Basically FuturesUnderstand it
Common failures include look-ahead bias, survivorship bias, unsuitable continuous-futures adjustments, excluding bad sessions, unrealistic fills and ignoring fees. When several rules are tried, the best-looking version often reflects selection noise. Preserve a written audit trail of each experiment. Use conservative cost assumptions and separate the development period from untouched data.
If a strategy enters at the low of a completed bar based on a signal only known at that bar's close, the historical entry is impossible. A test should model when the decision could first be made and a fill might realistically occur.
Watch for this misconception
Calling a simulation verified simply because it produced a smooth equity curve.
Describe three ways a perfect-looking backtest could be misleading, even with correct arithmetic.
Expectancy calculator ↗What is look-ahead bias?
Check the sources
Hypothetical educational examples. Verify current product specifications and rules before making decisions.