 |
|
The source of the best business, financial and legal news |
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
 | |
| |
 |
Business Informations |
|
|
|
5 Questions You Need To Have Answered Before You Back-Test Your Forex System
As 90-95% of new forex traders lose money within the first 3-6 months this article helps to guide new forex traders by asking 5 questions that the forex trader needs to know prior to back-testing their forex system. Let us jump right in... 1. What data type are you using (or going to use)? I know this sounds strange, especially if you have experience from another market such as stocks as their generally is only one type of data source available. However, in the forex market you can have up to 4 different data types: bid, ask, mid and indicative. Each have their own little nuances. If you would like to know more about the data types then visit the article written about the perils of indicative prices. As this will save me from having to repeat the information again and boring those who've already read it. So, if you know you have indicative prices then you know you're in for some good results! However, if you have any of the other three you need to be careful on how stop and limit orders are placed. As an example: If we had bid price history and we were looking to place a buy entry stop at 0830 EST according to the day's high, then we know that the bid price will not accurately reflect what the actual price of our order should be. You would have noticed that if you placed a buy entry stop at the exact same price as that of the day's high you would have entered prematurely - you would have entered 4 or 5 pips before the high or the low of the day was touched (the exact same amount as the spread your broker offers!). This leads me into the next most important question... 2. What spread is your broker offering on the currencies you are bask-testing? You need to know this as this can help you set your slippage settings on each currency. As our example in question 1 pointed out. We found that our buy at the day's high method did not exactly work because we bought at the BID PRICE high, not the ASK PRICE high - the price that we need when we place our order TO BUY. Therefore, we enter in a slippage setting representing the spread that would be exhibited by this trade on this currency. But knowing at what price to buy is only half the problem... how do we know what quantity to buy? 3. What margin does your broker offer? If we know at what price to buy our currency at we need to inform our broker on what quantity to buy to fulfill the order. We only know what quantity to buy by the margin that the brokerage firm offers. Most brokerage firms offer 100:1 leverage, however, some firms offer mini accounts with 200:1 leverage, others only 50:1 leverage. Find out the margin required. 4. What restrictions does your broker impose? Now, I don't just mean margin and spread restrictions as I have mentioned above. These are important in their own right, what you need to find out are the details. This is probably the most important question of all as the fine line between success and failure can be found in the details. Now you can have this questioned by one of two ways: 1. You can find out through experience (generally the most expensive way unless done through the demo account!); or 2. You ask your broker (the cheapest and best way). Why is this so important? I hear you ask. Well let's say you have a system that trades any gaps that might form on Sunday at 1700 EST, but your broker does not open until 1730 EST. You either need to factor this restriction in to your system, or move onto another system completely. Or, you may have a system that has 10 pip stops, but you find out that your broker will only let you place 15 pip stops from your initial entry price. Once again you will need to change your system to see whether it still performs well, or throw out your system (or change your broker)! In fact one of the most devastating restrictions imposed by FXCM is that they do not accept stop entry orders if price never happens to trade at your entry stop price! FXCM will honor and "take the loss" of your OPEN stop positions, but if the liquidity is not there and price has shot straight through your stop price then you will miss out. This can have disastrous effects on your system results as you are left wondering on trades where you made good returns - "Would FXCM have got me in?". You may want to read of some of the quirks I use when placing entry stop orders on FXCM that could be of huge benefit to you to help you possibly get around this problem. The restrictions by your broker are only half your systems' success, you also need to find out about another more important restriction... yourself. This leads me to the final point... 5. What restrictions do you have? This is a vitally important question. Most people test their systems and fall in love with the results but find when they trade their system they have lost their account and that most of the best signals occurred while they were sound asleep! As the forex market is a 24 hour market, you need to put into place restrictions in your system that will be realisticly conducted by you during the course of a normal trading day. There is no use operating a trailing stop method that changes your stop points during times when you are asleep and cannot possibly do so. I hope this article has made you aware of some of the important things that need to be known prior to testing your system. Article written by Ryan Sheehy from Currency Secrets.com. Where you will find reviews on forex data vendors, signal providers, brokers, and popular forex resources, along with more quality articles... all for f*ree!
MORE RESOURCES:
currency trading - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Psychology Of Trading The psychological aspect of trading is usually underestimated by those new to trading. The psychological problem for most traders is the fear of losing - ironically it is this fear that causes most traders to lose money in the long run. The Basics of Forex Foreign exchange market is also known as Forex or FX market. To date, it is the world's biggest "economic bazaar". 5 Questions You Need To Have Answered Before You Back-Test Your Forex System As 90-95% of new forex traders lose money within the first 3-6 months this article helps to guide new forex traders by asking 5 questions that the forex trader needs to know prior to back-testing their forex system.Let us jump right in. Chinas New Currency Regime The base unit for the renminbi is the yuan, which is how the Chinese currency is most commonly referred to. The official ISO abbreviation for the yuan is CNY, but it is also commonly abbreviated in the forex industry as RMB. Adaptation to the Realities of the Market Do you think adaptation to the realities of the market is the most important thing?Many times in the past I've written about the need to adapt, the need to be able to change your behavior relative to the market because the markets are ever changing. I've stated that mechanical systems may be workable, but for only a short time relative to the life of markets. Reality of Online Forex Trading Foreign exchange trading is the trading of currencies. Most currencies can be traded. Trade Entry Techniques Most traders tend to concentrate on pinpointing the perfect entry for a trade. However, in reality the entry price is just one part of the equation. The Major Players in the Foreign Currency Exchange Market - FOREX Since the US dollar is the centerpiece of the market, it is normally considered the 'base' currency for quotes. In the "Majors", this includes USD/JPY, USD/CHF and USD/CAD. What I Learnt Losing 60,000 My First Year as a Full-time Trader During my first year as a local (independent trader) on the floor of LIFFE, I bought and sold 8804 FTSE futures contracts, about 40 contracts per day on average. The result was a loss of 61,620 or -267 per trading day. Stopping Yourself I read on a bulletin board a traders comment that on his first outing trading the E-Mini S&P 500 he lost on each of his trades. He noted though, that had he had a wider stop each of his trades would have been profitable and that therefore he would be trading with a wider stop in future. Risk and Stock Trading Fees: The Two Barriers To Overcome If You Want A Successful Trading Career. You know the old joke:"How do you make a million in the stock market? Start with two million?"There is no way around it, risk and stock market fees are a part of trading that you can`t avoid. But, you can manage your risk. Choosing A Forex Broker With currency trading becoming ever more popular, the number of brokers is growing at a rapid rate. What should one look at when deciding which broker to open an account with? These are the important points to consider. Is The U.S. Dollar About To Reverse Course? For the first time in several years the U.S. Forex Trading Online - 7 Reasons Why You Should! Forex trading online is a fast way to use your investment capital to it's fullest. The Forex markets offer distinct advantages to the small and large traders alike, making Forex currency trading in many ways preferable to other markets such as stocks, options or traditional futures. The Margin Advantages of Trading FOREX. There is one aspect that is considered as one of the best advantages of FOREX Trading. This is related to the amount of money you need to place a trade, this is known as "margin", and in short, this is all that can be lost in a the case you had a bad trade. Momentum Trading: A Practical Day Trading Strategy to Get Profits from Hot Stocks Momentum day trading can be extremely profitable when done correctly.. Forex Signal, Forex Signals Advice There are lot's of Forex signals providers out there. New Forex traders might be thinking of looking for a reliable Forex signals provider. Where is the Market Going? If you ask me whether the market will have moved up or down by this time next year, well I may as well flip a coin, because I don't know.If you ask me whether the market will have moved up or down by this time next month, well again, I may as well flip a coin, because I still don't know. A Look at Forex Market Makers The investor in the currency market takes for granted that a pair of currencies can be bought or sold at a moment's notice. Once an order is placed with a broker, the trade is executed within seconds. New Opportunities with Forex Trading The simplest definition of currency trading is the practice of exchanging one country's currency for another country's currency. Basically, currency trading involves four main variables: currencies, exchange rate, time, and interest rate.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
