Today is day 1 of Quantisan, the company

This morning, before going to work, I registered a business entity with the government. Ontario sole proprietorship Quantisan Systems is now a company.

Three weeks ago I announced the opposite plan. I had committed to the CFA: 300 hours of studying before the exam in June, most other work on hold. To be successful in this industry, I need experience, skills, and credibility. The latter of which is something I lack. Neither Graham nor Hamilton, those classics on my shelf, could provide me with the credibility that these three letters can — CFA.

So what changed in three weeks? I did the studying. I read my Schweser study notes from cover to cover, to cover to cover, and repeated that 3 more times for a total of 5 books. The material is certainly useful and interesting. But the whole time I couldn't let go of the fact that I was leaving my trading system work out cold on the table. Every minute I delayed, it felt like bits of it were falling apart. And I couldn't see the value of cramming for 3 more months to memorize everything in even more excruciating detail. No term would be without a definition in my head, and no problem without a solution on my BA II Plus calculator. Just so I could say on my resume that I passed my level 1 exam.

I still stand by what I wrote in February: credibility is as important as experience and skills. What I changed my mind about is where mine has to come from. Credibility can be gained from attaching professional designations to your name, but it can also be gained from simply achieving results in the real world. I didn't write the exam.

Back in January, updating my twenty-year plan to trade for a living, I hinted that there are means other than growing a personal account, and that I might have more to say once something materialized. That something is this company. After 10 years of trading, 5 years of blogging about the market, and 3 years of building trading systems, this little hobby of mine is now a real business. The work ahead of the company is the same work that was on the table all along: finish the Java trading platform and put it to use in the forex market.

Then I went to work. I still have a day job, examining patents at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.