Algotrade with Python (+ Tableau) – Part 1. Introduction

Thanks Paulo Chak for inviting me in this exciting #algotrade project, and the main part that I have involved is #visualization. So, why was visualization added in an algotrade project? This was how the conversation between Paulo and I go when we first talked about the project.

“Hey Marvin! I am working on an algotrade project! Are you interested in it?” Paulo said with a big smile on his sincere face. :)

“Wow! I'm so excited! Yes, please!” my eyes lit up.

Paulo then showed me some well-structured python programs and explained to me what he has written. I was amazed that the program showed a complete trading flow as below:

• Download trading data from broker API
• Calculate technical indicator 
• Run rule-based or predictive model algorithm to determine any buying/selling action
• Place trade orders via broker API

The program was so perfect that there is nothing I can do on it. However, Paulo told me that it’s hard to just present this algotrade project to others with just python scripts. Python is not a human language!!!

To better present how this algotrade system works and how good the trading result is, we need visualization!

With no doubt, Paulo and I agreed to use the best visualization in the world, #Tableau, for this project. You know what, tableau mission ties with our project objective, it helps you “see and understand our trading data”.

For the next post, I will show more about the dashboards I have made on how to evaluate the algotrade performance, and how I apply the result to improve my investment strategy (lol). You can never imagine how important it is to be logical and minimize emotional trade in this stock market. Stay Tune.

P.S. Throughout this project I have learnt a lot of Python technique and also investment knowledge. This is really a pleasure to work with a talent like Paulo Chak.