How can I automate trading strategies using my existing knowledge of programming and data analysis?

Hey, glad you're looking to automate trading strategies using your programming and data analysis skills. I'd say the first step is to choose a programming language and a data analysis library that you're comfortable with - for you, it's probably going to be Python or R, given your background. You can use libraries like Pandas for data manipulation and NumPy for numerical computations, and then use APIs from trading platforms or exchanges to get the data you need.

Once you have your data, you'll need to develop a trading strategy - this is where your data analysis skills come in. Think about what kind of trades you want to make, and how you'll determine when to make them. You can use techniques like moving averages, trend analysis, or statistical models to inform your decisions. Just remember to backtest your strategy with historical data before you start trading with real money.

As for common pitfalls to avoid, I'd say one big one is over-optimizing your strategy on historical data - it's easy to get a strategy that looks great in the past, but not so great in the future. Another one is not considering the costs of trading, like commissions and slippage. And finally, make sure you're not over-trading - you want to let your strategy do its thing, but not at the expense of your account balance.

Some resources you might find helpful are the Zipline library for backtesting trading strategies, the Backtrader library for creating trading algorithms, and the Alpaca API for trading with real money. You can also check out the Quantopian community for more information on automating trading strategies.