Running Your First Algo
Wow! Running your first algorithm after weeks or months of learning and preparation in an IDE or notebook might be a very daunting process. It may be confusing and you may not know how or where to deploy. Luckily there is no need to write an API or do it all alone because of tools such as Quantconnect. In Quantconnect you can write your code, backtest, debug, buy algorithms, and deploy. Platforms like this are your one-stop shop to making algorithmic trading easy for everyone.
In Quantconnect you can write the code for your strategies and even use the API and tools they have to help you out. From beginner to expert this tool is my go-to tool. As seen below I was able to write my strategies, debug, use resources, and use APIs that they have provided. If you may not know how to create the strategy in you’re head the resources is a great way to save time and piece it together in steps.
After you write your code you can debug and backtest which can be extremely helpful. Before you want to test it live of paper trade you can see how it would perform throughout history. This is extremely helpful because there are ways to do it in Jupyter, but you need to refresh the API data you’re using or pull in a new file to test. In JN there is also the issue of not having the most realistic chart to analyze. Quantconnect does great at giving you a chart that you can analyze to understand what you did wrong or where you can make changes.
Deploying may be the most intimidating piece and often what keeps people from not attempting Algo Trading. Quantconnect does an amazing job making it simple to deploy. You click “Go Live” in the upper left corner and connect your trading account. You can deploy your code in a matter of seconds without coding.
One of my favorite feature that drove me to use Quantconnect was due to the fact that I can buy other strategies at a very low $3 cost. This is great because if you’re new and just want to see how the system works you can use a strategy that’s priven in the market. I did this at first to get comfortable with how Algo Trading works and how to use the platform.
If you’re new to Algo Trading use a platform to take some of the stress off learning and it even mitigates any risk where you could be making errors. You can get up and running your first Algo within a few hours. There are even courses to help you learn, communities to chat, and resources all in one location. If you need help I’m happy to help you get set-up if you contact me at Brylarson@tickingtrend.com.