• Registered: 2007-08-14
  • Posts: 4

Topic: Using index data, and when will time function be added

Hello, I think this program is great, and I was wondering if I could do back testing on other index data  eg tick data for the Ftse 100 index? wouln it work the same? also, a few people have asked about when the software would be able to do analysis on specific data sets e.g. between two dates etc. I'd like to look at specific intraday periods that I know I'll be able to trade in. It would also be great to just do the analysis on, say, each MOnday's of data, and same for Tuesday etc. Could you please advise when this, or any of the ability to analyse specific periods of data will come available?

Regards
Ben

  • Popov
  • Popov
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  • Registered: 2006-11-30
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Re: Using index data, and when will time function be added

Hello Ben,
The program can test all the instruments trading according the principles of forex couples, but in the

current version you cannot load the data. (you can try rename the data file as EURUSD... for 0.0001 pip or

USDJPY... for 0.01pip)

You can select the data bound using "Data Horizon" from:
[Main Menu] -> [Market] -> [Data Horizon]
This prunes your data file (in the PC memory only)

or using the "Date / Time" functions

This for the Mondays... is very interesting idea. I like it.
It will be released next month.
Thank you.

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  • Registered: 2007-08-14
  • Posts: 4

Re: Using index data, and when will time function be added

Thanks Popov for your quick reply. Just with setting a boundary for the data, I can see how you can set a boundary for different days of data, but not sure bout the different times of data e.g if I wanted to just look at 5 min data between 9am and 11am London time. That's great also about you adding in the 'Monday' etc test! will watch out for this. I'm also not really sure what the  'optimiser' does either - I've scanned the help menu and forum - does it just look for the best variables of indicators used within a stategy? and, if there is the problem of 'over-optimisation' (there is an example given with MA's), would it be possible for the optimisation to take this into account, and still optimise, but with a small range of values and thereby test the result around the optimal result before 'recommending' it? hope that makes sense! With the time/day of week thing, I think it would be really good to be able to optimise (with the program) the time of day, and day of week of using a strategy i.e. the software searches various intraday time bands, within different days of week, and comes back with the best possible trading times/days for each stategy. I'm looking to hire a programmer to do this for me currently, but you're able to do something like this with you software, that would be tremendous I think.

  • Popov
  • Popov
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Re: Using index data, and when will time function be added

I wanted to just look at 5 min data between 9am and 11am London time.

[Opening logic condition]
Entry Time
     Enter the market between the specified hours
     From  -  9
     Until  -  11

This function uses the bars? opening time to determine the time limits. The above filter allows entering the market during all the bars with opening time between 09:00h and 10:55h (5min chart)
Until  -  11 means bar that closes at 11:00h.

To use ?London time? time filter you can load your time zone data from your broker or to correct the supplied data by the time difference (-2 hours Bulgarian time).
I am pretty sure that 7h ? 9h time boundaries for the data provided by FSB are equal to 9h-11h London time. (It is easy to compare the data to be sure about the time zone difference.)

You are perfectly right about a ?clever? Optimizer that cares about the reasonable limits of optimization, but this is not the ?brute force? optimizer in the current version of FSB.
The problem about the over-optimization will be solved in next six months.

It is not problem from the current version Optimizer to optimize the entry hours.

?Day of week? filter will be added in September?s edition of FSB.

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  • Registered: 2007-08-14
  • Posts: 4

Re: Using index data, and when will time function be added

Thanks again Popov. Just in terms of using my ftse data, it looks like this:
01/05/2007,08:10:00,6445.5,6448.0,6400.5,6409.0
01/05/2007,08:20:00,6409.5,6413.5,6402.0,6404.0
etc
Do any of the forex pairs look like this? or is there some other way I can make the program accept it?

You also mentioned that it's possible to "optimize the entry hours"  -could you pls explain how to go about this some more. What I was hoping to do was determine the best intraday time that a particular strategy will work ie. could you pls tell me how  I 'd go about getting FSB to work out the best possible intraday (say 1 hr block) period where the strategy gave the best result. 

Regards
Ben

  • Popov
  • Popov
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Re: Using index data, and when will time function be added

Hello Ben,
I'll answer your questions with pleasure. The only problem is that at the moment I am in the middle of the highest Bulgarian mountain and I don't know when and where I can find internet. The wireless connection I use in the moment is very bad (and of courser too expensive :-) )

I think FSB can load your data as USDJPY60.csv (if 1hour), bu I'm not so sure. Better try.
In case of some problems send me one data file and I'll try to make something.
I can make an open source converter next month.

About the optimizing of entry hour you can set an Entry filter:

[Opening logic condition]
Entry Time
     Enter the market between the specified hours
     From  -  0
     Until  -  24

to your 1Hour strategy

This params: 
     From  -  0
     Until  -  24
allow entry during the whole day.

In optimizer mark check boxes before "From" and "Until" and set their limits 0 - 24

The optimizer will search the best entry diapason by changing the parms that leads to narrowing the entry limits.
It is always advisable to optimize an strategy with positive balance. In other case the optimizer can be blocked in a zero result (zero transactions).

Popov's Website

  • Popov
  • Popov
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Re: Using index data, and when will time function be added

I tried your data file format as USDJPY1.csv and I received an error. It seems the problem is in the time format.

FSB uses time format hh:mm
but in your data file the format is hh:mm:ss
so you have to remove the ':00'

Try with Notepad  Edit -> Replace  or Ctrl+H

Find what: :00,
Replace with: ,

It is not perfect but works (I hope so)

Popov's Website

  • Registered: 2007-08-14
  • Posts: 4

Re: Using index data, and when will time function be added

Hi Popov - hope you've been well. I wanted to check with you if the current vs of the FSB has been updated now to include the time functions that I asked you about in this thread last year? Also, is the use of index data (for say the FSTE  100) now more easy to use?
Kind regards
Ben

  • Popov
  • Popov
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Re: Using index data, and when will time function be added

Hi Ben,
If you ask for Day of week function it's in FSB now.
You cannot load index data in the current version.

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