hi, can anyone recommend a software package with good backtesting capabilities for a beginner? i am fine with EOD data for now but might want to upgrade to RT in the future and am primarily focused on futures (incl. commodities). ProRealTime.com, MetaStock, and ESignal look promising - any thoughts? thanks much.
I am now using NeoTicker RT and have not used MetaStock for over 2.5 years... NeoTicker is a powerful piece of software (one caveat is that their support is by forum or email and a bit delayed)... I have a <b>registered & Licensed</b> original version of MetaStock 7.2 (can be verified with Equis) that is transferrable and i have wanted to sell for half price since i stopped using it... You can then upgrade to Metastock 9.0 or higher for a couple of bucks... All versions of MetaStock after 8.0 are NOT transferrable.... so if you find after your research that you want MetaStock then consider chatting with me... cj... HAVE STOP <img src="http://www.enflow.com/p.gif"> WILL TRADE
I have been in the same hunt and testing some products that I have posted on other threads. Right now my favorite is something relatively new it is called the Odds Maker from Trade-Ideas. http://www.trade-ideas.com/OddsMaker/
thanks, neoticker looks nice but is very expensive. i'm just starting out and not sure how much money i can afford to invest before knowing if i'll really be able to come up with something profitable. i have a day job, and am not looking to leave it until and unless i have more experience and a proven system.
It is the problem of the chicken before the egg when it comes to your situation. My advice is to move slowly, learn the method, and then find the tech tools that renforce your method, trading plan, etc. Trade as much as you comfortably can with as small an exposed risk as possible (i.e., only trade the patterns from your method that are the most obvious). Get some small wins and then invest in the kind of tool that can help you spot more of these patterns with greater reward/risk ratios.
The data source is more important than the software. After a few weeks trying out trading software you can use with IB data I have to say it's a complete false economy and am back to my old friend esignal.
As someone who used to evaluate big enterprise software applications for a living, I know it takes a whole list of parameters to make a good decision - not just one. The problem is keeping all these parameters in mind and making an informed decision on who scores well on each parameter and who comes out an overall winner. The process I simplified below was used to reach my trading tools decisions - and now I use something like this when I buy my digital camera or next car. Here's what I can share related to trading tools: Evaluation Criteria Weight* Basic functionality 3 Web self-service functionality 3 Ease of implementation/installation 2 Ease of ongoing customization/administration 2 Cost 1 Availability of internal support 1 Reputation of vendor/product 3 Ease of integration with other trading tools 2 Requirements for hardware 1 Quality/reliability of source data 3 Integration with external reporting tools/export data 2 Ability to monitor/track established service levels 3 Flexible/adequate security 2 Access to historical data and backtesting 2 Customer service/response time of vendor 3 * In this example the weights are as follows: 1 = least important; 3 = most important You can change the weights according to what you feel is most important Separate from the weights, rate each element as follows: (1) Does not meet needs/less desirable (2) Meets needs/neutral (3) Exceeds needs/more desirable Multiply the two values in each row (weight * rating) and add up the column - one column for each tool you evaluate.