Hello people,I am looking to hire someone to build an equity options screening tool. What is out there on the market (Optionvue, etc.) does not provide what I need for my specific trading system/style.I would appreciate any advice on what to look for in a prospective candidate. Such as programming language skills, etc.I do have a computer engineering background (Cisco Networking). But beyond that I am clueless at this point as to what it takes to build a market screener...Thank you!

QuoteOriginally posted by: hedgeyourbetsHello people,I am looking to hire someone to build an equity options screening tool. What is out there on the market (Optionvue, etc.) does not provide what I need for my specific trading system/style.I would appreciate any advice on what to look for in a prospective candidate. Such as programming language skills, etc.I do have a computer engineering background (Cisco Networking). But beyond that I am clueless at this point as to what it takes to build a market screener...Thank you!I guess you want something that does portfolio evaluation and risk monitoring (delta, gamma, vega) right?For programming lang skills, look for C++ and Object oriented programming.Also prefer someone who has developed trading systems and risk management systems in a bank or financial software house.If you do not have technical savvy to evaluate a candidate, the best strategy is to ask him to develop a prototype and deliver it to you with source code and explain to you how it works. Very effective! This way you are able to see not only how technically good he is but also his business knowledge, problem solving ability, intelligence, communication skills etc., Try to be vague intentionally to see what he gets with but answer his questions correctly and informatively.Finally be polite and supportive to a candidate that does this diligently.

QuoteOriginally posted by: hedgeyourbetsHello people,I am looking to hire someone to build an equity options screening tool. What is out there on the market (Optionvue, etc.) does not provide what I need for my specific trading system/style.I would appreciate any advice on what to look for in a prospective candidate. Such as programming language skills, etc.I do have a computer engineering background (Cisco Networking). But beyond that I am clueless at this point as to what it takes to build a market screener...Thank you!LET ME ASK you couple of questions? 1. You worked in Cisco? How good are you yourself in C++? 2. How good are you in finance? Can you do some rigorous math calculations?A.If the answer to both the question is 'YES' then YEO MAN,you are the guy who can build a team from scratch fast and you would enjoy doing it. Hire a guy who would know both with a little more emhasis on C++ coding knowledge.B.If the answer to both the question is 'NO', then please tell me where are you working. I would like to add the name of your organisation to my list. Don't worry ,we work for a boss who cann't write the BS equation. So, please don't waste time. It will be a mess to create that stuff. TRUST me, you may be a great Networking guy with all the advanced knowledge of electronics, but, you got to read and understand what you are going to do. C. If 'YES" is the answer to either of the questions then, Welcome to the Group. Vast majority of us belong to this group,me included. Be brave, hire a guy who answers a good YES to the other question,and there you go.I think you are either in A or C. Good luck.Next advise will cost you some dollars(you will donate it to charity, as of now, you can donate it to UNICEF for the earthquake victims)

No, portfolio evaluation and risk monitoring are not really needed...I want this tool to screen the world of options based on my criteria. To a point the greeks are important of course... I want it to alert me to an intraday implied volatility moves, etc. But again, this "beast" just needs to be able to scan the options data feed live and alert me to things based on my input... So, in a way it should not be that complicated of a product. It just I have not found what I need in any existing platforms...

Well, I am not good at C++. At Cisco (and many other companies) I was a Network Engineer who would only need to "program" routers. My specialty was the IP Routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, etc.) So, I am basically an "Internet plumber" as they say...I am good at some math calculations, but nothing "rigorous"... Maybe I can be placed somewhere in between groups A and B I do realize it's going to be a challenge to pull off this project. But I think it's going to come down to being able to find the "right" person for the job. Once that out of the way, it should get easier. I do have a lot of project management experience which should help...

check out orats.com. maybe that will have something useful.

not sure exactly what you want to ultimately do with this, but you might want to start small and build up.when live feeds were first available in a spreadsheet back in the early 1990s, a clever programmer worked with me to build a spreadsheet-based system that did the following with the S&P options:(1) When the timer goes off, record the value of all SPX call and put bid, offer, last and volume data, plus SPX and relevant futures price (it strayed from fair value in those days).(2) If a bid, offer or last price changed, calculate the implied vol for the relevant option data, and note change in volume if any.(3) Populate a vol matrix with live-captured, price-update-based implied vols.(4) Show a box summarising where the action has been in the last few minutes, related to increases in volumes.This worked amazingly well and produced a smooth implied vol matrix with no stale prices giving weird vols. It also kept me up to speed with what was going on in the options pit. If there was a supply and demand imbalance in the options pit, I knew about it pretty quickly (for an upstairs guy).If that could be done in 1991, i bet bloomberg add-ins in excel with VB could do a hell of a lot more today!Once you mess around with it yourself, you will be able to see what you really want, and you can industrialize it in C.

QuoteOriginally posted by: erstwhilenot sure exactly what you want to ultimately do with this, but you might want to start small and build up.when live feeds were first available in a spreadsheet back in the early 1990s, a clever programmer worked with me to build a spreadsheet-based system that did the following with the S&P options:(1) When the timer goes off, record the value of all SPX call and put bid, offer, last and volume data, plus SPX and relevant futures price (it strayed from fair value in those days).(2) If a bid, offer or last price changed, calculate the implied vol for the relevant option data, and note change in volume if any.(3) Populate a vol matrix with live-captured, price-update-based implied vols.(4) Show a box summarising where the action has been in the last few minutes, related to increases in volumes.This worked amazingly well and produced a smooth implied vol matrix with no stale prices giving weird vols. It also kept me up to speed with what was going on in the options pit. If there was a supply and demand imbalance in the options pit, I knew about it pretty quickly (for an upstairs guy).If that could be done in 1991, i bet bloomberg add-ins in excel with VB could do a hell of a lot more today!Once you mess around with it yourself, you will be able to see what you really want, and you can industrialize it in C.Thank you for the great advice!I will have to explore that avenue as well...

I have always found that people would love to sell me systems, and they slightly overpromise and underdeliver -- but if you have built the entire thing from scratch yourself, you know all the issues/drawbacks. The next step is to make it bullet-proof and industrial strength professional software. The thing to avoid is sitting with a systems analyst who tries to understand what you want, and who then tries to explain this spec to the IT department, who then spin it out into a huge project. Better to build a badly programmed but functional demo spreadsheet, and then give this to a hot C++ guy."Black belt" C++ programmers with 10 years experience in financial applications are expensive relative to less experienced people, but when you are committing capital they are actually very cheap!Good luck