When I entitled the site “MQLmagazine” I had in mind, of course, MetaTrader. But I’m not a fundamentalist. If any free multiasset backtesting tool emerges, it is welcomed to MQLmagazine. And I was pleasantly surprised to find AlgoDeal… Never forget to roam LinkedIn groups, you never know what’s lurking there.

AlgoDeal comes with a brand new business model, that is welcomed, especially for us, the doomed retail quants. I think it could be called prop trading online. Similar to advanced prop trading groups that use automation, it can trade your strategy, with their money, and give you a share of profits, of course, if the strategy is selected by them. At the same time the activity is not locked in a building somewhere in a civilized city in west, where you get access if you manage to get thru the arrogant HR, rather, it’s something that you can work home. The platform is designed for quants, so it should give you the full power of a quantish backtesting platform, that you could never get your hands on other that by working in a hedge fund, thing that we know is impossible for the God-forgotten quants (that had to become quals, for these reasons) of the Eastern Europe.

Market Runner (this is the name of the platform) is not, however, a trading platform. Because you will never use it for trading. Instead , is a multiasset backtest platform. It’s not so easy to install. The support section of their website details installation a lot, yet problems may arise. Because Market Runner is written in Java. So need to have the JDK installed, plus an IDE, and the recommended one by their team is Eclipse (you get pretty extensive details on installing in the support section, and their team is ready to help if you have issues). Also files inside the backtester are prepaired to be used with Eclipse.

The concept is interesting. As opposed to other quantish tools, it doesn’t need separate data download, because it comes with its own.. Also, besides local testing , it also has remote testing, done on their servers. Other tools that may be available on market are not only expensive, but highly dependant on data quality. Secondly, Market Runner is not a math or statistics package, like MatLab , S-Plus or R, where you would need to approximate the backtesting process , Market Runner is indeed a backtesting engine, and what you write are directly strategies.The strategies are classes , the main program is the backtester, already written.

Do you see the buy(1) and sell(1) ? There is no close there…, which means these are not “orders”, these are “deals”. The Buy opens the position, on the open of the bar (onBarOpen() event) and the Sell closes the position on close of the bar (onBarClose() event). Do you remember a certain trivial dispute about MT5 being dumbed down for “conspirational reasons” by “prohibiting hedging”? Well, it seems hedge fund platforms seem to obey the same rules of the civilised world of markets, the hated positional system.

The backtest looks like this:

So Market Runner has a few advantages:
1. Multiasset backtesting, not yet available on MetaTrader. As a side note, we have been asking for a multiasset backtester from MetaQuotes for about four years , and some guys that we never even heard about did it in a few months!
2. Java-based, allows you to build Java skills, so it’s good for career, cause the hedge funds are always looking for Java programmers. Java is a double edged sword however, what you gain in career skills you lose on language accomodation.
3. It’s free – so it gains MetaTrader interoperability. Probably in the future what MetaTrader will not be able to backtest will be backtestable on AlgoDeal and what AlgoDeal will not run will be tradable on MetaTrader.

However, the limit seems to be one minute data, as for MetaTrader. I am not completely sure of this limit, I know it applies to futures data. So you must have in mind the data source before, should you attempt backtesting strategies with sub-M1 action.

In conclusion, AlgoDeal adds itself to the retail quant’s arsenal along MetaTrader5 as a both backtest tool as well as a career tool. The ultra selective HRs might throw your CV to the trashcan if they see MetaTrader5 and MQL, but if AlgoDeal and Java appear, then your luck might change. At the same time, you can see the same strategies from MetaTrader5 thru the eyes of a different backtester. Until then, you can even plan MetaTrader5 strategies directly on AlgoDeal, avoiding wasting time waiting for the MT5 backtester.
Visit their site or the discussion on LinkedIn.

Didn’t you ever find job posts for financial markets & trading a bit awkward?

So, as I see, things are a bit like this: there are two categories of jobs.
First category, jobs for traders. These guys are manual , discretionary traders. As opposed to the usual hyped forex trader, these ones work on level II markets for equities and derivatives, with the eyes glued to the orderbook, quick in hand movements and decision making. We might call them Joe Saluzzi’s guys. They need to know how the market psychology reflects in the order book structure and dynamics. This is why these jobs have a very upsetting thing mentioned inside, “knowledge of financial markets is a plus, but not required”. Sounds familiar? Then why the hell did you study this in the first place? Ok, I’ll drop this here, we discussed it in a past article, it’s a “smoked” issue… These guys are slowly being removed from markets, because, unlike the retail traders that have the same traits, they have to work in level II environments, and even worse, in the most cases they work in the same field where the high frequency trading engines roam. And there’s no way for them to compete with the “douchey computers”; the machines are not only faster in terms of execution, but also unethical : they are colocated within exchanges.

Second category, jobs for quants & algo developers. We might call them Irene Aldridge’s followers. Working with complex models that only they understand, they make the algos and program the machines that kill the first category of traders. You can literally find hundreds of job posts for these – but requirements are high , either on the math side , requiring PhDs in physics, math, or statistics, or on the programming side, requiring knowledge in vast computing fields, from low-level networking to extensive math & statistics packages as well as a lot of SQL.

Now…where the hell are we? MetaTrader folks never needed any of these. Statistics were completely unnecessary, because of the low quality of MT4’s Strategy Tester. No need of low-level networking, FIX, SQL. As for complex physics models, the same – no level II , there was no need for them. However, in time, the MetaTrader community grew to an impressive size.

Does it mean that this huge community has no skills? Then why the few MetaTrader jobs are only on freelancing market and include either pesky EA modification projects or things that are outside MQL itself, such as MQL decompiling?

If we think about the finance world, then normal repartition should apply. Which means the majority of funds and trading desks should be somewhere in the middle, using technology of an average quality. Now if the technology is average , it surely can’t be used for complicated high frequency trading games. Then my criteria should apply – it could be used for intermarket approaches, which allow arbing due to latency differences. But, as I said, the technology has an average quality. Sure there is connectivity, prop trading desks around the world have good connectivity – just look at the job posts, they trade quite everything in equities and futures. But, question is, why do they use prop trading, if they have the connectivity? Why not employing more automated trading, if high frequency approaches are not quite possible?

I’m thinking about two possible explanations:
1. The costs of implementing automated desks that use HFT is enormous. Institutional platforms are very costly, even the ones that are used more for informational purposes. They cost shameless amounts of money. Add to this the salaries of quant developers and PhDs and you’re almost going under…
2. The implied paradigm. As I explained in my previous article, the delusion is a result of marketing combined with limits in trading platforms. Now these mid class institutionals may have connectivity, but as we know, average quality institutional platforms have backtesting problems. Not the kinda problems MT4 Strategy Tester has, they have the problem of …lacking it. That is, the producer puts so much emphasis on connectivity and a “white label” API solution, or FIX for more sophisticated desks, that the topic of backtesting gets out of question. Once you put the topic of backtesting out of question, all that remains is people’s gut about the markets. What tricks and scalping techniques they know about the order book, and that’s just about all – that’s the paradigm they have to use on a daily basis.

MetaTrader4 is a plagued platform, and I’m not going to enumerate again all its problems.
Shamefully, MetaQuotes pulled in this whirlwind an entire generation of traders. Ever since MT4 was out, there is this feeling of hopelessness in terms of multiasset backtesting. In a way, it fed the wrong paradigm and own demise, it’s viewed as a junk platform in institutional environments. MT4 may not have been adopted ever by big banks and hedge funds, but small trading desks would have adopted it , if it would have filled the analytics needs and event based programming. And that would have meant decent jobs for retail traders and developers, mark my word! … we wouldn’t have this stigma of Cynderellas of the trading world as we have now.

I expect the final demise on MT4 in retail trading in a few months after the launch of MT5. However, what happens with MT4 is no interest for me, because if it will fail, it will be because its own supporters will desert it for the candies of MT5, not because brokers will impose MT5 before its time.

I am interested in what else might be found in the MT5 pack. If MT5 is the bridge between the retail approach of MT4 and the real institutional platforms , not quite like X-Trader or Strategy Runner, but more like the top notch – Athena, Tango, Orc, FlexTrade , in terms of everything that excludes latency, in both execution and backtesting, then MT5 might mark the beginning of the changes for the retail community. The problem for prop trading desks is simple – adopt a level II platform that allows a lot of automated trading and backtesting in all the areas of trading that hedge funds analyse and operate, except for latency issues; drastically cut trading platform costs – we might even think about custom MetaTrader5 implementation – for their own needs, with their own datafeed. Speed of trading will be higher than whatever the prop traders could have done, analytics and market paradigm improved, all at lower costs than before and way below hedge fund costs!

This could mean finally good and decent jobs for the retail segment. Because the prop desks don’t have the approach that hedge funds have, and they are not forced to stand up the same costs as they do. Their approach is nearer to the retail field, since they don’t use automation. And retail traders that lost years with MT4 are likely to benefit of job openings for MQL5; there will be a transfer of know-how and funds between the retail community and their counterparts in the institutional world. Retail traders can be easily upgraded to more institutional views of the market, because they already have the development skills accumulated in the MT4 times. I couldn’t have thought of a better moment for MT5 to come than in this crysis, when everyone needs to reform : retail segment on the brink of the collapse in US, people losing jobs, hedge funds with a higher pressure from both investors and market. In a time when everyone cuts costs , MT5 appears as the “poor man’s institutional platform”, with features that go beyond mid class institutional platforms. That makes it a good candidate for a lot of the institutional segment, and when this reform happens, the retail segment is right there, awaiting to get jobs…. and be retail no more.

Let’s not forget about the emergence of AlgoDeal as a quantish backtesting platform. Retail quants that lost years on MetaTrader4 might try this one too for sharping up Java skills while viewing MetaTrader5 strategies from another angle. As retail quants skills approach hedge fund requirements this way, amazing changes in careers may happen…

Note: Finance jobs from Romania and other destitute contries of the Eastern Europe don’t fill the profile mentioned in this article. For instance, just compare the financial jobs section of the job sites (or, better said, career sites) like efinancialcareers.co.uk or QuantSpot.com with romanian resume servers like bestjobs.ro or ejobs.ro . Finance here is mostly mixed with accounting and banking, without a clear position and clear subfields in the domain list, denoting not only the lacking hedge funds , prop trading desks and investment banks, but also the ignorance of job site webmasters.

Tough one, huh? A very bad question to put yourself, like a splinter in the brain…

Despite the MetaTrader’s attractiveness and ease of MQL programming, there is still something bad about it. Let’s unravel this a bit. Why are we attracted to markets? Because there are money and success. Success means a prosperous life , in all the aspects of it. And no matter how good you are, even if your yields are good, success may be still very far…

A trading platform , together with a broker , may give you all the tools you need. You may have success. But if the result of this is not satisfactory enough, hell, you could trade for a living and still be unsatisfied, there will still remain the question “What did I do wrong?”…

Thing is, extra money, or money in general, may be helpful if the other elements are in place. Remember “The 5th element” ? Similar case in trading. Money as a result, or even market success, is not enough, if it does not come with that flavour, of living in a big city, working in a hedge fund/investment bank/trading house with people that understand what you say when you speak, meet people of value in both professional and personal life. And I guess that in your small remote town where you can’t even have a beer with someone that understands trading or markets no MetaTrader will be able to give you that, even with all success on markets that you might have.

So the next step is that MetaTrader and MQL programming will give you something of value for your life, for your soul. But it won’t, and here’s why:

1. They want you to have a very good track record – and perhaps MT5 will allow you to get here, doubtly MT4. They want you to come from a prestige university, even ivy league. Hell – you studied at a local or regional school, your diploma is like toilet paper for the finance world!

2. They want all kinda stuff – C++, Java, SQL, FIX. You never used this stuff. Didn’t use C++ nor Java because APIs didn’t have backtesting, never felt the need to record huge amounts of data with an SQL engine and you’re not institutional so you don’t have a clue even about what FIX is, not talking about how to implement it. So I guess your skills are as low as your diploma.

3. You need, as usual, previous experience. Thing you didn’t get officially, because MetaTrader/MQL is after hours. It does not appear in your CV. And even if it does, who uses it in the big finance world?

4. Even job posts are missing.Eastern Europe is a big desert for finance graduates.

You might disagree on 4), but there is quite nothing here. No investment banks – they were  not present before the crysis, and now they were taken over by commercial banks, no hedge funds – who will come here to do the same thing as there? After all, this is a dematerialized business – there is no need to be physically present. And then, who would abandon the lifestyle of a big city like London, Frankfurt sau New York to come in a country which doesn’t value work, education and effort, but values only the tons of money from clientelar contracts ? Sure there are plenty of commercial banks, insurance jobs, credit broking jobs, insurance broking jobs, credit officer jobs. But that thing – the one that pushed you all the way thru your studies, that one is missing. London is the hedge fund country. You might get an entry level job there even if you lack some skills. But who will get you out of the endless pit that is your own country , county and city?

I’m even wondering : why are there still finance faculties in Eastern Europe ? I mean Europe as a whole doesn’t believe too much in markets. It is believed that markets have something to do with americans mostly. And brits, secondly. Eastern Europe countries are the countries of the “daddy” : no markets, trading and hope in a general good, rather a continuous “shut up and get in the program”. The largest void feeling that you have is when you finally graduate and, after years of hard learning, you find the disaster that was always in the front of your eyes yet you denied to see : instead of a thriving hedge fund community filled with people that blunted their elbows on faculties benches and countless reasearch hours, countries are fully packed with tens of thousands of pesky SMEs mostly owned by people who barely graduated highschool… And there are, beyond these, the state , multinational companies and banks. The state will underpay you, and the SMEs will drive you tired to death. The multinationals will do the same, but you will sell your soul better. What about the banks ? These are not the banks you read in your finance manual about : no decesead Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns or the remainder Goldman Sachs. Who the hell talks in big finance world about Erste or Raiffeisen ? Yes, they might want you – there are not too many people willing to market their credits – especially now – or not too many willing to wash their eyes with credit files. And there are some people who ask you astonished but what did you expect to do ? You could be an accountant or a clerk! Oh my God! This is what you understood from finance? And you call yourself MBA graduate? Oh, forgive my stupidity, but the title was Faculty of Finance / Faculty of Financial Management – not Faculty of  Clerks! Don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing bad in being a clerk if that’s what you were told you’ll get and that was your goal that you pursuit. You will ask me why I stress for a career in a hedge fund compared to one in a bank. Why? Because there is more fun and it’s more rewardful, and you can use the knowledge anywhere, without being bound to a financial institution (like in commercial banking) or without country borders (as in acccounting). After all, you can’t just not love these guys who fight to get the cash from the market, as opposed to the ones that have the privilege of getting their cash from the interest , without the stress of being right – because when they were wrong, they were bailed out!

But the deceiver faculties must pay. All the ones that market careers that they don’t offer. Because they are just thieves wanting your money. And if your diploma is supposedly worth the money, at least don’t make the mistake of studying forward. Because the MBA guys are really the masters… of deceitness. This is not only a feature of Eastern Europe. It’s more general.

Thing is, there is this strange assumption that education is worth. This is a big, big mistake. Education , in terms of information and competence, is quite not worth a penny. You can Google it! Want free education, go here ! What is worth, is the chance of a career , because career equals success : connections in the right field. And we talk real connections, eye-to-eye, not people listed in your profile. Oh, and they market this very well. You want “education”, you gotta pay tens of thousands of pounds! Don’t even look at an MBA programme that’s just a few grands! Too deceiving. Better try getting a free masters. It won’t be too worth, but at least will not cost! After all, what can be worst than paying lots of money for an MBA with a doubtable effect in career, since you already get bad jobs after faculty ? My advice : get your masters after the career gates get open, but not before, otherwise it’s like throwing money off the window!

Another interesting thing to discuss is the surge of MBA vs. MS. You don’t hear too much about MS nowadays. Everyone wants MBA. Master in Business Administration. Like everyone will be in Business Administration!

Education costs too much to be worth, and deceitness is the only thing that keeps the “education sellers” in business! Don’t fall in the trap! Study alone, connect and try beating the market if possible. Because market is fair. It doesn’t matter whether you’re beginner or experienced. It matters only that the money you make when you’re right to be way more than the money you lose when you’re wrong. If you’re profiting, have fun and use the money like someone that has a career. In time, you’ll realise that you had the career, but it happened in the front of your computer, instead of a financial institution.

Bottom line : you can’t use MQL to get a career, and being a beginner quant in Eastern Europe is quite feeling like an alien crashed on Earth. .

However, we can’t ignore the fact that MetaTrader can play the role of a trading laboratory for finance students and future traders. Because MetaTrader is a virtual trading laboratory. Everything that the wannabe trader and the finance student needs . Universities have old programmes and old vision ; probably things now are the same as when I graduated, seven years ago – that means no laboratory/practice in finance and trading ; students may not even see a live trading room for the time they study at the university – for the same reasons as above. As a result, MT emerges as an alternative educational tool , especially now, when version 5 will cover a multitude of markets and assets types as well as extended backtest capabilities (at least I suppose so). Of course you may argue that MT is not made to analyse huge volumes of data – as the math and statistics packages like MATLAB , S-Plus, or R can. However, it is very unlikely that student or trader will have the opportunity to use an ultra low latency solution. Hence, MT5 will be an equilibrium solution, latent on one side, but giving a lot of opportunities in backtesting and trading. It’s quite a shame that a piece of software can be more helpful in building a career than a university, but at least this tool exists, and our hope is that forcibly, finance students can use tools as MT to bypass the career barriers that the Eastern Europe is so efficient at placing in, and finally achieve the goals that we pursuit, as well as the more lucky british and american counterparts that study in the right places.