Ask HN: How To Become Quantitative Analyst And Achieve Greatness?

20 points

16 years ago

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.

So when my grandfather became paralyzed (3 months ago) I saw it everything more clearly. I want to help people and do my best.

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.

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.

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?

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).

Do I need to know more then this for start?

http://measuringmeasures.com/blog/2010/3/12/learning-about-machine-learning-2nd-ed.html

http://pindancing.blogspot.com/2010/01/learning-about-machine-learniing.html

http://quantivity.wordpress.com/2010/01/10/how-to-learn-algorithmic-trading/

You may have noticed that English is not my native language. I apologize for grammar. Thank you for your answers. I really appreciate it!