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I discovered Optimax about 2 weeks ago.
Downloaded the free version and strated to play around with it.
Why? Mainly because I am a pure "automated strategy" trader and
simulations and optimizations in tradestation just cannot hack
it if you're into 1-10-100 million tests. With the free version
(which has certain annoying limitatons, but hey , what do you
expect for 0$?) I managed to mangle one strategy for 1 specfic
stock. I backtested it (limited to 5 inputs) no price
modulation. Than had it run for about 1 week on a daily basis,
generating TS orders, but NOT executing them yet. The results
were VERY promising. So finally I made the jump and ran it in
real time. I was sweating it out BIG time. Well, the first day,
my account ran up enough to pay 8 years of subscription fees to
optimax. Unnessary to say, that I've signed up. Now I have to
dive into the nitty gritty details.
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"Thanks for a great program. If you need any testimonials, let
me know. Myself and my trading partner are very impressed and we
are now trading with a program that has a pf of > 2 with 70%
wins versus losses and makes around 25% per month return."
J.P. Tann, Monteray, CA
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After reading this thread thoroughly and spending a few weeks experimenting with the Optimax free version, I subscribed to Optimax level 3 about a week ago. I have to agree with all in this forum who praised Optimax -- I really like this tool. It is saving me tons of time in optimizing my strategies, and has freed up a lot of my time for focusing on trading problems that require more brainpower, like developing new strategies. Some of my work with it also seems to be producing results from my current strategies that look more profitable and more robust than what I have been trading so far. If all goes well, I may begin trading an Optimax-optimized version of my main strategy as early as next week.
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OK...I tried the free version of Optimax and now took a
month.....well its a keeper IMO. Being new I didn't know I had to turn on
decimals places....so I used whole numbers by mistake in the system as I did not
see the true settings. and here's the funny part.....IT WORKED as it had hit the
zone :) Just wanted to say...Ken, great job on Optimax :)
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"I just came across this site
this morning and decided to try Optimax out, the fact that they
let you try a working version (although limited) was impressive,
straight away I was up and running and immediately saw the
potential. I have spent hours and hours evaluating my strats
trying to find the best overall settings and minimizing risk and
within half an hour I was able to see all that I needed.
Needless to say I called and registered and I am using it right
away. This is one of the most labor saving add-ons I have ever
seen so far and I want to congratulate Optimax, thank you, I can
get some of my leisure time back now."
Robert Berry, Bermuda
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"You
were so correct about utilizing the canvas to interpret
the parameters. THE CANVAS IS WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD. I
have found many instances where I must have been using
‘pointy’ tops in space even though I had previously
checked them on an Excel surface map. The proof is that
when I walked forward (or back) the newly derived
parameters, smaller draw-downs and smoother equity curves
were encountered. I now see why the key is to have a
n-dimension map.
"Great
job, keep up the fine work."
Matthew, Vancouver, BC,
Canada
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As a TradeStation
Open Platform
Developer for
the last ten years, I have constantly been on the
lookout for a program (or method) that would enable me
to perform more meaningful optimizations. It finally
arrived! Its name is Optimax. I am very excited about
it, and happy to spread the word about this
leading-edge product.
There are three key features of Optimax that grabbed
my attention. First, as an example, when a system has
many inputs, to try to optimize them all at one time
would be so many combinations, that it would take
(literally) years - even using a 2.8 GHz computer!
Because of this problem, in the past I have only been
able to optimize 2-3 (4 at the most) inputs at a time;
never all at once - as that was impossible. Now I can
optimize all inputs, at the same time, in a number of
hours. |
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Second, having day-traded for a decade (and having
worked closely with other traders), I know that it is
not
maximizing profits
that is the #1 goal of
most of us. Rather, it is to find a system that has a
“draw down” that you can live with emotionally. (It is
one thing to have a system that generates $10,000 a
month, but another thing to live with a 30% draw-down
every 3-5 weeks.) The feature in Optimax that sold me
on the product was that for a long time I had been
looking for a way to optimize an “equity curve,”
rather than net profit. Optimax does that. With this
feature I can determine the “emotions” that a trader
would likely have to live thru with a particular
system, or set of inputs.
Lastly, in optimization there is always a danger of
“curve-fitting” when you are optimizing over an
historic data series. Optimax has a feature called
“price modulation.” With this we have the ability to
cause the price series to change during the
optimization process, forcing each input to see a
slightly different price series. This reduces the
possibility of curve-fitting by the amount of
variability we inject into the price series. With
random walk price modulation, the data we use to
optimize is no longer static, which enables us to test
the adaptability of our strategy.
Whether you are a system developer, or writing your
first strategy, I recommend you take advantage of the
free test-drive version that you can download at
http://www.modus-novus.com/optimax/download.php
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Good fills, John Bonin
http://www.npafutures.com |
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"...doesn't the new graphing /
sorting / column adjusting BLOW YOU AWAY???!!! for what i
am using Optimax for; it doubles it's value..."
Jim Dowie, Palm
Coast, FL |
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"I
have been Beta testing Optimax for a few weeks now and I just
signed up to pay for it.
It's the best tool for Tradestation ever written. It blows
everything else away.
The interface is slick and easy to use. And the graphing of your
results is amazing. Not only that, the use of Fitness is so much
more easy with Optimax. They are programming in preprogrammed
fitnesses for you to use, such as the Sharpe Ratio (which I am
using now).
In two weeks I've gone from the Brut Force method of
Tradestation optimizing to using Optimax using the Sharpe ratio
to improve my results. Easily worth it...
The Latvian optimizer I have been using is in the dustbin."
Scott
Weiner, Fort Lauderdale, FL
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"I
was somewhat skeptical whether I could comprehend and run
a GA program given the many years that have transpired
since attending university. I was pleasantly
surprised that after about a 1 to 2 hour reading of the
manual I was well into my first optimization. Not
only was the manual easy to comprehend, the program
interface was exceptionally easy to operate. You
have really taken the laborious work out of GA
optimization and made it user friendly; so much so that I
can now concentrate on strategy development and analysis
rather than the usual inordinate amount of time spent on
the design and implementation of the optimization process.
More
importantly, I am now more confident that I am not
deceiving myself when beginning to trade a new strategy
thus avoiding unnecessary initial equity draw-downs.
I would
not hesitate to recommend your product to other traders
based upon my initial observations. I should also
thank you for the technical support that you have afforded
me since this is an important component for someone new to
the GA optimization process. Fortunately, you have
made the program so easy to operate, I doubt I will need
any more of your time."
Matthew, Vancouver BC, Canada
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"The automatic code
conversion feature will save me untold hours compared
to manual methods, and the results visualization features
are truly outstanding. The input-limited free version
offered an uncommon and
very welcome opportunity for me to become completely
familiar with the program at my own pace with no cost
or commitment. Before spending a dime, I determined for
myself the potential usefulness of genetic
optimization in general and Optimax in particular.
The educational value alone makes investigation of the
free version a slam-dunk for anyone who is has been
experiencing any degree of frustration with conventional
optimization. My hat is off to Modus Novus for both the quality of
this program and the way they've chosen to make it
available. Check it out folks, opportunities this good
don't come along often."
Steve Johns, Baltimore, MD
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| Ask us about Optimax today! Call
us at (410) 510-1021. Or if you prefer,
we'll call you so you won't have to pay any long
distance charges. |
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