The Striker Report - gold standard for objective trading research

Peter Zwag

President of TradeMaid Systems

Program(s) Developed: Bounce, Turbo Trader Pro

Interviewed by John F. Gallwas - Founder of Striker Securities, Inc.

Peter Zwag is President of TradeMaid Systems located in Melbourne, Australia. Since the year 2000 he has been an active trading system developer. He recently released three new index trading systems, which he recommends be traded as one system he calls "Turbo Trader Pro". Because many of our readers are interested in diversified trading programs, we decided to interview Peter to find what's behind his systems and why he recommends this new program.

John Gallwas: Peter, by way of introduction, please tell us about your background, and how and why you became a trading system developer.

Peter Zwag: I was a computer engineer with an electronics background. I was looking for a fairly passive form of income without the limits of the more traditional ?dollar- for-time? equation. Trading seemed to be a fairly simple, easy way to make money ? so I thought I would give it a go. Little did I realize that it was far more difficult than I could have imagined.

John Gallwas: How would you classify Turbo Elite ES and how long did it take you to develop the program?

Peter Zwag: Elite Emini Russell in its current form was completed in July 2006. After trading for several months I revisited the code, to find it worked profitably on the S&P 400, S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the Dow Jones with no changes in parameters. This was exciting for me, as looking back the systems that trade multiple indices with no changes in parameters are the ones that tend to last. I then added a Turbo Trader module which allowed the program to add one contract if Elite was in the market, or reverse and flatten the Elite positions. Turbo Trader however could not initiate a new position if the system was flat.

John Gallwas: What is the basic technical theory behind how Turbo Elite operates?

Peter Zwag: Turbo Elite S&P 500 has two volatility components. One component trades aggressively while the second component trades less frequently with higher profit per trade. The risk is $600 on the first trade and $500 on the second, plus slippage and commissions.

If the volatility breakout system has entered the market, a second system called Turbo Trader can trade an additional contract, or reverse a current position. Risk is $350 on the Turbo Trader trade plus slippage and commissions.

Turbo Elite S&P 500 may trade up to 4 times per day. Approximately 50 % of the time, two contracts are traded at one time, and exits are always before the close. Up to 3 contracts can be held at any one time, though this is infrequent.

There are typically 21 trades per month with trading occurring on 10 days of the month.

Turbo Elite ES has the further advantage that huge volume of contracts can be traded without significant increase in slippage due to the superb liquidity of the S & P 500.

Both the Turbo Trade and Elite components are systems that can trade multiple markets with little or no changes, and both systems have a significant live track record on the emini Russell 2000 markets.

Your readers can view live but delayed Turbo Elite screen shots at http://www.trademaid.info/turboelite-esscreenshots.htm , which illustrate how turbo elite trades.

John Gallwas: Why do you recommend Turbo Elite, a diversified trading program?

Peter Zwag: It?s a robust strategy, with a real trading record behind it. It also doesn?t have liquidity issues due to the superb liquidity of the S & P 500 market.

John Gallwas: What are your risk as well as reward expectations with Turbo Trader Pro and what does it cost?

Peter Zwag: The maximum historical drawdown was $4,075, but the total hypothetical profit since 2002 was $79,662 (assuming $25 slippage and commission). The system cost is $160 per month.

John Gallwas: Do you personally trade this system?

Peter Zwag: Yes, and I publish my broker statements on my website.

John Gallwas: Should any of our readers be interested in your trading programs, is there any special advice you would like them to have?

Peter Zwag: Don?t over trade your capital, trade with money you hope to make a profit with, but can afford to lose. Do not be quick to increase position size. Instead, choose a new system. Psychologically brace your self for draw-downs as they will come. Do not enter systems after a very rapid rise in equity. Most systems return to their average performance equity curve. Choose systems where the developer trades his own money, and with someone who is willing to publish real time results.

For further information on Peter Swag and his trading system, please contact Dan Neenan at 312-987-0043 or 800-996-8838.

This interview is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a solicitation of any kind. Trade only with risk capital. The risk of trading can be substantial and each investor and/or trader must consider whether trading systems are a suitable investment.