Forum Archive Index - June 2002

["trader 100" <trader_100@hotmail.com>]

I can't follow the help screens for optimising an indicator (eg RSI) for a 
particular stock in Metastock.

I have gone to the screen:

Entering The Optimization Variable

which contains the following:

1. Highlight "My First System" in the System Tester dialog and click the 
Edit button.  In all four trading rules, replace the "25" with "OPT1" (for 
opt
imization variable number 1).
2. Click the Optimize button.  The Optimization Variables dialog will 
appear.
3. Click the Edit button.  The Variable Properties dialog will appear.

We want to test the moving average from 10-periods to 50-periods, by five 
period increments (i.e., 10, 15, 20, etc.).

4.Enter "Moving average periods" as OPT1's description.  Type a Minimum 
value of 10, a Maximum value of 50, and a Step value of 5 (as shown in the 
following illustration).
5. Click the OK button.
6. Look at the Total Tests value at the bottom of the Optimization Variables 
dialog.  This value shows the total number of tests (nine in this case) that 
will be performed.  It's always wise to check this value after editing the 
optimization variables, as it is very easy to create a system that will 
generate thousands of tests.

7. Click the Close button.
8. Click the OK button at the System Editor dialog to return to the System 
Tester dialog.

The problem is that there doesn't appear to be any "My First System" in the 
System Tester dialog.

Can someone help me out please.

I would also appreciate advice on how traders go about optimising 
indicators.  How many years data do people back test on and how many years 
to people test the optimised indicators on to ensure that they are not just 
curve fitting?  I'm aware that Phaedrus has made some comments on these 
issues in the past so if you feel that this territory has all been covered 
please point me in the direction of the most relevant posts.

Thanks,

T100.



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