Forex trading simulator's Quick Start:
easy steps how to master backtesting

In this manual, we are going to show you the main and most important elements of the Forex Tester 4 interface. Once you have mastered this manual, you will be able to move on and learn more in-depth lessons.

Download Forex Tester and install the software.

The downloaded version already has 1 month of historical data on 16 currency pairs, as well as gold and silver, as well as 1 month of historical news for USD.

Working with Forex Tester 4, you need to do three things:

1. Start Test with default data.
2. Download more data to test custom time periods.
3. Create a project with unique settings and repeat step 1.

1. Click the "Start Test" button to initiate the test. In Forex Tester 4 the test starts immediately after the new project’s creation.
2. Click the "Pause" button to stop the test. To resume the test, press the button again.
3. Change the speed of testing by moving the slider to the left in order to slow and to the right for accelerating the bar's movement.
4. Move forward by one bar every time you press the "Space" key on your keyboard or click the "Space" button on the toolbar.
5. Scroll to one bar back whenever you press the "Backspace" key on your keyboard or clicking on the "Backspace" button on the toolbar.
6. You can change the time frame with the help of the special drop-down menu.
7. You can change the size of the tick package by clicking the corresponding drop-down menu.

If your current time frame is equal to the value of 1 hour, and the tick package size is equal to 5 min, then the program will have to change the price 12 times before moving to the new bar (60 minutes / 5 minutes = 12).

In Forex Tester 4 you can enjoy the variety of symbols added. Now you can choose between more than 900 trading instruments including stocks, indexes, cryptocurrencies, and futures.

1. Click the "Data Center" button on the toolbar
2. Highlight a currency pair and click the "Update from sever" button
3. Download the history fully or select the date range and click the “Update” button.

1. Click the “New Project” button on the toolbar
2. Enter the Project name and click “Next”
3. Choose the currencies that will be available within the project and click "Next"
4. At this stage you can make use of the following additional settings:
   • Add an automated calculation of the time shifting for a trading session you are interested in;
   • Apply the time settings of the New York Close or London Close in the case you trade in a time zone other than these sessions;
   • Choose “Forward testing only” mode if you want to check the real trading environment without the possibility to step back.
5. Click “Create”. Test will start automatically.

1. Go to the "Orders → New pending order" menu or click on the “P” button on the toolbar:
2. Click once on the drop down menu and select the required type of the order.

   Please note that limit orders should be used when you expect the price to reach some level and then bounce from it, whereas stops orders are made for breakthrough strategies. If you think that the price will go up, reach a certain point, and then resume the downward movement, then you should set a “Sell Limit” order. If you expect the price to go down and breakthrough the support level, then it is necessary to open a “Sell Stop” order.

   
3. Choose how to calculate the lot - manually or based on risk management. Note that if you choose a risk-based lot calculation, you should enter a Stop loss value.
4. Select the price at which the order must be opened.
5. Enter the stop loss and take profit values.
6. Click the "Place" button.

1. Go to the "Orders → new market order" menu or click on the “blank sheet” button on the toolbar:
2. Enter the stop loss and take profit values
3. Also, you can calculate the secure lot size based on the risk % (the Stop Loss meaning is obligatory in this case).
4. Click either the "Sell" or the "Buy" button.

1. Release the pause key or click the "Space" button on your keyboard or click the button on the toolbar until the price reaches the stop loss or the take profit, or until you decide to close the trade manually.
2. To close the order manually, double-click on the row of the desired order in the "Pending orders" tab in the lower left corner or the screen.
3. Click the "Delete order" button.

1. Release the pause key or click the "Space" button on your keyboard or click the button on the toolbar until the price reaches the stop loss or the take profit, or until you decide to close the trade manually.
2. To close the order manually, double-click on the row of the desired order in the "Open Positions" at the bottom left of the screen.
3. Click the "Close position" button.

To add an indicator navigate to the "Insert → Add Indicator" menu.

In Forex Tester 4, we got all indicators grouped by their functions.

To import custom indicators in the .mql or .dll format into Forex Tester 4, use the File → Install → Install New Indicator menu. Indicators in the .mql format can be converted into the .dll format automatically. After importing, you can find your indicators in the Insert → Add Indicator → Custom menu.

In Forex Tester 4 we have added the historical news service as one of the major instruments of the fundamental trading.

1. Go to “Data Center → News” tab in order to download the historical news.

2. The Update News from server button allows you to immediately update the news.

3. By default, the news displaying is enabled and they are represented at the bottom of the chart as flags. The color of the flag border (red, yellow, green) indicates the importance of this news.

4. To disable the displaying of news on the chart please use the right-click mouse button and uncheck the “Show news” item or use Right Mouse Click => Chart settings => Settings => uncheck the “Show news” option.

In order to analyze the test results, switch from the "Currency" tab to the "Stats" tab in the "Market Info" window that is located in the upper left corner of the screen.

To export the trade history to Excel, click on the tab "Account History" at the bottom of the screen, right-click on any line, and choose the "Export History to File" option.

In Forex Tester 4, you can also export the Profit chart to Excel.

Right-click on the Profit chart → choose the option you prefer in the open context menu (Export Equity to a File; Export Equity to Excel).

On the “Account History” tab you can see your profit and loss in points in the “Profit / Loss” line. For convenient viewing of the account history, you can use various filters by clicking on the "Show filters" button.

All the necessary information regarding each candlestick is reflected in the "Data Window" panel. This panel is located in the left bottom corner of the screen. You can see the date, time, open, close, high and low prices of the bar, which is hovered over with the mouse at the moment. In addition, you can see values of volume, indicators and the index of the bar.

1. Go to the "Testing → Strategies list" menu
2. Check the "Awesome EA" automated strategy
3. Double-click on the adviser’s name
4. Select the currency pair (in this case we need to select EURUSD)
5. Set the time frame H1 (Timeframe 60)
6. You can leave the default parameters for the lot size and moving averages’ periods
7. Click the "Apply" button
8. Check "Enable strategies execution"
9. Click the "Close" button
10. Click the "Start Test → Start testing” buttons

Make sure that the time frame of the chart corresponds to the time frame selected for the expert adviser (H1).

To change the indicators’ parameters and style right-click on the indicator and choose the “Edit” option.

The Expert Advisor will automatically open and close the trades using the rules of strategy.