If there is already a top on this please provide a link. I searched for it but couldn’t find what I am looking for.
Is there an automatic way to test an indicator over a period of time? I.E. I would like to test indicator X over the last 5 years based on a certain stop loss and take profit. I am manually doing it now and it is taking forever.
It is quite easy to perform testing you are interested in since there are many tools intended for that purpose. You can choose one of the automated backtesters,set your indicator and test in on historical data provided by brokers (in most of the cases you will be able to choose it too). To my mind, the most comfortable solution is Forex Tester because it has all main features needed for such testings. It is also quite simlpe to use it due to the interface that looks like MT4. It allows you to set stop los and take profit levels, and also to apply custom settings for your indicators and even use your own indicators in addition to existing ones. By the way, as usual, it offers even wider dataset - you can find historical data for 10 years (for most popular currencies).
At the same time, manual testing could be also useful, especially if you are going to use your strategy manually - to check the impact of psychology. Backtesting gives you the effectiveness of the strategy itself, but sometimes the impact of trader`s psychology could lead to the results other than expected.
Thank you for the information.
The perfect way would be manual backtest. The main point of backtest is the information quality. You can’t see others result backtest just like that, some of famous ea almost do a deceiving backtest. 10 years? download chart history from your metatrader from a pair, and combine it with XeroIndode simulator.