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I'm a green horn here. How best do i start?
Dele Ojomo
posted

Hey folks, I'm new to many things here. New to Quantopian, new to Python and New to algo trading altogether. I'm currently taking courses in quantitative finance (CQF) and I intend to major algo trading. I was referred here for back-testing of models and data mining. I'm almost overwhelmed by the amount of info I need to absorb, though I still find I all very fascinating.
Kindly advise the best way to use the resources here for a newbie. I can see the tutorials which seems to focus more on the API while the lectures seem to take the basics. I don't want to assume the lectures should come first and would appreciate your counsel.

Regards
Dele

4 responses
Kenneth McAshan

How does one become good at anything? Practice, practice, practice until it all makes sense.

Dele Ojomo

Many Thanks @Kenneth McAshan. My question is seeking counsel on how best to start? Do I start with the lectures or the tutorials?
After browsing through, I'm convinced the lectures are the best way to start, then the tutorials.
Once again, thanks for taking some time to give a word of advice.

Viridian Hawk

A couple months ago i was in the same boat as you (except new to the stock market as well)... So i can only speak to what ive done.
I eventually plan to go through all the lectures, manual, and everything, but I'm a hands-on learner. So I took the codecademy python tutorial, read the first chapter of the intro tutorial for quantopian and dove in head first to see what I could do with just the basics. I'm a couple months in still exploring the basics and am already live trading my own algo that according to back tests consistently at least doubles market return with only single digit drawdowns ( and performance verified out-of-sample including 2008).

I've learned so much along the way. I originally came here thinking I'd save myself time by automating my trading strategy. Quickly verified that my trading strategy would have lost me money in the long run. 😆

Dan Dunn

Welcome, Dele.

Start with the tutorials.

Once you've learned the basics, then start going through the lectures. You can skip around the lectures and find the ones most interesting to you, but pay attention to the pre-reqs.

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The material on this website is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy, or a recommendation or endorsement for any security or strategy, nor does it constitute an offer to provide investment advisory services by Quantopian.

In addition, the material offers no opinion with respect to the suitability of any security or specific investment. No information contained herein should be regarded as a suggestion to engage in or refrain from any investment-related course of action as none of Quantopian nor any of its affiliates is undertaking to provide investment advice, act as an adviser to any plan or entity subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, individual retirement account or individual retirement annuity, or give advice in a fiduciary capacity with respect to the materials presented herein. If you are an individual retirement or other investor, contact your financial advisor or other fiduciary unrelated to Quantopian about whether any given investment idea, strategy, product or service described herein may be appropriate for your circumstances. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Quantopian makes no guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of the views expressed in the website. The views are subject to change, and may have become unreliable for various reasons, including changes in market conditions or economic circumstances.