I actually took a look at the 2008 Metatrader Championships because I was curious about the type of systems being used, and I was pleasantly surprised by the winner's system. His interview was also very thought provoking, and proves that a simple system is all that is necessary to be successful. Only 18% of the total number contestants were profitable.
Participant Liliput - Automated Trading Championship 2008
News - Automated Trading Championship 2008
He used a TP of 460 and a SL of 180 after optimization, which gave him a very good positive rewards to risk ratio. It also helped that he was profitable on about 60% of his trades. Simply amazing. And he only took trades on 00:00 of each day.
I'm inspired. I'm going to try to emulate his system on a much lower timeframe across multiple currencies. My system will be based on kinetic energy, so the underlying logic will be an original creation. The key is to filter out low % trades, and have a positive RR ratio. I'm shooting for greater than 2:1. This development will be a great departure of what I usually trade, this system will be countertrend instead of trend following.
I've blocked out the whole next week for systems development. I'll start work on my new 100% mechanical "scalper". I'm sure there will be many losers along the way, but hopefully the few winners will overcome the losers. Like always, if I can get to breakeven on my first try, I will be estatic.