Point format rules

[james]

I'm having trouble working out how the new point format rules perform.

My broker, Alpari, has a 2 point format for the index US500 (S&P 500), with a spread from 0.75 ticks:
http://www.alpari.co.uk/products/financial-spread-betting/index-spread-betting-specifications

If I place a rule in the point format rules box of
__US500 = 0.1[/quote:32qlor3g]
...the journal says
__TestGenerator: current spread 75 used[/quote:32qlor3g]
...and the screen shows this

I've tried several alternative settings, none of which come close to this, but even this doesn't seem right.

The correct rule, US500 = 0.01, gives a journal report of spread 75, and 75 on the screen.

Where am I going wrong?

Grateful thanks, as always!

......
Clipboard02.jpg

[fxDreema]

"TestGenerator" says what is the real format, the EA can't change it really, and this message appears before the EA. Inside the EA it uses this "0.01" format, but outside everything looks the same as without EA, and I think it's not possible to change that fact. Well, I never searched for a way to do it, so who knows.

This point format option is... if the word "soft" describes it? Calculations happens inside the EA so it works as it is with different broker settings - those that you prefer. The idea is also good because in this way the same EA can work in the same way with two brokers that have different point size for the same market... if my last words mean something

[james]

I found the answer. I looked at an earlier EA which worked correctly, created with an earlier version of fxDreema. The rule needed is __0.01 = 1.[/quote:bckkzvk3]

Don't know why this should be. Oh well...

[james]

Sorry. I was too quick to say I had the answer!

To reflect the broker's 2 point format, I have a point format rule in fxDreema of ___US500 = 0.01[/quote:2j89zwxg] However, this results in the tester journal saying __TestGenerator: current spread 75 used
[/quote:2j89zwxg] and the on screen chart showing __Spread: 75.00[/quote:2j89zwxg] The real spread from the broker is 0.75. Running the EA this way produces no trades at all.

As you know, in MT4 build 509, in the tester it is possible to set a spread value manually. So, when I manually set the spread to 2 in MT4, both the journal and chart agree with the manually set spread of 2. Running the EA produces 712 trades, and plenty of profit. The journal shows successful trades, thus: ___US500,M5: open #711 buy 0.92 _US500 at 1108.27 sl: 1107.50 ok[/quote:2j89zwxg]
I'm afraid I can't seem to work this out at all. What am I doing wrong?

However, I also wonder, is it OK to simply use the manual spread override in MT4 for backtesting, and not worry about the point format rules in fxDreema?

Thanks again,

James.

[fxDreema]

I can understand EURUSD better, so I will explain for it. You know all brolers say that their spread is lower than 2 pips, lower than 1 pip... whatever. In the same time they have 5 digits for EURUSD where if the spread is 2 pips, then it is 0.00020. Yes, this is 20 points, not 2 points! And the tester will say 20.

Normally for currencies 1 pip is equal to 0.0001. A point is something different, and note that MT4 does not work with pips, you will not see the word "pip" anywhere on it's interface! It says "points". So, this value 75 is the spread in points, and probably for this exact market 1 pip is considered as 100 points.

Set SL and TP with values you prefer, then try with different values in the point format until you got SL and TP at the desired distance.

[james]

Goodness! This spread / point format rules thing is driving me bonkers! I just don't seem to get it! Sorry!

The thing is, when I place a comment line 8 with ask()-bid() - you'll find it here: http://fxdreema.com/shared/7YieYVDDb - and run it on the US500 market, it says that the spread is 1 right now, but the tester says its 100: __TestGenerator: current spread 100 used[/quote:1imbawvk] The chart output says its 1 also.

Which is right?

Where does the tester get that line from?

Please accept my apologies for my stupidity!

[fxDreema]

Tester gets this from MT, this message appears before the EA is loaded, this shows spread in points.
I have something like this: http://prntscr.com/2pnhue
If I set "0.01 = 0.1" then I have this: http://prntscr.com/2pnie0

You can see that the spread meter shows something different, this is because it shows what is it after the "0.01 = 0.1" conversion. The tester says 25 poins, and in the comment section ask()-bid() confirms that.

Point format settings are there to trick the EA to do calculations in certain format, no matter what is the format that the broker uses. It does that for things like SL and TP, it basically adds or removes some 0 from the input parameters in the block.

[james]

I think I now have this - after much confusion on my part! Sorry.

So, for the benefit of anyone else doing backtesting, and searching this forum, this is what I've done:

Using Alpari, and US500 index (S&P500)
*
FxDreema: Project options => point format rules: 0.01 = 1
MT4 tester: set the "Spread" value to 85
[/list:u:2ps5mesl]

Running a short test over a week or so I've found that Alpari's average spread on US500 is 0.85 pips (85 points) - remember, its a 2 point format in use on this index on this broker. Therefore, the "Spread" value to use in MT4 tester is 85, although the result of ask()-bid() (which you can see by making a "Comment on Chart" block, with "Market properties => spread size" options) will say 0.85.

Hope this is helpful for somebody! And if I've gone wrong, please tell me!