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<FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Excellent post, Daniel!
<FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>
<FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>d
<FONT
face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----From: Daniel Ervi
[mailto:daniel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003
11:25 AMTo: amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxSubject: Re:
[amibroker] AmiBroker vs Wealth-LabSorry for the late
reply, but I missed this thread.I own both AmiBroker and Wealth-Lab,
and have used, and still use, both pretty extensively. Below are the
pro's and cons for each, based *on my usage* of them and their suitability to
my needs. Please don't flame me, as this is based on my perceptions, and
yours will probably differ. :)Amibroker Pro's:- Fast.
Incredibly fast!- Automation interface is very complete, and Plugin API is
excellent- Built in Composite support.- Great for rapid
indicator/system testing because of the simple array notation- The latest
betas have portfolio testing which is truly necessary IMHO- Excellent
support, with thorough answers within hours- The community following (this
list) is a great resource for newbies of both trading and programming- The
third-party addins add some really great features and most are free-
Tick-by-tick updates of indicators is great for monitor systems in an
auto-trading environment- I prefer the C++-style syntax over the Delphi
syntaxAmibroker Con's:- No Quote.Com support. I know
the developers API is expensive, but Quote.com is the only data provider to
supply > 120 days of historical 1 min data and unlimited symbols. It
goes back to 1997 for most stocks and indexes on a 1 min basis. I have
>10 gigs of 1 min data for the SP500 components at my disposal thanks to
Quote.com.- Limited drawing support. What is here is great, but
there are a few things that would make it superb. Being able to plot a
triangle or box would allow one to plot Gartley's or highlight trades with a
green or red box based on whether they made a profit or not, or maybe
highlight the opening range in orange until it is over. Changing
background colors would allow gradients to show a condition getting better or
worse. You get the idea...- No position management functions.
I find it harder to program systems when you rely on a simple boolean on/off
for entry/exit signals. In WL, once a position is created, you can use
position-based functions like PositionEntryBar() or PositionActive() or
PositionMFE() to loop through a collection of positions and apply simple
tests/exits to them. Multiple concurrent position systems are greatly
simplified this way as trade management is done on a trade by trade
basis. FWIW, this would eliminate the need for functions like
ExRem().- No native class/object support. This can be done via the
API, so it's not that big a deal. But for complex scripts (ie a native
AFL genetic algorithm implementation via includes) this would be a
life-saver.- No auto-trading interface/API. This for me is the
biggest reason I have WL.- Position Sizing algorithms needs to be done via
your script. WL allows you to separate the Positions Sizing from the
trade entry/exit scripts. This makes it easy to try various position
sizing algorithms without the need to change any code.- No built in
debugger (ie breakpoints, etc)Wealth-Lab Pro's:- Native
auto-trading with attached portfolio management. This was implemented
really well because of the attached portfolio, and I have used it with over 20
positions auto-trading at once on a 5 min timeframe. It didn't miss a
beat.- Rich set of graphics features. I have some pretty advanced
plots that highlight all types of scenario's during the trading day.-
Built in debugger, with breakpoints and the ability to look at variable
contents- API's available for most areas of the program, including a
broker interface- Language is based on Delphi/Pascal (OOP) and allows for
classes/inheritance/polymorphism/etc.- Ability to download new
"chartscripts" (systems, indicators, etc) via a menu option. This is a
great *built-in* repository for those starting out, or for those looking to
explore other ideas. Simply refresh the system by choosing "download
chartscripts" from the menu.- Position Sizing is a separate script.
Once you see the difference that position sizing can have on a strategy, this
feature becomes critical. You can apply any sizing strategy during
system ranking/optimization/portfolio simulations/etc. This can
dramatically change the results of these methods.- Custom optimization
fitness functions. You can program an expectancy function and use it as
your optimization criteria for example.- Full suite of position management
functions.Wealth-Lab Con's:- Slow. Molasses slow
compared to AB. If you have greater than 100,000 bars, forget about
it.- Indicators don't update on tick intervals. The last price bar
(aka ghost bar) does, but nothing else.- Plugin API is based on COM
(slower) and doesn't allow for native syntax-highlighting- You can't
import ASCII files to a faster native binary format. So every system
test you run has to re-parse the data, which can slow you down dramatically on
large datasets.- Simple/Rapid indicator and system development is slower
compared to AB. The Metastock-style array notation in AB is a huge
timesaver. There are wizards in WL3 to help with this, but I still find
the process cumbersome compared to AB/MS.- You can't auto-trade on less
than 1 minute bars. It would have been nice to trade the ES or NQ on
tick bars, but it can't be done yet.These are *my* impressions on
the two packages. I use AB whenever I need to rapidly test an idea, or
if I am trying to run a test on a large set of data. I then move to WL
to refine the ideas, apply position sizing, and then deploy them via the
auto-trading. So for me at least, the two complement each other very
well.Hope I don't stir up any trouble with this post. I just
wanted to stress that both packages have there place, and although AB is great
in it's current state, there is always room for improvement. Or else TJ
would have retired ages ago, right TJ? ;)DanielOn Mon,
10 Nov 2003 03:44:07 -0000, seneca_kw wrote:> I enoyed the recent
informative thread on AmiBroker vs Metastock.> I'd appreciate a
similar comparison with Wealth-Lab. I searched> the archive
but found no mention of WL.>> I'm not expecting a
point-by-point rundown, but for those who have> tried both, is
there one feature or another that really was a> difference
maker?>> Thanks,> Wayne>>> ------------------------
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