Tickstory

Ok thank you very much for your precious help!

Only other two things:

1) Can i modified and save the ".mt4config" file changing the currency of my account (For example if my account is in EUR but i want to have all my future data download and backtests in USD)? if yes do i have to change only the "margin ccy" (first tab) or do i have to change the "base ccy" (the tab in the symbol properties) too?

2) Can i create a separate ".mt4config" file for each instrument including the right commision (as you shown) to load every time i download new data for that specific instrument or is it better to download all the data for all instruments in a "standard mode" (without changing account currency and without including commisions) and then modify and save every single ".fxt" file from the editor in Tickstory? in this second case how can i choose the correct ".mt4config" file and set it by default so i don't need to load it every time i want to download any data?

3) So do i have to set the spread in strategy tester even if i see the spread in "symbol properties" when i load the ".mt4config" file? This last one doesn't affect my Backtest and if i don't set the spread in strategy tester no spread is calculated in backtest ... is this correct?

thank you so much for your help
Luca Arrighini

Hi Luca,

You are very welcome. Further answers:

1) You can modify the .mt4config you like, however it's highly recommended that you ensure all the settings correspond to your broker. You might want to check out this post to get the exact settings coming out of your broker:

https://tickstory.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=809

This will allow you to see and copy the exact settings for your broker that the TickstoryExpertEA cannot acquire due to MQL limitations.

2) It's better to have a single .mt4config file for all your symbols which has all your broker-specific settings. That way, you are going to have the most accurate results for your particular broker. Note that once you have your .mt4config file, you can store it as "Default" and then you shouldn't need to touch it again for that broker.

3) The only spread field relevant is the one in the Metatrader Strategy Tester "spread" box. The other field in Tickstory->Export MT4 is not used at all by the latest Strategy Tester and therefore will not affect your results.

Hope this helps!

Hi Tickstory! With your help now i get 99.9% quality model and the spread issue was solved ! but ... i'm sorry ... i don't understand well the following things:

1) My Demo account is in EUR (The base currency is EUR) so when i load the ".mt4config" file generated from my broker EUR is set in the "Margin ccy" tab in Tickstory settings => Metatrader Info ... but i want to backtest in USD ... do i have to replace EUR and set USD in the same tab? do i have to do the same below ... in symbol properties "base ccy"? or not?

2)So you are suggesting to me to have only the ".mt4config" file generated from Tickstory EA ? not modify it and generate one different file for each symbol correct? How can i store it as "default"? i click "save" but every time i download new data i find the "Tickstory Generic 5-Digit Broker" settings as "default and i have to reload my broker file.

3)I set a wrong password (as you said) to avoid to connect to my broker but every time i launch the MT4 from Tickstory appears the window asking me for the password, is it correct? is there a way to skip this?

4) i downloaded data from 2008 to 2018 for some symbols but the MT4 loaded and did the backtest very slowly! ... do you suggest to download more smaller files (2008-2013 & 2014-2018 for example)? or is not this the reason for that?

THANK YOU SO MUCH

Hi Luca,

Good to hear everything is working!

1) In general we don't recommend editing these files without having specific information that matches a broker. The only reason why we provide the ability to set these parameters is because the EA cannot acquire the information. So, to answer your question: If you want to test with USD, download a broker terminal that has the settings you need and save them to your .mt4config.
2) You can modify the .mt4config that was produced by the EA - in particular, the commission and margin information cannot be acquired by the EA. If you use the method described in the thread that was mentioned (https://tickstory.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=809) then you can see all your broker settings and this should be used as the "source of truth".
To "Save as default". If you have installed Tickstory in the "Program files" folder, you will need to run Tickstory as administrator so it has permission to save the defaults in this folder. After that, it should automatically be loaded the next time you export.
3) Just cancel from the Login prompt.
4) The back-test will be slow depending on how your EA works since it is processing every price movement/tick. You may want to export smaller portions if you just want to do "preliminary" tests on your EA before doing more comprehensive/longer tests once you found the right settings. You can also "filter duplicate ticks" if your EA is not sensitive to removal of this data. This will speed things up slightly.

Regards.

You are very kind ! thank you so much ... one last thing:

I opened a Demo Account in USD for Backtesting with my broker as you suggested, but i have already installed the MT4 in portable mode and downloaded a lot of data.
Do i have to uninstall it, delete all data (the ".mt4config" file was taken from my Demo account in EUR and changed into USD), reinstall it and connect it to my USD Account, get the new ".mt4config" file and download all the data again? or does exist a simplier and quicker method for me?

thank you very much Tickstory.

Hi Luca,

No need to delete any config files - you can keep them and name them according to the broker you are using them and then "Load" them as needed. After all, you may want to see how your strategy might perform with a different broker (different commissions may make a difference, for example).

As for your new broker setup, you can take a short-cut by editing the FXT headers of the files you have already exported. It's a bit more advanced so if you're not sure what you're doing it's preferable to export your data again with the new settings. If you do what you're doing, you can edit each FXT file's information so it corresponds to your new broker info (as described in the "Getting MT4 Settings" thread).

Hope this answers your questions.

You were very clear and your help so precious Thank you very very much Tickstory!

You are very welcome - happy back-testing!

Tickstory i'm sorry but i have another question/issue:

if divide my backtesting period as you suggest to speed up backtesting time, if i export data from 2016 to 2018 and then i export data from 2012 to 2015 these last replace the first data i downloaded (from 2016 to 2018).
So is there a way to keep both so i can backtest a period (2016-2018) or the other (2012-2015) without download everything again?

Thank You
Luca

Hi Luca,

One approach would be to keep a couple of MT4 terminals separate for each date range you wish to test and swap between them. Typically, you may want to keep say 2016-2018 together and perform testing and optimization on this latest time range. Once you are confident of your settings, you can switch terminals to test the earlier date ranges. This also ensures you don't over-optimize across the entire historical date range.

Regards.