When I got started in the financial markets, I was a "value" investor looking for good companies at a discount, probably much like yourself when you got started.  Value investing wasn't a good fit however, since the amount of time waiting for a turn in the investment was way too unpredictable, sometimes painful, and never guaranteed.

With the dawn of low cost trading, high-performance computers and data availability, I was able to move to the next level and become 100% self-directed.

This led me to options trading and using option selling strategies to generate income.  I made some money doing this, but I wasn't happy with the risk level and the large potential losses associated with individual positions.  Any options sellers remember how 2008 felt?

I tried different newsletters over the years before I realized that most were just way too subjective, and they didn't have consistent results.  I just didn't know what to expect.  I started to realize that "consistent outcomes were the result of consistent processes".  So I then tried many different systems based on technical analysis but was also unhappy with the subjective nature of these indicators, with no consistent rules to govern trades.

A few years back, it became painfully apparent that if I wanted to succeed in the current competitive financial markets, that I needed a more systematic approach like the bigger and more successful players were using.  An approach that would allow me to remove emotions and follow some well-defined rules. I felt that I could leverage my technology background, giving me an "edge" in my trading.

My biggest epiphany came when I subscribed to a newsletter from Dan Murphy.  His methods fit very well with my goals and his systematic approach to investing changed my view point completely from fundamentals based investing to rules based trading and investing.

Using these ideas, I started to develop my own strategies, based on the momentum and mean reversion characteristics of the market.  Since the rules were well defined, this lent itself very well to computer analysis and allowed for extensive backtesting.

I started developing my own backtesting software to allow me to tweak my systems and optimize various performance metrics.  So you'll notice, I don't "do things exactly like everyone else".  My process isn't necessarily cookie-cutter, and that's OK.

For about 5 years I have been developing this software and tuning it so that I can devise systems with optimal performance (maximum MAR, limited downside, reduced volatility).

My goal is to be able to generate a sizable income from my strategies and at the same time build my investment portfolio.  I've been seeing success, and I believe that the systematic approach I've taken will continue to allow me to do this and achieve my goals.

I've known the guys from Systematic Investors Group for a few years now, since we travel around the same systematic trading circles. 

Because I am on the same path and journey with the SIG gang, they asked me to share my work - my strategy signals, knowledge and experience, with the Systematic Investors Group community, as a leading contributor.  I'm happy to share my work and my journey with you all now and my hope is that we can all grow and prosper together in our respective Systematic Trading and Investing paths.