Currently working with a statistics PhD in CA on R&D of a blackbox using historical data for a few dozen futures instruments on CME Group exchanges, plus some ICE...inter-market correlations, intramarket derivatives supply/demand sentiment, order engine logic, etc. Anybody in Chicago area interested in meeting to talk shop a bit and perhaps consider forming a loose association for developing strategies hellbent on market domination? Nitro, anyone? Getting ahead of myself a bit, but considering moving to Chicago and renting out office space at Advantage Futures' 'Chicago Loop' property on S Lasalle...trading stock options & futures from 0700-1500 CT, then continuing work on R&D of a blackbox for trading same asset classes.
That is quite a bit of work. What OS and language(s) are you doing this in? I am interested, but it seems a bit premature as you say below. Still, cooperation over the internet is possible. Another route is to do this open source. Are you profitable now? In any case, the advantage you have is youth. The disadvantage you have is youth. The biggest mistake I made was thinking I could figure this whole thing out on my own, using my own money. It is better to start with something that works so that someone will back you with decent account size in order to be able to support yourself first, then expand. You might be able to piece something that works on your own and trade it with $75k, but inspite of what all the self-made millionares on ET will tell you, it is extremely difficult (.5% a day on 75K is about $325 a day before expenses, nothing to write home about). Trading for a living is a rich man's game because the barriers to entry IN THE REAL WORLD may make it impossible to realize without backing. That said, RenTech started out with very little.
The blackbox i.e. everything that 'talks' with the market is in C++; SQL for storage as-needed. For off-line backtesting, using R for modelling historical datasets, and Python for constructing order logic. By premature, I meant that I'm not in the Chicago area at the moment, but contemplating the move...from the primary perspective that simply being in an area with more people in the field will increase development efficacy given I put forth the effort to network...even with being an 'outsider' without the pedigree to get into the higher echelons of the sphere. Looking for bootstrapping entrepreneurs like myself. I am until I get too greedy Made ~$125k over the summer, then got stubborn going against the fearful herd in energy & metals during the Syria opera in August. Hence, developing the mechanics of my underlying manual system of logic should remove most of the emotion-based headfakes & fatigue of pure discretionary. Well-stated. I'm proud of the progress made on my own in stocks/options/futures over the past 3 years w/o a mentor, coming from an engineering background w absolutely no experience in the field, but even when you get to a new level of competence & marvel at the view back at the starting point, it's apparent that the mountain still has a ways to climb.
If you're interested in talking tech, I'm based in Chicago and am always up for coffee/drinks. I worked for prop shops for a few years on hw/sw design. I'm out of the industry now, but I have a feeling I'll be back eventually.