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Viewing stats of contest algos and other beginner questions
Ma Ak
edited

Hi, completely new to this. I've picked up a strong interest in investment algorithms and algorithmic trading, and I have some questions about the field. I'm currently an engineering student, with basic programming knowledge and no finance/trading knowledge.

I've seen some posts describing annual returns of contest algos, eg this post: https://www.quantopian.com/posts/contest-19-plus-345-percent-annual-returns

  1. How do I view this information, and other stats of contest algos (is it even public)?
  2. How would you recommend a total beginner (both in programming and trading) get started in this field? I'm not looking to run a profit or anything (well not anytime soon), but rather see if it's something I enjoy and want to pursue more long-term. My current course of action is to brush up Python, but not sure where to go after that.
  3. This may sound silly...but you can profit from this with hard work, right lol? If I choose to pursue this, I'm not attempting the near-impossible here, am I?

Thanks!

4 responses
Robert Petteruti

Hi Ma, thanks for reaching out and welcome to Quantopian! Happy to help answer your questions:

You can view statistics on currently participating contest algorithms by downloading the contest leaderboard. As you can probably notice, every contest participant gets a code name to establish and maintain anonymity. Download the .csv of the leaderboard by selecting the Download All Results button on the right-hand side of the contest page.

I'll point you to two sets of information: one to help polish your Python programming skills, and the second to get you going on the platform.

Here are some free materials you can use to familiarize yourself with Python programming. Going through whichever tutorial you find most helpful will do the trick:
- Code Academy
- Python tutorial
- Dive into Python
- Learn Python

The best way to get started using the platform is by going through the Quantopian Tutorials (you will need basic python skills you hone with the tutorials above):

The Getting Started Tutorial covers the basics of the Quantopian API and walks you through writing your first algorithm in 8 short lessons.
The Pipeline Tutorial teaches you how to build factors and filters to dynamically select and weight securities each day.
The Intro to Research lecture will show you how to run some simple financial analyses using Quantopian's interactive Research environment.

If you have questions that weren't answered in the tutorials, check out the help documentation, or like you did today, post in the community to solicit feedback or help from other members of the Quantopian community. You can always reach out to me with questions as well.

Once you are comfortable with the platform's API, check out the Quantopian Lecture Series to learn more about quantitative finance and available resources. After that, try cloning and modifying a template algorithm, such as the one from Lesson 7 of the Getting Started Tutorial, and submitting it to the contest.

We totally understand the skepticism of potential award in programs such as the contest. The criteria used in the contest are indeed difficult, but we do our best to make satisfying these constraints easier, such as giving members the ability to clone and modify numerous example algorithms available in various places on the site. The Writing a Contest Tutorial is a great source to learn more about and how to satisfy each constraint.

I should add that the majority of the entrants in the contest have won at least some money. More importantly, you're guaranteed to challenge yourself and learn more about quantitative finance and trading.

I hope these materials help and feel free to reach back out if you have any other questions. Best of luck!

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.

Ma Ak

Robert,

Wow thanks a bunch for all the resources. I'll definitely be checking back to your post when I decide to get going on all this.

Regarding the contest results, I downloaded the CSV but it doesn't seem to display any information. Here's a picture of what I see: https://imgur.com/a/6bF6DZO

My question about profits was more generally related to the entire field of quantitative trading and algorithmic functions, rather than Quantopian specifically. So with that in mind: If I choose to pursue this, I'm not attempting the near-impossible here, am I? I know this might sound silly but I don't personally know anyone in the field so it all seems rather alien to me, and I have no idea how realistic I am being if I make a long-term goal of creating a profitable program.

Thanks again!

Josh Payne

Ah, yes. Regarding the CSV, we noticed that last week as well. It seems like we've got a bug somewhere preventing the file from being populated. We're working on fixing that up!

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.

James Villa

CSV bug not yet fixed? Still seeing blank!

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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.