
Ask HN: How To Become Quantitative Analyst And Achieve Greatness? - cleancode
I've been reading Hacker News for half a year so far. I have to admit I am impressed. I really like the hackers community. Open source world is main inspiration for me, because I know there are smart and wise people who are hungry for knowledge. These people are the future. They code and do research not only for money, but for the better good. Great life philosophy.<p>So when my grandfather became paralyzed (3 months ago) I saw it everything more clearly. I want to help people and do my best.<p>I'm 20 years old. I decided to change my life 3 months ago. I like computers and finance world since my childhood. So 3 months ago I started to learn Python and Math. And I love it! I am so passionate about it now. I applied for CS degree at the most prestigious university in my country and I got the opportunity to study there.<p>I am very interested in machine learning and finance world. I would like to do quantitative research and beat that mean sharks at Wall Street. I have no bad intentions and I don't see any value in buying expensive things. My dream is to donate research from my earnings.<p>I have got the passion. I just need the direction. There is so much things to learn. What is the most important thing in this field? Should I focus to mathematics first and then start to learn programming?<p>What market should I choose? I am familiar with Futures and Forex. Forex seems to be very dangerous but more accesible for students (funding requirements).<p>Do I need to know more then this for start?<p>http://measuringmeasures.com/blog/2010/3/12/learning-about-machine-learning-2nd-ed.html<p>http://pindancing.blogspot.com/2010/01/learning-about-machine-learniing.html<p>http://quantivity.wordpress.com/2010/01/10/how-to-learn-algorithmic-trading/<p>You may have noticed that English is not my native language. I apologize for grammar. Thank you for your answers. I really appreciate it!
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pg
If your goal is to do something to make a difference in the world, are you
sure you want to become a quant? I think you may be misleading yourself about
the degree to which you can participate in that world without becoming part of
it. Swim with the sharks, and you become one.

Why not make money the way Larry & Sergey or Jobs & Woz did, by creating
wealth?

~~~
cleancode
Well, great insight.I haven't thought about it. You changed my opinions. But
as you know when you master your expertise after 10 years you can make a lot
of money by investing.

These people are rare exceptions. I am just not sure if I can invent something
so great as they did.

I am also interested in computer security. I would love to create OpenBSD-like
user-friendly system and sell only hardware like Apple. But it is so
improbable. Masses are not interested in secure system. They want a pretty and
easy to use system. So it is really hard to work on things in which you have
passion, interest and make big money as well.

My main tendency is to donate research. There are smart people who are short
on money. I could pay for their education etc. Creating another Google is hard
task, but make money for honest poor student is not so hard. It is quite
difficult to make a decision now.

~~~
pg
Successful traders are also rare exceptions. In fact I suspect the odds are
better for making money by creating wealth than by speculation, especially if
you're willing to work in less sexy domains.

~~~
nearestneighbor
Some people love math and algorithms, and hate web/GUI/iPhone programming.

~~~
cleancode
I feel the same about this. In fact, I refused to work in web industry before.
I did CSS|XHTML|Wordpress customization, but I just didn't feel that right
feeling.

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keefe
Waiting is until fullness. You have got a great start, but be very careful not
to burn out. Do not rush and realize that it's OK to be learning. Work on
whatever is fun for you and do not expect to accomplish anything yet. I would
suggest that you start with simulations, NOT real money. After you are
successful for some months, do it for real.

As far as practical links :

<http://academicearth.org/courses/machine-learning>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Support_vector_machine>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_finance>

[http://tepper.cmu.edu/master-in-computational-
finance/index....](http://tepper.cmu.edu/master-in-computational-
finance/index.aspx)

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jayruy
Congrats for your newfound love and condolences for your grandfather. Tread
carefully - intellectualizing love is existentially rocky territory.

I have worked in algorithmic trading, hedge funds, and investment banking. I
have degrees in CS and Mathematics.

There are a rare few people who have walked these footsteps - see Jim Simon of
Renaissance or Doyne Farmer of Prediction Company. And of course there are
more you never hear of because they don't have enough money or interest to
garner media attention. This community is not an open community because unlike
the open source world, it is not beneficial to share knowledge. Governments
have to force them to.

One question I wonder if you've considered: do you feel comfortable working
within boundaries that governments have the power to change? It's an aspect of
the job I find interesting, but I feel many members here would find
frustrating.

Mathematics is far more important than C.S. at crafting algorithmic trading
strategies, but developers are in far more demand. Quant shops only _really_
need one genius, and maybe a few in training in case the first gets hit by a
bus.

In terms of what mathematics: you're going to need stochastic calculus, but
don't worry about that yet. Unless you are blessed you're going to need a PhD
in math or physics. The importance isn't the thesis, but the topical knowledge
along the way regarding which relationships break down under what conditions.
Most entry-level quants go for the PhD and pick up stochastic calc while job
searching. Machine learning is no panacea: regression (a form of machine
learning) is the oldest trick in the book.

So I'd suggest forgetting about finance altogether until you absolutely have
to. If you're absolutely serious: ride the academic train for as long as you
can. It's not easy riches, but neither is quant finance. Easy riches is
swapping MBO's to your buddies on comission.

~~~
cleancode
> Tread carefully - intellectualizing love is existentially rocky territory.

I am aware of this. Now after reading your comment I need also a self-
confidence and optimism to all that. I am just not sure if I can handle all
this. I mean I am smart but not genius for sure. Is it worth it to persist in
this field even if I have no talent in mathematics?

~~~
jayruy
Yes - as I mentioned regardless of quants there will always be heavy demand
for mathematically-minded developers in finance. As far as enterprise
development goes, it's a great (well funded) industry to work in. Technologies
tend to focus on proven fault-tolerant methodologies - think .NET/Oracle
stacks instead of Ruby/Cassandra or whatever the flavor of the month is on the
internets.

Don't sell yourself short on mathematics before undergraduate - the nature of
mathematical talent changes the deeper you get into a particular topic. But
yes: if your goal is to become a quant, do not think it will be easy to get
into the industry without a PhD.

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ig1
Learn the basics and go and work for a hedge fund or a bank. There's a huge
amount of knowledge which just isn't written about and the easiest way to
learn about it is to work with people who know about it. Plus you'll get much
better datasets to work with then you'll be able to get on your own.

Check out the forums on wilmott.com for suggestions on books and the like as
that's where a lot of quants hang-out.

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cbare
Hi, There are so many cool applications of machine learning that you'll find
plenty that are fascinating, good for the world, and will keep you out of the
poor-house. Models of complex systems from economics to linguistics to biology
are built with the same toolkit of techniques. Have fun and good luck.

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loganfrederick
Hey CleanCode,

I'm also 20 with very similar interests as yours. You don't have an email
listed, but I'm hoping you could email me at loganfrederick@gmail.com to talk
to you more about quantitative analysis and computational finance!

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secret
Here's a post of mine that may help:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1173683>

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subud
<http://www.ederman.com/new/index.html>

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cleancode
Is here anybody successful as a quant and can tell us his story (life as a
quant)?

