This morning I got up, made myself a coffee (like any self-respecting trader would), and took a quick look at the index markets just to get an idea of how the New York open might go. Everything seemed fine. Then I checked on my bots before heading out to drop off my kids at school and… surprise! Something went wrong. That’s exactly what I want to talk about today: a mistake so common in algorithmic trading that almost no one seems to notice it.
You know how it goes. One day, while you’re walking to work or lying in bed staring at the ceiling because sleep just isn’t happening, bam! An idea hits you—an epic strategy that seems like the solution to all your problems. You’re like, “Bingo! This is what I’ve been looking for.” And like any good trading enthusiast, you rush to the Gainium platform to get to work.
- Strategy, check
- Indicators, check
- Backtesting, check
- Capital management, check
Everything seems set! You’ve double-checked every detail, backtested like there’s no tomorrow, and even considered the worst-case scenario (like if the price went to zero). You know the strategy isn’t perfect and that losses are possible, but you’re confident that everything’s under control. And that’s where the error appears—one of the biggest and most overlooked mistakes in algorithmic trading: technical failures.
While checking my Telegram notifications, I noticed that a position that was supposed to close… well, didn’t. I went straight to the platform, and sure enough, it was still open. I checked the exchange directly, and there it was—position still active. I thought I must have set something up wrong (as usual), but after going through every single setting, everything looked perfectly configured. In the end, I had to leave it as it was because I couldn’t risk being late dropping the kids off at school.
The curious thing was that the problem wasn’t the strategy, the configuration, or the indicators. It just… didn’t close. For some mysterious cosmic reason, the order simply didn’t execute. And here’s the crucial point: you can have the best strategy, the most bulletproof backtest, and top-notch risk management, but we tend to forget one tiny detail… we’re not the ones executing the strategy. It’s an algorithm—a program that, like any other system, can fail.
It’s Murphy’s law: if something can go wrong, it inevitably will. And that’s where many traders trip up—they assume that the projected result is what will happen under the best-case scenario, with everything working flawlessly. But in reality, many times (or almost always), it just doesn’t go that way.
Systems can fail:
- Servers might go down.
- Gainium’s frontend can crash.
- Order execution or closing might be delayed due to workload.
- Even exchanges themselves can have temporary issues.
If you don’t account for these kinds of scenarios, even a brilliant strategy can turn into a disaster simply because you didn’t realize that, besides analysis and backtesting, there’s also a technical factor to consider.
I wanted to write this post before reporting the bug because sometimes people complain with harsh words or rant about the platform, forgetting the most important thing: you are ultimately responsible for your capital and how it’s managed. Part of a trader’s job is precisely that—evaluating and managing risks, including the inherent risks of the technology we use.
So, next time you’re designing a strategy, ask yourself:
- What if something goes wrong with Gainium?
- What if the site doesn’t respond?
- What if the order doesn’t execute or close properly?
Gainium is one of the best bot platforms I’ve used in many years—way better than some much bigger companies. But at the end of the day, it’s still a system, and no system is perfect. Keep that in mind!
Have a great trading session! 
