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General instructions
Run the tester over the specified range of years. Available data
runs from 2003 through 2023 for most screens. You may
start at any month of the year, but other than January can only run
through 2022/2023.
Stocks are picked from the screens every holding period (between
1 and 120 months) and held for that period.
Instead of selecting from the available screens, you may choose to
enter codes from any of the backtesters to
create hybrid tests. Simply copy the link listed at the top of a run and
paste into the form. Also see the backtester code
guide.
You may give your backtest a name for convenience. If you use
this backtest code in other testers, its name will be shown instead of
a full description.
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Trading simulation
Start with an initial investment. You may also add more
money periodically. You can also subtract from the portfolio by adding
a negative amount.
Instead of adding or subtracting a fixed amount, you can elect to keep
the portfolio at a fixed allocation. This is useful for testing
costs without considering the effects of compounded growth, to see what
your money might do this year.
Normally, the stocks held in a screen are rebalanced on every
trade. You can also specify to never rebalance, which may allow one
stock to dominate a screen as it grows, or rebalance at a fixed interval
(which must be a multiple of the holding period).
You can pay a fixed commission (which is applied to every buy
and sell) as well as a percentage spread (half applied on buy,
half on sell).
Capital-gains taxes can be applied, both short-term and
long-term. Taxes may be taken out on every trade, quarterly, or
annually.
Screen rankings come out on Friday, and backtests are typically done
with the closing prices on the next Monday, one day after the
rankings. This lag between ranking and trading can be varied from
zero days (trade on Friday) and upward.
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Standard Backtest instructions
Select the screens to test, and the ranks to keep from
the stocks on all screens. Optionally pad (with cash) if there
aren't enough stocks.
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