What backtesting data capability does Tradestation have. I use one minute data(futures).
Several immediate advantages come to mind: the ability to use Stop and Limit orders, the ability to load
almost unlimited amounts of data for testing, e.g. over 1 million bars versus a 62,500 limit, much more extensive analytics such as MAE, MFE, drawdown calculations, the capability to assign values to variables selectively (as opposed to every bar, or worse, having to use the PREV function in Metastock), and if those aren't enough, you can program anything else to output your trades, daily results, weekly results, etc. to a text file. I find the Sharpe Ratio to be particularly useful.
1. How many one minute bars can be backtested at once?
As many as your computer system resources will allow. This varies depending on your operating system and computing power. I know of many people who have loaded 1.3million bars and over before their system resources began giving them trouble.
2. How much data is available historically for one minute futures data?
Again, it depends on your data vendor. TS6 users are stuck with a single data feed, which I believe goes back for a little over 1 year on 1 minute data. I've chosen Quote.com for my historical data, and that goes back currently to April 1997 on a 1 minute basis.
3. Can you program tests using multiple time frames?
Yes. You can add up to 50 symbols to the same chart using any timeframe you desire, except tick based bars (e.g. 50 tick bars). Combine 1 minute, 5 minute, and 187 minute bars if you'd like. Throw in a 780 minute bar as well for a two day equivalent. Whatever you like, you aren't limited to a maximum of a 60 minute intraday bar either.
4. Is the realtime data corrected, and therefore is different than the data that you will use in testing historically? I have found some apple/oranges differences in realtime vs. historical tests of the data with MS. This is because the realtime data gets corrected after the fact. Not a big deal since it should work out the same over the long haul. Changes in volume, highs/lows/closes occurs and can cause differences if using price patterns or some indicators.
I understand this is more of an issue for equities traders. There are only a few instances where a print was later busted/corrected on Globex, so it really hasn't been an issue for me trading the index futures. TS6 will be more prone to the issue you are describing.
5. How difficult will it be for me a 17 yr. MS user to go to Tradestation 6? I guess you do not use TS 6, so the above would need to apply to that software.
It depends how comfortable you are with Metastock's Formula Language. I think those who have just used it superficially (or any trading language for that matter) will likely have a harder time with any new trading language. If you are comfortable with a formula language, it will be much easier to switch. All of the features and subtleties will come as you use the language more and more.
Having said all of this, I don't want to appear to be totally biased towards TS. It's the one I use all the time, and the one I'm most comfortable with. However, there are some excellent alternatives that you should consider as well. Three of those are WealthLab Developer, Amibroker, and Neoticker. Do a search for those on this site, and you'll find a lot more information about those.
