How to backtest if you do not know how to code

Is it possible to backtest without knowing how to code

  • Yes

    Votes: 13 65.0%

  • No

    Votes: 5 25.0%

  • I don't know

    Votes: 2 10.0%
  • Total voters
    20
Iwilldoit said:
I am asking how to manually backtest, since I do not know how to code
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Just buy a backtestester, then you don't need to code all the stuff; you just need to specify the input for the backtester, ie. tickerlist and data source, your buy/sell signal rules etc.,
mostly it is simple click-type inputs...
 
learner2007 said:
Guys like me from the old generation still do it the old school way. We just go back over old charts and pick out 100, 200, 300 or more examples of the set up in question and count the number of times it worked out, failed, or allowed us to get out even. Based on those results we then know the probability. If it is high enough we will trade the set up and will know what to expect in 100 actual trades. Been doing this for 40 years. And one of the benefits of doing it this way is that you learn that much more about the set up by visual examination which you wouldn't get if a computer was doing it, and if the computer could really recognize the set up along with the context properly.
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I am not that old but I have a full time well paying job and don't have the time or desire to learn programming. I just sat down and forward tested my methods on charts during a span when I knew it was a bull market, another in a bear market and another in a trend less market. I then modified my system to make sure I could identify which market we are currently in. You will see subtleties that a computer would not pick up. But then again I trade only on charts and indicators. Do this at least several hundred times in each time frame and type of market and you have data to trade by. Test out new rules several hundred times on other bull, bear, sideways markets and see if it holds. Try it across several different instruments. Lather, rinse, repeat. Yes it's time consuming but less time consuming for me to do that than to learn about programming.
 
Iwilldoit said:
lol so what I am asking is how do I backtest manually?

please explain.
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I think we (those that gave advice) all assumed you actually had a system in excel.

Now it sounds like you are a discretionary trading using excel only to track trades or to create charts.

The very first step would be to make your discretionary system, systemic. You'd have to be able to clearly articulate why you go long, and why you go short, etc.

Not everyone is capable of such analysis. Not everyone is capable of being clear. If you are the type that is often misunderstood in your written communications, then you likely don't have the skill set needed to know why you, yourself is buying or selling stuff to a degree that you, or another, could reduce those mental reasons to mere words, let alone reducing them to even a non-code-containing spreadsheet.

In sum:

1. Communicate clearly.
2. In light of unclear communication, I'm now assuming you are a discretionary trader.
3. If so, reduce your mental trading rules to clear, logical writings.
4. Reduce those writings to spreadsheet formulas, not code.
5. If you don't know how to reduce them to formulas, you'd have to either be willing to reveal your writings so others can help; or you'd have to learn more basic excel skills.
6. After your discretionary system has been ported to excel, you can then use my previous post; (where I assumed you already had a system in excel).
 
Iwilldoit said:
That is essentially, what I do in excel:
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Good! So don't let the young generation tell you that back testing can't be done without a computer. And the ol' fashioned ways are sometimes best. Just as 'You can't roast a turkey in a microwave'!
 
userque said:
I think we (those that gave advice) all assumed you actually had a system in excel.

Now it sounds like you are a discretionary trading using excel only to track trades or to create charts.

The very first step would be to make your discretionary system, systemic. You'd have to be able to clearly articulate why you go long, and why you go short, etc.

Not everyone is capable of such analysis. Not everyone is capable of being clear. If you are the type that is often misunderstood in your written communications, then you likely don't have the skill set needed to know why you, yourself is buying or selling stuff to a degree that you, or another, could reduce those mental reasons to mere words, let alone reducing them to even a non-code-containing spreadsheet.

In sum:

1. Communicate clearly.
2. In light of unclear communication, I'm now assuming you are a discretionary trader.
3. If so, reduce your mental trading rules to clear, logical writings.
4. Reduce those writings to spreadsheet formulas, not code.
5. If you don't know how to reduce them to formulas, you'd have to either be willing to reveal your writings so others can help; or you'd have to learn more basic excel skills.
6. After your discretionary system has been ported to excel, you can then use my previous post; (where I assumed you already had a system in excel).
More...


@userque


Just so we are on the same page:

I have exact rules for going long, exact rules on calculating my stop, exact rules for calculating my target.
 
Iwilldoit said:
@userque


Just so we are on the same page:

I have exact rules for going long, exact rules on calculating my stop, exact rules for calculating my target.
More...

Ok, great!

Can you give us an example/sample rule, not your exact rule if you want to keep your secret sauce hidden? I'll try to demonstrate how to convert your rules into spreadsheet formulas.

Using the examples, you should be able to customize them for your exact rules.

So far, it seems this will be eligible for 'instant' backtesting...rather than 'row-by-row.'

EDIT: I'll also need to know what instrument to use...something I can download from Google would be nice.
 
I'm a little confused as to why your looking for? You say your manually backtesting already so what's the issue?

A programmed backtester simply takes an input logic and iterates the data looking for a buy or sell signal and that is it. Gets more complicated in the portfolio side.

So if you want to manually backtest.... Just scroll the chart revealing a bar until a buy / sell signal occurs.

What exactly are you looking for in an answer.
 
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