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[amibroker] Re: Backtest using equity curve



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In his book "The Profit Magic of Stock Transaction Timing", J.M. 
Hurst proves that market movement is not random, and by analyzing a 
large "stable" of underlying instruments one could find excellent 
opportunities for profit each and every day.  The movement is not 
random but non-stationary because markets do not move without a 
purpose or a goal, they move because of an imbalance between supply 
(sellers) and demand (buyers) with the price tending to equalize it.  
However the outcomes are random, i.e, unknown and the probability of 
winning is undetermined, i.e., not a constant.  

Identifying persistent price patterns helps one to determine the 
dependance of the outcomes.  The existence of a pullback or a rally 
situation is dependant on the existance of a previous uptrend or a 
downtrend and so is the existance of a trend reversal.  What's real 
price movement in response to a clear signal and what's just random 
noise? Figuring out the difference is vital and according to John F. 
Ehlers in a recent article in S & C Magazine such a distinction can 
be important to trading. If one could avoid periods when the market 
has no clear trend (just enjoy being flat), one could avoid whipsaws 
and get cleaner trades. If one could identify periods that were 
filled with noise and no clear signals in either direction, one could 
also switch trading tactics to suit the situation, for e.g., day-
trading instead of position-trading. At the very least, one would 
know what situation one faces.

rgds, Pal
--- In amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "quanttrader714" 
<quanttrader714@xxxx> wrote:
> You guys are confusing randomness, independence and stationarity 
big time.
> 
> --- In amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Dave Merrill" <dmerrill@xxxx> 
wrote:
> > agreed. if the fact that a trading system did well in the past 
has no
> > bearing whatsoever on whether it does well in the future, how can 
we
> know
> > anything at all about the future performance of a proposed trading
> system?
> > 
> > dave
> > 
> >   The gambler”Ēs fallacy is a fallacy because the gambler ignores 
the
> > independence of the outcomes and looks for patterns that do not
> exist.  If
> > we have designed trading systems based on recognition of patterns 
that
> > precede profitable trading opportunities, and if those patterns 
are
> > persistent, then we no longer have random, independent outcomes.  
Our
> > trading systems do have serial dependencies and upward sloping 
equity
> > curves.  So analysis of the equity curve provides an indication 
of the
> > health of the trading system.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >   Howard


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