April 7, 2018
by Sharon Moran
Algorithmic trading is a largely misunderstood concept for one primary reason. The majority of high-frequency trading (HFT) consists of algorithmic trading, and a large portion of high frequency trading constitutes a form of cheating. HFT is legal only because it hasn’t specifically been made illegal. It has been on the decline in recent years in part because it has become a very competitive niche, invalidating the edge it provided in some of its more unethical forms.
Algorithmic trading does not pose an ethical issue by itself, but its association with HFT has created negative connotations. Algorithmic trading can make trading more efficient, specifically for the individual trader.
Until recently, algorithmic trading was more complicated to implement for an individual trader, especially if they didn’t have specific software experience needed to program complex algorithms. Algovest has changed that.
In a press release earlier this week, Campaign Ventures, a financial software company, announced their release of an iOS app for algorithmic trading, Algovest. “Algorithmic trading previously required years of technical and coding experience and was common only among sophisticated traders and large financial institutions. Algovest has made this process easy and free, requiring only a few steps.”
Traders who download the free app can select a company’s stock to apply their algorithm to, select a technical indicator of their choice, and finally choose basic inputs for their algorithm. Before automating the algorithm for live trading, app users get to back-test their algorithm against historical data. Presently Algovest supports over a half-dozen online brokerages including Fidelity, Scottrade, and Vanguard.
I haven’t gotten to the part about how useful Algovest will be for Cryptobellum readers. Well, I know some of you are as equally invested in stocks as cryptocurrencies, so an app like Algovest has definite advantages to simplifying your strategies. Furthermore, Algovest plans to support cryptocurrency algorithms in the future, although so far they haven’t specified a release date for this feature.
