HFT’s trading returns revealed

HFT trading systems, electronic trading, software engineer, low latency

Finally, like never before, I can do it.

I have permission to share what 2 hours of a real high-performance trading firm looks like. I will keep the firm “undisclosed”, but this post is to give an idea of what kind of trades and how fast/frequent they are.

A client of mine, using an advance/lightweight platform, is performing excellent returns on the forex market. And the chart you can see by how much.

Several things to look at:

·        Winning ratio is 80% (at least in these 2 hours)

·        A total of 109 trades has been made over this period

·        Average trade, last 206 milliseconds

·        Note how transaction cost affect the system

o  Blue line is without cost

o  Orange accounting transaction cost

·        Attempts to close means how many times we tried to flat our position but couldn’t (because of execution, or price movement). Every time there is more than one attempt, the trade is a losing trade. So, that’s the prove on how important execution quality and speed is.

Summary of the collected trades

HFT's trading returns revealed - 0?e=2127686400&v=beta&t=kSpSYgpJl1Lm9La4en3kiZitoid8YUKrXpn jJAG1rg

Equity curve, with and without trading costs

HFT's trading returns revealed - 0?e=2127686400&v=beta&t=Vucsn7onKXQhtpxduyiiVynBz pbe7rtdl9 W1j1DM

The actual trades

HFT's trading returns revealed - 0?e=2127686400&v=beta&t=xStMZteOGsyizvBx9yrHrLjzWvUxaR2FdVcsmj9A oo

You can find the excel sheet showing all this at this link http://www.slideshare.net/silahian/what-2hs-of-a-real-hft-trading-system-looks-like

Conclusion, execution speed is priority number 1, then the quality of execution and last liquidity.

ENJOY! And Share if you like it!

Ariel Silahian

http://www.sisSoftwareFactory.com/quant

https://twitter.com/sisSoftware

Keywords: #hft #quants #forex #fx #risk $EURUSD $EURGBP $EURJPY

I help financial institutions architect high-frequency trading systems that are fast, stable, and profitable.

I have operated on both the Buy Side and Sell Side, spanning traditional asset classes and the fragmented, 24/7 world of Digital Assets.
I lead technical teams to optimize low-latency infrastructure and execution quality. I understand the friction between quantitative research and software engineering, and I know how to resolve it.

Core Competencies:
▬ Strategic Architecture: Aligning trading platforms with P&L objectives.
▬ Microstructure Analytics: Founder of VisualHFT; expert in L1/L2/LOB data visualization.
▬ System Governance: Establishing "Zero-Failover" protocols and compliant frameworks for regulated environments.

I am the author of the industry reference "C++ High Performance for Financial Systems".
Today, I advise leadership teams on how to turn their trading technology into a competitive advantage.

Key Expertise:
▬ Electronic Trading Architecture (Equities, FX, Derivatives, Crypto)
▬ Low Latency Strategy & C++ Optimization | .NET & C# ultra low latency environments.
▬ Execution Quality & Microstructure Analytics

If my profile fits what your team is working on, you can connect through the proper channel.

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