Stock Markets - Primer on Trading

When building algorithmic trading systems, it is essential to have an account open with a modern broker that provides APIs for placing and querying trades programmatically. This allows us to control the broking account, which is conventionally operated manually using the broker's website, using our Python script, which would be part of our larger algorithmic trading system. This chapter demonstrates various essential recipes that introduce the essential broker API calls needed for developing a complete algorithmic trading system.

This chapter covers the following recipes:

• Setting up Python connectivity with the broker
• Querying a list of instruments
• Fetching an instrument
• Querying a list of exchanges
• Querying a list of segments
• Knowing other attributes supported by the broker
• Placing a simple REGULAR order
• Placing a simple BRACKET order
• Placing a simple DELIVERY order
• Placing a simple INTRADAY order
• Querying margins and funds
• Calculating the brokerage charged
• Calculating the government taxes charged

Let's get started!