Trading Bots

[AndDuffy]

Maybe this is the wrong section, but I think you guys can help me here. I want to make a trading bot that will execute trades based on parameters I set according to technical indicators. Thing is, I have almost zero experience with coding. I don't just want to use someone else's code though, I want to build this from scratch, using custom and unique indicators. Is there any resource that I could use that would teach me how to go about creating and implementing this bot?

TL;DR Noob coder needs help building trading bot.

[adamstgBit]

Maybe this is the wrong section, but I think you guys can help me here. I want to make a trading bot that will execute trades based on parameters I set according to technical indicators. Thing is, I have almost zero experience with coding. I don't just want to use someone else's code though, I want to build this from scratch, using custom and unique indicators. Is there any resource that I could use that would teach me how to go about creating and implementing this bot?

TL;DR Noob coder needs help building trading bot.

if your a noob coder, you can not make this bot...

your going to make a bug that will sell all your bitcoin or something


i was thinking of doing a trading bot, the user would visual program a trading strategy... a easily re-programmable bot if you will

how much would that be worth to you?

[ELT]

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/MtGox/API/HTTP

That is the API doc's for MtGox, if you just want to use PHP the code to auth and getting the ticker and the other thing.  

I have some python code, but that is also on a wiki and easily found on here via the search.

I would use either python or PHP to write it as they are pretty easy to write in.

[Edit]

My first bot was quite stupid and I limited its trades to just 0.1btc and it did quite well for a bit, but then a few things changed and it ate through its 1btc play money pretty quickly.  Will you lose everything? Maybe but only if you allow it to.

ELT

[yogi]

Start by writing/obtaining an api to communicate with the exchange you wish to trade on. Then implement your strategy/s using the api. If you need a database something simple like sqlite will probable do.

I am in the process of developing a trading platform. It has a host of facilities for communicating with exchanges, reading/writing to databases, etc.  which are accessed through scripts and plugins.

Unfortunately it is still some months from even being in an unstable beta state.

[adamstgBit]

my implementation would be a windows application
I would retro fit the software I'm currently working on http://youtu.be/f3qWB3zYzU8
instead of programing an IO devices you'd be programing a trading bot

i dont know if this would be a worth while project tho...

 

[ohforf]

Thing is, I have almost zero experience with coding.

You get Experience from actually doing it. 

I don't just want to use someone else's code though, I want to build this from scratch, using custom and unique indicators.

There are a few Libraries around to make use of the Trading APIs.
If they work, there is no reason to not use them.
Reading and understanding someone else's code is good for learning.

Is there any resource that I could use that would teach me how to go about creating and implementing this bot?

What you need to read:
Trading API Documentation of your favorite Exchange.
"C# for Dummies" (or whatever Language you like)
Bits and pieces of Information about Programming and Trading. (Google and Wikipedia are your Friends) 

I wrote a (really bad) MtGox Bot in AutoIt (dont use that Language!),
...and rewrite everything in C# now, using someones SocketIO Library. 

[guruvan]

Here's a few basic bots for trading bitcoin:

https://github.com/chrisacheson/liquidbot/blob/master/liquidbot.py
https://github.com/viorels/mtgox-trader
https://github.com/smola/bitrade/blob/master/bitrade/mtgox.py
https://github.com/rokj/bitcoin_dealer
https://github.com/ip2k/bitbot
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=67591.180 Chrome browser extension

And this guy clockwork gives about 1K forum pages to teach folks how he trades. This is mostly how I trade.
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=155431&page=85

I recommend having a look here to understand how trading bots work
http://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=5&sid=833e5292cd38895ef11ee297686a8f35

[REF]

Here's a few basic bots for trading bitcoin:

https://github.com/chrisacheson/liquidbot/blob/master/liquidbot.py
https://github.com/viorels/mtgox-trader
https://github.com/smola/bitrade/blob/master/bitrade/mtgox.py
https://github.com/rokj/bitcoin_dealer
https://github.com/ip2k/bitbot
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=67591.180 Chrome browser extension

And this guy clockwork gives about 1K forum pages to teach folks how he trades. This is mostly how I trade.
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=155431&page=85

I recommend having a look here to understand how trading bots work
http://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=5&sid=833e5292cd38895ef11ee297686a8f35

awesome collection of links. Didnt know about the chrome browser extension.

[ohforf]

...

Thank you. This is very useful Information.
Some of the old MtGox Bots wont work anymore, because they use the old
username/password Authentication instead of the Key/Secret.

[gewure]

me and a friend are currently bitting out our teeth trying to implement a relatively advanced trading system with alot of indicators..

hard work, i tell you. don't know if we can ever finish it in a way that it makes sense.

[alan2here]

I'd be very much interested in this visually coded custom trading bot. I'll pay a 1% fee on transactions for the first £10 of you'r earnings from me. I'd like it to be avaliable from a website like MTGox and Bitcoinica are.

[ohforf]

I'd be very much interested in this visually coded custom trading bot. I'll pay a 1% fee on transactions for the first £10 of you'r earnings from me. I'd like it to be avaliable from a website like MTGox and Bitcoinica are.

I only know one online trading bot platform, this one: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=32484.0
Its really hard to understand... but i dont belive in visual programming anyway.
What we really need is a well documented platform, like input->processing-> output shown in great details.
Is a trading bot profitable enough to give the provider a share of the profits ?

[copumpkin]

You're going to want to backtest/simulate it on historical data too. Not to make sure it makes you lots of money, as past performance has little bearing on future behavior, but simply to make sure it doesn't do anything ridiculously stupid and is behaving as you'd expect.

If you don't have data or know how to simulate the bot outside of the real market, you probably shouldn't be doing this.

[ohforf]

You're going to want to backtest/simulate it on historical data too. Not to make sure it makes you lots of money, as past performance has little bearing on future behavior, but simply to make sure it doesn't do anything ridiculously stupid and is behaving as you'd expect.

If you don't have data or know how to simulate the bot outside of the real market, you probably shouldn't be doing this.

I have been doing this with my old AutoIt bot.
I dont know if the results are any good, its probably full of bugs and totally wrong.
One of the test results i remember is +90% from 1.1.2012 to today.
If this really worked as the data shows, it would be quite usable.
I better get more data and do more testing, because my strategy was really simple.

[MatthewLM]

I made a bot that used an evolutionary algorithm and OpenCL. It completely failed when I tested it with live data.

[ohforf]

I made a bot that used an evolutionary algorithm and OpenCL. It completely failed when I tested it with live data.

OpenCL ? isnt that a bit too complicated ?
You wont need extreme processing power, do you ?
What I did was to "buy low, sell high", this one works.
Artificial Intelligence could be Artificial Stupidity.

[MatthewLM]

What's low and what's high?

Mine trie to figure out a strategy itself an d it found really good strategies... that only worked for old data. It was good at hindsight, rubbish at foresight. Maybe it needed tweaking.

[guruvan]

What's low and what's high?

Mine trie to figure out a strategy itself an d it found really good strategies... that only worked for old data. It was good at hindsight, rubbish at foresight. Maybe it needed tweaking.

This is the most important advice I see time and again about trading bots. There is no such thing as a "set and forget" trading bot. They will need continual tweaking to adjust to changing market conditions that require adjusted trading strategies.

[organofcorti]

I think you're better off finding the right algorithm first, backtesting/bootstrapping, and then learning about the MtGox API. At least then you won't be tempted to turn it on at the first evolved GA you get that seems to work.

BTW, if you use RGP to create the algorithm you get a fair degree of flexibility since it allows boolean operations. So you end up with "if then" type conditions. It's reasonably quick to plateau as well.

I generated a good GA that was basically a moving average crossover which did well in backtesting and has done well so far. It only trades once every two or three weeks though.

[notme]

What's low and what's high?

Mine trie to figure out a strategy itself an d it found really good strategies... that only worked for old data. It was good at hindsight, rubbish at foresight. Maybe it needed tweaking.

This problem is known as overfitting.  The solution is to add noise to the data.  Create 10 copies of the data with random permutations to train it on.