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Interesting Question-"Hooray for The Quants"
Christopher Arce
posted Apr 17, 2013

Hello,

First off, hello my name is Chris A.....I am 21 years young living in Las Vegas, N.V.....Home of the most "primitive" form of Quantum Finance ha-ha. A lot of people try to compare Gambling to trading, but unless you’re counting cards or have a computer in your head, it'll never be quite as interesting as the Financial Markets. I've been an "Entrepreneur" for as long as I can remember, I wish I had been as successful in my Insurance Agency I owned as I was in my lawn mowing business when I was 10 ha-ha. I decided to throw myself into trading a few months ago....I had always wanted to be a "Stock Broker" (90's child) but for some reason or other never attempted despite my love for math. I used to love school but than came High School (women) and my attention in a classroom became very limited lol. I luckily grasp things I like quickly and have an unquenchable thirst, if nothing more for this field of work "Quantum Finance." -A "business" where the only thing between you and the Profits is literally your brain. It’s just you, your pile of money (however big or small) and a Magical Screen of Wonders that if you punch in the right keys, can unlock "Any" Life you want. This Ladies and Gentlemen is the Ultimate Game. I just want to play...

Now I can’t code to save my life. However, my brain swirls with Algorithms I would trade my Grandmother to test. (Sorry Abuela) I can’t say I've given it a fair shot, but I know that my brain doesn't like it. I much rather look at a chart with cool colors all day ha-ha.

So with that being said,
My question is to you all, especially founders of Quantopian....btw you guys are the shit for putting this website up, you cant believe how many people I've told about it in excitement, how revolutionary the First Algorithmic Trading Platform and Community.....And their Like "Whets an Algorithm...and I'm like Babe just nvm just keep watching Say Yes to The Dress..

Proprietary Firms.....Are those mostly BS? Or by act of God does someone happen to know any legit- possibly- most preferably Quantum Proprietary firms in Las Vegas that you would recommend. I've come a lot of "online" Prop Funds and idk some seem super sketchy. I may be wrong, so that is why I am asking. Also if anyone on here lives In Vegas hit me up so we can have a drink! :)

I'm not the smartest 21 yr old that ever lived, but I sure hell know that if someone is making 100s of billions of Dollars playing with Japanese Candlesticks, I will give it a shot too. . I just need someone who is smarter than me to help me Code my ideas haha. And oh. Maybe some more money would help too ha.

Sorry to Keep You reading so long
I hope to see you all In Vegas real soon ;)

Chris

5 responses
Dan Dunn
Apr 17, 2013

Hello Chris! Welcome to Quantopian. Thank you for the kind words. We're glad that you like the site, and we're glad that you're here. Thank you.

I personally don't have any prop firm experience. I've interviewed a number of people who worked at one at some point. Clearly some of them are more reputable than others - one guy I talked to was there when the feds came in and arrested the firm owners, while others appear to be more legit.

That said, my advice is that you should learn programming. There are a number of free, high-quality ways to learn Python. Check out Code Academy for instance. A few hours on their site and you'll have 90% of the tools you need to write an algorithm, and the other 10% we can help you with right here. And, you'll use the programming for the rest of your life one way or another.

I'll be in Vegas next month, but it's not a work trip ;)

Disclaimer

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.

Christopher Arce
Apr 17, 2013

Hello Dan,

Thanks for the reply and you are right I need to learn to be able to test and change ideas on the fly. If I were to write an Algorithm In Python can I turn around and hand it over to the Broker's programming team and would be ready to go, or will they have to modify it to adjust to their platform? Also most of my ideas could involve Hedging. Is it possible to write an algorithm linking two separate accounts? I.E. Buying and Selling at same time.

Thanks!
Chris

Dan Dunn
Apr 17, 2013

The way it will work is that Quantopian will integrate with your broker. When we launch live trading in a couple months we will support Interactive Brokers first, then add other brokerages. So you won't have to recode it at all - Quantopian will execute the live algorithm the same way it does backtesting.

We only plan to support one account at a time. But you can buy and sell different stocks at the same time. No one will let you buy and sell the SAME stock at the SAME time, though - you have to be a market maker to do that.

Christopher Arce
Apr 19, 2013

Hi Dan,

Gotcha thanks for help! Yes I understand that could not be done with stocks, however with Forex from what the Broker tells me, as long as there are two different accounts that is acceptable. I will give it a crack and see what I can do. Thanks Again!

Chris

Grant Kiehne
Apr 19, 2013

Hi Dan,

How does the Quantopian backtester handle a buy and a sell order for the same security, submitted during the same minute/day (tic)? What would happen at Interactive Brokers, and does the backtester accurately model the real-world consequences of such simultaneous orders?

Grant

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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.