Getting Started

It's been 2 years since I started investing in stocks properly. Those of you who are investing in stocks at the time of writing this article already know the answer to this. The stock market is changing rapidly, and it's going in a different direction than I thought. Of course, these past 2 years are a situation where I can write a review and end it here. However, if I'm still not performing well in another 2 years, I hope this will be a reference for me. I'm going to write a review of my automated trading program.

Choosing a Stock Trading Methodology

There are many stock investment methodologies. Since there are always stories about results, the more successful other methodologies are, the more I feel like the methodology I chose is not performing well. I've been watching the open chat room for 2 years, and there are endless ideas. It's a natural process for better methods to emerge as a result of solutions to difficult situations, but watching that process made me think again about the methodology I originally chose.

2022.11.13 - [Investment] - Thoughts and Experiences on Grid Trading Method

You need to reach a conclusion and make a decision to maintain your behavior. I think 2 years of investment is too short a period to evaluate. So I think I'll stick with the grid trading method until the end of the year. (I think I'll work harder to keep it until the end of 2024.)

Choosing a Stock Automated Trading Program

Since I mainly use Kiwoom Securities, it does not provide an API for US stock trading. It wasn't offered 2 years ago either, and it still isn't offered. Of course, even if it were offered, I wouldn't have succeeded with stocks, but I still regret that it wouldn't have moved as accurately as I wanted. As I mentioned earlier, please make sure that I don't mention Kiwoom's API again in 2 years. 😂

Let's get back on track. Anyway, I want to trade US stocks, but Kiwoom doesn't provide an API, so I had to trade during US market hours. The time difference is terrible, but there's nothing I can do. I have to match it. Or you could use a securities firm that provides an API. Korea Investment & Securities provided an API 2 years ago, but I didn't choose it for various reasons.

Reasons why I didn't choose Korea Investment & Securities

1. I felt like Kiwoom was about to create a US stock API.

2. Since the trading method I chose was grid trading, buying and selling frequently in scalping is important. This made commission a very important factor in my decision. Kiwoom is 0.07%, but I remember Hantoo being higher. I wonder if it's still the same. And since Kiwoom still doesn't provide an API for the US, I need to review Hantoo again.
3. This seems like the biggest reason, but I've already exhausted my willpower in creating an automated trading logic with the UiPath tool. I think the biggest reason was that I didn't have the will to create Hantoo. I regret my weakness.

The second method would be to get on the shoulders of giants who are already ahead of the game. I'm still “stalking” the open chat room, and there are amazing people around us who donate their talents. Some people share programs created in Python, and others share programs created in AutoHotkey. If you use this program well, I think it's the easiest way to automate stock trading. In addition, there are people in the open chat room who chose a similar trading method 2 years ago but are steadily improving their trading method, so I think there's an opportunity to choose a more upgraded method. This is not a method I didn't consider. And I actually got the program and ran it to get a lot of ideas. Thank you again for 2 years. But I wanted to set up the functions I had in mind and collect price data for the stocks I chose.

So, in the end, I used the UiPath tool, which I was familiar with at the time, to create a trading program. I attached a DB, created charts from the data, and even wrote blog posts. At the time, I thought I needed to invest well to get rich, but it seems more important to actually do what I wanted to do. Since I created it myself, I'm still maintaining the basic framework of the trading method I first applied, but I was able to test various methods for improving the compound effect or setting fine-tuned application rules. And I shouldn't have, but it made it easier to tie my parents' money into investments. Unfilial sons cry.

2021.12.21 - [Investment] - Making a US Stock Automated Trading Program 2nd Generation

Among the various attempts I made in between, there is a function that invests in the pre-market. However, since it's not the main market, I have to trade at a fixed price, which often results in unusual situations where the trade is not executed. I find out the results the next day, which means the program didn't work properly. This could result in a loss or a profit, but it felt like more losses were happening, which might be a matter of feeling. I blame Kiwoom again, but since it's not trading through an API, it's more likely to have inaccuracies. Of course, if I had made it work more accurately, I wouldn't have to blame Kiwoom, but it would be nice if they provided an API quickly.

Anyway, I'm going to use the program I made a little more. As mentioned earlier, I plan to continue investing with the grid trading method until 2024, and if Kiwoom doesn't provide an API, I'll have to use it more to continue investing. (However, I've turned off the pre-market trading feature again.)

A Quick Wrap-Up

Did I think I should write about how the past 2 years were? Recently, it's been declining again, so I've almost run out of tiers, and trading has stopped, so I've lost the fun of seeing the results every morning. Everything seems similar. When things are going well, you don't look back, but when things start going wrong, you start looking back. I'm in that situation, so I thought I should write a retrospective. I talked about why I did it back then and how I'm going to do it in the future. If you have a great method, don't keep it to yourself, let me know. My ears are pretty thin.

The market situation wasn't good, and my program had a lot of shortcomings, but automated trading still has a big advantage. The biggest advantage seems to be that it allows me to keep investing and forget about it. It's been 2 years, a long time or a short time, but except for when I first created the program and set it up, I don't think I paid much attention to stocks. So I'd like to give a high score to automated trading because it allowed me to fill my real life with more rewarding things.

I wish you all successful investments. Please wish me the same.
And if you are curious about automated trading, feel free to ask anytime. I'll do my best to help. 😊
Thank you.

Report Card

I think I need to leave the current report card. To my future self in 2 years...