Category Archives: Finance & Trading

I spend a few hours every month, neurotically tracking personal finances for me and my family.  At the end of every month, I go through each of our accounts and move each transaction to a spreadsheet that holds every penny, aggregated by category, organized into balances, and that shows how we’re doing month-to-month.  I’ve been doingContinue reading “Tracking Personal Finances”

Moving averages are often used to gauge trends and momentum, and  in some cases, to trigger order entry/exit.  The simplest of moving average triggers is to buy or sell a stock when the price crosses above or below the average.  If the price crosses above, this typically means the stock is trending upwards, for example,Continue reading “Analysis of Moving Average Triggers”

I’ve put together a small framework for testing out technical-based trading strategies.  You can create indicators, generate trading signals, calculate P&L, and chart the results.  I know there are a bunch of mature packages out there that do this, but it’s a fun thought experiment.  The code is public in case it’s of interest.  IContinue reading “Analysis of Technical Analysis”

As noted in this post, I’ve been teaching an Order and Execution Management class at work. In my attempt to make this class interesting and interactive, I’ve supplemented lectures with trading games. For the first session, it was bartering animals; for the second session, it was acting as a market maker and managing a limitContinue reading “Trading Games… Working the Limits”

The most inspiring talk at today’s Buy-Side Technology Summit was one hedge fund manager’s passionate appeal to get rid of all IT staff, a comment that generally did not go well with the predominantly tech-focused crowd. Simon Hazlitt, cofounder of Majedie Asset Management argued that there’s no reason for funds to waste money employing technologists;Continue reading “IT is Rubbish: Notes from the Buy-Side Technology Summit”

I’ve been teaching an Order and Execution Management class to staff at work, and to illustrate a few points on accounting, price setting, the importance of communication, the difference between intrinsic value and market value, and market behavior, I developed a trading game: an animal bartering game based on the premise made in this whiteContinue reading “Trading Game… and Chickens, Cows and Horses”