Can difference in broker prices screw up backtesting?

Beginner Questions
1

I’ve been backtesting baseline indicators on Tradingview, using scripts to speed up the process. One problem is that Tradingview allows you to view charts based on different brokers (oanda, FXCM, forex.com etc.) and there are price differences between the brokers that seem to alter the success rate of different indicators and settings.

Sometimes the differences in winning percentage are fairly significant. For example, I’ve been using this script that backtests indicators based on NNFX rules. It shows that a backtest for the LSMA with a 90 MA length and 13 offset value has a 54.79% winning percentage on the daily chart from FXCM, but only a 51.87% on the daily chart from ICE.

Which one of those percentages is a more accurate reflection of the indicator’s performance? Should I make sure to stick to one broker when backtesting for sake of consistency, or is doing separate backtests across all brokers and then averaging out the results the only way to produce a reliable backtesting result?

1 Like
2

Hi, stick to the broker you want to open a live account with. Reagrds Greg

3

Hi LorimerStankins and ProfessorPips, I am a new NNFX adopter here. question about finding out which happens first: hitting 1xATR or 1.5xATR on the opposite direction. If I stay on daily chart and the high/low prices engulf 1xATR and -1.5XATR, how do I know which one was hit first? or I should use 1-minute chart to help me to find out more granular price? thanks!

4

do you still using tradingview?

5

Better off just doing it on the broker you plan to use

6

Their spreads differ and that affects the price at which your levels (entry, stop loss and profit target) will be triggered.