The Birth of a Quant Trader

After a lot of thought, soul searching, research and plain fact, I have concluded that my time and energy will be focused only on becoming a quant trader and on developing multiple quant systems.

Just because I now believe in clear objective thinking, instead of wishful subjective thinking with a robust time proven edge FIRST, and then a good plogy/discipline.

And for me personally this is via quant/automated systems.

However, my background isnt in programming, math, science, math or anything as such, so I know theres a long path ahead of me.

Considering that this is something new to me and that there's a lot of BS online, id like to humbly ask for some advice and recommendations with regards to advice I have to read and learn and if possible any good sources of advice which I can collect the information from:

- Coding appliions to automate and test ideas.
- Research papers with regards to volatility and/or any'significant' data.
-'Must know' keywords of commonly used technicalities by quants.
- Specific subjects necessary to become a quant.
- Suggested reading material with regards to quants/markets/programming.

Pretty much any and all information necessary to place me on the long and narrow street.

Those that know me know I dont look for hand holding. Just some leadership...

My goal? To build multiple systems that complement each other under all market requirements.

I know what I need, I know sooner or later I will get what I need but im unsure which path (knowledge wise) I need to follow.

If ive said anything silly (that I probably have ) please forgive my ignorance.

Im for studying in a humble manner

All I ask is to get your own topic to keep on track.

I would also http://www.amazon.com/Way--Methods-O.../dp/007148664X, it is really one of my favorite basic novels and goes through several standard theories quite well and it is rather well written

(the writer is the founder of Trading Blox and among the first turtles).

Medici, Mikkom.

Thank you for your comments and recomendations.

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After a lot of thought, soul searching, study and plain reality, I've concluded that my energy and time will be focused exclusively on becoming a quant trader and on growing several quant systems.

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Hi Pipalicious!

After some people here said it may be extremely tough and take a while to do what you mean to, I'd like to discuss my points of view concerning becoming a quant trader.

To start with, you do not need the programming skills of a professional programmer like somebody said. Neither do you need a PhD in mathematics' wisdom. Close to that. You want some time to learn a programming language appropriate for trading. Attempt MultiCharts. It's quite simple to learn and its the best merchandise for analyisis of trading egies I could find. Don't attempt and find out something like C# or Java at the beginning, that is a lot harder.

To shoot some initial steps with MultiCharts, you shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks.

Don't buy any trading egies that are expensive (gt; 200 EUR). They aren't worth the money.

Don't buy any trading egies that are a black box (i.e. no open code). They do not work and if the code is hidden you can't see why.

Look for free trading egies as a start. To see what might work seem. At the dukascopy JTrader contest, you may also observe the code of the system and let it run for yourself (fine that is Java, but you do not have to write new code). The MetaTrader championship also is a good spot. They do not disclose the code there, but you may take a look at the transactions to get an idea of the egy.

To learn the basics of system trading, read some good book. 's recommendation of Thomas Stridsman is a great one to start with. There are also lots of other very good novels, like http://www.amazon.com/New-Trading-Sy...d_bxgy_b_img_b.

You should also know that martingale egies do not do the job.
They have never worked and won't ever work.
It's surprising, how many people - especially beginners - fall in love with this crap. Here incliqforexare surprisingly lots of quite active threads promoting this method to go bust, so be warned. The cause of this is it is easy to write a martingale EA that appears to work because the backtesting was done wrong. In fact it does not work. Although it is easy to write a crappy martingale EA which appears to work, it is a lot more difficult to write an EA which really works.

So how much time does it take to be a quant trader?
It really depends on youpersonally, but it does not have to be longterm.

After reading trading literature and writing trading egies part time for years, it just took me two weeks to start a new career as a quant trader. I found a trading idea at a winning egy of a contest and then wrote my own program to do something similar. This took me days. I then exchanged my egy in presentation for a week. The following week, I went live. That was all. Everybody can do this. Maybe it is not as simple as it may seem when I write this. But it is not overly difficult either.

I wish you great success with your plans!

Regards,

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First of all, you do not require the programming skills of a professional developer like someone said. Neither do you need a PhD in mathematics' knowledge. Nowhere close to that. You need a while to learn a programming language suitable for trading.

To take some initial steps with MultiCharts, you shouldn't take longer than a few weeks.

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Cheers mate I completely agree with you personally and for some reason people seem to not really grasp my focus on all this... You and a few others do.

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don't buy any trading systems which are expensive (gt; 200 EUR). They are not worth the money.

Do not buy any trading systems which are a black box (i.e. no open code). They do not work and you can not see why, if the code is hidden.

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I think a lot here consider im a complete newb yet they dont realize that I have been trading for over 2 years with s/r, candle formations and pretty much'nude'. Allowed im a rookie and not completely consistent.

The simple fact that I want to take MY interest on trading to'another level' is the entire purpose of this thread.

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To learn the fundamentals of system trading, read some fantastic book. 's recommendation of Thomas Stridsman is a great one. There are also lots of other very good books, like http://www.amazon.com/New-Trading-Sy...d_bxgy_b_img_b.

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Yeah ive been advoed this book aswell. Cheers mate

On a sidenote, im very weary what I read since a lot of things is just pure fluff with pretty pictures. But both these books Ive been advoed. Multiple times.

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So how long does it take to be a quant trader? It really depends on you, but it doesn't have to be long.

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Entirely agree. Thanks for your interest.

Its the same with LUCK (Learning Under Correct Knowledge).

With a lot of luck you can achieve what they need

Cheers.

Pipalicious, how's your research?

I read this entire thread - why, I'm not really sure

Among the things being overlooked here is that the point is not just to be a quant, the point would be to be a good quant. I think that if you look at it from tat perspective, its a much more road than you understand. If the end goal is the same (make money, duh!) , then you'd probably be better off (ie more effective) by joining James16 or doing anything else like this.

Any signs of being a Quant trader? Anyone???

Do you want to have a PhD to become a profitable quant? maybe....
Do you require a degree in mathematics to be a profitable quant trader? maybe....
Do you want to have an engineering degree to be a fantastic programmer? maybe....

For me, the reply to those questions do not matter nor that I don't care of what the pros say.
The one thing which matters is if my trade algorithm / program brings in extra profit into my bank account.

In the end of the day, the evidence of the pudding is in the eating.