The Project

MAOTrade was born from the need to implement real trading strategies in code. A system developed by a developer with direct experience in the trading world, where each account operates completely independently.

The Philosophy

An automated trading system must guarantee total control. That's why MAOTrade uses complete isolation between accounts and operational flexibility without compromises.

The Technical Advantage

Each account operates completely independently. If one account has problems, the others continue to function normally. You can stop, restart or reconfigure an account without touching the others.

Account Isolation Complete

Control Total

Monitoring Continuous

Operational Control

MAOTrace

Main dashboard to monitor portfolio, insert signals and intervene manually when necessary

MAOAdmin

Control center to configure brokers, trading strategies and monitor performance

Trading Engine

Automated Execution

Automatic order management with direct broker connections for speed and efficiency

Advanced Analysis

Custom studies and proprietary indicators for chart analysis and optimized trading decisions

Security and Reliability

Robust Architecture

Each broker account operates completely independently, eliminating interference risks

Continuous Monitoring

Continuous operation surveillance with automatic backups and immediate notifications

Trading Philosophy

"An automated trading system should be a tool in the trader's hands, not a replacement. Maximum automation when everything goes well, immediate control when intervention is needed."

Operating Principles

• Control: The trader always maintains final control over decisions
• Transparency: Every operation is traceable and verifiable
• Flexibility: Fully customizable strategies
• Independence: Each account functions autonomously

Operational Advantages

• Reliability: System operational for 12+ years
• Speed: Direct broker connections for low latency
• Scalability: Simultaneous management of multiple accounts
• Backup: All data protected and recoverable

How It Works

Signal

Insert the trading signal

Strategy

Strategy processes the data

Execution

Order sent to broker

Control

Real-time monitoring

Report

Results and notifications

Total control: you can intervene manually at any point in the process

Trading Perspective

MAOTrade was born from direct market experience. Every feature reflects the real challenges of trading: from operational risk management to order execution, from position control to performance monitoring.

Custom Strategy Controls

Each trading system implements its own pre-trade controls according to the strategy's specific logic. Automatic position management and exits are completely programmable.

Direct Broker Connections

Currently integrated with IG Trading, with extensible architecture for other brokers through custom API connectors. No intermediaries, direct connection for maximum execution speed.

Fully Customizable Strategies

Develop your strategies without limitations for intra-day and multi-day trading. Timeframes from 1 minute up, proprietary indicators and completely custom trading logic.

Operational Features

Multi-Account Management

Each broker account operates in complete isolation. A technical problem on one account does not compromise the others. Architecture that guarantees total separation between different accounts.

✓ Guaranteed isolation • ✓ Horizontal scaling • ✓ Broker API integration

Analysis and Backtesting

MAOData generates custom studies and advanced charts. Strategy testing on historical data through MAOTrace to simulate trading system behavior.

✓ Historical data • ✓ Custom indicators • ✓ Realistic strategy testing

Monitoring and Notifications

Trading system execution monitoring through MAOTrace. Immediate push notifications for orders and errors. Visualization of market situations that generated each order.

✓ Execution monitoring • ✓ Mobile ready • ✓ Detailed logs

Manual Intervention

Immediate control over every position. Ability to block strategies, modify orders or close positions with one click. Instant override when necessary.

✓ Instant override • ✓ Emergency stop • ✓ Granular control

How You Work with MAOTrade

MAOTrace - Your Trading Client

Android application (web version also available) that puts you in complete control of your operations.

Daily Operations

• Insert signals: Activate your trading systems when you see opportunities
• Control portfolio: Open positions, P&L, order status
• Monitor account status: Equity, margin, drawdown in real-time

Control and Analysis

• Intervene manually: Block trading systems or close positions
• Test strategies: Backtesting on historical data
• Analyze performance: Detailed charts and statistics

Operational Process

1 Initial Setup

Technical configuration is handled once: broker connection, strategy setup, operating hours.

• Broker account connection
• Trading system and parameter configuration
• Definition of symbols and trading sessions

2 Daily Trading

Everything you need to operate is done from your smartphone or computer.

• Insert signals: When you see a setup from your strategy
• System works: Processes data and sends orders automatically
• You control: Monitoring and interventions when necessary

Integrated Security Controls

Pre-Trade

• Custom trading system controls
• Order parameter validation
• Strategy custom checks

During Trade

• Automatic position management
• Strategy execution monitoring
• Technical anomaly alerts

Post-Trade

• Complete operation logging
• Real-time P&L calculation
• Performance reports

Designed Use Cases

Multi-Strategy Systematic Trader

Ideal for operators managing different strategies simultaneously on separate accounts. Isolation guarantees that a problem on one strategy doesn't compromise the others, while manual control allows overrides when necessary.

✓ Multiple strategy management • ✓ Operational isolation • ✓ Manual intervention

Professional Operational Management

Designed for those requiring rigorous separation and detailed reporting. Each environment can have its own dedicated setup with complete traceability and continuous monitoring for extended operations.

✓ Environment separation • ✓ Dedicated reporting • ✓ Continuous operations

Technical Architecture

Distributed system for automated trading with focus on reliability, error isolation and robust broker API management. Microservices architecture designed for intra-day and multi-day strategies.

Architecture Overview

Design Principle

One broker account per Docker container. This choice guarantees total isolation between accounts, preventing API problems from one broker from impacting other operational accounts. MAOPods automatically orchestrates the containers.

Microservices with REST communication

Shared database + dedicated databases for trading

Centralized logs with Fluentd and MongoDB

Technology Stack

Core Backend Python 3

API Layer FastAPI

Frontend Vue 3 + PWA

Database MySQL + MongoDB

Containerization Docker

Monitoring Nagios

Database Architecture

🗄️ Shared Database (MySQL)

Centralized for system configurations, account registry, strategy settings and data shared among all components.

• Broker account configurations

• Trading strategy parameters

• Financial instrument registry

• System settings

📊 Dedicated Trading Database (MySQL)

For exclusive use by MAOTrade for orders and signals. Limited access through internal APIs to guarantee data integrity.

• Order and execution history

• Signals generated by strategies

• Price time series (≥1 minute)

• Operations audit trail

MAOTrade (Core Engine)

Main engine in Python 3 for strategy execution and order management. Direct interfacing with broker APIs, signal processing and financial data flow control.

PyMySQL SQLAlchemy numpy pandas Fluentd

Data source: Time frames ≥1 minute for intra-day and multi-day strategies. Exclusive access to trading database through internal APIs.

MAOApi (REST Services)

FastAPI service layer for data exposure through REST APIs. Single gateway for database access and inter-service communication.

FastAPI aiomysql SQLAlchemy Motor Fluentd

Async/await: Asynchronous management for optimal performance with simultaneous MySQL and MongoDB connections.

Frontend Applications

MAOTrace: Evolution from Java Android to Vue 3 PWA for real-time monitoring. MAOAdmin: Complete interface for configurations and system management.

Vue 3 Tailwind CSS Apache ECharts Firebase Auth Workbox

Progressive Web App: Service worker with Workbox for offline functionality and native-like performance.

MAOData (Scheduler)

Scheduling system for data acquisition and custom indicator generation. Batch processing for technical analysis and data enrichment.

Python 3 crontab BeautifulSoup4 Selenium numpy + pandas

Data acquisition: Web scraping with Selenium for external sources, quantitative processing with numpy/pandas.

MAOPods (Container Orchestrator)

Custom orchestrator for automatic Docker container management. Monitors configurations and manages container lifecycle for each account.

Python 3 Docker API Container Management

Auto-management: Automatic creation, restart and termination of containers based on account configuration.

Infrastructure & Monitoring

Centralized logging: Fluentd collects logs from all components to MongoDB. Monitoring: Nagios for health checks and alerting.

Fluentd MongoDB Nagios Email Alerts

Proactive monitoring: Automatic email alerts for anomalies on servers or architecture components.

Technical Problems Solved

Each architectural choice solves specific automated trading problems:

🔌 Broker API Error Handling

Problem: Unstable broker APIs: disconnections, timeouts, malformed responses

Solution: Containerization for error isolation, automatic restarts, robust retry logic and detailed logging for troubleshooting

🛡️ Account Isolation

Problem: Preventing problems on one account from impacting other operational accounts

Solution: One Docker container per account, dedicated databases for trading, stateless communication via REST APIs

📊 Multi-Timeframe Data Management

Problem: Processing time series from 1 minute for intra-day and multi-day strategies

Solution: Intelligent buffers, data aggregation with pandas, optimized MySQL storage for fast analytical queries

⚙️ Scalability and Maintenance

Problem: Supporting multiple strategies and accounts without operational complexity

Solution: Microservices with defined responsibilities, automatic orchestration, centralized monitoring and simplified deployment

Demonstrated Technical Skills

Backend Development

• Python 3: Complex architectures and performance-critical systems
• FastAPI: High-concurrency asynchronous REST APIs
• Database Design: Optimized MySQL OLTP, MongoDB for analytics
• Integration: Broker APIs, error handling and retry logic

DevOps & Infrastructure

• Docker: Containerization and custom orchestration
• Monitoring: Nagios for health checks and alerting
• Logging: Centralized Fluentd + MongoDB stack
• Automation: Automated deployment and scaling

Full-Stack & Mobile

• Vue 3: Modern SPAs with Composition API
• PWA: Service workers, offline-first approach
• Mobile: Java Android, migration to web
• Data Viz: ECharts for real-time dashboards

Project Approach

Pragmatic system design with focus on robustness and maintainability. Direct experience in the financial domain for accurate functional requirements and architectures suited to real automated trading needs.

Who I Am

Who I Am and Why MAOTrade

I am Alessandro Osti, a developer and trader with over 12 years of experience in designing automated trading systems.

View CV (italian version)

MAOTrade was born in 2012 as an idea of my father Maurizio Osti, retired former director of the Bologna branch of Banca Monte dei Paschi and previously portfolio manager for major clients. He involved me for two reasons: my technical expertise and his desire to introduce me to the world of finance to create a profitable skill for me.

The original idea was to develop a trading platform to offer as a service to some private investors that my father knew. My role was to translate his vision into code, following his advice on risk management logic and system architecture.

My father introduced me to professional trading by presenting me to Giuseppe Migliorino, considered the father of Italian cyclical analysis. My training with Migliorino was thorough: we participated in all his courses, Think Tanks and research activities that he proposed. Meanwhile I also met Eugenio Sartorelli, expert in cyclical and intermarket analysis. My training also continued by attending industry conferences with Maurizio Mazziero, Roberto Malnati, Davide Biocchi and Francesco Caruso.

In 2016 my father died before completing the project, and the three pilot clients decided to abandon it. From that moment MAOTrade became my personal research laboratory: a framework where I could test and put into practice the strategies I had started to learn.

Over the years it has evolved while always respecting the assumptions from which it was born: every component solves real problems that I encountered while trading with real money.

My Philosophy

I believe in the importance of balancing automation and human control. MAOTrade automates strategy execution and records in its logs all the information necessary to monitor operations, any infrastructure errors, data and executed orders. In this way it combines the convenience of an automated system with the security derived from its transparency.

These conditions allow me to confidently entrust the management of my capital to the machine. At the same time, I always maintain the possibility of intervening manually, closing positions at any time, totally or partially.

Both the markets and the IT infrastructures we use are complex systems where the unexpected is the norm, not the exception.

Skills

Education:

MBA in Finance with specialization in business management and corporate finance

Technical and cyclical analysis of markets

Technologies:

Python 3, Docker, MySQL, MongoDB, Vue 3 PWA, Android, Selenium, NumPy, Pandas

Easy Language, distributed architectures, database management

Financial market analysis tools:

TradeStation, MultiCharts for technical analysis, backtesting, research and strategy testing

Experience:

12+ years developing trading systems, IT consultant, quantitative research

Research

Behavioral Finance and Decision Making Process

Thinking Fast and Slow and Taleb's Critique of Kahneman

An exploration of the key concepts of Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow" and Taleb's critical approach to behavioral finance, with implications for trading system design.

Download PDF (italian version)

Let's Talk About Automated Trading

I've built MAOTrade over the past years to fully automate my trading. It works, it's in production, and I'm always curious to discuss with those working on similar problems or wanting to understand how I solved it.

Write to me if you are

A trader who uses algorithms

Maybe you have your strategies but still execute them manually, or want to fully automate the workflow, or you're interested in how I manage multiple strategies simultaneously on separate accounts.

A technical recruiter

This project shows how I work: Python, Docker, databases, web interfaces. It's all written by me, has been in production for years, and handles real operations.

A curious developer

You like seeing how others solve complex problems. Managing real-time data, isolated containers for each account, robust interfaces - all interesting challenges.

Someone in the fintech industry

You work for a broker, bank, or develop software for traders. Maybe we can exchange ideas about APIs, protocols, or simply compare different approaches.

alosti@maotrade.it

How it works

I reply promptly: I don't like keeping emails pending

I go into details: If the conversation is interesting and mutually useful

Zero bullshit: Tell me what interests you, let's get straight to the point

I'm not selling anything: It's a personal project I share for experience

If you have specific questions or want to discuss something, feel free to write.

Write an Email