can limit our ability to read the market and how he's modified the approach to identify entry opportunities.

20 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Andrea Unger is the only trader to ever win the World Cup Championship of Futures Trading ®* titles 3 years in a row, with returns of 672% in 2008 (f...

044: Short selling expert Laurent Bernut continues our discussion on short selling, bear markets, position sizing, trading edge and trading psychology.

06 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Back in Episode 32 we had a chat with Laurent Bernut, a systematic short seller who spent years working in the Hedge Fund world specializing in short ...