Automation doesn't fix a strategy, it just applies it faster

Recurring pattern here: someone has a discretionary approach that loses slowly, automates it, and is surprised when it loses faster. The computer removes hesitation. If hesitation was accidentally saving you. You skipped the worst setups because they felt bad, then automating removes that too, and now you take all of them. Worth asking honestly before you automate: is my edge in the rules, or in the trades I quietly don't take? If it's the second one, write down why you skip them, or you're about to find out what your rules actually say.
I
IndicatorSkeptic
11 posts · 0 followers
+ Follow

Related reading

5 replies

BacktestBetty· Jun 2026 ago
This is why I make people backtest their discretionary rules before automating them. The results are usually humbling.
G
GapHunterMike· Jun 2026 ago
took me two years to admit my edge was the skipping, not the entries.
M
MomoQueen· Jun 2026 ago· edited Aug 2026 ago
Yes!! I started keeping a skip log, every setup I passed on, one line why, screenshot if I had time. Took like 3 weeks before the pattern jumped out (turned out I was skipping anything that gapped into resistance, which was never in my written rules at all!). Now it IS a rule. Can't automate a gut feeling but you can usually translate it if you catch yourself in the act!
C
CoffeeAndCharts· Jun 2026 ago
Skip log is such a good idea, stealing it. I already do a morning list of what I'm watching, adding a column for the ones I passed on and why costs me nothing.
ZenTrader_Ana· Jun 2026 ago· edited Aug 2026 ago
The part I sit with is that hesitation isn't always wisdom, sometimes it's just fear wearing a good disguise. How do you tell the two apart when you're reviewing your skips? For me it's usually whether I can name a reason in the moment or only invent one afterwards.
Sign in to reply →
← All automated trading