Hi folks, This is my first post on this site... My goal is to find the most appropriate backtesting platform for EOD futures trading for less than $1,000 that serves my needs (see below). So far, Iâve narrowed down my search to AmiBroker and TradersStudio. Let me know if I should also consider other products. Since I couldn't find an already existing thread directly comparing the two, I thought I'd start one. In case there is already a post on this please point me to it and apologies for the redundancy. Also, since I did not hear back from TradersStudio about getting a demo, which I have for AmiBroker, I cannot readily do the comparison. Some of my backtesting priorities: multiple systems/portfolios/markets/time frames, user definable robust statistics, smart optimization, strong money management, walk forward analysis, generic data feed, scaling in/out, ease of programming, monte carlo simulation, etc. Thanks for your input!
I'm a satisfied Amibroker user and I believe it can do everything your require. Please do make full use of the demo, since the one quirk I found is that the documentation on the program isn't super-helpful. Tomasz (the developer) probably write a lot of it himself in English, which isn't his first language, and I found a lot of the help stuff to be very hard to figure out. That said, email support is pretty good, although you do occasionally run into the same type of problem and it takes a few days to get your question across. Are you a programmer? You will of course need to learn AFL, which is the language used to talk to AB. It is very simple to learn, even for a non-programmer like me. I believe it has been fairly well documented around here that there is no other program that provides better value for money than AB when it comes to backtesting. That's not hard to believe, seeing how inexpensive it is.
Please see the following threads for review of Amibroker and TradersStudio: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=104393 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=108534 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1846347&highlight=TradersStudio#post1846347 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1836613&highlight=Amibroker#post1836613
I use both - I find that AB is better for quick testing of ideas, but TS is better for analysis/analytics. AB is also a lot, lot faster in terms of backtesting than TS - and, in my opinion, has a better optimization engine. Where TS really shines: - Multiple systems off a single account - Reporting - Accuracy - both in terms of slippage as well taking into account splits/dividends in backtesting (a concept called TS Stocks). Where AB really shines: - Speed - Charting - Offers a real-time version although I find having to maintain two databases (one for intraday and one for daily data) a bit of a pain - I love the ability to create composite tickers based on criteria such as % of stocks over/under a 50dma. - Unique portfolio rotation model which allows you to rank equities and buy the top N - I wish TS had this - you listening Murray??? - Excellent community with frequent application updates (although they have gotten smaller in scope this year). Where AB falls a bit short: - Reporting - Complexity curve - as you go up in complexity curve, you have to use the custom backtester - and that is much, much harder to use than rest of the programming language. Not impossible mind you, but a bit much for me. Let me know if there is anything specific you have questions about....
AFL = Amibroker Formula Language You cannot program in C# natively in AB - you can, however, call it from another application.
Could somebody tell if Amibroker allows portfolio backtesting for pairs trading or hedged trading. E.g. I have a portfolio with MSFT and INTC. Each time I am buying MSFT or INTC I want to short QQQQ. Each time I am shorting MSFT or INTC I want to buy QQQQ. Can such backtesting be done in Amibroker ?
Amibroker.... Is a very versatile, solid, fast product.... Also, Marcin....an employee of Amibroker.... Is an invaluable resource for assistance....