Newbie Questions.

   Hi all,
I am into the 2nd day of my 14 day trial and so far I must say I am impressed with the software. I have probably only explored a very minor percentage of what the program has to offer so pardon my ignorance if the following questions seem obvious to others.
My first question is... Can you use different time frames for different window/panes in the same chart? For example when using the Hull MMA indicator it works best on a weekly time frame. But when looking for an entry/exit I would prefer to look at a daily chart. This is just one example but there may be more. 
My second question... Can you use Bullscript or something else to back test trading systems. For example if I have a trading system that says buy if the vol is x and the price has risen 5% or more for the day and sell if 5% below x. Can I see how that system would have performed over the last 2 years? My knowledge of the scripting capabilities is quite small but I imagine it is possible? Does anybody have any examples if it is?
I too trade CFD's and would like a filter on the stocks that you run scans on which I have seen mentioned elsewhere. Any other tools that would help trade CFD's would be great, having said that I can't think of any off the top of my head but when I do I will let you know! 
Cheers,
Chris.

Edited by Richo

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Richo Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Location: Australia Posts: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote Richo Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Newbie Questions. Posted: 07 Oct 2004 at 12:54am
	Hi all, I am into the 2nd day of my 14 day trial and so far I must say I am impressed with the software. I have probably only explored a very minor percentage of what the program has to offer so pardon my ignorance if the following questions seem obvious to others. My first question is... Can you use different time frames for different window/panes in the same chart? For example when using the Hull MMA indicator it works best on a weekly time frame. But when looking for an entry/exit I would prefer to look at a daily chart. This is just one example but there may be more. My second question... Can you use Bullscript or something else to back test trading systems. For example if I have a trading system that says buy if the vol is x and the price has risen 5% or more for the day and sell if 5% below x. Can I see how that system would have performed over the last 2 years? My knowledge of the scripting capabilities is quite small but I imagine it is possible? Does anybody have any examples if it is? I too trade CFD's and would like a filter on the stocks that you run scans on which I have seen mentioned elsewhere. Any other tools that would help trade CFD's would be great, having said that I can't think of any off the top of my head but when I do I will let you know! Cheers, Chris. Edited by Richo

SimonSavva Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Regular Joined: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 84	Post Options Post Reply Quote SimonSavva Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 07 Oct 2004 at 9:06am
	Hi Chris, You can use excel to filter the scan output. I built a bunch of macros etc and posted them on this forum. Can't remember where though. So far as backtesting - a simply strategy I use is to place a symbol on the bar that generates the signal, then go back and visually check it out. This is good enough for me, as I feel that the market has too many nuances for a completely automagic system......yet Bring on the Stop+Limit orders! Simon Edited by SimonSavva

SimonSavva Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Regular Joined: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 84	Post Options Post Reply Quote SimonSavva Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 07 Oct 2004 at 9:11am
	Chris, Found the post to narrow down the scan. Feel free to contact me via Private Messaging if you want help setting it up. http://www.bullcharts.com.au/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=14&am p;PN=1 SS Edited by SimonSavva

Peter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List BullCharts Staff Joined: 09 Sep 2004 Location: Australia Posts: 241	Post Options Post Reply Quote Peter Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 07 Oct 2004 at 9:59am
	Here's some BullScript that people may find helpful for system testing. Modify it to include your preferred entry and exit signals (in this example I've just used two moving averages crossing each other). You can also modify the entry/exit prices to be something other than close if you like. Notes: It doesn't take brokerage into account It will filter out consecutive buy signals (eg if two buys are encountered in a row then only the first is acted on) It completely reinvests all profits at the next buy (generally bad practice - but this script is intended only as a starting point for you to design more practical ones from) While long, the value represents the current (closing) value of the portfolio. { change your entry/exit conditions here } initCap := input("Initial Capital",100,1); enterWhen := cross( ma(C,12,E), ma(C,26,E) ); exitWhen := cross( ma(C,26,E), ma(C,12,E) ); buyPrice := close; sellPrice := close; { Note: All profits get reinvested } position := if(enterWhen,1,if(exitWhen,0,prev)); enterReal := position=1 and hist(position,1)=0; exitReal := position=0 and hist(position,1)=1; lastBuy := if(enterReal, buyPrice, prev); cap1 := if(exitReal, sellPrice/lastBuy, 1)prev(initCap); capAtBuy := if(enterReal, cap1, prev); cap2 := if(position=1, capAtBuyClose/lastBuy, cap1); cap2;

Richo Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Location: Australia Posts: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote Richo Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 07 Oct 2004 at 10:41am
	Thanks guys for your help. Simon, tried to have a look at your Spreadsheet Macros but I couldn't get it working. I did notice that there are a lot of embedded paths in your macros (i.e. "C:\Documents and Settings\Simon Savva\My Documents\BullCharts\Weekly Scans" ) which obvioulsy won't work on my machine hence the 'path not found' error I get when I try to run them. Not to worry because I get the concept and can modify to my needs. Peter, thanks for the script, it is a good starting point and proves that I can design a script to back test my own mechanical trading system. Excellent! I am a programmer by trade so scripting is nothing new to me but all of the functions and syntax are so it may take a bit of study and practice to get it right. Cheers, Chris.

SimonSavva Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Regular Joined: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 84	Post Options Post Reply Quote SimonSavva Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 08 Oct 2004 at 9:42am
	Richo, yes obviously it will need to be modified for your system etc. Perhaps I should have used %userprofile% Please post some of your developments regarding the testing...this may be very interesting. Also I go long and short, and trade at 1% risk based on the stop, if you do an example of that, man you're a legend, and you'll be on my "People to pay when I'm a millionaire list" Simon

Richo Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Location: Australia Posts: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote Richo Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 08 Oct 2004 at 11:59am
	Simon, Not knowing whether I will purchase the product yet I haven't spent much time exploring the ins and outs of bullscript. However it doesn't seem all that difficult to master just need to spend some time exploring it. I doubt this will be soon because I am heading overseas for 5 weeks so maybe when I get back. If I do purchase and I do write some script I'll be sure to post here! Failing that I may write my own software to backtest. Trickest part is reading the data once that is done it's relativley easy going. Cheers, Richo.

kosmo Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 19 Sep 2004 Location: Australia Posts: 6	Post Options Post Reply Quote kosmo Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 03 Nov 2004 at 11:46am
	Hi Peter, Just wondering if it's possible to scroll the screen horizontally so that the far right of the chart (the latest info) can appear in the middle of the charting window? Sometimes I want to carry lines thru beyond the window's right hand side. cheers

SimonSavva Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Regular Joined: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 84	Post Options Post Reply Quote SimonSavva Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 10 Nov 2004 at 7:07am
	You can set how many extra days are shown to the right of the last traded day. Available by double clicking the Time Axis on any chart: