Online trading is becoming an incredibly popular way to make money for people all over the world. It involves testing the market and investing money in the stocks through trading platforms without the need to use brokers for it. It has brought the world of trading into more people’s minds and allowed the market to thrive and grow every year. It is a popular business strategy for many people. Backtesting is a process used in business which tests your trading strategy against data to make sure that all information is viable and true. This enables a trader to ensure that they do not risk any capital without a valid reason. Backtesting is a crucial part of the trading world as it allows the trader to assess their risk before investing money in a stock. After backtesting is carried out, if the results turn out well the trader will be able to invest without running the risk of losing out. It creates a safer way to invest and trade by taking data from the past and bringing it to the present. If the result is bad it can also allow the trader to modify the way things are to improve the situation for the future. There is plenty of backtesting software available online to help with all of this. It makes trading much easier and more automated, allowing many more people to take part.
Utilising Backtesting
If you take the time to research and carry out backtesting to its full extent, you can end up gaining a meaningful insight into the world of trade as well as assessing which strategy you want to pursue for your own personal needs. One of the most important factors when completing backtesting is the time period you choose for the sample. The time period which you test on will determine how accurate your information is, you ideally want to backtesting for a longer period to collect as much data as possible to use for your calculations. This will allow you to see changes in the market, trends which are coming up and range-bound trading too.
If you do not perform the test on a high enough range you won’t get the results you need to make an informed decision on what to do next. The sample size is another important thing to think about when you are planning to carry out backtesting. If you choose a sample size which is too small, you won’t necessarily gain a result which can give you a conclusive answer on what strategy to take. It is crucial to use a larger number of trades to get accurate results. However, be mindful not to overdo it with the number and length of time because this can also mean you come up with confusing results. Keep things to a healthy median and you will see the results you need to continue your trading securely.
Fit Reality
The whole idea of a backseat is to give you a view of the future by extrapolating information from the past. It is crucial that you always make sure to keep the testing as close to real life as our can in order to get the results you need. This can be seen with the costs you calculate during your testing. If you look at some smaller costs individually you may not see any significance, however when these values are backtested they can have a bigger impact than you would think. This is what can turn the tide and decide whether or not you can possibly afford to trade or if you should wait it out for a while.
Is It Robust?
One of the most influential factors to consider when backtesting is whether or not the strategy you plan to use will be robust and valid.You will need to make sure that you carry out the backtesting in multiple different timeframes to get the full picture and make sure that your results don’t deviate too much. For example you could decide to run a back test for 2 years, and then in another instance for 4 years. By comparing the results you gain from both of these tests, you will be able to see whether or not the method of testing you are implementing works, and whether you can feasibly enter the market and take part in trading. If the results come in as being all over the place, you will need to take a second look at the strategy and decide what you can change and improve: then test again.
