20 Algorithmic Trading Tips

To finish with, here are some tips. I compiled it based on my mistakes. I hope it will help you avoid them.

20 Algorithmic Trading Tips

• Trade small first. Size a live bot at 10 % of planned capital until it proves itself.

• Back‑test with fees. Add maker‑taker and funding costs or the curve lies.

• Walk‑forward. Re‑optimize on fresh data every month; kill parameters older than the market mood.

• One market per bot. Mixing pairs inside the logic blurs stats and risk.

• Keep code short. Fewer lines, fewer hidden bugs.

• Log every fill. Timestamp, price, size, fee, lat‑delay — store it in CSV.

• Cap drawdown. Hard‑stop the bot if equity dips 10 % below high‑water.

• Use UTC everywhere. Avoid daylight‑savings chaos.

• Ping the API. Health‑check every minute; restart on 5 fails.

• Throttle orders. Stay under 20 calls/sec on Binance to dodge 429s.

• Shadow trade. Mirror the strategy in paper for a week while the real bot runs micro size.

• Spread risk. Two uncorrelated bots beat one “perfect” setup.

• Parameter guardrails. Limit grid step, DCA scale, leverage in config — not hard‑coded.

• Secure keys. Read API keys from env vars; never push them to Git.

• Roll contracts. Futures bot must auto‑switch symbols before expiry.

• Track slippage. Compare expected vs filled price; adjust limits if gap >0.1 %.

• Automate alerts. Push fill, error, and drawdown pings to Telegram — react fast.

• Update libraries. Patch ccxt/freqtrade monthly; old versions break at API upgrades.

• Snapshot equity. Write daily balance to sheet; trends beat gut feel.

• Kill switch ready. One command in the phone clears all orders and positions — sleep better.