Are simple emini systems of any value?
According to Comrade Napoleon, a chief character of “Animal Farm,” a famous Orwell satire, “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than other.” This apt observation of Comrade Napoleon can be applied to the world of trading systems, including emini futures trading systems that are of our main interest here, although in a somewhat different form. Namely, it seems safe to say that “all trading systems are unequal, but some of them are more unequal than other.” Translated, this means that trading systems are very different when it comes to their characteristics. The less “unequal” of them, of better, more desirable properties, such as greater profatibility, lower drawdowns, a better looking equity curve, tend to consist of more than one strategy. They are composite in nature and thus more complex than the systems that are more “unequal,” meaning of less desirable properties than those listed above. The systems in the latter category tend to be simple. While the simple trad
