ProgrammerMoney.comToday, you can see thousands of people being fired over a short Zoom call. This means job security is officially dead ☠️
And you need to have a backup plan for your career (and, frankly, your life).
There are only three things that can help you with that:
- personal savings
- more/better skills
- extra revenue
Savings buy you (limited) time until you figure something out.
Skills make you easily employable.
And revenue buys you (permanent) freedom.
Skills
All success comes from skills.
And the best part is - no one can ever take them from you.
Skills are the only real thing in this world you truly possess.
No thief can steal them, and no government can seize them.
Programming Skills
If you're a programmer, you already have one of the best skills in the world.
All you have to do is widen and deepen them.
For example, you may be a good programmer...
...but...
How much better would you be if you knew about the best programming language in the world.
...or...
What if you knew more about finance, or AI, or both?
What if you merged all those skills and took this (FREE) AI For Finance Course?
Opportunities are all around us.
The question is - are you gonna take them?
Why I Chose Algo-Trading Bots?
Because of simple realization... markets will always be here.
There is always going to be someone who will want to buy or sell something.
In trading, the biggest weakness is emotions. Therefore, the easiest way to gain an advantage is to build something without emotions.
And since I know how to code (skills), I have an advantage over all those wannabe day traders.
How I Got Started?
Initially, I started with Python. But I quickly realized I could not use it for something serious.
Not that businesses built around web apps are not serious, but precision and reliability are never that important:
- backend app crashes -> Amazon AWS server puts it back up
- web app error -> refresh the browser
- mobile app freezes -> just exit & restart manually
My point is, most of the time, Python is "good enough".
But not here, not when it comes to handling money.
(especially my money lol) 😅
So, after a lot of research, I found an ideal language: Dlang
Long story short, this is a language I can be confident it will reliably run my bots even 50 years from now.
At the same time, it is very expressive, so I can do quick prototyping without the need to switch to a "simpler" language.
First Problems
Before I could write a single line of cool algo-bot logic, I needed a way to:
- get the data
- store the data
- setup API communication with the market exchange
- implement backtest logic (to quickly test my bots)
- create visual charts
- etc.
In short, there was a bunch of boring stuff before I even started coding the fun algo-bot logic.
And no one wants to do that.
So these were my options...
1) Use Online Platforms
All those platforms are free, and that's the biggest problem.
Why?
Because they all require me to upload my code, my algo-bot logic, to their website.
This means... if you find some profitable strategy... there is no way you can prevent them from using it.
And since...
1) there is no such thing as infinite liquidity for any strategy
2) and those platforms have way bigger pockets than you do
...you could end up thinking your strategy no longer works. But in reality, they deployed your code and sucked up all the liquidity.
Congratulations, you just worked insanely hard for nothing. 🤦
Realize this... keeping your strategy private/secret is your only advantage.
So, obviously, I decided to keep full control over my code.
2) Build My Own "Framework"
After a long and painful process, I finally managed to finish it.
3) Use My Starter Code
Fortunately, you have a third option, and that is to use my starter code.
There is no "secret algo-bot logic" inside, but you have everything you need to start developing your bot today.
Plus, you keep full control over your code.
You could literally start your own algo-trading hedge fund, and no one would have access to your bot logic.
Code Examples
At the beginning, I mentioned (FREE) AI For Finance Course.
Inside, you can find code examples of actual bots and how to build them from scratch.
These examples include both AI and manual "hardcoded" logic.
What's Next?
I plan to post my progress here on dev.to because I find it fun... and I enjoy it.
If you want to join me on this journey, then I suggest you:
- follow my profile for more updates
- bookmark this article for future reference
- and like this post, so more people can see it
Now let's go and conquer the market :)
Will
Creator of (FREE) AI For Finance Course
