Should you build your own Backtester?
I recommend writing your own backtesting system simply to learn. You can either use it and continually improve it or you can find a vendor and then ask them all of the questions that you have discovered when you built your own. It will certainly make you aware of the limitations of commercially available systems.
What is a backtesting framework?
Backtesting.py is a Python framework for inferring viability of trading strategies on historical (past) data. Of course, past performance is not indicative of future results, but a strategy that proves itself resilient in a multitude of market conditions can, with a little luck, remain just as reliable in the future.
What is event backtesting?
An event-driven backtest often involves the use of a loop that iterates over time, simulating an agent that sends orders depending on the market signals. This loop based approach can be extremely flexible, allowing you to simulate potential delays in orders execution, slippage costs, etc.
What is backtesting a trading strategy?
Backtesting is the general method for seeing how well a strategy or model would have done ex-post. Backtesting assesses the viability of a trading strategy by discovering how it would play out using historical data. If backtesting works, traders and analysts may have the confidence to employ it going forward.
What is Backtrader?
Backtrader is a Python library that aids in strategy development and testing for traders of the financial markets. It is an open-source framework that allows for strategy testing on historical data. Further, it can be used to optimize strategies, create visual plots, and can even be used for live trading.
Is Zipline still maintained?
Zipline is maintained by the Quantopian engineering team, and we are quite small and often busy. Because of this, we want to warn you that we may not attend to your pull request, issue, or direct mention in months, or even years.
What data is used for backtesting?
The ideal backtest chooses sample data from a relevant time period of a duration that reflects a variety of market conditions. In this way, one can better judge whether the results of the backtest represent a fluke or sound trading.
How accurate is backtesting?
Backtesting is not always the most accurate way to gauge the effectiveness of a given trading system. Sometimes strategies that performed well in the past fail to do well in the present. Past performance is not indicative of future results.