Homework H13

Meet Mr. Stockton Bonds

Learning Goals

Begin creating the data management foundations of the robotrader.
Creating a customized Excel Ribbon.

Context

FinCalc

You have never been summoned to Ms. Tradewell’s plush office before. The lighting is soft and the screens are very, very sharp. It’s a little unnerving.
Ms. Tradewell is standing near the window when you walk in. Next to her is a tall man in an expensive suit.
“This is Stockton Bonds,” she says. “Head of Trading.”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Bonds,” you say.
Ms. Tradewell gestures toward the seating area but doesn’t sit. “Let’s hear it, Stockton.”
He turns to you, grinning.
“SPARTAN TRADER!”
He says it like it’s the title of a blockbuster movie. Then he pauses for effect, clearly pleased with himself.
“I beg your pardon, Mr. Bonds… Spartan what?”
“Spartan. Trader.” he repeats. “The name of our new robotrader. It's PERFECT. Spartans were courageous, risk-takers, laser-focused. Disciplined. Mission-driven. That’s exactly what our system will be.”
He spreads his hands, as if unveiling something already real.
You glance at Ms. Tradewell. She says nothing. Which, in Tradewell language, means: Continue.
“Do we… have a robotrader at the firm?” you ask carefully.
“Not yet,” Bonds says. “And this is where you come in. YOU will build the first prototype.”
You blink.
“Me? I’m flattered, Mr. Bonds, but I’ve never built a trading system before. I’m not even sure that I—”
He waves it away with a huge smile.
“No worries. Goldie tells me you’re a MAGICIAN with computers. I’ll drive trading logic. You will drive the technology. We’ll have a proof of concept in weeks. It will be BRILLIANT!”
“What is step one?” Ms. Tradewell asks, already moving the conversation forward.
“Data.” Bonds says instantly. “Spartan Trader needs market data that lives in three databases: HedgeTournamentAlpha, HedgeTournamentBeta, and HedgeTournamentGamma.”
He slides a tablet toward you. “This is the data model. And some initial requirements. Pull it together.” He looks directly at you. “Work your TECH-MAGIC!”
You look down at the diagrams and feel the now familiar mix of excitement and terror.
Working with the Head of Trading.
Learning that Ms. Tradewell first name is 'Goldie'.
Legendary Greek warriors. A robotrader. A moonshot.
You look up. They look at you.
“I am on it, Boss.”

Task

Create the data foundations for the Spartan Trader.
The vLab contains a demo and shows examples, but not the whole homework.  From now on feel free to change labels, colors, fonts, positioning of the controls, variable names, control names, procedure names.... anything!  Provided that your Spartan Trader interface is reasonably polished, easily understandable by the grader, and that satisfies all requirements, the specifics are up to you.  The Spartan Trader is your app. You are the developer and the user.  You will use it in the Hedge Tournament at the end of the semester. You build it the way you like it.
Want to submit as a team?  These are are instructions.

Criteria/Requirements

Your work must satisfy the following requirements

  • At start the Spartan Trader activates the 'Dashboard' spreadsheet (now only shows the teamID)
  • Assume that for the time being you are team 30, even if you already have a teamID assigned
  • The user selects one of the three databases using toggle-buttons in a customized Excel ribbon
  • The user requests the desired financial data by pressing regular buttons in the ribbon. Retrievable data are: Stock market, Option market, and the SP500 index ("StockIndex").
  • All columns are fitted and all column headers are spelled out
  • Switching databases clears all visualized data and brings the user back to the dashboard.

Hints and Tips

  • This homework requires DB access (= you may not use the big Shumway lab and most of RRH 300).
  • As before and for the remainder of the Spartan Trader series, the videos are strong hints, but not the full solution.