AynRandFan 

Piersh, As my very first post here, I want to thank you for the exceptional effort here with this optimizer -- it's an incredibly valuable tool that you've shared here with everybody! I truly wish I had something equally cool to share with you.... If you ever come to St. Paul, Minnesota, the beer is ABSOLUTELY on me. An absolutely massive contribution. Just incredible.

thanks for your kind words. i hope it helps you find a strategy that works for you.

AynRandFan 

Piersh, please forgive me for what is probably a stupid question, but is there some easy way to test out a strategy in multiple time periods? For example, testing a basic moving average strategy for 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes... etc... all the way to 60 minutes, just as an example, --all in one long test? Again, I thank you for sharing this with everybody. I've been up the whole night (the past 2 nights!) playing with this thing... it's just awesome...!

not stupid at all - I have long wished there was a way to do exactly what you're asking for. but the Ninjatrader API is just too simplistic I believe that NT7 will support this, whenever that might be...

piersh 

ok, this is where it gets silly. v1.03 includes support for optimizing Enum parameter values. If your strategy has a parameter that's an Enum, then the right hand side of the optimizer options dialog will show a scrolling list of those parameters and the possible values that each one can have. check the boxes on the right next to each value to test that value. check the box on the left next to the parameter name to toggle all the checkboxes on the right. as always, please let me know if you have any problems.

May I ask you for a bit more discussion on how you create something like this? This looks absolutely incredible... it's probably something simple that I'm just not grasping here at 4AM, but some discussion on creating something like this would be appreciated by others here on the forum as time rolls forward... I have no doubt about it. Thanks again for this incredible tool, Piersh -- I've used it to prove (to myself) the incredible value of trailing stops (I'm honestly stunned at the merit inherent in trailing stops), as well as another concept that seemed so far away from me just a few days ago (the value of much longer-term moving averages, particularly with Renko bars); Renko bars don't have a fixed time in any case, but they do have a fixed range -- longer-term moving averages play very well with Renko bars, and it's pretty crazy to think about 60-bar trades when the time used for each bar is undefined in the first place. Your tool has really made me grasp the market in a much more profound and deep way. Anyhow, if you could elaborate a bit more on the post above, (which I will try and quote, here), that would be very cool. Thanks again.

AynRandFan 

Piersh, please forgive me for what is probably a stupid question, but is there some easy way to test out a strategy in multiple time periods? For example, testing a basic moving average strategy for 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes... etc... all the way to 60 minutes, just as an example, --all in one long test? Again, I thank you for sharing this with everybody. I've been up the whole night (the past 2 nights!) playing with this thing... it's just awesome...!

For optimizing with different time periods, why not using something like:

 

Code

Add(PeriodType.Minute, firstTP); Add(PeriodType.Minute, secondTP);

where firstTP and secondTP are parameters.
Then the optimizer can increment these parameters, that's it...

AynRandFan 

May I ask you for a bit more discussion on how you create something like this?

sure, first of all, make sure you're familiar with Enums.

now, if you expose a property on your strategy that is an Enum value, the optimizer will allow you to vary that property as part of the optimization.

for example, many of the indicators that come with NT have PriceTypeSupported set to true, which means you can change the dataseries mapped to the indicator's Input by changing the PriceType.

so... you can expose this PriceType property on your strategy, like this:

 

Code

[Category ("Parameters")]         public PriceType PriceType         {             get { return _priceType; }             set { _priceType = value; }         }         PriceType _priceType;

then you can pass this value into the indicator when you add it:

 

Code

Indicator.Indicator _ema;         protected override void Initialize()         {             Add (_ema = EMA (15));             _ema.PriceType = this.PriceType;             ...

I'm keeping a reference to the indicator locally, so I don't have to keep initializing it later:

 

Code

protected override void OnBarUpdate ()         {             if (_ema [0] > _ema [1])                 EnterLong ();             else                 EnterShort ();         }

now when you run the optimizer, it'll show the following dialog:



which allows you to choose which values of PriceType you wish to test.

hope that helps!

sam028 

For optimizing with different time periods, why not using something like:   Code  Add(PeriodType.Minute, firstTP); Add(PeriodType.Minute, secondTP);  where firstTP and secondTP are parameters. Then the optimizer can increment these parameters, that's it...

Won't work, the Add() method can not be optimized against. At least not by NT 6.5, supposed to be fixed in 7.

Unless piersh has a work around?

Mike

Thanks Piersh for this wicked tool.

I have a question if you don't mind. In the EMA example you provided, is there a way to also access a plot/dataseries and still gain control over the price type the way you have outlined above?

For instance...

Say I wanted to use the DoubleMA indicator which has a plot called "Signal". I would usually do it in the OnBarUpdate something like this, but I wouldn't have control over the pricetype...

 

Code

_dmaSignal0 = DoubleMA(1, NinjaTrader.Indicator.DoubleMA_internal_DMAType.EMA, 1, NinjaTrader.Indicator.DoubleMA_internal_DMAType.EMA).Signal[0]; if (_dmaSignal0 > 0) ...

But, if I defined it in Initialize() as you have, it would look something like this...

 

Code

Add(_dma = DoubleMA(1, NinjaTrader.Indicator.DoubleMA_internal_DMAType.EMA, 1, NinjaTrader.Indicator.DoubleMA_internal_DMAType.EMA)); _dma.PriceType = this.PriceType;

So, at this point, how would I reference the Signal plot that reflects the pricetype enum I want?

I tried a few things, but nothing seems to work for me.

Thanks

jackyd 

Thanks Piersh for this wicked tool. I have a question if you don't mind. In the EMA example you provided, is there a way to also access a plot/dataseries and still gain control over the price type the way you have outlined above? For instance... Say I wanted to use the DoubleMA indicator which has a plot called "Signal". I would usually do it in the OnBarUpdate something like this, but I wouldn't have control over the pricetype...   Code _dmaSignal0 = DoubleMA(1, NinjaTrader.Indicator.DoubleMA_internal_DMAType.EMA, 1, NinjaTrader.Indicator.DoubleMA_internal_DMAType.EMA).Signal[0]; if (_dmaSignal0 > 0) ... But, if I defined it in Initialize() as you have, it would look something like this...   Code Add(_dma = DoubleMA(1, NinjaTrader.Indicator.DoubleMA_internal_DMAType.EMA, 1, NinjaTrader.Indicator.DoubleMA_internal_DMAType.EMA)); _dma.PriceType = this.PriceType; So, at this point, how would I reference the Signal plot that reflects the pricetype enum I want? I tried a few things, but nothing seems to work for me. Thanks

you should be able to use

 

Code

_dma.Signal[0]

in your OnBarUpdate(), although I haven't tried that particular indicator in a while - i use my own that doesn't look as nice, but uses less CPU.

one cool thing you can do with DoubleMA is parameterize the MA types in the optimizer.

for example:

 

Code

Add(_dma = DoubleMA(_maPeriod1, _maType1, _maPeriod2, _maType2));

add corresponding properties in your strategy for those parameters and the optimizer will try to find the best set...

piersh 

you should be able to use   Code _dma.Signal[0]

that's what I thought too, but it won't work for me. I did these tests...

 

Code

double test1 = DoubleMA(30, NinjaTrader.Indicator.DoubleMA_internal.DMAType.WMA, 30, NinjaTrader.Indicator.DoubleMA_internal.DMAType.WMA).Signal[0]; // compiles OK double test2 = _dma[0]; // compiles OK double test3 = _dma.Signal[0]; // doesn't compile

with the _dma.Signal[0] I get an error that the

Quoting 

NinjaTrader.Indicator.Indicator" does not contain a definition for Signal.

I think I'm missing something obvious, but not sure what.

It's very cool though, can't wait to start testing with it.

jackyd 

Quoting  NinjaTrader.Indicator.Indicator" does not contain a definition for Signal. It's very cool though, can't wait to start testing with it.

ah! try changing the declaration of _dma to

 

Code

DoubleMA _dma;