Backtesting

I am looking to back test some ideas I have but I have absolutely no idea what software to use?

I know Ninjatrader has a backtesting facility but I dont know if I will be able to utilise this feature for free?
I have little knowledge in this area so any advice anyone has would be greatly appriecated.

cheers
CR

take a look at tradestation

thanks, but i am trying to find out what options i hvae without paying for anything as i am not currently trading and running under a budget lol

CR

If you're trying to test a mechanical system excel will do the job. Not the easiest way of doing it but if you've got excel already it's the cheapest. Mind you, if you're going to work with intraday data you'll probably want to use excel 07 to make life a little easier.

Thanks, i was considering that so i might give that a try, i fear it might get complicated tho.

Have you attempted this yourself? Any tips?

CR

Aye. I use excel for all my backtesting. You'll find that a reasonable understanding of VBA will get you a long way; without it using excel for backtesting isn't really worthwhile.

If you don't currently have a decent level of understanding of VBA I'd suggest getting Ninjatrader and learning to use it. As far as I'm aware you only have to pay for it if you're using it for live trading.

As far as excel tips go I'd say use the OFFSET function liberally; it makes trying different settings for things like MACD, RSI etc. much, much easier.

For £100 you could purchase Amibroker.

It's not "easy" program but if you have an understanding of Excel formula's then it's relatively easy to learn.

I used Excel because that's what I knew, but I'm really glad I made the switch to Amibroker.

Cheers,
UTB

I use Metatrader and it appears to be free. You only get so many bars(10,000?) with the demo account - but that is enough to judge if something appears to be working - when I get something I am really happy with on multiple currencies with that data then I will look to back test it with more and see how much it costs then.