Who Here Backtests Manual Strategies ?

Fundlord

Fundlord

From the gate I traded live with real money. When testing strategies I would just trade with very small positions.

But going forward I want to test out strategies and develop various edges.

Paper trading is an option but I don't want to wait 3-4 days to see if the trade would have played out in my favour.

Are there any backtesting software programs or online that you guys would recommend for a discretionary trader.

I don't need anything fancy just something that is literally place trade, click play and watch 3 days of price moves in one second.

Preferable mac but I have access to windows also.

This is for FX only
 
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Yes, I back test and forward test manual strategies, and sometimes it takes years to figure out what is going wrong. Sometimes I know what to do and don't implement them which is the problem.
 
Fundlord said:
From the gate I traded live with real money. When testing strategies I would just trade with very small positions.

But going forward I want to test out strategies and develop various edges.

Paper trading is an option but I don't want to wait 3-4 days to see if the trade would have played out in my favour.

Are there any backtesting software programs or online that you guys would recommend for a discretionary trader.

I don't need anything fancy just something that is literally place trade, click play and watch 3 days of price moves in one second.

Preferable mac but I have access to windows also.

This is for FX only
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InvestorRT at www.linnsoft.com has backtesting and playback. Also runs on Mac. Ask them anything at support@linnsoft.com.

I've been a customer since 2003.

Good luck.
 
Sergio77 said:
Discretionary traders do not test because there are no fixed rules.
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Errrm No a discretionary trader, I have rules, following them is ofcourse tricky live, but I have a general plan I go along with, which are my rules and therefore testable.
 
As xandman said, Ninjatrader with a data provider of your choice is a great option that can work with discretionary strategies (assuming you are trading without fundamental information). The ability to download old charts and advance them one bar at a time is simple yet effective, just record your entry price and exit price 3 days later.

If any part(s) of your system can be quantified, it's really easy getting statistical data through indicators with NT. Coding is straightforward.
 
I personally think that there's so much *context* used with discretionary strategies that back-testing would be a wash. It's not really back testable if you cannot codify it - and if you can, it's probably not discretionary anymore.
 
i960 said:
I personally think that there's so much *context* used with discretionary strategies that back-testing would be a wash. It's not really back testable if you cannot codify it - and if you can, it's probably not discretionary anymore.
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My Back Testing isn't perfect, I only have finished bars, tick replay would be ofcourse better, it's easy to say after the fact I'd of shorted that brief up move.

But your testing can be 90% relevant to real life trading, it's a start.
 
There are two types of discretionary traders...

1) Traders that are not automated but they use rules to make their trade decisions (some of these rules can not be coded).

2) Traders that are not automated and use no rules. Thus, they rely heavily upon their trade experience and/or intuition.

Also, if you're using automation or codes to backtest strategies...its not called "manual testing". In contrast, manual testing implies your visually reviewing each historical trading day without any automation/codes to do it for you.
 
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