What Backtesting Platform do you use?

[Nana Trader]

I see many votes for Amibrokers because it's cheaper to use than somthing like Tradestation

I prefer interface, charting, language and documention in tradestation is realy much better than Amibroker

 

[Murray Ruggiero]

Quote from Nana Trader:

I see many votes for amibroker because it's cheaper to use than something like Tradestation

I prefer interface, charting, language and documentation in TradeStation is really much better than Amibroker

I know that the trading platform area is very crowded. When I designed TradersStudio, I felt that with my expertise I could develop the best backtesting and market research tool available. Most software today comes with a CD, or just a download. TradersStudio comes with over 400 pages of bound, printed, indexed documentation. These guides we ship are in the metaphor of "Microsoft Press, Step by Step guides". This was not necessary but was the right thing to do, for the customer.


Another issue you discuss is the language. We realized that most TradeStation users as well as third party developers would not use another platform unless they would reuse there existing EasyLanguage code in it. This is why we added the migration tool.

http://www.tradersstudio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=83

I have to admit, the TradeStation metaphor of how they process one bar at a time and that you can access variables from pass bars was brilliant and very difficult to duplicate. It took my team of programmers almost two years to get it right. This is why you don’t have to code your systems special to support optimization.

TradeStation does have some shortcomings like not having portfolio based trading and optimization. Also not having built in money management. In addition it lacked, a source level debugger, at least though version 6 or 7. I have not looked at version 8.0, yet. I will when I need to add this support to the migration tool.

Other issue, which no backtesting platform has addressed except for TradersStudio, is to correctly handle the issue involved in trading stocks. I have discussed the issues of false results in backtesting due to split-adjusted data several times before and I have a free white paper available on it. You need to register on the site which is free to download the complete PDF. This report contains the fully disclosed rules for a Nasdaq 100 stock trading system.

http://www.tradersstudio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=126


My goal with TradersStudio language was to model it after a language, which a lot of people know, basic. We modeled TradersStudio basic as a hybrid between EasyLanguage and Microsoft VBA.

If you want to write addins in a compiled language , TradersStudio supports addin development including customizing menus in the program. You can develop addins in our language or in VB 6.0 or VC 6.0 ++. You can use the .NET languages but you need to write a wrapper to create a COM Active DLL. Our addin interface can access not only built in functions but also other addins, which are currently running. Our addin manager is based on the type of addin support available in Excel.

Developing a top flight trading platform and doing it correctly is not a one-man job. I could not have done what I have done without the team and resources I have behind me. In addition I want to thank my customer who feedback is taken seriously and use to develop the best possible product.

I hope that if you are looking for a Trading Platform in the under $500.00 category you look at TradersStudio, I think at $499.00 it offers the best value in backtesting software.

See a special offer, use code SP61513

http://www.tradersstudio.com/Defaul...alogID=5&psnavcmd=CatalogItemDetails&tabid=38

 

[agtrader777]

After spending some time on your website, I know that TradersStudio is currently end-of-day. That is OK for end-of-day traders, but what about the traders who are interested in real-time analysis? Is there a real-time version of TradersStudio in the works? And what is your upgrade policy when new releases are rolled out?

It is good to know that you are not a 'one man gang!'

Regards

 

[edb]

Quote from Keifer:

EDB,

I am using TS8 to code strategies and Optimax for faster optimizing. I am interested in learning Visual Basic to use with Excel to manipulate data on excel to search for price patterns.
I don't have any programming experience besides Easy Language
Can you recommend any books on visual Basic to get me started.

Also Is there other ways to write codes that go beyond the macros on Excel.


Thanks,
Keifer

Hi Keifer,

Having learned VBA on my own, I don't have any experience with books. Was thinking that searching Elite Trader for ... books AND visual AND basic ... would provide some ideas.

Here're some examples of a post and a thread found by this type of search:

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showt...ghlight=books+AND+visual+AND+basic#post644273
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30084&highlight=books+AND+visual+AND+basic

Here's how I got started in Excel and VBA: I would record my steps into a Macro -- and then, by studying the macro that was created, and adding my own code (if-then-else's, loop, etc.) I could quickly write my own macros. Here's how you can record a macro: click the "Tools" menu and drop down to "Macro" item and then click the "Record New Macro" item. When you are done, you can edit this macro.

I started using Excel for trading by combining text files created in TS2000i to get an idea of how a portfolio will perform. TS2000i is good at testing one stock-future-currency at a time, but needs a little help in looking at a portfolio.

-edb

 

[Murray Ruggiero]

Quote from agtrader777:

After spending some time on your website, I know that TradersStudio is currently end-of-day. That is OK for end-of-day traders, but what about the traders who are interested in real-time analysis? Is there a real-time version of TradersStudio in the works? And what is your upgrade policy when new releases are rolled out?

It is good to know that you are not a 'one man gang!'

Regards

We are giving free upgrades to at least version 2.0 EOD to all people who have purchased TradersStudio before the release of 2.0. We will plan to have our real time version available early this spring. The real time product price is expected to be $1495.00 but we will give a huge discount for our existing customers.

 

[JackR]

Neuroshell Trader.

In addition to its Neural Network/genetic algorithm capability, Neuroshell Trader can be used as a regular back-testing platform by running it without any optimization. It runs pretty quickly.

There are four options:
1) No optimization - just backtesting
2) Optimization of of parameters
2) Optimization of Rules
3) Full Bore - Optimization for best rules and best parameters for each rule.

The last is pretty dangerous unless you really sample well and with sufficient out-of-sample data to check after you optimize.

Jack

 

[Lawrence Chan]

Pro users (both institutional and retail) and beginner traders have fundamental difference in their views of trading platforms and backtesting platforms.

For beginners, the backtesting platform has to be able to do as many things as possible - easy to use, easy to program, easy to create feel good results. Best yet, do the trading for them and count the change

90% of the beginners in trading do not even want to look at a chart, let alone learning anything related to trading. That's the truth, sad but true.

For pros, they usually have their models working already. Thus better real-time signalling, order routing, etc. is more important. In fact, many institutional traders do not do their own research. Thus the trading platform is not necessary the platform that developed the models. In the old days, I did my research work on S, Maple and Mathematica using mini-computers (PC was too slow) and then deploy the models with other applications available at the time.

For deployment purpose, the most important thing to the pros is the least important thing for the beginners - the ability to tick-wise recreate/replay situations so that they can fine tune their systems to react correctly in real-time.

Thus it will always be a two-tier market for trading platforms and backtesting software - one for pros, and one for beginners.

 

[cashonly]

I need a backtesting program that has the following features:

1. Can backtest on intraday data, both n minute bars, and tick data.

2. Can backtest on a portfolio of stocks with intraday data over a period of time from a day to years, giving BOTH reports for each individual stock as well as for the portfolio as a whole.

3. Must be able to allow me to write ascii text to a text file at each bar or tick.

4. Need to be able to access daily data on an intraday basis. For example, if I'm running a backtest on a 20 period MA on one minute bars on a stock, it should also let me access the 14 period ADX, +DMI, -DMI using daily data and be able to access them both in my code at each intraday bar.

5. Would be nice to compare two instruments in one backtest, like have the primary be a stock, and be able to compare the 20 period MA of the stock on an intraday basis to the 20 period MA of the e-mini for the same time period.

Anyone know af a product that can do this?

Cash

 

[ssternlight]

Quote from cashonly:

I need a backtesting program that has the following features:

1. Can backtest on intraday data, both n minute bars, and tick data.

2. Can backtest on a portfolio of stocks with intraday data over a period of time from a day to years, giving BOTH reports for each individual stock as well as for the portfolio as a whole.

3. Must be able to allow me to write ascii text to a text file at each bar or tick.

4. Need to be able to access daily data on an intraday basis. For example, if I'm running a backtest on a 20 period MA on one minute bars on a stock, it should also let me access the 14 period ADX, +DMI, -DMI using daily data and be able to access them both in my code at each intraday bar.

5. Would be nice to compare two instruments in one backtest, like have the primary be a stock, and be able to compare the 20 period MA of the stock on an intraday basis to the 20 period MA of the e-mini for the same time period.

Anyone know af a product that can do this?

Cash

QuantDeveloper,

But you are going to have to write some code to get it where you want it.

 

[keafan]

Cash wants to actually backtest? pretty soon the vancouver boys will be asking about testing software! on the other hand, they do their testing by not doing in the future what blows up the most traders today. walk forward testing with live bodies.