First Steps in Developing High-Frequency Trading Models

Confirmation of stylized facts and dimension reduction are key first steps in the subsequent development of specific high-frequency trading rules. This article demonstrates the application of these techniques using high-frequency foreign exchange (FX) data as a case study. The FX spot markets are well suited to high-frequency speculative trading. They are highly liquid, leveraged, and trade 24 hours a day, five days a week. This article describes the processes to follow for determining the applicability and robustness of known or suspected stylized facts to speculative trading; it also formalizes the technique of dimension reduction in high-frequency financial datasets.