💹 Building an Algorithmic Trading Interface at Futures First
Enhancing Speed, Accuracy, and Profit for Traders
🚀 “Click less, think more. Let algorithms do the hard work in fast-moving markets.”
A short description on how I built trading execution algorithms for traders to earn profit in the futures markets.
🎓 From College Curiosity to Professional Trading Floors
In college, I was deeply fascinated by trading, fantasy leagues, number crunching, and the idea of making unlimited money with smart bets.
That curiosity took shape when I joined Futures First, a proprietary trading firm specializing in international futures—from interest rate instruments to oil and commodity contracts.
It was the perfect place to understand how financial markets work under the hood, and more importantly—how traders need smart tools to win in high-speed environments.
🧩 What Are Futures (and Why Are They Complicated)?
In simple terms, futures are contracts to buy or sell an asset at a pre-decided price in the future. Traders use them to hedge, speculate, and manage risk.
But here’s the twist: Traders rarely deal with a single contract. Instead, they work with complex structures—a mix of correlated contracts—to minimize risk and maximize profit.
Imagine trying to execute a buy on Contract A, a sell on Contract B, and another buy on Contract C, all in one go—with precise timing and pricing. That's the daily life of a trader at Futures First.
⚙️ The Challenge: Execution Under Pressure
In fast-moving markets, the difference between a partial execution and a perfect entry can be the difference between profit and loss.
Manual execution using mouse clicks or hotkeys just wasn’t enough. Traders needed something faster and smarter—a platform that could help them execute multi-leg strategies with fewer clicks and more precision.
💻 The Solution: Our Algorithmic Trading Execution Platform
As a Product Analyst (and an active trader myself), I designed and built a platform that could:
Let traders define complex strategies with multiple contracts
Automate entry and exit based on market signals
React to volume, liquidity, and price shifts
Minimize manual clicks and reduce human judgment dependency
🔄 Example: What’s a Spread?
Let’s break it down with a simple example.
You’re watching:
Petrol (P) at $100
Diesel (D) at $75
Spread = $25
If you buy Petrol and sell Diesel, your profit depends on how the spread changes:
If P moves faster up than D, you profit.
If D moves faster down, you also profit.
This is just one structure. Traders often juggle 3–4 instruments together—called multi-leg strategies.
👨💻 How the Platform Worked: From Strategy to Execution
Traders at Futures First deal with multi-leg, high-speed strategies that need precise entries and exits. The goal of the platform was simple:
Automate complex trade structures with minimal manual intervention, and help traders execute better.
Here’s a breakdown of how the platform actually worked on the ground:
✅ Step 1: Structure Builder – Defining the Trade Logic
This is where the trader set up their trade structure:
Input each contract leg with direction and quantity:
e.g.,Buy 1A,Sell 2B,Buy 1CThe platform calculated the net spread value and tracked it in real time.
Traders could save frequently used structures for faster execution.
🧠 Think of it like building a trade recipe—defining which ingredients go in, and in what quantity.
🔐 Step 2: Stop Loss – Cut Losses Smartly
To manage downside risk:
Traders could define a maximum allowable loss in dollar terms for the entire structure, not individual legs.
As soon as the structure value fell below the threshold, the algorithm triggered an auto-exit, closing all legs proportionally.
Example:
If you set a stop loss at -$500, and the current P&L breaches that level, all positions are squared off instantly.
💰 Step 3: Profit Cut – Lock in Profits Without Guesswork
Similar to stop loss, but on the upside:
Set a target gain in dollar terms.
Once the profit level is reached, the platform closes the structure to lock in gains.
This removes emotional decision-making and allows for disciplined exits.
You can think of it like an autopilot that says—“That’s enough for now, let’s secure the win.”
📉 Step 4: Volume-Based Execution – Get Better Prices
Markets move fast. This feature helped traders wait at the best price point until volume conditions were met.
The algorithm would sit at the best bid/ask (top of the ladder)
It watched the order book volume
If the volume dipped below a defined threshold (say <100 contracts), the trade was executed to avoid slippage or missing the trade.
This allowed the system to act smartly—not jump in too early, but also not wait too long.
🌊 Step 5: Liquidity Watch – Prevent Partial Fills
Partial execution can hurt a spread strategy. This feature ensured the full trade went through or none at all.
The platform scanned the order book (ladder) for large transactions.
If a sudden spike in order size appeared (risking partial fills), it would execute the trade immediately before liquidity dried up.
This was like having a radar for hidden icebergs in the liquidity pool.
📈 Step 6: Step-Wise Profit Exit – Controlled Unwinding
Sometimes traders want to exit in stages to optimize profit.
Example setup:
Exit 50% of position at +$300
Exit remaining 50% at +$500
The algorithm monitored live P&L, and executed in defined steps, reducing the risk of market reversal.
Great for volatile conditions where full exit at once might be too aggressive.
🔄 All Together: Smarter, Faster, Safer Trades
These features combined to give traders:
Speed: Lightning-fast execution
Control: Defined risk and reward
Confidence: Data-backed decisions, not gut calls
Convenience: Complex trades done with minimal clicks
📈 The Outcome
The platform had a significant impact on trading operations:
⚡ 20% increase in total trades executed
📉 18% reduction in partial executions
💰 Improved overall profitability
💳 Lower exchange fees due to optimized fills
Most importantly, traders had more control with fewer actions, letting them focus on market strategy instead of execution mechanics.
💬 What I Learned
Trading is not just about instinct, it’s about systems
Every second and click counts in algorithmic markets
A good product solves user pain—even for a power user like a trader
Micro-UX in financial platforms has a massive ROI
🔚 Wrapping Up
This was one of my earliest and most technical projects. It taught me the power of speed, automation, and user-centric design—even in the most complex of environments.
“Build for the user. Even if user is a power trader moving millions with a click.”