What is Backtesting
Backtesting is a process by which trading strategies are tested on historical data. Due to the sheer amount of data and computation need, backtesting is very resource-intensive process. Using historical data, we can get an idea whether the trading idea/strategy is performing as expected or not. Backtesting is done as a preliminary step before deploying the strategy in live market. It is to be noted that backtesting and live trading may produce diverse results due to slippage. The time duration required to complete a backtest depends on the complexity of the strategy, the timeframe/candle frequency used and the period/range of backtest.
What's new with Backtest Engine V2
- Faster speed
- Improved deploy modal allowing you to choose Intraday and Positional strategies
- Add notes to distinguish multiple BT reports of same strategy and date ranges with just one click
- Mobile notifications on completion along with emails
- Longer date range at one go even for strategies with lists
- Reports with more more insightful output variables
- Ability to quickly navigate to Edit strategy from BT page itself
- Nicer UX with min by min updates of completion status of the BT
- Counters now have dates as well for quick analysis of daily PNL
- Summary of BT credits purchased, used and balance with one click to find details of the same from BT page itself.
Tradetron Backtest Engine
Tradetron Backtesting Engine V2 is one of the most powerful backtesting service available in the market. Tradetron Backtesting Engine is designed to handle complex strategies involving many sets and lot of positions.
Tradetron backtesting universe includes all NSE cash stocks, futures and Index FnO
Backtesting Engine does not support Stock options, MCX, CDS and NASDAQ
Backtesting Engine does not distinguish between order types MIS, NRML &CNC.
Backtesting Engine does not recognize the following variables/keywords
- India VIX
- All OI related keywords
- Bid price, Ask price
- Bid-Ask Difference
- Sec
- VWMA
- VWAP Series
- VWAP
Backtesting Engine also does not consider corporate actions, SLM orders, advanced price execution settings, tranching, rollovers and overnight protection positions.
Backtest Parameters
To conduct any backtest in Tradetron there are certain parameters that users have to input for successful backtesting of strategies.
- Date Range – Tradetron has historical data available since 1st Jan 2020 to conduct backtests. We have predefined ranges like last 6months, 18months etc or you can also add a custom date range
- Candle frequency - Users have an option to select their choice of candle frequency from 1min, 5min, 10min, 15min, 30min, 1hr and full day(1D). If you are backtesting a strategy which uses daily timeframe, it would be advisable to select candle frequency as Full day or lower than Full day. Similarly, if you are backtesting a strategy which uses multiple time frame like 15min and 1hr, select candle frequency less than or equal to the lowest time frame in the strategy, in this case it would 15min. The smaller the candle frequency, the more computation is needed which increases the time to complete the backtest.
Note: If your strategy uses time conditions for entry/exit or uses LTP keyword anywhere in the strategy, 1min candle frequency would provide more accurate results.
- Trade Price – Unlike other backtesting services, Tradetron provides the users with the power to select the trade price of execution. There are two options either Open or Close. Trade price essentially means the price at which the trade is executed. If you are backtesting a strategy that relies on entry after crossovers or any technical indicators, Open Price would be well suited for the purpose. If you are backtesting any strategy that relies on entry on close price basis, select Close in Trade Price
- Type – Here, you get an option to select the type of strategy you are backtesting, Intraday or Positional. Kindly select the appropriate option depending on your strategy.
If you select Positional, it will further provide 3 Options. Select the one that best fits your strategy
1. None –Select this, if you are trading stocks which do not have an expiry
2. Weekly- Select this, if you are trading Weekly Options
3. Monthly –Select this, if you are trading monthly Options or futures
Backtest Credit Consumption
Backtests credits usage is calculated based on the backtest period and the no. of underlying in the strategy, if using lists. For a period of 180 days, backtest credit consumed will be 1. Similarly, if you backtest for 360 days, Backtest credit consumed will be 2 and so on.
#Criteria 1
If underlyings in list >= 5 then max. 5 credits for 6 months period
#Criteria 2
If underlyings in list < 5 then each underlying will consume 1 credit each for 6 month period.
Note - If the list contains more than 20 stocks, the backtest duration is limited to 7 days
Let's understand using the below examples
1. If a user is backtesting a strategy with Index_fut list with 2 underlying Nifty and BankNifty for 6 months, then the count of underlying is 2 in the list. So the Backtest credit required will be 2 for 6 months of data
2. If a user is backtesting a list of 20 stocks for 360 days, since no. of underlying is 20 which is greater than 5, the max credit it will consume is still 5 for 6 months of data, so in this case, it will only consume 2*5=10 credits for a period of 360 days even though there are 20 stocks in the list
3. If a user is backtesting a simple banknifty straddle for 360 days, backtest credit consumed will be 2
Backtest Status
Once you have posted for backtest, it will reflect the below status sequentially
- In Queue - This means that the backtest is in queue and will start soon
- % Completed - This means that the backtest has started and is in the process
- Generating Report – This means that the Backtest is completed and is currently in the process of generating a detailed report with important metrics
- Completed - This simply means that the backtest is complete and you can check your email for reports or can download the same from the backtest page
Note - Once the Backtest is complete, it will move to the Completed section
Interpreting Backtest Report
As soon as the backtest is complete, a comprehensive detailed backtest report is sent to the user’s email address. This report consists of key performance metrics for the strategy. You can also download the Stats pdf and positions CSV from the backtest page too. It makes it very convenient for the user to do their own analysis based on the trades taken by the backtest engine.
Backtest report consists of the below stats
PNL Curve – A PNL curve is a graphical representation of the change in the value of a Profit/loss over a period of time
Capital Required - The total starting capital for the strategy
Total PNL - The total profit/loss generated during the entire backtest period
Drawdown - Drawdown expressed in % terms refers to the degree to which the PNL curve drops from the peak (Highest point) to a trough (Lowest point)
Standard Deviation - Standard deviation is the statistical measure of volatility. It is also expressed in % terms. The lower the Std.dev, the more reliable the strategy.
Sharpe Ratio - Sharpe ratio is a measure for calculating risk-adjusted return. Strategies with higher market excess returns and lower volatility will show higher Sharpe Ratios. So naturally, higher is better. For Annualized Sharpe Ratio, the Risk-free rate is considered as 0
Total Trading Days - Total no. of trading sessions in the selected backtest period
Win Days - This parameter tells you the no. of profitable days
Loss Days - This parameter tells you the no. of loss days
Win Rate – Simply put, this parameter tells the trading system’s win ratio. The bigger, the better. It is calculated using the formula - < Total profit days / Total trading sessions in Backtest period>
Avg Monthly Profit – Average profit generated per month
Avg Monthly ROI – Average ROI generated per month, Capital is considered as the base of all returns. It is calculated using the formula - < Total PNL/ (Total trading days * 21) >
Total ROI – Total ROI generated for the duration of the backtest.
Max Profit in a Day — Maximum Profit generated in a trading day
Max Loss in a Day – Maximum Loss generated in a trading day
Avg PL Daily – Total PNL/total trading days in the selected backtest period
Avg Profit on Profit Days – Average Profit generated on Profitable days
Avg Loss on Loss Days – Average Loss generated on Loss days
Avg no. of trades (Buy + Sell) per day – Average no. of trades in a day(Only sessions on which strategy took trades are considered)
Month-wise PNL -This shows the month-wise distribution of Profit/Loss over the duration of backtest.
Position CSV– All the positions taken by the strategy during the backtesting period are displayed under this. Additional useful information like condition, price and quantity is mentioned in the report.
Checklist before backtesting
- Please ensure your strategy does not use the restricted keywords mentioned above.
- Please paper trade the strategy beforehand to check if it takes entry/exits according to your conditions.
- Please ensure that your strategy only includes NSE cash stocks/ Futures or Index FnO.
- Please check if your set exit/Universal exit conditions are proper before backtesting.
- .Keep in mind that backtesting does not follow rollovers, advanced price execution settings, SLM orders, tranching & overnight protection.
- Refrain from editing the strategy while the backtest is in progress.
How to find Backtest ID
Go to the Backtest Page, Click on the BID button and a number should appear. That number is your Backtest ID.
Backtest Credit Refunds
If you have purchased backtest and due to some reason would like a refund of the remaining unused backtest credits, you can email [email protected] and team will refund the amount based on unused credits.
Credit Usage Summary
With the new Backtest V2 engine, we have also added a new credit usage summary tab to easily get an overview of your backtest credits. You can click on the Credits and Used section as highlighted in the image to get a detailed report on the backtest credit usage
You can easily monitor how many credits you have left and can also easily purchase new credits using the Buy BT button.
Backtest credits once purchased will not expire and is valid indefinitely
