Q: What does the trading algorithm trade in?
A: It trades the Micro ES E-Mini S&P 500 futures and ES E-Mini S&P 500 futures. These futures have the same price, but differ in multiplier and margin required.
Q: When will there be trading?
A: Every day between 9:00 and 22:00 CET. A position can be opened up to one hour before the close. At the end of the session, any open position is always closed (automatically), so it's a proper day trading strategy.
Q: Is there really no more human intervention at all?
A: True, there is a continuous stream of data coming from the exchange that is continuously analyzed. If the outcome is that a position needs to be taken (long or short) then this is done immediately with a market order.
Q: How is the position monitored afterwards?
A: Immediately upon opening the position a linked bracket order is sent. These are two additional orders, which on the one hand limit the maximum loss (stop loss) and on the other hand take profit (profit target). The algorithm may well decide afterwards to adjust the stop loss to reduce the maximum loss.
Q: Sometimes during the session, the position is also simply closed without hitting a bracket order. What happens there?
A: At the well-known moments when important macroeconomic announcements are made or figures are released, the algorithm is extra alert to certain behavior. If just before that moment other market participants withdraw their orders, then a large order after that can give the price a huge push, possibly skipping whole chunks of the price. Even a stop loss can then be skipped whereby the position will close at a much worse price than what the stop loss was set at. If the described behavior is observed, then to avoid the risk of a very 'bad stop loss' the position will be closed. This too is all done without human intervention of course.
Q: Does the algorithm then know what news is coming out?
A: No, it only studies the behavior of other market participants and tries to avoid (too) much risk. If other market participants get nervous and withdraw orders, the safest move is to quickly close the position yourself.
Q: How can I receive the signals?