
// Development
How to Build Stock Trading Software And Algorithms
// Development
Brokers, traders and other active participants in stock markets for more efficient trading use terminals - software solutions for analyzing markets, using trading advisors and organizing dealing services. Good examples are MetaTrader, Ally Invest and MetaStock. But they are far from one of a kind.
Moreover, there is no ideal trading terminal for stock markets. Therefore, if you create such software, you can become a monopolist in this segment. To make this happen, take into account the recommendations of our article, which describes all the important details of the development of platforms for stock trading.
Registration. The process of creating an account and verifying the identity should be simple and, most importantly, as secure as possible (when it comes to money and billing information, the issue of security is particularly relevant). Ideally, you need to offer the user several options for registration and authorization, for example, via email, phone number or social networks. In addition, modern terminals must also support Face ID and / or Touch ID.
Marketplace. Place to place orders for the purchase / sale of shares. It should be possible to access and edit important information (statistics, indicators, expert advice, historical references, etc.) and the ability to use trading algorithms. This section is key to trading platforms, so pay maximum attention to it.
News feed. This may surprise, but the news feed is one of the most important software components for stock trading. The fact is that stock price charts on stock markets are sensitive to certain informational events (global and local).
Payments and transactions. The function is needed to replenish deposits, conduct trading operations, withdraw money and manage cash flows. It is important to remember about security here - information flows must be encrypted.
Quotes monitoring. This screen should be informative, understandable and accessible 24/7. It should also include tools for setting up and the ability to take notes.
Guides, interactive tips. No matter how hard the UX / UI developers try, a good platform for the stock market cannot be made clear at first glance. Therefore, it is important to take care of the training and hints in advance, which will simplify familiarity with the platform.
Briefcase. Investors and traders should be able to track the status of assets and positions in real-time. We also need a system of settings and filters for analyzing information. Such a system will allow making more correct conclusions: buy, sell or leave everything as it is..
Deposits. Balance check should be available at the touch of a button. Access to it should be on almost all screens of the platform. This is an important usability element, without which you will not create a popular stock trading platform.
Analytics. Active participants in the stock market cannot conceive their activities without observing market statistics, analyzing the effectiveness of transactions (trading strategies and algorithms) and trading in general. Charts will be the best solution for analyzingng market conditions, diagrams - for evaluating the effectiveness of trading strategies.
Demo account. Simplify the process of involving the user, as he will be able to experience the platform without risking real money.
Push notifications. The best way to get user feedback.
Search. Convenient search engine will make life easier for users.
Developing software and algorithms for trading in the stock market is a complex and expensive process. Even if you do everything qualitatively, it’s not a fact that the platform created becomes popular. To ensure that development does not follow an unsuccessful scenario, pay attention to the following six points.
1: Mobile application VS Mobile site
If your plans are limited to creating only the desktop application, the mobile version is not needed. Nevertheless, most successful brokerage companies have the opportunity to trade using smartphones and tablets, as this increases the coverage and insures against problems associated with malfunctions of the desktop application.
To develop a mobile terminal, you need to decide how it will interact with user devices:
2: Selection of supported operating systems
The choice of supported operating systems depends on the coverage of potential users. And here is a simple rule: the more, the better. However, we must remember that the integration of support for each operating system costs money and that different operating systems have different audiences.
3: Development process
Now that we have dealt with the preliminary questions, we can start creating software for trading stocks. This process is usually divided into three stages:
4: Trade system design
Trading is an activity where one wrong move can lead to failure. Therefore, the design of the trading platform should be as convenient as possible and warn users against erroneous clicks. Therefore, when developing interfaces, you need to pay closer attention to such things:
This concept includes computer scripts (algorithms) that independently “decide” when and how to conduct purchase / sale operations. A “solution” is embedded in an algorithm when it is created, and it is usually subject to formal rules that are based on technical and / or fundamental analysis.
There are two types of trading algorithms:
Humanity has not yet learned how to predict the behavior of chaotic second-order systems. Moreover, many mathematicians and economists, on the basis of the Gödel Incompleteness Theorem, believe that this is basically impossible. Keep this in mind if you offer users algorithms with a "guarantee" of profit.
6: Safety
Alas, the security of financial data is a huge problem for the Internet community. And solve it, as a rule, in two ways:
Now you know all the points to consider when developing a platform for trading stocks. It remains to find developers who have an idea of how to create such products, and offer their services for a reasonable price.