TRADAL
Systematic trading · professionally paranoid

Tested to fail. Built to last.

We build bots that trade the markets, then spend most of our time trying to prove they're wrong. The few that survive trade live, on a short leash. Right now we're just making our own desk work. If you're curious how, have a look around.

What we do, in plain words

We build trading bots

Automated strategies for any market we can test: indices, currencies, energy, metals and rates. No gut feelings, no 3 a.m. hunches.

We try hard to break them

Most ideas look brilliant for about an hour. A team of AI agents tests, attacks and retests until the weak ones sink.

The survivors trade, carefully

Every fill is checked, loss limits act on their own, and one human signs off. The bots do not get the car keys.

Below is the voyage every strategy takes. Nothing here is for sale. If one day we open it up, the list hears first.

01 · DIVE

Diver goes looking

Each night a research agent tests new ideas on years of 1-minute data, with realistic costs, neighbouring settings and walk-forward windows. Every run is logged, failures included. Especially the failures.

02 · CURRENT

Undertow pushes back and manages the storms

A separate red team reproduces the result and attacks it: look-ahead, unrealistic fills, overfitting, one lucky year. Most ideas stop here. The survivors get risk management: how they fit in a portfolio, daily loss limits and the worst-case drawdown for each account. Undertow is not fun at parties.

03 · BUILD

Keel builds the boat

Survivors are coded in NinjaTrader 8 with two reviews, timing and order safety, then matched trade by trade against the research engine. If they disagree, nobody sails.

04 · SEA TRIAL

Bosun runs the sea trial

Each strategy runs on its own simulation account. After every close, every fill is checked against the plan and the backtest. Bosun has never missed a close.

05 · HARBOUR

Harbor brings it to the decision

The desk manager puts the evidence and the question in one brief. One person decides the account, the size and the loss limits, in writing. The agents advise; the human signs.

06 · LIGHTHOUSE

Lighthouse keeps watch

Live strategies are checked every day against their own history. A daily loss limit closes the trade and stops the account, and no account ever holds long and short at once.

Strategies

The strategies we run, each tested in NinjaTrader 8 on real market data before it was allowed to trade. Live results join this shelf once there are enough of them to mean something.

Real strategies, backtested over 5 years

NINJATRADER 8 BACKTEST · MNQ · JUN 2021 – NOV 2026 · 1 CONTRACT · AFTER $2 A TRADE
TOP A · 5-YEAR BACKTEST

Strategy A

22.9net / max drawdown
Net
+$34,930
Max drawdown
−$1,524
Trades
663
Positive years
6 of 6
Steady. Almost boring. We like boring.
TOP B · 5-YEAR BACKTEST

Strategy B

12.8net / max drawdown
Net
+$29,000
Max drawdown
−$2,260
Trades
2,593
Positive years
6 of 6
The busy one. Trades a lot, complains little.
TOP C · 5-YEAR BACKTEST

Strategy C

11.7net / max drawdown
Net
+$21,535
Max drawdown
−$1,836
Trades
488
Positive years
5 of 6
One off year. Nobody's perfect.
PORTFOLIO · 5-YEAR BACKTEST

A + B + C

24.9net / max drawdown
Net
+$85,464
Max drawdown
−$3,430
Trades
3,744
Positive years
6 of 6
All three together, 1 contract each · drawdown on daily totals

Backtests are hypothetical and were run on data that also helped choose the settings. They show how each strategy behaved in the past, not what it will do. Live trading is the real test, and those results will be shown here once there are enough of them. Backtest and live rankings are kept separately, so Strategy A is not necessarily Strategy 1.

What never changes

Loss limits act on their own

At the limit, positions close and the day ends.

Drawdown first

Profit is always judged against the worst drawdown in dollars.

Simple wins ties

Between two similar results, fewer rules stay.

Meet the crew

Six AI agents and one very patient boat. They find, test, build and guard every strategy; the human brings the coffee and the final yes. Not for sale: this is how our own desk runs.

The TRADAL crew around Helm, the boat: Diver, Undertow, Keel, Bosun, Harbor and Lighthouse
01 · DIVE

Diver · Strategy Builder

Backtests your idea with costs, nearby settings, walk-forward and a trial log.

Needs: Claude, your data
02 · CURRENT

Undertow · Risk Management

Red team, risk management, account portfolios, daily loss limits and prop-firm odds.

Needs: Claude, your trades
03 · BUILD

Keel · Build and Operations

NinjaTrader 8 code with safety reviews and backtest matching.

Needs: Claude, NinjaTrader 8
04 · SEA TRIAL

Bosun · Sim Monitor

Every fill checked after the close; forward-test gates.

Needs: Claude, NinjaTrader 8
05 · HARBOUR

Harbor · Desk Brief

Results and every decision waiting, one click each.

Needs: Claude
06 · LIGHTHOUSE

Lighthouse · Dashboard

Private web dashboard with its own login.

Needs: a browser
THE BOAT · CARRIES THE CREW

Helm

NinjaTrader add-on where every crew member's work lands: strategies set once per account, a daily loss limit that closes the trade, and no opposite positions.

Needs: NinjaTrader 8 only

How we sail it

The method behind the desk, the mistakes we made (plenty) and the checks that now catch them. Maybe a course one day; for now, it's our playbook.

  1. Testing an idea without fooling yourself
  2. Red-teaming your own results
  3. Building it in NinjaTrader 8, safely
  4. Matching live trades to the backtest
  5. Loss limits that really stop you
  6. Running prop and funded accounts
  7. Your agent team and dashboard

Curious? Leave your email

Nothing to buy. If we ever share the playbook, you'll hear first. No spam: we're too busy arguing with backtests.