Hello, I'm illiterate when it comes to getting an algo up and running. How does one do this if they cannot program themselves? Also, what software would I use for this? If I hire a programmer how can I ensure that the programmer will not steal the strategy, assuming I have one? Thank you for all information.
Come on, brain usage for a human is not optional. Let me give you something that is similar. Hello, how does on go on for building a racing car when one knows nothing about engines and engineering? What tools would I use? Everyone would laugh. Same with algos. How you go on when you do not know programming? You take a LOT of money and PAY programmers. And no, they won't wok for 50.000 USD a year gross - not good ones.
Look into a Strategy Wizard such as that offered by NinjaTrader. Its a very simplistic (point and click) way of creating an algorithmic/automated system. It also provides example code from which you can use as a starting point. Anything beyond the above requires more experience.
I was the same as you once. This is what I did. I jumped on amazon and did a search for beginners guides to programming. I identified a series of highly recommended books. From memory "An idiots guide to programming' was actually one of them. I also downloaded a IDE that was recommended for beginners and started practicing 'Hello world' and 'clock making' exercises. These are like the simplest programs you can create. For trading, I used to have a copy of Metastock EOD and I just started downloading script examples then modifying the parameters to see what worked and what didn't. Eventually I moved to esignal and started modifying esignal scripts - there are hundreds of great scripts available online. I also had programmers create scripts for me that were beyond my skill level. I am able to make simple changes to these. I'm still a terrible programmer, but at least I have been able to create scripts that reflect my trading ideas and that's good enough for me. It's a long road that requires a big commitment to learn, particularly if your not an analytical person. Good luck.
you may want to look at tradelink, it's free/open source and comes with an add-on strategy building tool.
I'm actually at the beginning of this road right now. lulz. I'm probably going to start with the dummies and idiot's books, then move on to the Sam's books, then regular ones. Do you have any tips and further thoughts about your experience? Things you wished you done or things that'd speed up the process? tyia
1-Pen and paper. Draw a flowchart of what you want your "algo" to do. 2-After that, coding it is a piece of cake, in any language. Take a few key lines out and hire someone to do it for you or read a book in the library and do it yourself. If your 1 is crap, 2 will not fix it.