Home Economic analysis for quantitative trading in financial markets
Local

Economic analysis for quantitative trading in financial markets

Contributors
small business
(© fizkes – stock.adobe.com)

Quantitative trading analysis requires skills that are well-honed and provide a market edge that’s clearly-defined are typically comprised of several key elements.  In order to achieve long-term success when speculating in the financial markets, a statistical approach to trading must be employed and certain psychological characteristics should become apparent.  A few of the required mental attributes guiding decision-making processes in a winning quantitative investment strategy can be found in this article.  The favorable characteristics that are discussed here might be considered to be an excellent starting point in achieving future investment goals in the financial markets.

Optimistic Outlook: Successful quantitative traders show healthy levels of confidence in their strategies and optimism in their approach.  In some cases, a quantitative trading strategy will show losses and this is inevitable in certain market environments.  However, it must be understood that drawdowns are usually temporary in nature and a solid algorithmic trading foundation will allow successful traders to build their account back into profitability.  Ultimately, trading that utilized a quantitative strategy is a zero-sum game.  In other words, there are losers and there are winners.  Regardless of any short-term trading losses, it’s up to each quant trader to visualize a path to victory and success through profitability.

Self-Worth and Self-Esteem: Many educational systems in schools will emphasize the importance of self-worth and self-esteem for student populations.  However, these traits often fail to make a transition into the lives of adults when they are faced with the challenges of establishing a career.  This can lead to self-doubt, cynicism, and negativity.  These types of attributes can have a negative impact on profits due to the fact that market trading is often emotional in nature.  Whenever traders buy or sell an asset, there is an assumption of risk involved and this requires successful visualization of an outcome that is positive.

Maintaining Life Balance: A quant trader’s experience in the market is ultimately reflective of the life each person wants to attain outside the world of finance.  For example, negative personal habits like overeating, drug use, lack of exercise, or smoking can often have a direct correlation with a person’s trading performances.  Successful quant traders will often use equal amounts of time working on market preparations and personal issues, as this helps to ensure that one side of the equation does not negatively influence the other.  It can also be a good idea to work with a guiding mentor so that a proper life/work balance can be maintained.  This does not necessarily need to be someone that is involved in the financial markets.  However, some added guidance in these areas can also be tremendously useful.

Sense of Perspective: Whenever we venture into a new career path it is important to work through the dualities of powerlessness and strength, which is a fact that remains true in both our personal and professional lives.  Modern society has a way of making some people feel as though they are victims of external social forces.  However, these are the types of traits that tend to create losses and failures for those looking to successfully trade in the financial markets.  Losses encountered while quant trading always come from market sources that are external.  In other words, these are sources that quant traders cannot control themselves and this can reinforce feelings of powerlessness while exacerbating the effects of negative conditions.  In contrast to dividend trading in the stock market, successful quant traders are able to address these challenges with a certain level of enthusiasm, based on the fact that a time-tested quantitative strategy will have the ability to overcome unfavorable market environments over a long-term time horizon.  In this way, building a proper quant strategy will inevitably direct traders in the right direction on the path to market prosperity.

Overall, successful quant traders possess a positive perspective and have achieved the required psychological characteristics and generate bullish monetary results.  Achieving these outcomes requires a commitment to all aspects of the process (including mental health, physical health, and stress management). Unfortunately, all the web tutorials and textbooks in the world will not be able to overcome mental roadblocks which often undermine quantitative performances.  Only proper planning and preparation (from trade entry to the final trade exit) will be sufficient and this is the reason successful quant traders will typically share psychological characteristics that are relatively common.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.