Asset parameters 1 - profits and costs

Spread

Difference between ask and bid price of the current asset; by default taken from the asset list when offline, or from the current ask and bid price when connected to a broker. The trade profit is reduced by the spread. For using historical spreads in the backtest, set Spread = marketVal(); before entering or exiting a trade. For a backtest with no transaction costs, set Spread = 0. Spread is ignored for Options and futures that use the ask-bid spread of the selected contract. Spread is also ignored in binary trading mode (BINARY flag). 

Slippage

Simulated slippage in seconds (default = 5), effective in [Test] mode for entering and exiting trades and for entry and exit limits. Has no effect on contracts, in [Train] mode, in 'naive' Fill mode, or when Penalty is nonzero. Slippage is simulated by filling orders not at the current price, but at the most likely price after the given number of seconds. The price is estimated by extrapolation of the next candle. Different bar periods and bar offsets therefore produce different slippage, but of similar magnitude. The larger the Slippage variable, the larger is the price range and thus the fill price deviation from the current price.
   Slippage has normally a negative effect on trend trading systems, but can also be in favor of the trader, especially with counter-trend or mean-reversion systems. It is recommended to test systems with and without slippage for determining its effect on the result. Slippage at 0 disables extra slippage, but entry, stop, or takeprofit fill prices can still deviate from the given limit (see Fill algorithm). Setting Slippage to a negative amount simulates asymmetric slippage that is always in adverse direction. 

Penalty

Alternative fixed slippage in counter currency units, for special purposes (default = 0). Puts a 'penalty' on open and close prices of subsequent trades. Effective in [Test] and [Train] modes for entering and exiting trades and for entry and exit limits. Overrides the slippage simulation and the fill algorithm when nonzero. Positve penalty reduces the trade profit, negative penalty increases it.

Commission

Broker's fee for opening and closing a trade, taken from the asset list, in account currency units per 10000 contracts for currencies, per contract for all other assets, per underlying unit for options, or as percent of the trade volume when negative. The trade profit is reduced by this amount when the position is closed. Commission is automatically reduced by 50% for expired options (since fees are usually not charged for expiration), and is initialized to zero in binary trading mode (since binary brokers get their commission via payout, see below). When set in the script, it must be set individually for every traded asset. Commission is equivalent to an additional spread with a size in pips of Commission*LotAmount/10000/PIPCost for currencies, and Commission*LotAmount/PIPCost for all other assets. If a negative percent value is given (f.i. -0.25 for 0.25%), the commission of a trade is -Percent/100 * PIPCost/PIP * Price * Lots.

RollShort

RollLong

Daily rollover interest (also called 'swap') per 10000 contracts for currencies, or per contract for all other assets. Taken from the assets list when offline, otherwise the broker's current rollover value is used when provided by the API. The rollover is daily interest paid to or received from the broker for borrowing or lending margin. For instance, when you hold a EUR/USD long position, you receive interest from the broker for lending the EUR and pay interest for borrowing the USD - the difference is the rollover. Negative rollover contributes to the losses, positive rollover to the profits. As to be expected, negative rollover values are more frequent and greater than positive rollover values. For CFDs, rollover is usually trend compensating - for instance, upwards trending index CFDs get a negative RollLong for eliminating long-term trend profit. Rollover can affect the performance of long-term strategies and cause an asymmetry between long and short trades when positions are hold for several weeks.

Interest

Annual interest on margin loan, in percent; reduces the account balance in the simulation. Set this in the script when interest is not calculated per swap/rollover, but per total maintenance margin. Usual values (2019) are 1.5% for EUR accounts and 3% for USD accounts. The interest calculation assumes no rollover and equal leverage of all traded assets.

PriceOffset

Amount added to historical or live prices of the current asset, for special purposes such as shifting negative prices to the positive scale. Set it after selecting the asset, but before loading history for affecting historical prices. 

WinPayout

LossPayout

Payout in percent of the invested Margin for binary trading (set(BINARY)). Winning trades win the invested amount plus the WinPayout, losing trades lose the invested amount minus the LossPayout. The payout variables must be set individually for every traded asset. Spread and Commission should be set to 0 for normal binary trades.

Type:

var

Remarks:

Example:

Spread = 3*PIP; // ignore broker spread, set constant spread for performance calculation 

See also:

enterLong/Short, price, Stop, Lots, Margin, PIP, asset lists

 

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