Signal Analysis Page: Analysis by Trade

The Modify Field Dialog allows you to analyze and modify the properties of a field. The Signal Analysis page allows you to analyze statistics associated with an entry/exit signal.

&  For help with entry/exit signals, see Creating and Analyzing Entry/Exit Signals.

Analysis by Trade Sub-Page

This sub-page displays the simulation activity on a trade-by-trade basis. The following information is provided.

Ä    Note: By default, the information is sorted by date. However, the information in any column can be sorted by double-clicking on the field heading. The direction of the sort can be reversed by double-clicking on the field heading again.

·      Copy To Clipboard

This button will copy the contents of the entire grid to your Windows clipboard. Once copied, you can paste the values into programs such as Microsoft Excel.

·      Display In Window

This button will display the contents of this page in the Analysis By Trade Dialog. This dialog allows more detail to be displayed on your computer screen at one time.

·      Click To View

Each group of values in the display can be expanded and contracted by clicking on the heading. You can also open a group by clicking on "Click To View ". Once a group is open, you can sort any column that is displayed by double-clicking on the heading for that column.

Special Messages

The following message may be listed on the Analysis by Trade page.

·      Insufficient funds to enter new trade (see style).

This message is displayed when the equity in the simulated trading account is too low to enter a new trade.

Ä    Note: If your account still has money in it, be sure to check the settings on your trading style. Fixed position sizes or high margin requirements can result in trading to stop once the account reaches a certain level.

·      No trades generated in date range.

This message is displayed when no entry signals were generated during the specified date range.

Summary (Trades) Group

p    Start Date

This value is the date that the trade was entered on.

Ä    Note: This will not be the same date as when the signal was generated. Since signals are generated at the end of a bar, this date is typically for the bar after the signal was generated.

p    Position

This value indicates whether this was a long or short trade.

p    Shares / Contracts / Units (Currency)

This value is the number of units that were traded.

Ä    Note: For FOREX trades, this value is always in the base (first) currency.

p    %Gain

This value is the percent change in the value of the units being traded.

Ä    Note: For Futures and FOREX markets, this value indicates a percentage change in the value of the trade, which equates to a percentage change in the price.

p    Exit Reason

This value displays the reason the trade was exited:

·      Closed

This value indicates that the trade was exited due to the intraday time.

·      Exit

This values indicates that an exit signal was generated.

·      Limit Fail

This value indicates that the trade was not entered due to a limit price not being reached.

·      Margin Call

This value indicates that the trade was exited due to a margin call or due to the equity reaching zero.

·      Opp. Entry

This values indicates that an opposing entry signal was generated.

·      Re-entry Fail

This value indicates that the trade was not entered due to the criteria for re-entering a trade after a stop not being met.

·      Stop:Length

This value indicates that the trade was exited due to a length stop.

·      Stop:Loss

This value indicates that the trade was exited due to a stop loss.

·      Stop:Profit

This value indicates that the trade was exited due to a profit stop.

·      Time Fail

This value indicates that the trade was not entered due to the intraday time.

·      …

This value indicates the trade was still open when the end of the data was reached.

p    Bars

This value is the number of bars during which the trade was open.

Ä    Note: This value will be zero if the stop price was in the trading range for the bar that the trade was entered.

p    Price Chng.

This value is the difference between the entry price and the exit price.

Position Group

p    Start Value

This value is the initial value of the position when it was entered.

p    End Value

This value is the final value of the position when it was exited.

p    Change

This value is the difference between the start value and the end value.

p    %Change

This value is the percent difference between the start value and the end value.

Equity Group

p    Eq. Start

This value is the amount of equity in the trading account at the beginning of the trade.

p    Profit

This value indicates the amount of money gained or lost as a result of the trade (not including commissions).

p    Commiss.

This value indicates the amount of money spent on commissions for this trade.

p    Eq. End

This value is the amount of equity in the trading account after the trade has completed.

Ä    Note: If the last trade in the analysis has not been exited, the current value of the trade will be evaluated using the basis for equity, rather than the current trading value.

p    Eq. %Chng

This value is the percent difference between the equity at the start and the end of the trade.

Margins Group (Futures/FOREX Only)

p    Initial Req.

This value is the amount of maintenance margin required at the beginning of the trade.

Ä    Note: This value is not the margin required to enter the trade.

p    Initial Left

This value is the amount of equity left after covering the maintenance margin at the beginning of the trade.

p    Min. Left

This value is the smallest amount of equity left after covering the maintenance margin.

Max. Gain Group

Ä    Note: Values in this group are based on the trading value of each bar and do not take into account the high or low. Dollar values in this group represent changes in equity. Percentage values in this group represent changes in value of the position which equates to changes in the price.

p    Max. Gain

This value is the maximum increase in account equity from the start of the trade.

p    Max. %Gain

This value is the maximum percent increase in position value from the start of the trade.

p    Max. Loss

This value is the maximum decrease in account equity from the start of the trade.

p    Max. %Loss

This value is the maximum percent decrease in position value from the start of the trade.

p    Max. Drop

This value is the maximum decrease in account equity from the most recent maximum gain.

p    Max. %Drop

This value is the maximum percent decrease in position value from the most recent maximum gain.

p    End Drop

This value is the final decrease in account equity from the most recent maximum gain.

p    End %Drop

This value is the final percent decrease in position value from the most recent maximum gain.

Limits Group

p    Limit Used

This value is the entry limit used for this trade expressed in units or percent, as specified in the trading style.

Ä    Note: This value and the associated headroom are only available if an entry limit was specified in the trading style.

Ä    Note: This value will be negative for "large gap" limits.

p    Headroom

This value is the difference between the maximum limit and the limit used.

p    Max. Units

This value is the maximum units an entry limit could be set to while having this trade still occur.

Ä    Note: This value may be negative when the price gaps in the direction of the trade when it starts.

p    Max. %

This value is the maximum percent an entry limit could be set to while having this trade still occur.

Stop Loss Group

p    Stop Used

This value is the stop loss used for this trade expressed in units or percent, as specified in the trading style. It does not reflect the effects of a trailing stop.

Ä    Note: This value and the associated headroom are only available if this type of stop was specified in the trading style.

Ä    Note: Unlike Max. Gain, stops check the high and low to determine if they will be executed. Therefore, the values associated with stops may be significantly different from those reported for Max. Gain.

p    Headroom

This value is the difference between the minimum stop and the stop used.

p    Min. Units

This value is the minimum fixed stop loss in units that could be used while having this trade still occur.

p    Min. %

This value is the minimum fixed stop loss in percent that could be used while having this trade still occur.

p    Trail Units

This value is the minimum trailing stop loss in units that could be used while having the maximum gain still be reached.

p    Trail %

This value is the minimum trailing stop loss in percent that could be used while having the maximum gain still be reached.

Stop Profit Group

p    Stop Used

This value is the stop profit used for this trade expressed in units or percent, as specified in the trading style.

Ä    Note: This value and the associated headroom are only available if this type of stop was specified in the trading style.

Ä    Note: Unlike Max. Gain, stops check the high and low to determine if they will be executed. Therefore, the values associated with stops may be significantly different from those reported for Max. Gain.

p    Headroom

This value is the difference between the minimum stop and the stop used.

p    Min. Units

This value is the minimum stop profit in units that could be used while having this trade still occur.

p    Min. %

This value is the minimum stop profit in percent that could be used while having this trade still occur.

Stop Len. Group

p    Stop Used

This value is the stop length used to this trade. It does not include the effects of trailing stops.

Ä    Note: This value and the associated headroom are only available if this type of stop was specified in the trading style.

p    Headroom

This value is the difference between the high profit stop and the stop used.

p    High Profit

This value is the length of the trade at the highest profit.

p    Min. Trail

This value is the minimum length stop that could be used while still reading high profit.

Values Group

p    Entry Sig.

This value displays the signal that caused the trade to be requested.

p    Entry Price

This value is the price paid when the trade was entered.

p    Exit Sig.

This value displays the signal that caused the trade to be exited.

p    Exit Price

This value is the price paid when the trade was exited.

Ä    Note: If the trade is listed as Limit Fail, the exit value displays the closest price to the limit price.

p    Exit Date

Ä    Note: This will not be the same date as when the signal was generated. Since signals are generated at the end of a bar, this date is typically for the bar after the signal was generated.

Ä    Note: If the last trade in the analysis has not been exited, this value will display "…".

How Did I Get Here?

This is a sub-page of the Modify Field Dialog: Signal Analysis page.