First and foremost, thanks to everyone out there who participates to make this an awesome online trading community. I have only just signed up for Elite, but have been a long-time lurker. I intend to introduce myself properly in the correct area and start participating actively.
So I am humbly asking for some advice as to the best way I can go about setting up Sierra as a stand alone solution for executing a stable of automated trading strategies (will route to Tradovate). A lot of these questions will be relevant regardless of platform, so I might post this in a more general area also. This is a long post, with a lot of big questions, so understand if you guys take one look at it and put it in the too hard basket. If you dont do that, you are a legend.
Anyway, if any of you guys can answer some or all of these questions, I would be extremely grateful. As far as automated trading goes, I am coming across from MT4, where I got fairly proficient at expressing my trading ideas (using an online EA building tool), however am finding it harder to put all the pieces together using spreadsheets in Sierra. Having said that, the more time I spend with it the more I am seeing how powerful it could be, if I had more skills in Excel (will be working on that on the side via DataCamp courses).
Ill try to break these questions down in a logical manner. Again, thanks in advance to anyone willing to give their time and help out here Im sure I wont be the only one who values your input.
1. What does your back-testing and forward testing process look like? Is there a more efficient way to run tests as opposed to using replay at 30,720 speed? I am using the standard data (CQG) provided by Tradovate for Sierra do you think I should be doing something better in this regard?
2. Does the speed of replay effect the accuracy of tests? I notice occasionally stops dont go in where they are supposed to and I take a big loss, that otherwise would not have happened. Is this a rounding issue? Is there a simple way to code in contingencies?
3. How do you work on system development (coding, testing, etc.) and allow live trading on complete strategies simultaneously?
4. I am developing a series of simple price based patters on time-based charts (with additional confirmations around volume/volatility etc.) what is the best way to set this up? A different spreadsheet for each pattern, all loaded on the same chart? Alert for each pattern and then use a Spreadsheet for Trading to act on an alert? What if I have different stop placement for each setup?
5. Does anyone have any experience with Simplesystemtradings Automated Trading Spreadsheet solution? Would you recommend it, or is the stock-standard version in Sierra flexible enough to do most things? Any other products/recommendations in this regard?
6. Can I run a stable of strategies, long and short, all working their own stops, on the same chart, and attach information regarding what the setup/trigger was for the trade, so I can analyse and review easily at the end of each day? FYI my current idea is to do a broker import into Edgewonk as it allows me to break down trades by type, and analyse individually and as a whole.
7.What are the alert capabilities of Sierra, in terms of getting a text and email every time a trade is opened
8. I would really like to build a few grids in a spreadsheet to track certain volatility and trend metrics across my traded instruments, over various timeframes. How can I best achieve this? Do I open up a spreadsheet with all the studies I need attached, and just find some blank space somewhere and build it right there or do I build it in excel/google sheets or whatever, and set up some kind of data import?
9. Further to the above, assuming I want to build 2 or 3 of these grids, what is the best way to do it assuming I want to have them all sitting there in view throughout the trading day, also assuming I will be working on other strategies/testing at the same time as live trading?