I am considering using TradeStation to backtest my futures strategies. Does anyone on this site have any experience with this product? Any feedback, comments, suggestions are greatly appreciated. I would like to hear from someone who has used it firsthand and ask if it is worth getting. Thanks,
Hi Jaime, My reply may be biased. I was once Technical Analysis Manager at Telerate Singapore and I supported the Telerate OEM version of TradeStation 4 and TradeStation 2000i. Now, I am not in any way related to or affiliated with TradeStation Technologies. TradeStation is a very powerful software. EasyLanguage is a powerful language for strategy development and designing of indicators, PaintBars and other analysis. It's graphics is also very sharp and clear and this is one of the reason why bank FX traders in Singapore rejected MetaStockRT when Reuters (who bought over Telarate about two years ago) disconinued the OEM TradeStation and pushed MetaStockRT as replacement. You can download some EasyLanguage books from TradeStation website and have a look. https://www.tradestation.com/support/books/default.aspx#easylanguage I know there are now other competitive platforms but I am not familiar with them. I am very comfortable with Tradestation 2000i.
Jaime, I am currently using Tradestation. If you know how to use EasyLanguage then you can write a lot of strategies, indicators etc. Unfortunately EasyLanguage isn't that easy to use as you might think. The official online books available in the TS forum only describe basic code structures. In my eyes WealthLab is the better product to backtest strategies (I am using it for that). Much more coding capabilities and easier to use. They have a "wizard" feature which helps you write your strategies and the reference guide is excellent. In WealthLab you can also backtest a portfolio which I am missing in Tradestation. Disadvantage: You can only buy it standalone if you live outside the US. Otherwise you must have a Fidelity account to get it.
I'm currently using tradestation and found it's Easy Language very easy to learn. I've done a little bit of css scripting, a tiny bit of javascripting and in the past had done very limited programming. I've only tried a few other options and liked it the best. Neoticker also seems to have a growing following, but it's more expensive because of the setup fee if you're doing a monthly lease. (100 then 90 a month like tradestation, but with tradestation.... once you start trading enough, the software is free and there is never a set up fee.) Amibroker can be a one time purchase, not so pricey - but I think the programming is slightly more involved. Once you get comfortable with a language, it will be not that difficult to transfer that knowledge to another one. I find myself able to translate other strategies from other programs without knowing their language very well.