Trading bots
How rule-based systems turn a trading plan into orders—and how limits, order handling and monitoring keep the process accountable.
Explore trading automation TRADING SYSTEMS · ALGORITHMS · ARBITRAGE
Build your trading process on evidence, not assumptions.
TacticTrades explores algorithmic trading, crypto arbitrage, trading automation and AI-assisted research—with a practical focus on execution, model validation and risk controls.
Independent educational content. No fabricated performance claims or guaranteed returns.
BUILT AROUND TESTABLE IDEASEXECUTION-AWARE THINKINGRISK MADE EXPLICIT
WHAT WE COVERTrading technology,
Trading technology,
made understandable.
Clear explanations of familiar quantitative methods and the engineering details that decide whether an idea survives outside a spreadsheet.
Trading algorithms
A practical guide to trend, mean reversion, market making, statistical arbitrage, execution algorithms and crypto-market opportunities.
Explore algorithm researchAI-assisted research
Where machine learning can support analysis, how to evaluate model quality, and why uncertainty and human oversight still matter.
Explore AI researchSTRATEGY OVERVIEWEvery method has an edge.
Every method has an edge.
Every edge has a failure mode.
No single algorithm is best for every market. A method's behaviour depends on the instrument, holding period, costs, liquidity and the quality of its validation.
DIRECTIONAL
Trend following
Look for persistence in price movement.
KEY RISKS
Whipsaws · late signals · regime shifts
RELATIVE VALUE
Mean reversion & pairs
Test whether a spread behaves around a defensible relationship.
KEY RISKS
Relationship breaks · hedge drift
LIQUIDITY
Market making
Quote both sides while managing inventory and adverse selection.
KEY RISKS
Toxic flow · inventory · volatility
ARBITRAGE
Cross-venue & triangular
Compare executable prices across venues or conversion paths.
KEY RISKS
Fees · partial fills · latency · leg risk
A CLOSER LOOK AT ARBITRAGEA visible spread
A visible spread
is not yet a trade.
Two quoted prices can appear different while the opportunity disappears after fees, order-book depth and execution costs. A meaningful arbitrage estimate works at the intended size, models every leg, and accounts for partial fills and venue-specific rules.
Our guide covers cross-exchange spot arbitrage, triangular conversions, statistical relative value, and cash-and-carry or funding-basis strategies—along with the risks that can defeat each approach.
Understand arbitrageBEFORE AN OPPORTUNITY IS TRUSTED01—05
01
Executable bid and ask at the target notional
02
Current trading fees and actual fee currency
03
Liquidity, slippage and book freshness
04
Partial-fill handling and unhedged leg risk
05
Research checklist only. No live quotes or trade recommendation.Net edge after costs—with room for uncertainty
HOW TO EVALUATE A STRATEGYFrom a plausible idea
From a plausible idea
to credible evidence.
A backtest is a tool for asking questions, not a promise about future results. The method should be tested where it can fail, not only where it looks good.
Form a hypothesis
Define the behaviour you expect, why it might persist, and the evidence that would disprove the idea.
Test realistic conditions
Use out-of-sample data and include fees, spread, slippage, liquidity, and execution constraints.
Measure what happens
Compare expected with realized outcomes, monitor model error, and define when exposure should be reduced or stopped.
“
Safety is not profitability.
A system can pass operational checks and still have no durable edge. Keep execution safeguards separate from the evidence that supports a strategy's expected returns.
START WITH A SPECIFIC QUESTION
Good trading research begins with better questions.
Explore a strategy, understand an execution problem, or contact us about a trading technology project.