Often the most difficult thing in research in quant, just like every other area, is simply getting started. Once you know the question you’re trying to answer at least you have an idea of a potential path. Of course precisely which question you might want to ask to dependent on the objective. Whilst having a…
Category: General
General
Industry TV drama or grad reality?
by Saeed Amen •
There are many subjects which seem to cause discussion on financial Twitter or fintwit to use its most common abbreviation. Of course, there’s been Brexit and Trump in recent years. Whilst the previous seems oblivious to ever ending (deal or not), the latter seems on the wane following the election. Other topics such as MMT…
Data, General
Find the questions to solve with alt data
by Saeed Amen •
Buzzwords, buzzwords, buzzwords. Every age has different buzzwords. Today, probably some of the most popular are machine data and alternative data, whether you work in finance or any other industry. Want to make more profits? Well, use machine learning, use alternative data etc. (ok, it isn’t that easy, but I’ll explain more later). Rather…
Data, General
The cloud and higher level managed services
by Saeed Amen •
In the good old days (well, perhaps they weren’t always “good”), you had to build most things yourself, rather than buy them off the shelf. You had to make your own burgers. Ok, I made up that specific case…. However, when it came to technology stacks, there was less available than today, and you…
General, Python
Common issues when learning Python
by Saeed Amen •
Learning something new is fun.. but let’s face it, there are times when it can be challenging and the easiest thing is to give up. I’ve been teaching Python for a couple of years, and it’s given me an opportunity to see what challenges folks have when learning Python. My focus has been teaching…
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, Events, General
Direction and error in data and elections
by Saeed Amen •
The big news story this week was the US presidential election, as well as elections in the House and the Senate. The result isn’t yet fully known, although at the current time, it looks fairly likely that Joe Biden is going to get to 270 votes in the electoral college to become president. As…
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, General, Macro
Point forecasts and uncertainty
by Saeed Amen •
If you live in the UK, the weather is always a topic of discussion. Sometimes it rains (well, a lot of the time it rains), other times it’s sunny. What’s somewhat perplexing is the sudden change within a couple of hours. Admittedly this isn’t something unique to the UK, many countries have changeable weather. The…
Data, General, Python
Charts speak a thousand words
by Saeed Amen •
I probably haven’t had as many burgers in recent months as usual. However, I am of endeavouring to make up for that in the coming months! The thing with burgers is, that it’s not just about the taste. It’s also about how good it looks. Even the tastiest burger in the world isn’t going to…