Algorithmic trading
Algorithmic trading appears in news articles almost every week. What many people do not realize is that it is actually a very broad concept. This is how Investopedia defines it.
“Algorithmic trading (automated trading, black-box trading or simply algo trading) is the process of using computers programmed to follow a defined set of instructions (an algorithm) to place a trade to generate profits at a speed and frequency impossible for a human trader. The defined sets of rules are based on timing, price, quantity or some mathematical model. “
Michael Lewis also wrote an excellent book on the subject entitled
Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt
.
Dave Topper writes on his website My first introduction to trade and investment came when I worked for Delphi Economics from 1988 to 1993. Their software package, Viking, was one of the first to allow people to test and optimize strategies on their home computer. At the time, the program offered a powerful, but still somewhat limited ability to test. One of my first tasks was to help write the English manual and user guide complete with sample code to help customers get started testing their own ideas. In a very short time I became a power user.
Designing and testing trading models is something I have been interested in ever since. For me, they remain some of the most interesting computational puzzles to work on. I have always enjoyed optimizing methods to solve puzzles. One of my favorite projects as a student at Columbia was The 8 Puzzle Composer: Hearing the Solution. Writing the code to solve the puzzle meant trying different heuristics to trim the solution space to speed up and generalize for a higher and higher term N x M sliding puzzle.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, I spent a lot of time working with audio data, which is actually quite similar to stock market data. They are both time-based and many of the same analysis tools can be applied to both (e.g. Fourier and other transformations). As the speed of computer technology continued to evolve, I developed new skills that gave me new insights on how to go about building a system to test, optimize and implement a variety of trading strategies.
In 2010, I decided to return to the idea of investing using algorithms. To my surprise, I found most commercially available tools lacking various abilities I needed. So I decided to start building my own. I have continued to develop my system since then. In 2016, I became a full-time day trader using the tools I continue to develop.
About the Viking
With Viking’s signals, you have a good chance of finding the winners and selling in time. There are many securities. With Viking’s autopilots or tables, you can sort out the most interesting ETFs, stocks, options, warrants, funds, and so on. Vikingen is one of Sweden’s oldest equity research programs.
Click here to see what Vikingen offers: Detailed comparison – Stock market program for those who want to get even richer (vikingen.se)
