Proprietary algorithmic systems, custom strategy development, and turnkey execution — built and run by an independent futures broker since 2003.
Most traders looking to automate hit the same wall: programmers code strategies but don’t execute them, and discount brokers execute but won’t touch your code. We do both, end to end. Wisdom Trading has designed, built, and run proprietary algorithmic trading systems for futures, FX, and equities since 2003 — and we’ll do the same for your strategy, from concept to live fills, cleared through our relationships with R.J. O’Brien, StoneX, and Phillip Capital.
This page covers our in-house systems, our custom development process, the platforms we support, and what’s actually included when we say “turnkey.” If you’d rather just talk to a principal, start the conversation — we respond within 24 hours.
What Sets Our Setup Apart
A typical automated trading project gets split across three vendors: a developer to write the code, a VPS provider to host it, and a broker to clear the orders. Each handoff is a point where something can break, and when it does, you spend a week getting three companies to point fingers at each other.
We collapse that into one relationship. The same firm that codes your strategy executes it, monitors it, reconciles fills against broker statements, and reports on performance. When something is off — a missed fill, a feed glitch, a parameter that needs revisiting — there’s one number to call and one principal accountable. That’s why systems traders end up here after trying the freelance route, and why we’ve kept clients through multiple market cycles.
Proprietary Systems We Run
Our in-house algorithmic systems span three time-tested approaches: short-term trading, trend following, and momentum. Each is fully rules-based, automated, and deployed across diversified portfolios of futures and FX instruments.
The short-term programs target intraday and multi-day dislocations with tight risk controls and pre-defined exits. The trend-following programs are designed to capture durable directional moves across many markets with diversified position sizing. The momentum programs scale into strength and step aside when signals fade — no manual override, no second-guessing.
Each program is offered to qualified clients under a transparent fee structure with full disclosure of methodology, position sizing rules, and operational risks. Specific program details, disclosure documents, and any risk-of-loss information are provided directly to qualified prospects under standard NFA-compliant procedures.
Custom Strategy Development
If you have your own concept — or an existing strategy that needs to be coded, automated, or moved from a research environment to a live broker — we’ll build it. Our development process is structured to avoid the most expensive mistake in this space: shipping code that backtested beautifully and breaks the moment it touches real markets.
Our process
- Discovery. We talk through the strategy’s logic, the markets it’s designed for, the risk model, and the constraints that aren’t obvious until you’ve executed live — slippage assumptions, partial fills, session boundaries, contract roll mechanics.
- Specification. Before any code is written, we agree in writing on entry/exit rules, position sizing, error handling, and what the system should not do.
- Implementation. We code in EasyLanguage (TradeStation), NinjaScript (NinjaTrader), CQG API, Blox Basic (Trading Blox), or Python — whichever fits the strategy and the destination platform.
- Backtest and walk-forward validation. We test on appropriate historical data and look for results that survive out-of-sample windows. Over-fit systems get caught here, not after deployment.
- Paper trading or micro-sized live deployment. Real fills under real conditions before any meaningful capital is committed.
- Live deployment with monitoring. Once we’re satisfied the system behaves as specified, it goes live on a clearing account at R.J. O’Brien, StoneX, or Phillip Capital — with our infrastructure watching it around the clock.
- Ongoing reporting and review. Monthly performance attribution, slippage analysis, and honest conversations about whether parameters should change or whether the system has stopped working.
We work with traders at every level — from individuals deploying their first automated strategy to family offices running multi-system systematic portfolios. The process scales; the standards do not.
Platforms We Support
We are platform-agnostic. The right tool depends on the strategy, the latency requirements, the markets, and what you already use.
TradeStation
EasyLanguage strategy and indicator development, ShowMe and PaintBar studies, optimization, walk-forward validation, RadarScreen configuration, and live automated execution. We are fluent in TradeStation’s quirks — session settings, intrabar order generation, lookahead-bias traps — and we know how to ship code that runs the same in live as it did in backtest.
NinjaTrader
NinjaScript strategy development in C#, Automated Trade Management (ATM) strategy builders, custom indicator suites, multi-instrument deployment, and integration with NinjaTrader Brokerage or third-party clearing. C# gives us room for sophisticated logic that EasyLanguage can’t cleanly express.
CQG
CQG Integrated Client, QTrader, Trader, and the CQG API for institutional-grade data and execution. When latency or data quality matters — for systematic intraday programs in liquid futures markets, especially — CQG is the platform we reach for.
Trading Blox
Trading Blox Builder and Professional for portfolio-level simulation and order generation across futures, FX, and equities. We code custom blox in Blox Basic — entry, exit, risk, and money-management logic — and bridge Trading Blox order generation into live execution on our cleared accounts. A natural fit for multi-system trend-following and momentum portfolios where position sizing and correlation across the book matter as much as the entry rule.
Custom APIs and Python
For strategies that don’t fit a retail platform’s model — order-book-aware logic, multi-leg synthetics, machine-learning models, or anything that needs to interface with a clearing FCM’s FIX or REST endpoint — we build the integration directly in Python or C++.
Systems we deploy run on the same monitoring and reconciliation stack as our managed futures programs and our direct brokerage clients, so anything we ship benefits from infrastructure that has been refined across two decades of live trading.
Turnkey Execution & 24-Hour Monitoring
Code that runs on your laptop is not a trading system. A trading system is code that runs reliably, 24 hours a day, with someone watching it.
Every system we deploy runs on monitored infrastructure with redundant connectivity to the relevant exchanges through our FCMs. Signals are filled, positions are reconciled against broker statements daily, and operational issues — a dropped feed, an unexpected exchange status, a corrupted parameter file — trigger alerts before they become losses. When something needs human intervention, a real person handles it.
Performance Reporting You Can Actually Read
Every client receives detailed monthly reporting: live P&L attribution by system, slippage analysis versus modeled fills, drawdown tracking, and the operational notes that explain anything unusual that happened during the period. If a system is underperforming relative to its expected envelope, you’ll hear about it from us before you ask. If a system needs re-optimization or retirement, we’ll say so.
What This Costs
Pricing is structured around the actual work: development fees for custom system builds, brokerage commissions on cleared trades, and — for proprietary systems — a transparent fee schedule disclosed up front. We don’t earn from spread markups or undisclosed payment-for-order-flow; our incentives are aligned with executing your trades well, not against them.
Specific quotes depend on the strategy’s complexity, the platform, and the markets involved. Most engagements begin with a no-cost discovery conversation so both sides can determine whether the project is a fit.
Talk to a Principal
If you have an existing system you’d like us to execute, a concept you’d like us to build, or you just want a second opinion on an automation project — start the conversation. We’re a small firm by design and a principal who has been in the futures business since 2003 will respond, typically within one business day.
“I’ve robo-traded using three different brokers and I’m happiest by far at Wisdom Trading. They have a level of service that others simply do not.”
— Systems trader, automated trading client
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you code an existing trading strategy I’ve already designed?
Yes — that’s a large share of what we do. Bring us a written spec, a TradingView script, an Excel model, or even a verbal description, and we’ll translate it into production code on TradeStation, NinjaTrader, CQG, or a custom API. We’ll flag ambiguities and edge cases before writing a line of code so the live system behaves the way you actually expect.
Do I have to use your brokerage to use your development services?
We strongly prefer to execute systems we develop, because most “automated trading” problems are actually broker-integration problems and we can only stand behind a system if we control the full path from signal to fill. That said, we evaluate development-only engagements case by case.
Which platform should I use for my system — TradeStation, NinjaTrader, or CQG?
It depends on the strategy. TradeStation is fastest to prototype in for most retail-style systems and has an enormous library of off-the-shelf indicators. NinjaTrader’s C# environment supports more sophisticated logic. CQG is the right answer when latency, data quality, or institutional execution matter most. We’ll recommend based on your strategy, not based on what we’d rather build.
How long does it take to deploy a custom system?
A typical engagement runs four to eight weeks from kickoff to live execution: roughly one to two weeks of specification and scoping, two to four weeks of implementation and backtesting, and one to two weeks of paper or micro-sized live validation. Strategies requiring custom API integration or unusual data sources can take longer.
Do you publish track records for your proprietary systems?
We do not publish performance figures on the open web. Specific program details, including any risk-of-loss disclosures and historical statistics, are provided directly to qualified prospects under standard NFA-compliant procedures. Reach out and we’ll walk you through what’s available.
What clearing firms do you work with?
We are an independent NFA-registered Introducing Broker, cleared through R.J. O’Brien, StoneX Financial, and Phillip Capital — three of the most established futures commission merchants in the U.S. Account choice depends on the markets you trade, your reporting needs, and your domicile.
Can you handle multi-market or multi-system portfolios?
Yes. We routinely run portfolios with multiple systems trading multiple instruments, with position-level and portfolio-level risk monitoring. Each system is reported on individually and at the portfolio aggregate, so you can see correlation, contribution, and concentration in a single statement.
Who actually works on my account — is it a junior team or a principal?
We’re a small firm by design. A principal who has been in the futures business since 2003 is involved in every engagement and answers the phone when there’s a problem. You will not be handed off to a call center.