Continuing on with my first posting about Trading Blox Basic (TBB), Iâll try to explain what I find critically important about a back testing process.
Quote from Gyles:
Moreover, the charts have no drawing tools, special features like the Paintbars, Showme and expert commentary present in TradeStation. Another thing was that I was unable to figure as to how to create the charts and indicators without having a system.
TBB isnât a chart-focused program, and TradeStation (TS) is clearly at the top of the food chain when it comes to generating stunning chart graphics. I do a lot of thinking while staring at TS charts, and that behaviour wonât go away any time soon because I get a lot of good ideas by playing around with different calculations that I display as indicators, or display as show me dots to see how they might work for what Iâm thinking.
While TBB isnât about stunning charts, it does what is needed for understanding how a system handled a trade and what is going on within that system when system internal values are displayed on a chart. TBB also supports stand-alone indicators and show-me location dots on the screen, and both can easily change color dynamically and be shown on a chart screen. Still, nobody should select TBB if their primary goal is a great charting package.
With that said, I think TBB is the best back testing platform available to the general public that I know about. It is the one to use because it is capable of providing a much more robust back test using a portfolio of markets and, or a portfolio of systems, that get tested by stepping through each market for each date in the portfolio of markets selected. To be clear about what this date-sequence stepping means, Iâm saying that the testing of a market doesnât move to the next available date in the data file until all the markets in the portfolio have been tested up that point and are ready to be tested on that date. If you are now wondering how this is different from other platforms, the difference is the other platforms test each market from the beginning of a marketâs data to end of that file before they test the next market. This means that the system is never in a position to influence the trade signals based upon what is happening at the macro level of the account.
In real trading, we all must understand what size we can afford based upon the risk profile our system testing tells us we can afford to risk on each signal, so knowing where we are in the reality of the period that test date in the data file represents allows us to know what size to use with each signal. Other platforms allow this on a market by market basis, and it can be approximated roughly by running each market through a back test and then manually date aligning the equity profile results on each date in an add-on file the system reads, but that approach isnât close enough when the action the system should take is to disable the signal because the risk profile for the account would be exceeded, or if the size to volume ratio, or some other risk filtering rule would be exceeded. Once again that can be adjusted for in the other platforms a little more by entering more code rules into the system to exclude trades for that market on that date again, and then manually reassemble the equity file again, but then again what happens when a trade in play closes out leaving more opportunity that would enable a trade signal that is still viable that was disabled because that trade closed was active? The user would then need to adjust the system logic for that market again, and then run the process again, and again, and again.
With date-sequenced testing, one system can be used to test all the markets in the portfolio and by just adding risk analysis and money management modules (Blox) to the system, the testing and new signal generation process becomes dynamic instead of iterative with a lot of manual interventions. By keeping the back testing dynamic and automated, results happens fast and it also allows the system developer to test the system variables for robustness and effectiveness from a portfolio perspective that is reflective of how the system will be applied in reality. Once again some of this can be done by hand with a lot of system code rule changes and testing iterations, but that is making work and risking errors where they donât need to happen, and we can never forget that time is money.
Quote from Gyles:
Regarding the manuals of Trading Blox, it is an intriguing point is that a software of this complexity and price ($3000.00), does not provide any printed documentation (manuals) for easier reference. Although, there are online manuals besides the forum, however, having a printed one is not a bad idea.
Moreover, have been informed by Mr. Murray, that they supply the printed documentation (manuals) at one-fifth of the price. Thus, as per the statements of Mr. Murray, TradersStudio provides over 300 pages of printed documentation (manuals). Please comment.
I canât comment on the intrigue, I just know you get two nice Help Files in Windowâs Help-File format that are also provided as PDF files so you can get them printed, if you want paper in your hands.
As for TradersStudio, I purchased it when it was first introduced around June of 2004. When that package arrived it came with a couple of small manuals, but I didnât find them helpful, and I didnât enjoy the program much back then. Today, TradersStudio seems to be maturing nicely and hasnât crashed on me in a long while. I havenât used it much for anything since purchasing Trading Blox Builder last spring, so it might be even better now than I remember. With that said, Iâve never gotten any printed manuals with the updates, and I didnât know they were even available other than what appeared with my version 1.0 release. However, TradersStudio also provides their manuals in PDF form as well so those can be printed at the same cost as the Trading Blox PDF help files.
TradersStudio current release is 2.5 and it can add value to a less serious than me system developer.
Changing Platforms:
For people who are comfortable in TradeStation, they will find moving to TradersStudio an easier process. In addition, TradersStudio had, and may still have, an Easy Language to Visual Basic translator available.
I donât find TradersStudio as capable as TradeStation because of TradeStationâs ability to handle multiple time frames, great charting interface, and because the overall ease in getting around in TradeStation is much easier than in TradersStudio right now. Where TradersStudio will shine over TradeStation is in its ability to test a portfolio and optimize its variables across the portfolio, but the testing is still in market sequence instead of date sequence, so the advantage is a big savings in time, but it wonât allow the user to make any of the above described in process adjustments decisions any easier than in TradeStation. Still, having the ability to test a portfolio canât be dismissed, even if you need to do some manual work to get a realistic historic result that can be tested before being applied with money in the market. Another area that favors TradersStudio is the cost of ownership. There is something be said for keeping expenses down while your creating your version of a âGolden Goose.â
In having used both Trading Blox Builder and TradersStudio, these programs arenât in the same class right now. TBB is a much more serious program with far more capabilities than TradersStudio. If cost is your driving factor, then you might be better off with TradersStudio until you understand why the capabilities in Trading Blox Builder are important. If you go that way, keep the idea that just one loss from one trade can more than make up the difference in purchase price if you knew how to avoid that trade.
TBB is for serious system developers who can think at a professional level. All the other software is really good for those with less demanding needs and will probably be for those who donât understand the breadth of what is important about system building. They will also be better because they will certainly be easier to learn than Trading Blox, and the other programs will certainly be better at generating pretty charts, if that is important.
After Sale Support:
An area that canât be ignored is what happens after you buy the software and want to get something done. TBB is at home on the
Trader's Roundtable forum. This forum is available to anyone interested in trading and it has more experienced traders than any other forum that I visit. This forum is also where support from where TBBâs developer and user community is provided after you purchase TBB. Once you become a TBB owner, the range of forum information visible expands beyond the popular level to areas that show historical TBB questions and answers as well as places to download code and ask for new features.
From my experience with TBBâs developer, he has been very responsive in providing additional capabilities that I needed to handle dual time frame logic, and because he is also the programmer doing the code work when he isnât trading, it doesnât take much effort to explain a need or get a useful answer to a question. My experience in getting useful answers from Technical Support doesnât happen often elsewhere, so Iâm really appreciating the support and intelligence of the support Iâm getting right now.
