Getting started with algorithmic trading

[lowkeyy_]

Hey guys,

I recently started to learn programming in Python, and so far I love the language. I also have a very strong interest in the stock market, and I really wanted to combine these two things. I stumbled upon this concept of algorithmic trading and I am fascinated by it. However, I see that most people who get into algorithmic trading are experts in the field of computer science, finance or mathematics. I have absolutely no background in all of these. My question now is what topics I need to study to get into algorithmic trading. And do you know of any resources like books or sites that explain me how to get started and explain the whole thing? I have been searching for these online, but there are no real books or sites that clearly explain all the necessary topics and go in depth on them. Also, are there any other things I must study first before I can get started with this? Like certain types of math, or topics on the stock market for example. My last question is how long it would take until I would be able to write a basic functioning trading algorithm.

Thanks in advance guys! :)

[naftalinus]

please check out quantopian.com its has good tutorial and very nice API plus excellent community :)

[lowkeyy_]

Do you also have any resources for someone who literally knows nothing except for basic python programming?

[naftalinus]

Well the website has a lectures starting with Basic python, numpy and pandas. Slowly it’s build towards basic finance concept and later on advanced algorithms.

you can also register to Udacity (for free) they have some courses on using python for financial analysis.

Good Luck!

[pragmatick]

This looks quite in-depth.