Backtest Settings in Tradetron: How to Choose Each One
Tradetron's backtest form has five settings that decide how accurate your report is: date range (how much history), candle frequency (how often conditions are checked), trade price (Open or Close of the candle), type (intraday or positional) and, for positional strategies, expiry (None, Weekly or Monthly). Match each one to how your strategy really trades.
The settings at a glance
| Setting | Options | Choose it by |
|---|---|---|
| Range | Preset periods (such as the last 12 months) or custom dates | How much history the strategy needs; include different market conditions |
| Candle frequency | 1, 5, 10, 15, 30 minutes, 1 hour, full day | The smallest timeframe your strategy uses, and any time-based rules |
| Trade price | Open or Close | Whether signals come from completed indicators or from live price |
| Type | Intraday or Positional | Whether positions are ever held overnight |
| Expiry (positional) | None, Weekly, Monthly | When the strategy should start a new run |
There's also a notes box. Use it to record what each run tests ("SL 25%, 9:20 entry"), so you can tell reports apart later.
Date range
The range sets how far back the test goes: a preset period or custom start and end dates. Longer ranges test the strategy in more conditions, which is what you want. Two cautions:
- Contracts change. NIFTY's lot is 65 today and NSE's weekly index expiry (NIFTY only) is on Tuesday. BANK NIFTY, FINNIFTY and MIDCPNIFTY now have monthly expiries only. A test over older periods trades the contracts of that time.
- Data coverage differs by instrument. If your range starts before data exists for something in the strategy, Tradetron tells you when you submit.
Candle frequency
Candle frequency is how often the backtest checks your conditions. At 1 minute, a strategy is checked 375 times in an NSE session; at 15 minutes, just 25 times.
Fewer checks run faster but can put entries and stops at the wrong moments
How to choose:
- Find the smallest timeframe in your strategy. An indicator on 15-minute candles needs a frequency of 15 minutes or less. A strategy mixing 15-minute and 1-hour indicators also needs 15 minutes or less.
- Use 1 minute for time-based rules. With 15-minute candles, a 9:20 entry can't be checked until 9:30.
- Use 1 minute if you use LTP, for example in stop losses or targets on a leg, so the check happens close to when price actually crosses the level.
- Use full day only for strategies that work on daily candles and don't care about timing within the day.
Smaller candles mean more checks, so the run takes longer. For most intraday and options strategies, 1 minute is worth the wait.
Trade price: Open or Close
Trade price decides which price of the candle your trades are filled at.
| Your strategy uses | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Indicators on completed candles (moving average crossovers, RSI, Supertrend) | Open | The signal is known only once a candle has closed, so the realistic fill is at the next price available |
| Price action or LTP (breakout above a level, LTP-based stops) | Close | The decision is made on the latest price within the candle |
If you're unsure, run the backtest both ways. If the result changes a lot, the strategy is sensitive to execution, and you should expect live results to vary too.
Type: intraday or positional
- Intraday: every position opens and closes on the same day. Give the strategy its own exit time (for example a time-based exit or universal exit at 15:15) so the backtest closes positions the same way your live strategy will.
- Positional: positions can be carried overnight or for days. Choose an expiry setting too.
Expiry: None, Weekly or Monthly
For positional strategies, the expiry setting decides when the strategy's run counter changes, which is when one cycle of the strategy ends and a fresh one begins.
The Expiry option appears when Type is Positional
| Choose | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | You trade weekly options and want a new cycle after each weekly expiry | The run counter changes after each weekly expiry |
| Monthly | You trade monthly options or futures | The run counter changes after each monthly expiry |
| None | You trade stocks with no expiry, or a strategy holding several expiries at once | No run-counter change at expiry, so the strategy continues without interruption |
Pick the option that matches when your live strategy starts a fresh cycle. A wrong choice can end a cycle early (positions exited at an expiry they shouldn't be tied to) or carry state over when it should reset. If a strategy trades several underlyings or several expiries together, None is usually the safe choice.
A quick settings checklist
| Strategy | Candle frequency | Trade price | Type | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9:20 NIFTY short straddle, exit 15:15 | 1 minute | Open | Intraday | n/a |
| 15-minute Supertrend on NIFTY futures, held overnight | 15 minutes or less | Open | Positional | Monthly |
| Weekly NIFTY iron condor, entered Friday, held to Tuesday expiry | 1 minute | Open | Positional | Weekly |
| Daily-candle swing trades in a basket of stocks | Full day or less | Close or Open, by signal type | Positional | None |
Frequently asked questions
What candle frequency should I use for backtesting on Tradetron?
Use a frequency equal to or smaller than the smallest timeframe in your strategy. If the strategy has time-based entries or exits, or uses LTP for stops or targets, use 1 minute.
Should I choose Open or Close as the trade price?
Choose Open for strategies driven by indicators on completed candles, such as crossovers. Choose Close for strategies that act on price action or LTP.
What happens if I choose the wrong type?
The report will be wrong. A positional strategy tested as intraday is forced flat every day, and an intraday strategy tested as positional can carry positions it would never hold live.
What does the Expiry setting do in a backtest?
For positional strategies it decides when the run counter changes: after each weekly expiry, after each monthly expiry, or never (None). It should match when your live strategy starts a fresh cycle.
When should I choose None for expiry?
For stocks, which have no expiry, and for strategies that hold positions across several expiries or several underlyings at once, so the strategy isn't reset at an expiry it isn't tied to.
Why does a 1-minute backtest take longer?
It checks your conditions 375 times per NSE session instead of 25 times at 15 minutes, so there is much more to compute. The extra accuracy is usually worth it.
