Why Open Source Tools For Traders?

“You think you know when you learn, are more sure when you can write, even more when you can teach, and certain when you can program.” --Alan Perlis

Trading is a tough way to make “easy” money. It draws a diverse crowd of people, all motivated by the lust for profits. In this type of environment, useful information is hard to obtain. There is no shortage of people who are willing, for hefty fees, of course, to sell you systems, newsletters, software, home study courses, or mentoring services, that promise you profits. Some are valuable, most aren't.

How do you sort out the wheat from the chaff, the useful from the useless?
Without extensive experience, you simply can't. But there are ways to get up to speed quickly.

If you look at who Wall Street firms hire, they seem to believe that knowledge of quantitative techniques and programming skills are essential to aspiring traders. Computer scientists, physicists, engineers, statisticians, mathematicians, and to a lesser degree—economists, are highly sought after for their ability to program computers to learn from data.

If I had to start my trading career over, I would junk most of the folklore that is in the trading literature, and learn the following 3 things:

1.Applied Statistics
2.Computer Programming
3.Applied Economics

Fortunately, it is possible to do this, and I hope to show you how. Generous programmers, scientists, and experts from around the world have provided programs that you can not only use, but study and modify for your own purposes. You will no longer be dependent on your newsletter, your software vendor, or your market guru. You will be able to think for yourself, and choose the products you do buy more wisely.

This blog will show you how to get started.