Backtests
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Running a Backtest
Positions

Overview

Every backtest position, at a high level, consists of a Name (optional), Symbol, Type, and Allocation:

Name (Optional): Used for display purposes in the results. If left blank, we'll generate a name that includes the symbol and position type.

Symbol (Required): One of the available symbols in the backtester

Type (Required):

  • Call Credit Spread
  • Call Debit Spread
  • Long Call
  • Long Iron Butterfly
  • Long Iron Condor
  • Long Put
  • Long Straddle
  • Long Strangle
  • Put Credit Spread
  • Put Debit Spread
  • Short Call
  • Short Iron Butterfly
  • Short Iron Condor
  • Short Put
  • Short Straddle
  • Short Strangle

Allocation Type (Required):

  • Fixed Quantity
    • Fixed/static number of contracts for every trade
  • Ratio Quantity
    • Provide a contract quantity for each leg in the position. The backtester will enter a trade using the exact leg quantities that you enter. You can enter any combination of quantities as long as the total order price matches the proper credit or debit for the selected position type. If you use a ratio for a Call Credit Spread, the resulting order price must be a credit. If you, instead, want a long call and a short call as a debit, you should start with a Call Debit Spread before setting up your ratio quantities.
  • Leverage Amount
    • Leverage relative to the account value at entry. This is calculated based on notional value of the position divided by account value. Example: Your backtest position is an SPX put with a strike at 4000. This put has a notional value of $400,000 (4000 x 100). If your portfolio is $100,000, and you want to carry 4x leverage, then the backtest trade would use 1 contract. This allocation will round (up or down) to the closest number of contracts at your target leverage.
  • Percentage of Portfolio
    • Percentage of the account to allocate based on total max risk. If your portfolio is $100,000 and you want to commit 50% of your portfolio to this position, then each trade will size so that approximately $50,000 is at risk. This allocation will always use your portfolio balance at the current time in your backtest - not just always using the starting balance. This will round (up or down) to the closest number of contracts at your target percentage of portfolio.

% Notional Reserved: This is only displayed when your position type carries undefined risk (ie: Short Call, Short Put, Short Straddle, Short Strangle) and allocation type is Leverage Amount or Percentage of Portfolio. If so, this percentage will determine how much of the position's notional should be set aside for buying power and thus total capital at risk.

Risk Cannot Exceed Your Account Balance

The backtester will never allow you to put on a trade with total risk exceeding the portfolio's balance at that time. This limit is on a per trade basis and does not account for risk carried by existing positions.

Bot for Comparison (Optional): Select one of your live trading bots here. If selected, the bot will attempt to match bot positions with backtest trades. If it finds a match, it will display that bot position info below the backtest trade in the trade list. This is only visible to you. If you share your backtest, other viewers will not be able to see your bot positions inside of the backtest.