Frequently Asked Questions
This website contains a number of features that you may not be familiar
with (such as weighted basket totals, and the ability to directly compare actual
with hypothetical results), and some of the conventions that we
use are different from those used elsewhere (such as conservative account size =
five times margin), so interpreting the data may be confusing at first.
This page answers some of the questions that you may ask.
| Frequently Asked Questions |
| Question |
Answer |
| When results on Futures Examiner are compared with results from other
sources for the same system, the results are sometimes different. |
This could be due to different conventions being used. All our
results are net profit, net of slippage, commissions, and cost of the
system. Other sources may not include all these items, or may use different
values (e.g. for slippage estimates). We base our percentage results
on an account size of five times margin, but many other sources use three
times margin. Also, open equity at the end of the month might be
included in one source but not the other (we include it when feasible).
|
| The data in the basket total row sometimes seems inconsistent with
the data for the individual components. For example, the components may all
have an annual profit/loss of around 25%, and the basket total may have a
profit/loss of twice as much (or half as much). |
The following factors can influence the numbers in a basket total row:
- Some components may be for larger contracts than others. For
example, a big contract may be 5 times as large as a mini.
Therefore, in a basket with one component trading a big contract and
several components trading minis, the data for the big contract might
dominate in the basket total row.
- The basket total contains the weighted sum of the components.
For example, in a basket with one component weighted "10" and the
others all weighted "1", the component with the large weighting might
dominate in the basket total row.
- Percentage values for the basket total are based on the
User-specified account size, while those for components are
usually based on the conservative account size. For example, if the
User account size is only half the weighted sum of the conservative
account sizes, then the percentage profit/loss for the Basket total
would be twice as large as you might expect.
- Values for the basket total are based on the number of common
months for which every component in the basket has data. For
example, a basket may contain a component with a high long-term
average profit/loss, but all of that profit may have been made prior
to the common-months period, so the basket total may have a much lower
profit or even a negative profit. You can look at the multi-chart for
the basket to see this effect visually.
|
| Sometimes the Sterling ratio is negative, but the average annual
profit/loss for the component is positive. |
We use only the most recent three years to compute the Sterling
ratio. When the average profit/loss for the most recent three years is
negative, the Sterling ratio will be negative. This can happen even
though the overall average profit/loss is positive. |
| When Actual results are compared with Hypothetical results for
the same system, the results are sometimes different. |
Some reasons this could happen are as follows:
- The Hypothetical results may include Open Equity, and the
Actual results may not. This is usually the case for
swing-traders that we report, where the hypothetical results
are taken from a TradeStation report that includes open equity at the
end of each month, but the actual results are taken from a list of
completed trades and thus do not include open equity. In this case, the
equity curves for hypothetical and actual results should track fairly well
over the longer term when viewed on a chart.
- The version of the trading system may not be the same for the
hypothetical and the actual results, and/or the parameter settings
may not be the same.
- Different data feeds might be used for the hypothetical and
the actual results.
- A given trade might be absent from one result set but present in
the other. This could happen as a result of (2) or (3), and could also
happen if the broker's system were temporarily
non-functional.
- Actual results for electronically-traded contracts may be significantly
impacted if the trading exchange goes "down". In this case a
trade entry could be missed entirely, or it may not be possible to exit
a position that is open. For example, the Globex system has been known
to go "down".
|
Page last updated 2006-Apr-13
Caution:
Commodity trading involves substantial risk of LOSS, and is not
appropriate for everyone. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of
future results. Do not trade with funds you can not afford to LOSE!!
Disclaimer:
Information on this website is provided for educational and
informational purposes only. We do not endorse or recommend any particular
system(s) or broker(s). We endeavour to make the information as
accurate and meaningful as possible. However, we assume no liability for
the accuracy or integrity of data, charts, or other information on this
website, or for any use the user may make of this data. Much of the data
presented on this website is based on data obtained from other sources,
and we cannot guarantee its accuracy or integrity. Errors can and will occur.
If you notice any errors or other problems, please inform us as soon as
possible.
