Python for Financial Analysis and Algorithmic Trading (Udemy.com)

This course is one of the best courses I took so far on Udemy and other online learning platforms. I recommend it with no limitations whatsoever. Why? It is comprehensive. You learn Python, Data Science, Trading, Algorithmic Trading, Trading Strategies and Backtesting all in one course. The explanations are well structured and easy to comprehend. In addition you get a lot of additional materials, e.g. slides for each section and a further reading list. I enjoyed the full course. The team is eager to help with any questions that may arise and respond within 24 hours. Fabulous. The only thing what was easier for me, it to use Miniconda 3 instead of Anaconda cause it was easier for me to adapt Miniconda 3 to my testing needs than Anaconda, i.e. use a different Python version and all depending packages. ChatGPT was of great help to figure out which packages would work best together. I am prepared to share my environment.yaml file as of July 2024 upon request.

So far the course has been an excellent match for me! Though I had some experience coding in Python, it has taught me a lot, i.e. about Matplotlib visualization capabilities. I love it that it's right to the point and that Jose is pretty clear and uncomplicated when it comes to explaining the different topics. Would love to see a second episode of this course to go deeper into algotrading. Updated on 09/12/2019 --> Maintain my previous review and just would like to strongly underscore that the community needs a second part of this course.

Pros: - The introductory lessons were the best. Clear-cut, many exercises, and using Jupyter Notebook made things much easier to write, test and visualize for people unfamiliar with Python and data. - Easy to follow, language was clear, exercises very practical (compared to other very theoretical courses, this one was completely suited for developers and programmers and not academics) - Many real world examples and a lot of material covered in a short amount of time (personally this is good) - Great suggestion of code along vs exercises. I personally learn better by looking at the solutions instead of wasting hours trying to figure out something trivial because I didn't have the solutions. - Q&A responses were good. - Main installation/operation problems of students (e.g. possibility of firewall blocking API requests, so csv files were available) were covered. Main con: - The application of these skills were very focused on a specific platform (Quantopian) which does not apply on other fields such as Gold trading, cryptocurrencies or options. Developing algorithms should have been language and library specific, not depending on such a platform so students can apply to a wider range of fields within the algorithmic trading realm. - For me it was not, but material was very condensed and students who don't have a background in finance should have been warned.

I came into this course after completing Jose's other Python course. I had zero coding experience. The course content has seemed to be well designed. It has covered a good level of topics to get your head around the world of Algo trading. This course does not contain any viable trading strategies. However note this is not the purpose of this course. This course will equip you with the basic nuts and bolts of how to program. It does cover some basic python coding topics. I found some coding parts to be tedious, and I felt impatient in some sections. I was impatient to see the bigger picture, where does what I am learning now fit in into the wider scope of Algo trading? It is only until you get to the Quantopian sections later on that it all seems to make sense, and the pieces start coming together. However note that the Algo trading sections are very basic. I will now explore the lectures and tutorials in Quantopian to delve deeper into Algo trading topics. I will also need to supplement what I have learnt in this course with actual trading strategies and books. This course does not teach you how to Algo trade. Think of it as a step by step into the coding part of Algo trading. Some areas of improvement for this course would be: put the lessons into context, explain why things are done in such ways slow down in the more complicated coding parts... I found Jose explains away the complex codes by saying 'don't worry about it' slow down and make sure to explain the logic of the code lines.. again some parts were way too fast and way to complex, that I gave up following it. I will need to go back and revise some parts, and look to google to get some more explanations overall, for $13, this was a good (not great) intro to Algo trading. This course hasn't answered all my questions, but it has provided me with a lot more confidence than before I started.

I am gonna rate this course based on two criteria: 1) python: I actually really enjoyed the coding aspect of this course and you will definitely learn a ton specially if you are a beginner. 2) Finance and trading: it's really shameful to advertise this course for finance and trading. Jose avoids all the in-depth topics by saying "this topic is beyond the scope of this course". in terms of learning anything regarding finance or trading this course gets 1/5 at best. however it's only 10 dollars so it might be worth it but don't expect to learn anything in terms of trading or finance

The course was really well put together. I did experience a lot of frustration with quite a few methods being depreciated in python and having to figure out ways around them. The questions I asked were generally answered well but a few times I got so stuck on a few critical pieces that I came close to quitting. I persevered though and finished the course. I also went past the capstone and efficient frontier assignments and created a custom research template for myself. Now to do the same with implementing my algo ideas. Thanks for the course Jose! This really helped me get past some of the significant hurdles I was struggling with trying to get into python and Quantopian on my own. I really like that you gave me a 10,000 ft perspective and now I can see things for what they are rather than being confused and I know the right questions to ask. Cheers!

Portilla delivers another masterful course. Like all of his courses, this one lays a solid foundation for you to take your skills in financial analysis to the next level. The curriculum covers an array of topics, techniques, tools, and analytic methodologies applicable to the field. All the material is consistently updated and maintained, and the explanations are clear and thorough, as always. For what you're getting, the class is true bargain, and you'll find yourself coming back to the material again and again. It was especially helpful being walked through the process of using the various APIs and interfaces available for financial analysis, which would otherwise be daunting for new users. The extra material on statistics and ARIMA models was also very helpful. By the end of it, you'll feel comfortable with applying what you've learned on your own, and with following your curiosity and finding out new things for yourself. You can't go wrong with Portilla, so do yourself a favor and take the class!

This course is massive. There are many things I would like differently, such as more quizzes, perhaps fewer topics and more in-depth etc. Also, given the nature of tech, every now and then some technical points are outdated. I give this course 5 stars despite the above comment, because of the value for money. I study finance at a graduate level, which is much more mathematical and much less human. Hearing all the concepts being explained concisely and importantly correctly is a welcome feature. Finally, Jose is very active on the Q&A forums, and even other users are very active there, meaning this course unlocks a massive pool of knowledge. Five stars, anything else from where I see it would not be fair.

The instructor was excellent. But I felt too much time was spent covering Python and Pandas in the first half of the course (especially since a lot of it was not used later on in the financial/trading sections). The material only really got interesting when he introduced Quantopian much later. Then I started to understand how I might actually implement a trading strategy. I would have liked though if he had shown us how to implement an algorithm for live trading (All his examples involved simply back-testing algos). Those criticisms aside, good job by Jose!

If there were a better than five star rating, I'd vote for that. My personal intention was to get a better understanding of Quantopian and to be able to develop my own algorithms. I am more than satisfied with the results. Before this course I was often wondering how to implement a particular strategy. The challenge is to handle time series data, portfolio state and decision making logic. Lectures are quite intense with sufficient exercises to practise the new skills. So this was the perfect course, perfectly presented by Jose and the underlying technology is just beautiful.