Roles, Use Cases and Workflows
Trading can be considered to constitute roles beyond that of a “pure” trader. Click on the role name to see more detail and associated use cases.
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Note that we define:
a use case as an outcome which a user would like to be able to achieve.
a workflow as a sequence of steps; the steps may be actions or even use cases.
a setup as a situation where a user may wish to enter a trade, based on a specific trigger or signal,
e.g. a Moving Average crossover
a trade as a setup which progresses to placing an order. Not every setup may progress to a trade,
e.g. there may be too many trades active already.
Trading: Identifying setups, then opening and managing trades
Research: Generating ideas, backtesting and optimisation of potential strategies
Portfolio Management: Monitoring active positions and closing all trades in adverse situations
Even if a trader trades manually, they can benefit from using technology to trade across more markets; automation can enable the trader to gain more profit. So if they can add 1 more role to their usual 3 roles, that of Programming, they can increase their trading capacity.
Programming: Automation of aspects of the other roles
In the next page, "A Sample Strategy and Workflow", we will outline the most common workflow, the development and deployment process for an automated trading strategy:
Build -> Test -> Deploy
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This workflow spans all roles and the most common use cases; Programming is involved in the Build step, Research is involved in the Test step, and Trading and Portfolio Management are involved in the Deploy step.