Trend-Volatility Multi-Currency Portfolio Strategy with Risk Control

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Trend-Volatility Multi-Currency Portfolio Strategy with Risk Control

Last comment by - January 2018

Trend-Volatility Multi-Currency Portfolio Strategy with Risk Control

A trend-based strategy with profit target and RSI indicator achieved 1400% return in 10 years with 89% win rate.

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Trend-Volatility Multi-Currency Portfolio Strategy with Risk Control

Deval Keralia | June 2016

Hi,

So, using my initial framework, this time I tried a trend based strategy for trading which makes use of a profit target to exit and an rsi indicator for its entry. The strategy performs very well achieving a return of over 1400%. Starting with cash $2000 I end up with just over $30000 over a period of almost 10 years. It achieves a win rate of 89% which a constant amount of risk per trade. To balance the portfolio, I use a few symbols at a time. The strategy performs very well and with better indicators may perform even better.

It would be fun to discuss what other indicators may do and may perform even better.

Author

Deval Keralia

June 2016

Upvote

13 people upvoted this

Deval Keralia INVESTOR

June 2016

@Daniel Thanx for appreciating the strategy.
My risk control method takes into consideration the volatility of the market. To measure volatility it simply uses standard deviation. So if the market is highly volatile, the strategy would tend to buy accordingly so that it doesn't risk more than it is designed to. So, in this way no matter how fluctuating or unpredictable the market is you would never lose more than you tell it to but if it wins it could win big. This gives you the control on how much you want to risk per trade no matter which strategy you implement or how the market behaves. It is meant to give you more control over your losses. All of these calculations are made in the TradeProfile class.

I haven't faced any issues with the backtest. I think because the backtest is so big and it makes so many trades that it appear on a year by year basis. Just let it run it works well.

If you have more questions, feel free to let me know.

Upvote

2 people upvoted this

Joaquin INVESTOR

July 2016

Hi @Deval

I like how your strategy looks. So I am trying to mimic your strategy in LEAN environment. As I don't have an FXCM demo account, and I had to download several years of Forex history, and I did have an Oanda demo account, I used it to download history for EURUSD, GBPUSD, NZDUSD and AUDUSD.

I have not tried yet to backtest your strategy in LEAN through the whole period 2007 - now, but I have backtest from 2015 until now and my results are very different from yours, and I don't know why...

These statistics are from a backtest from 20150101 until now.

Maybe the history is different from FXCM to Oanda and I must adjust it before backtesting?

Any ideas?

20160704 13:52:41 Trace:: Debug: Algorithm Id:(TrendVolatilityForex) completed in 973,64 seconds at 2k data points per second. Processing total of 2.408.249 data points.
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Total Trades 47024
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Average Win 0,02%
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Average Loss -0,16%
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Compounding Annual Return -0,710%
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Drawdown 12,800%
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Expectancy 0.000
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Net Profit -1,068%
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Sharpe Ratio -0.004
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Loss Rate 12%
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Win Rate 88%
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Profit-Loss Ratio 0.14
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Alpha -0.001
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Beta 0.054
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Annual Standard Deviation 0.095
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Annual Variance 0.009
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Information Ratio -0.121
20160704 13:52:44 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Tracking Error 0.111
20160704 13:52:45 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Treynor Ratio -0.007
20160704 13:52:45 Trace:: STATISTICS:: Total Fees $1880,96

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1 person upvoted this

Joaquin INVESTOR

July 2016

Sorry, my fault. I've realized I had mistyped something, because I've rewritten again the whole CS program from scratch and now my backtest in LEAN looks equal to the one done in Algorithm Lab.

Just one comment @Deval , do you think this is a feasible strategy in real? I've seen all the orders are opened and closed in the same minute... Wouldn't we be under the terrible effect of the spread of these forex pairs in real conditions?

Upvote

Joaquin INVESTOR

July 2016

Sorry, again, my fault.. Orders were not opened and closed in the same minute, I was mistaken with the STOP MARKET orders, which are triggered just after launching MARKET orders.

I'm testing this strategy live in a demo account. I'll let you know thoughts and achievements.

Upvote

Deval Keralia INVESTOR

July 2016

Thanx Joaquin for taking time and reading my strategy. Yes maybe the FXCM and Oanda data is different. Also the fee structure for the two brokerages maybe different. You can tinker around with the parameters to adjust for it. The main focus here is he risk control model and the volatility framework and how it saves you from huge losses. The strategy that I am currently using is a very simple one. Maybe with a better strategy it may perform better.

I would love to know how your strategy does live on the market. :)

Upvote

Deval Keralia INVESTOR

July 2016

@daniel I have for a short time. It was pretty decent given how simple my signal was but my losses were minimal.

Upvote

Brian Pfistner INVESTOR

July 2016

Deval. I changed the starting capital to $20,000 and minimum trade amount to $1,000,000 and the results were dramatically different. Any clue as to why?

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Brian Pfistner INVESTOR

July 2016

Deval. I changed the starting capital to $20,000 and minimum trade amount to $1,000,000 and the results were dramatically different. Any clue as to why?

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1 person upvoted this

Deval Keralia INVESTOR

July 2016

Do you mean value of the 'minimum trade amount' or the 'maximum trade amount'?

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Brian Pfistner INVESTOR

July 2016

Sorry, Maximum Trade Amount

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Brian Pfistner INVESTOR

July 2016

Are you having any issues with the orignal settings you posted? Today I'm getting a lot of Runtime Errors 'Insufficient buying power to complete order'

Upvote

Jared Broad INVESTOR

QuantConnect | July 2016

The insufficient buying power errors are because you've increased the maximum trade size to $1M and there isn't enough capital to buy the portfolio of assets (5 assets x $1M would require 250x leverage). You should use a small maximum trade to keep the risk per trade small.

There is a genuine error though because one of the orders is less than 1000 EUR (minimum quantity for the brokerage). The fix is to set the quantity to 1000 if the quantity is too small in the tradeProfile.Quantity. This was caused by a recent fix to LEAN (previously trade was placed and ignored, now the trade is simply not placed so cannot be found).

public int Quantity
{
	get
	{
		if (_volatility == 0) return 0;
		long quantity = (long)(_risk / _volatility);
		if (quantity > _maximumTradeQuantity) return _maximumTradeQuantity;
		
        if (quantity < 1000)
		{   // The FIX
			quantity = 1000;
		}
		return (int)quantity;
	}
}

The material on this website is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy, or a recommendation or endorsement for any security or strategy, nor does it constitute an offer to provide investment advisory services by QuantConnect. In addition, the material offers no opinion with respect to the suitability of any security or specific investment. QuantConnect makes no guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of the views expressed in the website. The views are subject to change, and may have become unreliable for various reasons, including changes in market conditions or economic circumstances. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. You should consult with an investment professional before making any investment decisions.

Upvote

Brian Pfistner INVESTOR

July 2016

Thanks Jared. I guess the change also impacted @Deval's original model as
running that now has issues.

Upvote

Deval Keralia INVESTOR

July 2016

A quick update on my initial strategy. This time with some minor bug fixes.

1. Added a check for quantity and maximum trade quantity when they are below 1000 to avoid it being 0.

// Calclate the quantity based on the target risk in dollars.
        public int Quantity
        {
            get
            {
                if (_volatility == 0) return 0;
                long quantity = (long)(_risk / _volatility);
                //Check if the value for the maximum trade quantity is less than zero to avoid placing 0 value trade
                if (quantity > _maximumTradeQuantity)
                {
                    return _maximumTradeQuantity < 1000 ? 1000 : _maximumTradeQuantity;
                }

                return (int) quantity < 1000 ? 1000 : (int) quantity;
            }
        }

2. Added a check in OnData to see if all the tradeBars contains data while running. Previous implementation caused the program to crash on few occasions when the resolution was set to seconds since all the symbols may not be ready. The simple fix below fixes it. So you just wait until all the symbols have data.

public void OnData(TradeBars data)
        {
        	//Checks if the tradebars for all the symbols are ready and present.
			if (data.Count < Symbols.Length) return;

If any more bug are to be found in the future, I would be more than happy to fix them. Thanx to community for pointing them out.

Upvote

1 person upvoted this

Joaquin INVESTOR

July 2016

Hi @Jared, Hi @Deval,

regarding the "Insufficient buying power": I am testing the strategy in LEAN, with a demo account. Its balance is 99,000 €, and leverage is 50. I have RiskPerTrade set to 400, and MaximumTradeSize set to 100K. And I get lots of "Insuficient buying power". Sometimes I get 2 positions opened, even sometimes 3, but when these error emerges, even the stop orders are not always opened because the strategy "thinks" that it lacks buying power... Although only about 5% of leverage is being used.

I think there must be a bug in the code, but I haven't had the time to debug it... @Deval maybe you have some hint of what could be happening?

Upvote

Roberto Terpilowski INVESTOR

July 2016

I'm noticing the exact same issue using the paper trader. Orders can't be opened due to insufficient buying power, including stop loss orders. There have also been some wild swings in the portfolio equity from $100k to up to $200k and back down to $100k again. I'm seeing in the logs that there have been many orders with a size of 0 being submitted as well.

Upvote

Jared Broad INVESTOR

QuantConnect | July 2016

@Roberto, stops show as 0 order quantity until they are filled.

The portfolio value swings was a bug fixed on Monday/Tuesday. If you stop and start your algorithm you'll get the new version. You may want to do a fresh clone so the charts don't show the swings (so the chart axis auto scales zoom into your area easier).

Upvote

Deval Keralia INVESTOR

July 2016

@Roberto @Joaquin What brokerage are you using? What symbols are you using? Could you please post your algorithms here so I can debug them better? Looking at the code would help.

Thank You.

Upvote

Stefano Raggi INVESTOR

July 2016

Hi @Deval, sadly there is a bug in the algorithm that makes it "too good to be true" :)

The following line:

Securities[symbol].FeeModel = new ConstantFeeModel(0.04m);

should be changed to:

Securities[symbol].FeeModel = new FxcmFeeModel();

FXCM commissions are $0.04/$0.06 per 1K lot:
https://github.com/QuantConnect/Lean/blob/master/Common/Orders/Fees/FxcmFeeModel.cs#L44
so the original algorithm is only charging 1/10th of the real fees.

Upvote

Deval Keralia INVESTOR

July 2016

@Stefano I set a constant fee because my quantity sizes were anyways about 3k-4k. With the current fxcm fee model it was charging me fees even for submitting my stop orders which is not the case in reality. Fees are only charged when the order gets filled. since it was amplifying my fees for just submitting the stop order I kept the fee value constant.

Upvote

Stefano Raggi INVESTOR

July 2016

@Deval, with the current master code, no fees are charged for limit or stop orders, if they are not filled.

Upvote

Joaquin INVESTOR

July 2016

I have shared it with you. It's basically your strategy, with some minor changes, as I use Oanda as my broker. As you can see, backtests work ok, the strange behaviour is when trading live.

I know your strategy maybe would give better results with other setups (other indicators and different entries/exits), but I do like your risk mgmt and would like to try this risk mgmt with other already winning strategies.

Upvote

Jared Broad INVESTOR

QuantConnect | July 2016

Hey @Joaquin the Oanda data set isn't quite processed all the way! We're tidying up our FX data now and it should be ready for an Oanda market test / downloading within a week or two.

Upvote

Paul deauna INVESTOR

July 2016

cheers

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1 person upvoted this

Stephen Oehler INVESTOR

July 2016

Deval, if there was an award for well-organized code, you would win it :-)

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2 people upvoted this

Deval Keralia INVESTOR

July 2016

@Stephen Thanks a lot man. Much appreciated.

Upvote

Zhaohao Liang INVESTOR

July 2016

@Deval the fees is much lower than the live trade,please check the total lot and fee of a backtest result, it's a profitable stragery though, but the equity curve is no so smooth and the profit is lower.

Upvote

T. ubay INVESTOR

September 2016

Upvote

Paul deauna INVESTOR

September 2016

Cheers!

Upvote

Genorse Gilbert INVESTOR

April 2017

I am getting errors with this line of code from the clone above:

Securities[symbol].VolatilityModel = new ThreeSigmaVolatilityModel(STD(symbol, 390, _dataResolution));

and the error reads: Cannot implicitly convert type ...ThreeSigmaVolatilityModel to ...IVolatilityModel.

How do I properly cast that line of code so that they match? Thanks.

V/R,

Geno

Upvote

JayJayD INVESTOR

April 2017

Genorse Gilbert, the IVolatilityModel interface changed since Deval Keralia developed this algorithm.

Now you have to implement the GetHistoryRequirements method.

If you'll not use the algorithm in live mode you can just add the following code to ThreeSigmaVolatilityModel:

public IEnumerable<HistoryRequest> GetHistoryRequirements(Security security, DateTime
{
    return Enumerable.Empty<HistoryRequest>();
}

Upvote

Pongpanot Chuaysakun INVESTOR

April 2017

Upvote

Quant Stratege INVESTOR

May 2017

This algorithm is no more working, I got the following errors when I backtest :

Backtest Error: Error initializing algorithm: This may be because history is using fake data while pre-analyzing an algorithm for a backtest

Backtest Error: Error initializing algorithm: Calling this method on a Forex or CFD security will return an empty result. Please use the generic version with QuoteBar type parameter.

Could you please provide some workarround ?

Thanks for your help.

Upvote

Michael Manus INVESTOR

May 2017

hi, have you tried it with the changes mentioned above by jayjayd?

Upvote

JayJayD INVESTOR

May 2017

Yes, I made this implementation based in Deval Keralia work.

Upvote

Quant Stratege INVESTOR

June 2017

Still have same error at backtest init : Error initializing algorithm: This may be because history is using fake data while pre-analyzing an algorithm for a backtest

I have implemented interface GetHistoryRequirements has mentionned

Upvote

Jianwei Wang INVESTOR

July 2017

Got same error as Mat L.

ERROR:: Calling this method on a Forex or CFD security will return an empty result. Please use the generic version with QuoteBar type parameter.

Any Idea please?

Upvote

1 person upvoted this

Ryan Brickey INVESTOR

August 2017

Hi Deval, when I clone it I get the below build error: public class ThreeSigmaVolatilityModel : IVolatilityModel Suggestions?

Upvote

Ryan Brickey INVESTOR

August 2017

Hi Deval, when I clone it I get the below build error: public class ThreeSigmaVolatilityModel : IVolatilityModel Suggestions?

Upvote

Viann INVESTOR

August 2017

Hello I have this error : Build Error: File: Volatility.cs Line:27 Column:45 - 'ThreeSigmaVolatilityModel' does not implement interface member 'IVolatilityModel.GetHistoryRequirements(Security, DateTime)' What can I do ? Thank you !

Upvote

JayJayD INVESTOR

August 2017

Ryan Brickey and Viann, above I addressed the IVolatilityModel issue.

Upvote

Bauerjj10 INVESTOR

August 2017

Got same error as Mat L. and JianWei

ERROR:: Calling this method on a Forex or CFD security will return an empty result. Please use the generic version with QuoteBar type parameter.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Upvote

Sebastain Bugal INVESTOR

September 2017

JayJayD where exactly are you saying one should implement the code into to the three sigma volatility model?

Upvote

1 person upvoted this

JayJayD INVESTOR

September 2017

Sebastain Bugal, in the Volatility.cs file, you should add the following code at the end of the ThreeSigmaVolatilityModel class:

public IEnumerable<HistoryRequest> GetHistoryRequirements(Security security, DateTime
{
    return Enumerable.Empty<HistoryRequest>();
}

Upvote

Sebastain Bugal INVESTOR

September 2017

JayJayD

i am now trying to backtest and am getting the following error message"

Calling this method on a Forex or CFD or crypto security will return an empty result. Please use the generic version with QuoteBar type parameter

Upvote

JayJayD INVESTOR

September 2017

Check where you're using TradeBars and change it for QuoteBars.

Upvote

Sebastain Bugal INVESTOR

September 2017

how would you make this strategey tradable with a real money account

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1 person upvoted this

Mercado Electronico Dominicano INVESTOR

October 2017

Still errors adding:

public IEnumerable<HistoryRequest> GetHistoryRequirements(Security security, DateTime
{
return Enumerable.Empty<HistoryRequest>();
}

It is incomplete, looks like missing var after DateTime and the closing ")" Regards

Upvote

Quant Stratege INVESTOR

October 2017

I added quotebars but algo has not the same behavior

Upvote

Jared Broad INVESTOR

QuantConnect | October 2017

- This is a big reason why we added QuoteBars! They are really important in FX.

Upvote

Tad Johnson INVESTOR

October 2017

So you are stating that the previous successful results were due to not having small enough time segments under backtest? And we should always be using Quotebars in our future Algo's?

Upvote

Jared Broad INVESTOR

QuantConnect | October 2017

Tad Johnson - The initial backtest was done before we added Quotebar data; now all FX modelling is done with quotebars in the fill models. We maintained the "tradebar" midpoints algorithm helpers for backwards compatibility with old algorithms,

Upvote

Tad Johnson INVESTOR

October 2017

Thanks for clearing that up. I wondered why the backtests were different. Of course I'm coming from MT4 where backtests either don't work consistently or not at all = )

Upvote

1 person upvoted this

Ruslan INVESTOR

RS Software Ltd. | January 2018

Has anyone had luck with the ThreeSigmaVolatilityModel error?

It seems the following format needs to be used: IVolatilityModel.GetHistoryRequirements(Security, DateTime)

However I've been having trouble implementing it into the following part of the code.

public class ThreeSigmaVolatilityModel : IVolatilityModel

Any help would be appreciated.

Upvote

Ruslan INVESTOR

RS Software Ltd. | January 2018

Nevermind, it seems I was able to make it work by adding QuoteBars along with

        public IEnumerable<HistoryRequest> GetHistoryRequirements(Security security, DateTime dateTime)
		{
		    return Enumerable.Empty<HistoryRequest>();
		}

However it seems the backtest doesn't perform nearly as well anymore, and stops after September 2008.

Does this mean that it cannot be live traded anymore?

Upvote

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