What to lock in before you call anything automated
These habits prevent the most common beginner mistakes in SFZ and in live trading generally.
- Do not automate vague pattern recognition you cannot define.
- Do not confuse historical correlation with a durable edge.
- Do not move forward until the rules are testable and reviewable.
Keep the human role clear
- You still choose the logic, capital budget, and shutdown conditions.
- You still verify that the strategy matches the market it trades.
- You still decide when a bot should be retired rather than patched.
Start with process metrics
- Ask whether the rules are explicit enough to test.
- Ask whether the expected drawdown is tolerable before looking at return.
- Ask whether you could explain the system to another operator without guessing.
Treat SFZ like an operating desk
- Use the creator to remove ambiguity.
- Use the backtester to reject weak ideas early.
- Use the terminal and analytics screens to supervise, not to hope.