If you want a train, you have to build a train track. It doesn’t matter, if it’s a steam train or bullet train, or any other train. It’s a prerequisite. No track kind of implies the train can’t run. Obviously, each train needs a different type of track, but ultimately the principle is the same…
Category: Foreign Exchange
Data, Foreign Exchange, General, Macro, Python
Hundreds of quant papers from #QuantLinkADay in 2020
by Saeed Amen •
This has been a challenging year by pretty much any other standard. I remember when I was kid, and heard the year 2020, it sounded very exciting. It’d be like Back to the Future, with hoverboards and flying cars. Instead, 2020 has been all about the coronavirus. Whilst I’ve been lucky enough to be safe…
Foreign Exchange, General
Trading FX for corporates
by Saeed Amen •
Why do folks go to burger joints? I suppose one obvious answer is for burgers. However, that’s not the only reason, right? It’s also to socialise, to chat with your friends and family. Otherwise, you might just choose to sit at home and make your own burger (or at these point for lockdown reasons). Or…
Data, Foreign Exchange, General, Python, TCA
Using AWS Timestream for tick data
by Saeed Amen •
What’s the most important thing we need to have in order to follow financial markets? Burgers… ok, I made that up, the real answer is market data! Whilst there are many other datasets including those drawn from alternative data, which are becoming increasingly important, having a handle on the asset prices is still key. When…
Data, Foreign Exchange, General, TCA
TCA to improve your investing
by Saeed Amen •
Chips are supposed to go with burgers, or with fish. However, there are times when chips by themselves are exactly what you need and also as a side for many other dishes. Probably my favourite chips are from Vlaams Friteshuis Vleminckx. It doesn’t look like much, a tiny takeaway nestled in the streets of central…
Foreign Exchange, General
Separating our politics from trading decisions
by Saeed Amen •
Everything appears to have become a political question these days, even whether or not you like burgers (ok, I made that one up, but hopefully you get the point). Of course, financial markets have always been impacted by politics and arguably even more in recent years, with events such as Brexit and the Trump presidency.…
Foreign Exchange, General, Macro
Corporates and trading FX
by Saeed Amen •
When was the last time you went on a plane? Probably, a long time ago! Let’s just take ourselves back to that point. Why did you get on a plane? There could be many reasons. Perhaps you went on holiday or maybe it was for a work meeting. In most cases, it is unlikely you…
Data, Foreign Exchange, General
Political market making
by Saeed Amen •
It is challenging to understand how to model external shocks when trading financial markets. However, in recent years, it has become particularly notable that these risks, such as Brexit, the election of Trump, or coronavirus can greatly impact markets. Hence, we need to have a way to model them. In this paper we investigate the…
Data, Foreign Exchange, General, Python, TCA
Using Python to explore FX market microstructure
by Saeed Amen •
I am sure like most readers, I’ve lost count of the number of weeks since things were “normal”. When will things get back normal? Maybe weeks or more likely months? I suppose that using a Python function random.random(), might be the best approach here! However, in the meantime, I’ve been trying to work hard at…
Data, Foreign Exchange, Python, TCA
How to do TCA with tcapy in Python
by Saeed Amen •
Over the past few years, I’ve been working on tcapy, a transaction cost analysis library in Python, which I’ve recently open sourced. As a result I’ve been thinking about TCA for a long time. Why is it important to do transaction cost analysis on your trades? Ultimately doing TCA can save you money on your…