Math & Notation Essentials
Read the symbols, keep track of units, and build a calculation one small step at a time.
8 lessons · notation · units · algebra · modelling
Trading Dev Academy
Free & open-source education
Trading Dev Academy
Learn the mathematics. Write the Python. Build a reproducible trading research process.
Free quantitative finance and algorithmic trading education. Learn trading mathematics, Python, backtesting, portfolio risk, derivatives and machine learning with worked examples and interactive labs.
Start with the study guide · Python tools and examples · Quant glossary · Open-source project
Foundations
Define the mandate. Understand instruments, returns, and capital.
Fund Lab Orientation
A research-to-operations curriculum for building and evaluating a hypothetical investment fund. Start with the mandate and an honest performance record.
1 lessons · your first backtest
Markets, Returns & Capital
Understand what you own, how it earns a return, and where leverage enters the balance sheet.
4 lessons · instruments · compounding · valuation
Trading Different Assets: Instruments, Mechanics & Risk
Understand what you own, how a trade settles, and which quantities belong in your model.
10 lessons · Stocks · ETFs · bonds · futures · commodities · FX · options · crypto · perpetuals · event contracts
Data: Availability, Revisions & Reproducible Research
Reconstruct what a trader could know, then preserve enough evidence to reproduce the decision.
8 lessons · timestamps · vintages · identifiers · survivorship · corporate actions · provenance
Calculus & mathematical models
Study change, accumulation, sensitivities and differential equations from first principles.
Differential Calculus: Limits & Derivatives
Understand change, then learn the rules for measuring it. No finance background is needed.
7 lessons · functions · limits · slopes · chain rule · optimisation
Integral Calculus: Accumulation & Area
Build totals from rates, reverse differentiation, and understand continuous averages.
7 lessons · Riemann sums · antiderivatives · substitution · integration by parts
Multivariable Calculus & Partial Derivatives
Change one input, follow several inputs together, and measure interactions.
5 lessons · partial derivatives · gradients · Hessians · constraints
Differential Equations & Numerical Models
Turn a rate rule into a path, and learn what a numerical solver actually approximates.
4 lessons · ODEs · initial conditions · Euler steps · PDEs
Optimization: Feasibility, Costs & Robust Decisions
Convert forecasts into decisions whose constraints and failure modes can be checked.
8 lessons · feasibility · curvature · duality · robust bounds · transaction costs
Quantitative toolkit
Build the statistical, portfolio, and risk language behind every decision.
Statistics & Probability
Every price move is signal plus randomness. Statistics is how you tell them apart.
9 lessons · entry · validation
Linear Algebra
The moment you hold two positions you are doing linear algebra, whether you know it or not.
4 lessons · portfolio
Time Series Analysis
Markets have memory. Today's price depends on yesterday's, volatility clusters, and trends persist — for a while.
9 lessons · signal · regime
Risk Management
Edge doesn't matter if you size wrong. This is the math that decides whether you are still here next year.
6 lessons · sizing · risk
Stochastic Calculus
From Brownian increments and Itô integration to diffusion models, option prices and hedge sensitivities.
8 lessons · options · hedging
Research & investment
Investigate an edge, develop a strategy, and construct the book.
Research & Backtest Design
Turn a hypothesis into a reproducible experiment, then try to disprove it.
4 lessons · data · inference · validation
Candles, Structures & Pattern Research
Read a chart precisely. Turn a visual observation into a causal rule, then test whether it adds an edge.
13 lessons · OHLCV · structures · indicators · pattern validation
Technical Analysis: Geometry, Structure & Evidence
Turn chart ideas into measurable rules. Separate what a chart shows from what a strategy can earn.
13 lessons · Fibonacci · breakouts · FVG · Heikin-Ashi · Renko · structure
Quant Strategy Development
Find an economic edge, measure the variables that drive it, and build a bot that can express it after costs.
9 lessons · edge discovery · features · trading systems
Portfolio Construction & Factors
Combine forecasts into a book whose risks you can explain and constrain.
4 lessons · allocation · factors · attribution
Rates, Credit & Macro
Connect discount curves, balance sheets, and cross-asset prices.
4 lessons · duration · carry · credit · currencies
FX & Commodities: Quotes, Carry, Curves & Hedges
Trace currency and physical-market cash flows before interpreting a price difference.
8 lessons · bid/ask units · forwards · FX carry · storage · futures margin · rolls · hedges
Arbitrage & prediction markets
Check state payoffs, contract logic, calibration, execution and settlement.
Arbitrage: Payoffs, Financing and Execution
Prove the cash flows and test whether capital survives the path.
8 lessons · state payoffs · parity · carry · baskets · FX · capacity
Prediction Markets: Contracts, Probability and Evidence
Read what settles, score what you forecast, and keep price separate from belief.
8 lessons · binary contracts · resolution · probabilities · scores · calibration
Prediction Strategies: Logic, Sizing and Market Making
Move from a forecast to a defensible, fully accounted decision.
8 lessons · complete sets · logical bounds · sizing · quoting · portfolio risk
Crypto & decentralized finance
Reconcile custody, carry, collateral, pools and on-chain evidence.
Crypto Markets: Instruments, Ownership and Cash Flows
Read the units and claims before measuring returns.
8 lessons · spot · quote currencies · depth · stablecoins · custody · token supply
Crypto Derivatives: Carry, Funding and Liquidation
Reconcile contract units and collateral through the whole price path.
8 lessons · linear · inverse · dated basis · perpetual funding · margin · liquidation
DeFi: AMMs, Liquidity Provision and Lending
Follow reserves, benchmark inventory and test collateral under stress.
8 lessons · constant product · ranges · LP inventory · LVR · lending · liquidation
On-Chain Markets: Data, Oracles and Execution
Separate transactions from economic activity and inclusion from final settlement.
8 lessons · event logs · gas · ordering · oracles · bridges · finality · audit
Options & volatility
Model contingent payoffs, hedging, volatility and implementation limits.
Options: Payoffs, Replication & Hedge Accounting
Understand nonlinear contracts before trusting a pricing or hedging model.
8 lessons · calls · puts · spreads · parity · binomial replication · Greeks · exercise
Volatility: Measurement, Surfaces & Variance Risk
Separate what happened, what is forecast and what an option price implies.
8 lessons · realized variance · EWMA · HAR · implied volatility · term structure · convexity
Systematic strategy development
Build relative-value and HFT systems, validate the search and allocate capital.
Trading Algorithms: A Practical Selection Guide
Choose a method by its job, assumptions and failure modes—not by its popularity.
7 lessons · EWMA · Kalman · ARIMA/GARCH · boosting · allocation · TWAP/VWAP/POV
Statistical Arbitrage: Relative Value to Tradable Portfolios
Define the relationship, estimate the residual, and find out whether convergence survives implementation.
6 lessons · pairs · residuals · cointegration · baskets · structural breaks
High-Frequency Trading: Signals, Queues & Execution
Measure edge at the point where information becomes an order—and an order becomes a fill.
7 lessons · order books · latency · adverse selection · inventory · replay
Strategy Research, Backtesting & Robust Optimisation
Turn an idea into a controlled experiment, and keep parameter search from becoming a search for luck.
6 lessons · point-in-time data · purging · nested tuning · multiple trials · stress tests
Portfolio Theory: Estimation, Risk Budgets & Rebalancing
Allocate across uncertain forecasts, shared risks and implementation constraints.
6 lessons · mean–variance · shrinkage · risk contributions · Bayesian views · turnover
Machine learning & adaptive decisions
Build causal datasets, learn useful forecasts and evaluate sequential policies.
Machine Learning for Quantitative Strategy Development
Choose a useful decision, build an honest dataset, and connect model output to net portfolio value.
8 lessons · labels · regression · classification · trees · calibration · representations
Deep Learning: Sequences, Representations & Financial Decisions
Understand the operations inside the network, then test whether added capacity earns its complexity.
6 lessons · backpropagation · causal CNNs · LSTM · attention · fine-tuning · text
Reinforcement Learning for Trading & Execution
Model decisions through time, design the environment carefully, and test the policy’s assumptions.
8 lessons · MDPs · Bellman equations · Q-learning · policy gradients · offline evaluation
Alternative Data: Measurement, Text & Incremental Value
Turn an unusual dataset into a testable measurement before calling it an edge.
8 lessons · text · event timing · panels · measurement error · incremental forecasts · data costs
Execution & fund operations
Model real-world trading, reconcile results, and defend the fund.
Execution & Market Microstructure
Understand the distance between a forecast price and an executable fill.
4 lessons · orders · slippage · capacity
Fund Operations & Investment Committee
Run the portfolio as an accountable business, from daily NAV to the investment memo.
4 lessons · NAV · fees · liquidity · governance
Put it all together
Connect the tools in a complete, auditable trading research workflow.
Putting It All Together: Build a Complete Trading Research System
Follow one idea from a written hypothesis to a reconciled paper-trading decision.
9 lessons · End-to-end workflow · data contracts · signals · models · portfolio · orders · ledgers · monitoring