In this tutorial, I'll show you how I backtest multiple timeframes at the same time.

You'll learn how to setup multiple charts and have them all run at the same speed while you backtest.

This is easy to do.

There are many software solutions that can do it, but it may not be obvious how to do it, if you don't know what to look for.

Here's what it looks like on my laptop.

As you can see, I have the Daily, 4-hour, 1-hour and Weekly charts open.

Having multiple charts running at the same time has many advantages, which you'll learn about in this tutorial.

If you want to learn more about backtesting in general, be sure to read my backtesting guide on how to backtest in any market.

Alright, let's get into it…

Why Backtest Multiple Timeframes at the Same Time?

There are many reasons that you may want to have multiple timeframes open at the same time.

I feel that most traders will benefit from watching more than one timeframe when backtesting.

First, when you have multiple charts open at the same time, you don't have to flip back and forth between the different timeframes to check things like pivot points, trendlines or support/resistance levels on higher timeframes.

This alone can save you a ton of time.

Another reason to use multiple timeframes is that you can take trades on all of those timeframes.

Let's say that you want to backtest the same trading strategy on the Daily, 4-hour and 1-hour charts.

Having the ability to take trades on all of those charts at once will be much faster compared to testing each timeframe individually.

Now, I've personally found this a little hard to do in the past.

But if you have Rules setup on each of your charts, then you can have your backtest pause every time a trading setup condition happens.

Finally, you can not only test multiple timeframes at the same time, but you can also have charts of multiple markets running at the same time.

I'll get into multiple markets in another tutorial, but for now, let's take a look at how to setup the charts.

How to Setup a Backtest With Multiple Timeframe Charts

I'll demonstrate how to do this with NakedMarkets because that's what I use.

But the process will be similar, regardless of which software you use.

This method also works in Forex Tester and other software.

First, open NakedMarkets and start a new backtest.

Select the settings for your backtest, along with the market you want to test.

Once you've finished the setups, you'll see a blank chart.

Now go to: File > Add new chart > [your current market]

This will add another chart.

If you want to add more timeframes, keep adding charts until you have all of the charts you want.

Then resize each chart so they all fit nicely on your screen.

You can also layer the charts if you want the charts to be bigger.

Now select each chart and change the timeframe to the one you want to display on that chart by clicking on the timeframe selectors in the toolbar.

You can see the timeframe of each chart in the upper left corner of the window.

Once you have setup the timeframes for each chart, select the timeframe that want to advance all of the charts at.

You can do this by selecting the Step timeframe in the toolbar, next to the Play button.

For example, if you select the 5-minute timeframe, all charts will advance in increments of 5 minutes.

Now click the Play button and the charts will move forward in unison, based on the timeframe that's currently selected in the Step setting.

To take a trade, simply right-click on any chart and enter a trade.

Since all of the charts are moving forward at the same speed, it doesn't matter which chart you take the trade on.

Your trades will appear on all charts at the same time.

It's usually best to select a low timeframe in the Step setting because that will show you the greatest level of detail across all the charts.

Doing this will also help you see what candles look like on the the higher timeframe charts, before they close.

Many times, traders don't wait until a candle closes before taking a trade.

This can lead to impulsive trading.

Watching a candle unfold will help you understand the emotions that you can potentially go through as the candles develop.

Alright one last thing…

You can add Rules to each chart to take trades or simply pause the chart every time your setup happens.

To do this, simply drag the Rule you want to use from the folders on the left, onto the chart you want to use it on.

Conclusion

Now you know how to do a backtest on multiple timeframes at the same time.

Using this method will save you a lot of time and help you find profitable trading strategies faster.

This can be done on many different backtesting platforms, so find out if your software can do it.

If your software can't do it, then consider using NakedMarkets.

It's what I use.

All that's left is to finish your first backtest.

Go for it!

The post How to Manually Backtest Multiple Timeframes at the Same Time appeared first on Trading Heroes.

If you want to create an automated trading strategy with Bollinger Bands, but don't know how to code, then this tutorial will save you a ton of time because you won't have to learn a complicated and confusing programming language.

Watch the video above to see the entire process in action.

This is the easiest way build an automated trading strategy that I've seen in my 15+ years of running this website.  

Once you have the basic framework setup, you're free to test different indicator setting, entry and exit ideas, very easily.

The text version is provided below if you're at work and you don't want your boss to hear that you're doing trading stuff

What are Bollinger Bands?

The Bollinger Band is a technical trading indicator invented by John Bollinger in the 1990s.

It consists of a moving average, combined with 2 complimentary lines, which are each typically 2 standard deviations above and below moving average.

This is what it looks like on a chart.

The setting of 2 standard deviations can be changed, as can the lookback period of the moving average.

A standard deviation is statistical measurement that shows how far a value has moved away from the mean.

Therefore, the Bollinger Band is generally used as a way to show an area of the chart that price likely to stay within. In other words, it's a regression to the mean indicator.

Since price action is likely to stay with in the upper and lower bands, there are several different trading strategies that can be created using these reference points.

This indicator is available on almost all trading and charting platforms.

How the Bollinger Band can be Used in a Trading Strategy

Like with any other indicator, there are several ways that Bollinger Bands can be used to create a trading strategy.

I'll give you one way that it can be used, but after you read this tutorial, you'll have the knowledge to invent your own strategies.

Start testing your own ideas because you never know…you might just come up with a new profitable way to trade with the Bollinger Band.

One of the most common ways that the Bollinger Band is used to take a trade is to buy when price touches the lower band, and sell when price touches the upper band.

Now there several different ways to handle the exit. But one way to exit is to target the central moving average.

Here's what that looks like on a chart.

Now that you know the general idea of the strategy I'll be showing you, let's take a quick look at why you might want to create an automated strategy with this indicator.

Why Automated Trading Strategies Rock

At this point, you can probably see that there are many different settings and rules that can be used to create a trading strategy with Bollinger Bands.

If you had to test all of these ideas manually, it would take a looong ass time.

That's where automation can speed up the process…dramatically.

Instead of taking days to test one idea, an automated backtest can give you a result in just a few minutes. 

Even if you don't build a fully automated trading strategy, partial automation can help you quickly test different entry, exit and trade management ideas.

Now that you understand the beauty of automation, here's how to setup your first automated Bollinger Band backtest.

The Strategy

The great thing about building a trading strategy around Bollinger Bands is that there are well-defined ways to enter and exit trades.

I'm going to be using NakedMarkets to backtest this strategy. It is the easiest and fastest way that I have found to backtest.

I like it better than Forex Tester.

To improve my odds of success, I think that it will be a good idea to enter a short trade when price closes above the upper band, or a long trade when price closes below the lower band.

Is that the best way to do it? I don't know, but you'll find out with me.

That's why we backtest. 

So here's my trading strategy: 

1. Go short when price closes above the upper Band and close the trade when price closes below the center moving average.
2. Go long when price closes below the lower Band and close the trade when price closes above the center moving average.

In theory, only trading a close above or below the outer bands should give me a better entry and more of a chance that price will reject that level.

But I could be wrong about that so that's why I need to test the idea.

Start with my example, then test your own ideas.

Step 1: Create the Core Rules

Since there will be different rules for longs and shorts, I'll have to create 2 different sets of rules.

The first thing I'm going to do is open Rule Manager in NakedMarkets.

Then I'm going to create a new Rule by clicking the New Rule button in the lower left corner of the screen. This also where the Save Rule button is, you'll need that later.

Now I'm prompted to create a new Rule. In this case, I'm going to create a Core Rule.

Whenever you create a new Rule, you should always name it in this format: 

[Trading System Name] [Rule Type] [Long or Short]

• Listing the trading system name first will group all of the Rules for the same system together.
• Since you cannot have Rules with the same name, including the Rule type will prevent that from happening.
• Finally, you want to have long/short at the end so it's easy to change after you clone a Rule. More on that in a minute.

So for this backtest, I'm going to name my first Core Rule: BB Stretch Core Long.

This Rule will look for the case where price closes below the lower Band.

Here's what this Core Rule looks like.

In this Core Rule, I'm looking for price to close below the lower Bollinger Band and I only want to take one trade at a time. This will prevent overloading on trades when there are multiple signals in a row. 

To set up the above, do the following:

1. Click the Add Criteria (+) button twice to add 2 more criteria. You should now have 4 primary boxes and 3 operator boxes. Click the Remove Criteria (-) button to remove criteria.
2. In the first box, click and drag Price Value > Close into the box.
3. Next, drag Operators > Less Than into the box.
4. Then drag Indicators > Bollinger Bands into the 3rd box. Keep all of the default settings, but select Down Band under Selected Value.
5. Drag Operators > And into the 4th box.
6. Almost done…then drag Account Information > Open Trades Count into box number 5.
7. Drag Operators > Equal into the 6th box.
8. Drag Price Value > Input into the last box. Set the number to zero.
9. Finally, click the Save button in the lower left corner of the window.

Next, duplicate the Rule to create the short Rule. Right-click on the Rule and select Clone Rule.

This makes it really easy to create a Rule for the opposite side of the trade.

Then right-click the new Rule and select Rename Rule.

Rename the rule to BB Stretch Core Short.

Double click on the new Rule to edit it.

Change the settings to the following:

1. Change the first operator to Greater Than.
2. Double click the Indicator Value and change the Down Band to Up Band under Selected Value.
3. Click the Save button in the lower left corner of the window.

Here's what it will look like.

That's it.

Now you have 2 Rules that will check for the entry criteria.

Let's move on to the Exit Rules.

Step 2: Define Exit Rules

Next, you have to define how the strategy will exit trades.

In this example, I'm going to close a trade when it closes on the opposite side of the central moving average.

My initial reasoning for doing this is that I feel that price is very likely to cross the moving average easily and thus close at a quick profit.

Exiting the trade on a close would also theoretically provide more profit compared to exiting the trade on a touch of the moving average.

Again, you can easily change this exit to test out different ideas that you have. 

So follow the instructions above to create a new Rule, but this time create an Exit Rule.

Here's what the Rule looks like.

Name it: BB Stretch Exit Long. 

To create this Rule do the following:

1. Add a criteria in the Exit Condition section by clicking the Add Criteria (+) button in the upper right corner of the screen.
2. In the first box, click and drag Price Value > Close into the box.
3. Next, drag Operators > Greater Than into the second box.
4. Then drag Indicators > Bollinger Bands into the 3rd box. Keep all of the default settings, but select MA under Selected Value. Make sure that the rest of your Bollinger Band settings are the same across all your Rules.
5. Under Actions, drop Actions > Close Order in the box.

Then clone the Rule and rename it to: BB Stretch Exit Short.

The only thing you have to change in the cloned Rule is Greater Than to Less Than.

Step 3: Create the Entry Rules

Alright, now you're going to create an Entry Rule that will utilize the Exit Rule you just created.

Make a new Entry Rule and name it: BB Stretch Entry Long. 

Here's how you set this up:

1. In the top box, double click the box and change the order type to Instant Buy.
2. In the left box, drag and drop Price Value > Last Swing Low into the box.
3. Change the Lot Size to 1 static lot. You can also choose to use a percent risk lot sizing.
4. Drag and drop the BB Stretch Exit Long Rule into the Exit Rule box.
5. Click the Save button.

Then clone and rename this Rule to create the short.

Just change the following:

1. Order type Sell.
2. Stop loss to Price Value > Last Swing High.
3. Exit Rule to BB Stretch Exit Short.
4. Click the Save button and you're done!

Step 4: Create the Setup Rules

Now I'm going tie all of the Rules together by putting them into a Setup Rule.

This is the Rule that I'm going to add to the chart. It will check the chart on every candle and see if the criteria for the Entry and Exit Rules are met and execute trades accordingly.

Create a new Setup Rule and name it: BB Stretch Setup Long.

Then add the following:

1. BB Stretch Core Long Rule in the top box.
2. BB Stretch Entry Long Rule in the bottom box.

Click Save on this Rule.

Then clone and rename the Rule and add the appropriate short Rules.

Step 5: Test Your Rule

Now you're ready to see this all in action!

Open a new backtest and drag and drop both the Long and Short Setup Rules onto the chart.

After you're done, you'll see the attached Rules are in the upper left corner of the chart.

The click Play on your chart and the backtest will move forward and execute trades.

Check Your Stats

At the end of a backtest, save the backtest by going to File > Save Backtest.

Then go to Statistics > Stat Center in the menu.

In Stat Center, go to: Source > Import From Backtest.

Open the backtest file you just saved and you'll be able to see a complete analysis of your backtesting session.

The results of this test on the Weekly chart was decent, but it has to be tested on more markets and timeframes.

Even if you get a negative result, don't quit just yet. The strategy might work much better in another market or timeframe.

Also try new indicator settings, exits and entries to optimize the trading strategy.

Speed Up Testing by Using Fast Backtest

Once your Rules are working as you expected, you can hit the “turbo boost button” by using Fast Backtest.

This is a fully automated process that runs without a chart display.

Go to Tools > Fast Backtest in the menu.

On the first screen, check the markets that you want to backtest and hit the Next button.

If you haven't downloaded historical data for all the markets, be sure to exit Fast Backtest and download the data in Tools > Data Center.

Select the timeframe(s) that you want to test and click the Next button.

If you want do a very quick test for the first time, select the Weekly (W1) timeframe.

Then select the 2 Setup Rules you created for this tutorial and click Next.

The final screen will show you which markets, timeframes and Setup Rules will be tested.

Click the Launch button to start the backtest.

Once the backtest finishes, you'll see the basic stats on this screen.

To see detailed statistics on your backtest, click the [Load Stat] link.

Fast Backtest will allow you to backtest multiple markets and timeframes at the same time.

Setup the backtest then go get some dinner.

When you get back, it should be finished.

Troubleshooting

There can be times when you make a mistake when setting up your Rules, especially when you clone Rules.

I've done it many times and it's nothing to worry about.

The easiest way to troubleshoot your Rules is to test them individually.

You can do this by creating a new Setup Rule. 

Then drag and drop the Rule you want to test into the criteria box. It doesn't have to be a Core Rule, it can be an Exit Rule or Setup Rule also.

Set the Action to Actions > Pause Backtest.

Save the Rule, then drag it onto your chart before your backtest.

Hit the Play button and the chart will pause every time the criteria is met on your chart.

This will allow you to see what each individual Rule is doing and diagnose errors.

Once you see what the issue is, go back into Rule Manager and change the settings.

Conclusion

Now you know how to create a fully automated Bollinger Bands trading strategy that you can use to test different ideas and settings.

It does take a bit of time to setup the Rules.

But once you have them setup, you can test different ideas very quickly, so it's well worth the time to create them.

I'm sure you'll agree this is much faster than learning a programming language.

This is a tool that I wish was available when I first started back in 2007. 

If you want to get a discount on NakedMarkets, go here.

The post How to Create an Automated No-Code Bollinger Bands Trading Strategy appeared first on Trading Heroes.

Welcome to another tutorial where I’ll be guiding you through the process of creating, testing and using Entry Rules in NakedMarkets to dramatically speed up your backtesting.

This is easy to do once you've gone through it from beginning to end, so let's get right into it.

The Benefits of NakedMarkets Entry Rules

NakedMarkets Entry Rules allow users to setup pre-defined trade entry parameters that can be reused every time a trade is entered.

These parameters can include the type of order, the stop loss, take profit, trade management and amount of risk per trade.

Once an Entry Rule is created, simply drag and drop it on the chart whenever you want to enter a trade or pending order.

This will save you a lot of time because you won't have to setup each individual component of every trade.

Entry Rules can also be used later if you want to create a semi-automated or fully automated trading strategy.

Now that you understand the benefits, let's get into how to set them up.

Create a New Entry Rule

To create an entry rule in NakedMarkets, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to: Rules > Rule Manager
2. Click the New Rule button located in the lower left corner of the window.
3. Choose Entry from the rule types.

Naming Entry Rules

When naming Rules, using the following convention streamlines the process:

• Strategy: Start by indicating the strategy name.
• Rule Type: Specify the type of rule, in this case, an Entry Rule.
• Trade Direction: Designate it as Long or Short.

In this example, I'm going to create a rule called “Swing Entry Long“.

Since every Rule in NakedMarkets must have a unique name, this naming convention makes sure that there are no duplicates and makes it easy to access and reference Rules later.

Now just to give you another example, if I created an entry rule for a long position based on a Bollinger Bands trading strategy, I might name the rule “BB Entry Long”.

Using the Rule Manager Window for Entry Rules

You'll now have a blank Rule.

Let's take a minute to take a look at the Rule Manager window so you know how to get the tools you need.

Here's how to use each of the areas that I've pointed out with arrows:

• Tabs: Allows you work on different Rule types at the same time.
• Existing Rules: A list of existing Rules that you can drag and drop into the current Rule (if applicable).
• Indicators / Operators: This is a list of all of the criteria that you can use in your Rules, including indicators, account information, operators, actions and more.
• Save Button: Be sure to hit the save button every time you make major changes, so you don't lose your work.

Configuring an Entry Rule for Long Trades

Now let's dive into the core of the Rule setup.

To change the settings in a dark colored box, double click it.

The grayed out boxes require you to drag and drop another Rule or criteria into it. 

This is how to setup this example Rule:

• Order Type: For an instant order entry, double-click the order type at the top and select Instant Order: Buy. This will reduce the number of inputs available because there won't be any pending order criteria.
• Lot Size: The default value is 1% risk per trade, so leave this default value.
• Exit Rule: Leave this blank because it's not needed in this case.

Configuring Stop Loss and Take Profit

The rest of the boxes require you to drag and drop an existing Rule or criteria into it.

For this example, I'll be using the last swing low and high as the stop loss and take profit, respectively.

Defining Stop Loss with Swing Low

For the stop loss, I'll use the last swing low as a reference, which the backtesting software provides with built-in criteria.

Here's a step-by-step guide:

• Go to Price Value under Default Rules in the upper right side of the window.
• Expand the folder by clicking on the “+” symbol next to the folder.
• Drag Last Swing Low into the Stop Loss box.
• Use the default settings and click OK.

Setting Take Profit with Swing High

Similarly to the stop loss, for the take profit, I set it at the last swing high using these steps:

• Go to the Price Value under Default Rules in the upper right side of the window.
• Drag the Last Swing High to the Take Profit box.
• Use the default settings and click OK.

Summary

Here's a summary of the settings:

Once you've configured the rule, save it and move on to the short Rule.

Configuring an Entry Rule for Short Trades

NakedMarkets makes it easy to create a new Rule by cloning an existing Rule and just tweaking a few settings.

So in this example, I'm just going to clone the long Rule and change a few settings.

Here's how to clone the long Rule:

• Find the long Rule on the right side in the User Rules section. You may have to expand the Entry Rules folder.
• Right-click the Rule and select Clone Rule.
• Rename the cloned rule by right-clicking the new Rule (which says Copy at the end) and select Rename Rule. Change the descriptor at the end to Short and click OK to save the new name.

Now you need to change the criteria to define a short entry.

Change the Order Type

First change the order type to sell by double-clicking the order type at the top and set it to Instant Order: Sell.

Defining Stop Loss with Swing High

For the stop loss, I'll use the last swing high.

Do this:

• Go to the Price Value under Default Rules in the upper right side of the window.
• Drag the Last Swing High into the stop loss box.
• Use the default settings and click OK.

Setting Take Profit with Swing Low

Similarly to stop loss, for take profit, I set it at the last swing low as follows:

• Go to the Price Value under Default Rules in the upper right side of the window.
• Drag the Last Swing Low to the stop loss box.
• Use the default settings and click OK.

Save the short Rule and now you're ready to move on to testing.

Summary

Here's a summary of the short settings:

Once you've configured the rule, save it and move on to the short Rule.

Testing the Entry Rules on the Chart

Now it's time to find out if your Rules work as expected.

Do the following to test your Rules:

• Close the Rule Manager and go back to the main NakedMarkets window.
• Start a new backtest by going to: File > New Backtest.
• You can use all of the default settings, but you'll have to select a market that you want to test your Rules in. Any market is fine.
• Once you have a blank chart, click the Play button in the upper right corner of the window to move the chart forward.
• Click on the Pause button at any point.

Here's where you can drag and drop your newly created Rule on the chart.

Expand the Entry Rules folder on the left side of the screen by clicking on the “+” symbol next to it.

Drag one of your Entry Rules onto the chart.

The software will automatically open a new trade because you set this Rule to Instant Order.

You'll also see a new trade pop up on the bottom of your screen under the Open Positions tab.

Check to see that the stop loss and take profit are set correctly.

If they look good, then click the Play button again to move the chart forward.

Price will either hit the stop loss or take profit on each trade.

Test both the long and the short to see if they are working.

It's actually really fun to do this, so feel free to drag and drop several times, just for the heck of it. 

Now if your Rules aren't working properly, go back into Rule Manager and find out what the issue is.

You can do this by simply double-clicking the Rule on the left side of the backtesting screen.

That will open the Rule Manager automatically.

Keep adjusting and testing until it works properly.

If you like what NakedMarkets can do and don't have it yet, you can get a discount here.

Rule Optimization

Obviously, this was just an example.

However, I think you can see how this can really speed up the manual backtesting process.

From here, start experimenting with different parameters:

• Change the stop loss placement
• Change the take profit point
• Experiment with the risk per trade

I'll explain how to create a more complex trading strategy in other tutorials.

But for now, just master Entry Rules.

Conclusion

That's all there is to it!

But this is just the beginning.

Entry Rules are great on their own, but they are even more powerful when used in conjunction with Exit Rules, Core Rules and Setup Rules.

Learning how to use all of the Rule types together will allow you to create partially or fully automated trading strategies.

Keyboard shortcuts will further speed up your order entry.

If you have any questions about NakedMarkets, be sure to contact their team via their forum.

That is the best place to get support.

The post How to Create and Use NakedMarkets Entry Rules appeared first on Trading Heroes.

One of the best things about NakedMarkets backtesting software is that updated historical backtesting data is included in the purchase price.

So you don't have to pay an additional monthly subscription fee to get data for the markets you want to backtest.

Downloading historical data in NakedMarkets is easy. I'll show you how to do it and give you a few more tips on how to get the most out of the software.

If you don't have NakedMarkets yet, be sure to read my full review.

Otherwise, here's how to download historical data.

Why Fresh Historical Data is Important

Many so-called “backtests” published online only test a strategy over a period of 1 to 2 years.

The problem with these tests is that they do not cover enough market cycles to be a valid test. I talk about this more here.

When you download as much historical data as possible, you'll have a greater understanding of how your trading strategies will work and will therefore be more likely to work in the future.

Updating your data with the latest information will also help you see if your trading strategy has stopped working.

So it's important to see both the old data and the newest data.

With that, here's how to update data in NakedMarkets.

How to Download Historical Data

Start by going to Tools > Data center in the menu at the top of the screen.

From there, you'll see this window.

Under the Symbols tab, check all of the markets that you want to download data for.

You can also select each individual market and change the Broker in the History section of the screen above, if you want to use data from a different broker.

Once you have set everything up, click the Update button to download the data.

The program will then show you which market(s) it will download.

Click the Update button and the program will start to download the data for each individual market.

Once the download has finished, close the Data Center window and start backtesting.

Add Your Own Custom Data

If NakedMarkets doesn't have the data that you want to backtest with, you can use the Data Import tab to add your own data.

Simply click the Data Import tab at the top of the Data Center.

Enter the symbol name you want to import the data into next to Symbol name.

Then click on the button next to the File to import field.

Select the file you want to upload from your computer, then click on the Import button at the bottom of the window.

If you have an issues with this process, be sure to contact their support team and they will be happy to help.

Conclusion

So that's how to get all of the available historical data for NakedMarkets backtesting software.

The great thing about NakedMarkets is that updated historical data is included in the one-time purchase price.

You don't have to pay an extra monthly cost, like with other software solutions. To see how NakedMarkets compares to Forex Tester, read this review.

If you want to get a discount on NakedMarkets use this coupon.

Get more NakedMarkets tutorials here.

The post Download Historical Data in NakedMarkets appeared first on Trading Heroes.

In this guide, I'll show you the most useful keyboard shortcuts I use and how to customize NakedMarkets backtesting software to your needs.

Benefits of Using NakedMarkets Keyboard Shortcuts (Hot Keys)

Keyboard shortcuts are also known as Hot Keys in NakedMarkets.

They allow you to setup keyboard shortcuts that are close together, so you can use access frequently used functions quickly, while you're backtesting.

Gamers use keyboard shortcuts a lot when they play video games, to gain an advantage over other players.

Windows and macOS have a ton of keyboard shortcuts to speed up what you do on your computer. I use them all the time and they are super useful. This is not a Windows tutorial, but this next video simply shows you the power of keyboard shortcuts.

You might even learn a few shortcuts that can be helpful while trading.

So in a similar way, using Hot Keys in NakedMarkets will help you speed up your backtesting because you can easily hit one key and execute a complex function.

As you'll see in this tutorial, you can actually do some really powerful things when you combine Hot Keys with Rules in NakedMarkets.

You can close trades, execute default trades and more.

Now that you know why you should use Hot Keys, let's get into how to set them up.

How to Change Your Keyboard Shortcuts

First, go to the menu at the top of the screen and select: Options > Settings…

From there, you will the the User Settings screen. Make sure that the Hot Keys tab is selected.

The Action that the Hot Key executes is on the left and the Hot Key on the keyboard is on the right.

To change the Hot Key for an Action, double click on the existing Hot Key shortcut. The text will disappear and “[Enter the key]” will appear.

From here, simply hit the key or key combination on your keyboard that you want to use as the shortcut for that Action.

You can use combinations like “Control + _____” as a Hot Key. I personally find this clunky, so I prefer to use single key shortcuts whenever possible.

Once you hit the keys on your keyboard, the new Hot Key will show up on the screen.

Now that you know how to set shortcuts, let's take a look at what you can do with these shortcuts.

Simple Shortcuts

Here's the complete list of Actions that you can create shortcuts for:

• Testing
  • Pause/Resume testing
  • Step back testing
  • Step forward testing
• Chart options
  • Zoom in
  • Zoom out
  • End of chart
  • Lines mode
  • Bars mode
  • Candles mode
  • Upper timeframe
  • Lower timeframe
• Graph objects 
  • Horizontal line graph object
  • Vertical line graph object
  • Trend line graph object
  • Segment line graph object
  • Rectangle graph object
  • Ellipse graph object
  • Triangle graph object
  • Fibonacci graph object
  • Text label graph object
  • Risk/Reward tool
  • Thumbs up graph object
  • Thumbs down graph object
  • Arrow up graph object
  • Arrow down graph object
  • Stop sign graph object
  • Check sign graph object
  • Delete selected graph object
  • Delete all graph objects
  • Show/Hide closed orders on chart
• Trading
  • New buy limit order
  • New sell limit order
  • New buy stop order
  • New sell stop order
  • New instant buy order
  • New instant sell order
  • Modify latest opened instant order
  • Duplicate latest opened instant order
  • Close latest opened instant order
  • Modify latest created pending order
  • Duplicate latest created pending order
  • Close latest created pending order
  • Close all instant orders
  • Close all pending orders
  • Close all pending stop orders
  • Close all pending limit orders
  • Close all orders
• Rules Management 
  • Use default buy entry rule
  • Use default sell entry rule
  • Detach all rules
• Windows
  • New backtest
  • Open backtest
  • Save backtest
  • Save backtest as…
  • Restart backtest
  • Reload backtest
  • Close backtest
  • Open statistic center
  • Open rule manager
  • Take screenshot

So as you can see, there is a wide range of things that you can do with Hot Keys.

Advanced Shortcuts

All of the above is pretty standard stuff.

But where NakedMarkets really shines is the ability to use a Rule as your default entry.

So whenever you use a Hot Key to enter one of the following entries…

• Use default buy entry rule
• Use default sell entry rule

…you can enter a fairly complex set of entry instructions.

These instructions would normally take a few seconds and a few mouse clicks to setup, but with Default Rules, this happens instantly.

So on the Rules tab above, you can choose the default rule that you want to use. You can use a separate rules for buys and sells.

For example, let's say that you want to create a rule that sets a sell stop entry below the current candle and a stop loss above it. On top of that, you want to set the take profit of the trade to 2R or 2X risk.

This is what it would look like on a chart. The green line is the sell entry stop and the red line is the stop loss.

The green area in the box shows the take profit.

If you had to setup this rule every time you entered a backtesting trade, it would take forever.

But with NakedMarkets, you can setup an Entry Rule like this.

So this rule will setup the trade as explained above, and it will take 1% risk per trade, and the pending sell stop order will expire after 3 candles.

Pretty cool, right?

Every time you hit the Hot Key for the default sell rule, this trade will automatically be placed.

Obviously, this will save a ton of time and you can finish your backtesting faster.

Learn more about how NakedMarkets Rules work in this video.

My Favorite Keyboard Shortcuts

Alright, let's get into what I use when I backtest.

I use my mouse with my right hand, so I program all of my shortcut keys for my left hand.

The “base” keys for me are A, S and D.

• S = Play/pause
• D =Move 1 candle forward
• A = Move 1 candle back

All of the other keys are selected around these keys, for easy access.

The other key I use most is “X” and I program that to “close all orders.” This closes all open and pending orders.

Beyond that, I'll program more shortcut keys, depending on the trading strategy I'm testing.

But all of the additional keys I use will be easily accessible from my base keys.

Now It's Your Turn

Once you know how to create keyboard shortcuts, now it's time for you to create shortcuts that make sense to you!

Remember, there are no right or wrong answers here.

Figure out what you like to use. 

You'll probably have to go through a few versions of your keyboard shortcuts, but that's OK. Keep refining your process until you have the perfect setup.

Conclusion

Keyboard shortcuts are just one of the many ways that NakedMarkets backtesting software is awesome.

It has features that I haven't found in any other backtesting software package on the market.

The best part is that you can test fully manually, partially automated and fully automated strategies…and you don't need to know how to program. Everything is “no-code” and the software features a drag and drop interface.

Never trust what others say about a trading strategy.

Always test it for yourself.

Learn more about NakedMarkets in these tutorials.

The post How to Setup NakedMarkets Keyboard Shortcuts (Best Settings) appeared first on Trading Heroes.

So there are zero retail brokers that provide real analytics.

I've been trading with Oanda for a long time, and they are great. But even they don't have advanced trading journal reports.

That means you're on your own if you want to get useful data on your Forex trading.

There are a few options out there to get third party analytics, but NakedMarkets is the best option that I've found for Oanda reporting. It automatically downloads the data, and you only pay a one-time fee for the software. 

Here's how to set it up…

Open the Stats Center

After you download NakedMarkets, go to: Statistics > Stats Center.

Setup the Connection

When the Statistics Center opens, go to: Source > Import from Oanda API…

Then this window will pop up.

In order to get your reports, enter your personal access token.

If you want help getting the token click on the “How to obtain the token?” link, or follow the instructions below…

To get your personal access token, open a browser and login to your Oanda account.

In your account, go to Tools in the upper left corner of the page and click on Other > API.

Then follow the instructions on the page to get your token. Copy and paste the token into NakedMarkets and click on the Connect button.

Once you're connected, you'll see a list of your accounts in Oanda.

Select the account you want a report from, then select the date range you want the report for.

If you want a report on all trades, check the Full import checkbox.

Once your trades are finished importing, you'll see the stats in the stat center.

The first page will show you the performance of your account, some basic stats, and a breakdown of your performance by month/year.

The next page will give you more detailed stats on your performance.

On the other pages, you can get data on:

• Symbol analysis: See your performance by symbol and long/short trades.
• Timing analysis: See a breakdown of performance, based on time of day, and days of the week.
• Risk analysis: See your risk of ruin and a breakdown of your MAE/MFE.
• Trades list: See a list of all your trades.

The final page provides a Monte Carlo simulation tool. This allows you analyze your trades and figure out how risky your strategy is and what your worst drawdown could be.

The Benefits of Using NakedMarkets as an Oanda Trading Journal

There are a few services out there that provide Oanda report integration.

But these are the reasons why I prefer using NakedMarkets.

Your needs may be different, so do your own research and find what works for you.

No Monthly Fee

The other services have a monthly fee because they are web-based.

With NakedMarkets, you pay a one-time fee for the software and you're done.

You own your reports and they get saved on your computer.

Easy Integration

As you can see from the tutorial above, it's easy to download your trading history to create a report.

You can get generate a report any time you want and the software has very useful tools and metrics.

Save your report for future reference.

Detailed, Yet Easy to Understand Reports

There are some trading journal apps that provide way too much data.

The thing I like about NakedMarkets is that the reports have enough detail, but not an overwhelming amount of data.

It's information that I actually use.

Monte Carlo Simulations

This is a big one.

Monte Carlo simulations basically mix up your trades randomly so that you can see the best and worst case scenarios for your trading performance.

Multiple simulations are run and the average of metrics like drawdown are calculated.

With this software, you can even randomly exclude trades to simulate you missing trades.

Running these simulations are key to seeing the worst case scenarios for your strategy. 

Backtesting

You may not be interested in backtesting, but NakedMarkets is great for backtesting.

It's easy to compare your live trading results in Oanda, to your backtesting results, to see if anything out out of line.

To see my review of the software for backtesting, go here.

Data is Saved on Your Computer

If you don't want your trading data stored on someone else's server, then I don't blame you.

Since NakedMarkets runs on your computer, your data is saved locally and nobody else has access to it.

On top of that, if you ever decide to cancel a web-based subscription service, you could lose all of your data if that service doesn't have a download feature.

Just be sure to back up your computer when using NakedMarkets.

The Downsides of Using NakedMarkets

There is only one real downside of using NakedMarkets, and some may not see it as a downside.

Other Oanda reporting solutions are online and can be accessed from a browser.

So you can get your reports on any computer.

Since NakedMarkets is installed on a single computer, you can only get your reports on one computer.

It's designed this way because it's primarily a backtesting software and it's hard to create backtesting software that works well in a browser.

In addition, you should backup your files periodically when using NakedMarkets because they are not automatically backed up, like with a cloud service.

If you absolutely need a web based app, then NakedMarkets is not for you.

Conclusion

So if you trade with Oanda like I do, then this is something that you've probably been waiting for.

There are a few trading journal options out there that allow you to get detailed trading reports from Oanda.

But the others have a monthly fee and the costs can add up.

NakedMarkets allows you to download your data and you also get a great way to backtest your trading strategies. In fact, it's my favorite backtesting software.

To give NakedMarkets a try, go here. They have a free trial, so you can try it before you buy.

The post Download Detailed Oanda Trading Journal Reports appeared first on Trading Heroes.