# Semi automated trading

What is the difference between semi-automated and fully-automated trade management?

**Fully automated trade management is based on the following principles:**

1. the system suggests a setup;
2. the system places this on the market;
3. the system manages the trade.

**Semi automated trade management is based on the following principles:**

1. the system suggests a setup;
2. *the trader decides whether to accept these suggestions or not;*
3. the system manages the trade.

Before submitting a trade, you should ask yourself the following questions:

* Does the market provide sufficient entry criteria for placing a trade?
* Can the criteria be replicated?
* What is the current trend on the market? Does the signal support the trend or is opposite to it?
* What is the overall market trend (index)? Does the signal support the overall market trend or not?
* At which price level should I place an entry?
* What is the acceptable level of risk for the trade?
* At which price level should I place a stop?
* Which currency should the instrument be traded in?
* Which currency is my account held in?
* What is the currency conversion for the risk?
* What is the current price of currency pairs for the instrument/risk calculation?
* What spread does the instrument have?
* What average slippage does the instrument have?
* Taking all of these factors into consideration, how large should the order size be?
* Is the calculated order size even or odd? (Odd lots can lead to disadvantageous price setting by the market maker and bad execution)
* Is the order size already extensive?
* Is it better to scale in a position? If yes, then how?
* Which order type should be used in the market (market, limit, stop, stop limit)?
* How can currently running trades be secured (trailing stops)?
* Where should the targets be placed in order to reach a positive ratio of chances to risks?
* How will I scale out of the position (1 to targets)?
* By what order size proportion will the positions be reduced when scaling out?
* What is the impact on the trading account?
* How many long/short positions are going to be held?
* What will be my actions in the case of a crash? Are my positions market-neutral?

These are just some questions that should be answered by the trader, especially when dealing will smaller time frames such as 1 minute or 5 minutes. When using full automatism, this is no longer necessary because the system performs all trades automatically. Nevertheless, the human perspective has many advantages over automation. For example, many complex patterns/confluences can be better perceived visually and therefore more clearly interpreted. Semi-automatism will allow you to combine the best of both worlds.