Quickstart Guide

Build your first deterministic trading strategy in 5 minutes.

Prerequisites

A Podium account (sign up at podium-finance.com)

Basic Python knowledge (classes, dicts)

Step 1: Clone a Template

From the dashboard, click "Create Strategy" → "Templates" tab → select "Momentum Ranking" → click "Clone".

This creates a strategy pre-filled with a working momentum strategy that buys the top 20 stocks by 6-month trailing return.

Step 2: Review the Code

The strategy extends Strategy and implements two required methods:

from podium_sdk import Strategy, StrategyContext

class MomentumRanking(Strategy):
    TOP_N = 20
    LOOKBACK_DAYS = 126

    def universe(self, ctx: StrategyContext) -> list[str]:
        # Return all symbols with sufficient history
        returns = ctx.data.returns(lookback=self.LOOKBACK_DAYS + 5)
        return list(returns.columns)

    def signal(self, ctx: StrategyContext) -> dict[str, float]:
        # Buy top N stocks by trailing return, equal weight
        returns = ctx.data.returns(lookback=self.LOOKBACK_DAYS)
        cum_return = (1 + returns).prod() - 1
        top_n = cum_return.nlargest(self.TOP_N)
        weight = 1.0 / len(top_n)
        return {sym: weight for sym in top_n.index}

Step 3: Run a Backtest

Click "Run Backtest" on the strategy detail page. The default date range covers the last year of trading data. The backtest runs in a cloud sandbox and typically completes in under 2 minutes.

Step 4: Interpret Results

Key metrics to review:

  • Equity Curve — Portfolio value over time
  • Sortino Ratio — Risk-adjusted return (higher is better, >1.5 is strong)
  • Max Drawdown — Worst peak-to-trough decline (lower is better, <15% is good)
  • Trade Log — Every order generated with fill prices

Step 5: Deploy to Paper Trading

Once satisfied with backtest results, click "Deploy" to start paper trading. Your strategy will execute daily after market close, generating target weights and simulating fills at the next day's open price.

Step 6: Monitor Performance

Track your strategy on the monitoring page: live equity curve, daily PnL, position breakdown, and governance events. After 14 days of paper trading, your strategy becomes eligible for the public leaderboard.

Next Steps