Already too late to learn HFT programming?

Hello world...

Swept away by the financial press' tsunami-like reaction to Michael Lewis's Flash Boys, I was reading a great commentary on FT about how the markets need to be fixed, in order to regain investor confidence and trust.
Great article from people who really know what they're talking about, you can find it by Googling:
"Comment: If the market is rigged, fix the market! By Cameron Smith and Haim Bodek"

One of the authors is president of a Houston based quant trading firm which has about 20 job openings for software engineers, C++ programmers and developers. It's called Quantlab financial.

Assuming I can learn programming for trading algorithms in let's say 2-3 years (no background), will algorithmic trading still be around/relevant by the time I am capable of writing some useful code? Or am I already too late to the game?

Thanks!

5 Comments
 

Yes as in algo trading will still be around, so better get started? Or yes, as in I am already too late? In which case... :(

On a long enough timeline the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
 
Best Response

Why do you want to learn HFT programming? If it's so you can make a lot of money, you're already too late - the train has left the station. Unfortunately the wild west days of HFT are over as I believe the next few years will see significantly increased regulation around HFT, so you would be constantly trying to work around these regulations while still making money. High frequency traders aren't traders - they are hackers taking advantage of a system that currently doesn't have enough protection against these hackers.

Better to look out for the next fad of financial arbitrage and get on that early.

 

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