Profitability and Systematic Trading

Michael Harris started developing trading systems in the late 1980s while working for Wall Street firms. He has been an active trader since 1989 and is currently the President of Tradingpatterns.com, a software development company he established in 1999, and Director of Harrison Investments, Inc., a fund management and financial consulting firm for offshore institutional investors and hedge funds. Harris holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and two master's degrees-one in systems engineering and another in operations research.

Preface. Acknowledgments. About the Author. Disclaimer. Part I. Foundations. Chapter 1. The Market. A Trader's Perspective. Futures, Equity and Forex Markets. Which Market Should I Trade In? Chapter 2. The Zero-Sum Game of Trading. The Counterargument. The Winners and Losers. Zero-Sum Trading Markets. Rare Exceptions to the Rule. Dealing With the Realities of The Zero-Sum Game. Chapter 3. Trading Methods and Time Frames. Trading Methods. Trading Time Frames. Part II. Profitability and Risk. Chapter 4. The Profitability Rule. Qualitative versus Quantitative. Derivation Of The Profitability Rule. The Fundamental Law of Trading Strategies. Effect of Commissions on Profitability. Profitability and Trading Time Frames. Examples. Chapter 5. Risk and Money Management. The Probability of Ruin. The Fundamental Law of Risk and Money Management. Position Sizing. The Risk Percent Method. Martingale versus Anti-Martingale Betting Strategies. Risk and Money Management Plan. Examples. Part III. Systematic Trading. Chapter 6. Analysis of Trading Systems. Simplicity versus Complexity. Trading System Modeling. Trading System Development and Back Testing. Pitfalls of Back Testing. Chapter 7. Synthesis of Trading Systems. From Analysis To Synthesis. The Process Of Synthesis. Analysis versus Synthesis. Examples of Trading System Synthesis. At The End of the Day... Appendix: Codes for Selected Price Patterns. References. About the CD-ROM. Index.