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- 10/04/2016 at 2:40 am #35931Alex @ Logical InvestKeymaster
How to install, launch, log-in, find your way
10/07/2016 at 12:56 pm #36057John LawsonParticipantI just signed up for QuantTrader. The only file I can open on my MacBook is the help file in PDF. I don’t see any instructions for downloading, opening and starting the other files. Please advise.
10/07/2016 at 1:13 pm #36058VangelisKeymasterHello John,
You should receive a welcoming email with the download link as well as your username. Please contact us for further help.12/02/2016 at 1:21 pm #36976mitchParticipantIn the most recent blog post, Frank discusses the changes to the bond hedge in many of the strategies. I agree that adding TIP’s and rotating bond sectors as a hedge makes very good sense.
Are you making the updated strategies available in quanttrader? If so, can you please update the quanttrader download page.
Also, my current version 301S, does not allow me to build strategies with 5% allocations. I have to set the allocation to a minimum of 10% else the program crashes.
Thanks in advance for your help!
01/01/2017 at 8:46 pm #37451John McGuireParticipantI purchased quant trader tool about 30 minutes ago, trying to log-in using my user-name and password for 1st time and am not able to log-in. Even after resetting my password.
Please advise.
Thank you!
01/01/2017 at 8:47 pm #37452Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHi John, thanks for your interest. Looking into it and will come back in some minutes.
01/03/2017 at 3:26 pm #37523awParticipantWith the QuantTrader Software, do I still need a signal subscription or are the signals easily accessible in the tool?
01/03/2017 at 5:27 pm #37524VangelisKeymasterThe Quanttrader subscription is all you need. It includes the All-Strategy subscription so you will have access to all signals online and via email.
02/02/2017 at 10:11 pm #38149jmadillParticipantQuick question to the team: if I were to subscribe to a sample portfolio (say the MaxCAGR Vol<7% portfolio discussed in Richard’s recent article), how many trades (buy/sell) on average would I need to execute in a given year? Just trying to estimate the commission fees I’d run up. Any rough estimate would be helpful.
Thanks for the very interesting products,
Jamie02/02/2017 at 10:27 pm #38151Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHi Jamie,
Thanks for your interest! Depends a bit on your account size, for example if running less than $50k I would drop the smaller allocations to some strategies (let´s day the 1-5% ones) and rebalance only if deviation to target allocation gets bigger than 5% precisely to reduce trading costs. As is I would guess about 120 transactions a year, but you can reduce it probably to half without impacting performance too much.
Use the Max CAGR Vol < 7% as template and built your own portfolio with the strategies you feel you can handle. Either in the online tool, or optimize your own mix with the Excel tool (on a rainy weekend). Also pick a good low cost broker with the tools you need. Interactive Brokers for example (and we´re really not affiliated!) has a rebalance tool where you see current % allocations by instrument, and then simply update these % allocations to the target (when needed due to allocation differences >5%). The tool will then create orders translated to shares.
This is what I mostly do, keeps cost down and speeds rebalancing up to 15-30 minutes.
02/17/2017 at 11:05 am #38449Gordon CooperParticipantHi Alex-
I just subscribed to a QT trial a few minutes ago and downloaded QuantTrader311S.zip from the Updates page on the QT forum. When unzipped I ended up with two files: QuantTrader311S.exe and QuantTrader.ini.
So I downloaded a small group of symbols and started the Strategy Backtester. It works fine, but none of the LI strategies are populated into the Portfolio pull down window of the Strategy Backtester or listed in the Portfolio Manager tool. Also there were no pre-loaded symbols.
I’m guessing I’m missing a file or two.
Thanks,
Gordon
02/17/2017 at 2:29 pm #38455Gordon CooperParticipantPROBLEM SOLVED
I figured out the problem- When I extracted the .zip files, I changed the default location and extracted them to a folder within “program files”. But when I extracted to the default “downloads” folder, all is good.
03/22/2017 at 9:18 am #39679LanemcParticipantGood morning, just getting started with Quanttrader and have a question. Looking at the #NASDAQ 100 hedged portfolio, it appears to take the Nasdaq 100 Meta strategy and combine it with a hedge. I noticed that if I run the 100 hedged it selects 4 stocks, AAPL, MU NVDA amd SYMC. However, the current positions in the NASDAQ 100 Meta are NVDA, MU STX and WDC.
Not sure this real critical but it is a confusion factor for me. comments?
03/22/2017 at 3:54 pm #39683Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterYou will find two Nasdaq strategies, the simple one corresponds to the signals we publish, the hedged one you mention is an extra for QT subscribers.
03/24/2017 at 8:34 am #39725Frank GrossmannParticipantI think you reference to the “current allocation” window. This is in fact the allocation as calculated for the last available close. The one we publish is the allocation calculated with the last months close. The calculated allocations can change within the month, but it does not make sense to follow these changes in your portfolio. Rebalancing once per month gives better results.
03/30/2017 at 2:22 pm #39984Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterA recently added feature which is very handy, but probably we´ve not highlighted enough is the option to pull intraday prices into QT.
Why is this handy? Because it allows you to execute your rebalancing at-close with “fresh” intraday strategy signals.
For example tomorrow, March 31st, 2017, you can refresh intraday prices at 2pm EST, and comfortably execute before close of the markets – and relax over the weekend, while we cut signals for our non-QT subscribers.
Here a short instruction:
1) Open QuantTrader
2) Reload the Historical Data
3) Verify the intraday prices in the “Show Stock Data” window of the Trader window.
4) If you like, compare to Yahoo Finance prices.Your strategy signals now consider the last intraday prices.
Warm and cozy feeling – powered by Logical Invest!
All the best,
Alex07/28/2017 at 8:33 am #44139ben123789ParticipantHi All, I’m new to LI and haven’t had the chance to review the QuantTrader software yet. I’m wondering if that software can give a more up to date signals for all the quant strategies provided here? Other than the prices and the corresponding quantities, I was told that the signals provided on the online consolidated tool are updated only once or twice a month but I’d like to find a more real time signal if possible. Thanks.
EDIT: it seems that my question might’ve already been addressed by the posting above this one.
08/14/2017 at 4:20 am #44590Petr TrauškeParticipantHello Alex,
where can I set leverage in Quant Trader? Usually I am trading with leverage 1:2. I am using your strategies and I am creating multistrategies from them. Have I to set it for each ETF individually or it is a way to set leverage for all strategies?Best regards
Petr
08/16/2017 at 5:03 am #44652Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHi Petr,
there is no direct way to set leverage in QT. Easiest is to upscale the allocations outside QT before doing your rebalancing.
For example, if you´re using strategy A with 60%, B with 80% and C with 60% (total 200%), then you´d use 30%, 40% and 30% in QuantTrader (or let QT decide dynamic allocations), and double the allocations at ETF level before rebalancing.
08/21/2017 at 9:06 pm #44791MarkParticipantHello Alex, would it be possible to publish the QuantTrader setting for all of the base LI strategies similar to what Tom Gnade published in his excellent Morpheus paper? As I’ve worked in QT, I’ve changed the settings on some of the base strategies and cant figure out a good way to get back without reloading and starting over. If there’s an easy way to get back, perhaps you could point me in the right direction. Thanks for the help
Best regards, Mark
08/24/2017 at 4:11 pm #44862Tanner DanceParticipantI am curious if any one else is having the same issue as me. I have 3 different equity strategies and one bond strategy. I would like to backtest a combination of all four strategies with the model rotating between 3 of the four strategies but always be at least 50% invested in the bond strategy. When i click on components in the portfolio manager and go to min allocation for the bond strategy I put in 50% but this does not hold true in the back tester.
Does anyone know why or how to fix this?
08/24/2017 at 4:19 pm #44865Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHi Tanner,
pretty impressive list of custom strategies in your screenshot, congrats! Did you yet hear about our “Post One – Get 10 back from the community” promotion?
Sounds simple, but can you try activating the check box at the min 50% allocation? Normally this option works like a charm. Or pls send me your ini file by email to see in detail.
08/24/2017 at 4:22 pm #44866Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHi Mark, simply download a fresh QuantTrader install and look at the setting and the included ini file. These include always the current parameter settings for all of our strategies. You can always keep different QT configurations and ini files in separate folders, e.g. one as playground, one for final testing and one for “production”.
Hope this helps
08/25/2017 at 3:41 pm #44887Tanner DanceParticipantHey Alex
I tried to click the check mark but it still does not work. When I click the check mark I click save and then see if it has updated on the backtester. After checking the backtester I open up portfolio manager again to see if the “Min Allocation” box is still checked and it is not.
Any idea why it is not saving? Even when I click save.
Thanks
08/28/2017 at 2:46 pm #44956Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterYes, seems to be a technical glitch in recent version, worked fine in all V30x, so please try this one – but might encounter issues due to later implemented functionalities you´d be using.
10/28/2017 at 6:49 pm #47005MarkParticipantOn the main portfolio screen under Allocations, what is the difference between the Actual & Invested tabs? The Alloc. % changes with the tab.
Thanks
11/01/2017 at 9:59 pm #47208Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterThe “Invested” tab is the past allocation, e.g. from last rebalancing. The “Actual” is the current, a.g. as you would rebalance if today was rebalancing day.
02/16/2018 at 4:04 pm #50178Gordon CooperParticipantOPTIMIZING MEAN REVERSION VALUES FOR EQUITIES
Hi All-
I haven’t seen much forum discussion on the QuantTrader settings MEAN REVERSION WEIGHT and MEAN REVERSION PERIOD.
These two items have a huge impact on strategy performance. I have tried optimizing strategies using several different combinations of reversion weight and period. Some of the reversion combinations I have used are: 0.00 & 0.00, -50 & 3, -100 & 7, -200 & 15, -300 & 20 and -400 & 20, where the first number is Weight and the second is Period.
1) is there any way to have QT optimize the Mead Reversion factors?
2) if not, what setting combos do you suggest I try for equity strategies?Regards,
Gordon
02/18/2018 at 2:57 am #50216Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHello Gordon,
our strategies are mainly based on the modified sharpe ratio, e.g. return and volatility. Mean reversion is so far rather an add-on to catch short-term price action reversals. Interesting enough, it works both for positive and negative weights, e.g. subtracting short term “over-shoots” that might revert to the mean, but also adding short term “under-valued” which might pick-up again.
So you see how it works, the formulae is simplified: Sm = (Rl + (MRw * Rp)) / V ˄ f, where MRw is mean reversion weight, Rp the return during the mean reversion period.
To your question:
1) Currently these variables are not considered in the optimization, and probably adding them would considerably slow down the brute-force optimization, so not on the to-do list for now
2) I normally use only short term periods, e.g. 2 to max 6 days, depending on the overall lookback period. Weights mostly +100 or -100.Honestly never tried bigger values like +/-300 weight and 20 period, curious how these work, please share further findings.
02/20/2018 at 11:01 am #50274Gordon CooperParticipantI have found (for stocks anyway) that optimizing using a Mean Reversion Weight of -200 and a Mean Reversion Period of 15 often improves performance over leaving the Reversion fields blank.
02/23/2018 at 11:50 am #50351StefanMParticipantHi LI team,
I have enjoyed using QT in my trial period and have some observations:
1. I struggled to find a detailed explanation of how to interpret the QT Optimiser report (’50 shades of grey…’):
1.1 For example, I assume the red block in the report is the Optimiser’s choice of lookback and attentuator?
1.2 How do we tell if the portfolio is stable over the backtest period?2. Do you have a link/video on how to create substrategies (along the lines of ‘the beast’ algo from Tom Gnade)?
3. For QT susbscribers, am I correct in understanding there may be the option for 1 to 1 training in Switzerland (being closest to my location in London)?
Thanking you in advance.
02/23/2018 at 7:35 pm #50356Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHi Stefan,
regarding 1) we´re just doing some video tutorials and will cover the optimizer in detail. Same to 2) not yet, in progress.
For 3) training, I´m sure Frank will happily meet with you when around Zurich area. But either of us can walk you through using Skype at anytime.
04/22/2018 at 9:55 pm #51822trrParticipantHas anyone managed to get QuantTrader to work on a MacBook? — perhaps using a PC emulator or something?
04/23/2018 at 4:28 am #51832reuptakeParticipant[quote quote=51822]Has anyone managed to get QuantTrader to work on a MacBook? — perhaps using a PC emulator or something?
[/quote]
It runs under Parallels quite well.
04/23/2018 at 9:47 am #51843VangelisKeymasterI own 2 macs with windows installed via bootcamp. QuantTrader runs fine on both. I also keep a small Amazon aws EC2 instance running windows 24/7 that I can remotely connect from anywhere and run QuantTrader (as well as other windows apps, costs around $14/month). This is good solution since you can connect from a borrowed laptop or even a smartphone and get the signals from anywhere.
07/16/2018 at 10:25 am #53832Gordon CooperParticipant[quote quote=50356]
1) we´re just doing some video tutorials and will cover the optimizer in detail. Same to 2) not yet, in progress.
[/quote]
Hi Alex-
Regarding your Feb 23, 2018 post above….can you provide a link to any video tutorials covering optimization?
Thanks,
Gordon
07/16/2018 at 11:11 am #53833Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterSure, here full story: https://logical-invest.com/video-tutorial-quanttrader-a-complete-walk-through-for-new-users/
and here the part of the video on optimization: https://youtu.be/hYIac2PoD2Y08/12/2019 at 4:23 am #68965Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterWe’re reopening this thread to improve the structure of the forum
09/01/2019 at 7:50 pm #69971ThierryParticipantHello,
I have been following the Strategy of Strategies under QuantTrader. In early August, I invested in the combination of the strategies MYRS ZIV-Hedged, BRS, and Treasury Hedged according to the “Actual” allocation in QT. I am positive that BRS was part of the “Actual” Strategy of Strategies. During a later QT session in August I noticed that the BRS strategy had been replaced by World Country Top Hedged. In fact now on Sept. 1st the historical allocations graph in QT shows an allocation to World Country Top Hedged rather than BRS through all of August.
Do you know what may have caused that change in the Strategy of Strategies during August? Thanks.09/02/2019 at 1:18 am #69984Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHello Thierry,
to start with an explanation, the “Actual” allocation tab shows you the outcome of the algorithm as of the time when you execute QuantTrader, that is based on the latest available close prices. So this can and will change several times during the month, depending on how each single strategy performs during the month. For us it is only relevant on the rebalance day, which was July 31st, and now August 30th, the last trading days of the month.
Then the “Actual” allocations become the new “Invested” allocations, that is what is held in the portfolio for the current – and after the rebalance date – the next month.
In the web-app we only show the allocations as of the rebalance date, and not what the algorithm might have picked during the month.
As of July month-end on 7/31 the Top Strategy had allocated to the World Top 4 strategy, which are the signals we had send out, but if you looked some days later in August it may well be that during the month the algorithm would have ranked BRS higher temporarily. As most strategies are in “risk-off” mode the ranking is currently mostly about the degree of hedging in the strategies.
09/19/2019 at 1:04 pm #71003johnhassettParticipantI am a European Investor and I do not have access to US Etfs and I believe per your advice that I would have to use Cfds to trade the various strategies. I can see the logic of this, however I am worried at the amount of leverage that is used by say Interactive Brokers when you buy a CFD. Your are roughly leveraged at 5/1 and only have to put up 20% of the deposit. The problem for me arises when you lose something like 10% in a month. With this amount of leverage, this amounts to a 50% loss.
Normally, you are advised when trading with CFds to set a tight stop/loss on account of the effects of leverage. Can we use stop/losses with your various strategies or it there another way to trade your strategies without having to buy Cfds.
09/23/2019 at 1:48 am #71102Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHello John,
the best way would to apply for the status of a “professional” or “sophisticated” investor at your broker, so you can trade all US ETF without restrictions, or look for a US brokerage account. The use of CFDs is indeed a risky and expensive work-around, personally I would not trade them.
09/23/2019 at 4:16 am #71108johnhassettParticipantAlexande, Thanks very much for the answer. It confirms my thoughts on Cfds. I will look into American Brokerages and “Professional” status.
10/02/2019 at 1:18 am #71700ThierryParticipantHello Alexander, I’d like to understand the difference between two meta-strategies: the Strategy of Strategies under QT and the Top 3 Strategies on the Website. I noticed that on Oct. 1st the Strategy of Strategies used GLD-USD, MYRS ZIV Hedged, and GMRS Hedged, while the Top 3 Strategies used GLD-USD, MYRS ZIV Hedged, and BRS. So one of their constituent strategies was different this month. I also noticed that the Top 3 Strategies uses the best three strategies based on the most recent 3 month performance, while QT looks back longer (126 days) to calculate the Strategy of Strategies.
However I noticed some similarities between the meta-strategies. The statistics of the two meta-strategies (return, volatility, MDD) over a variety of time periods (3 mon to 10 yrs) are the same, except for their Sharpe ratios (using data for Strategies of Strategies coming from QT backtester vs data for Best 3 Strategies coming from its Website). If the two meta-strategies were different, I’d expect more differences in their statistics. And as I recall it, their selections in past months were consistent with each other when I compared them.
Could you comment on the differences between these meta-strategies, and if you’d recommend using one over the other?
Thanks.10/02/2019 at 10:10 am #71724Gordon CooperParticipantHi Alexander-
I too am interested in Thierry’s question about the differences between QT’s “Strategy of Strategies” and the LI website dashboard’s “Top 3 Strategies”.
I know you’ve touched on it before, but perhaps you could provide a simple refresher.
Drilling down a bit, the website’s dashboard lists the following description for Top 3 Strategies-
“This strategy selects the top three performers from our core strategies, based on the most recent 3 month performance, and allocates one third to each of them”.
https://logical-invest.com/app/strategy/mst3/top-3-strategiesFor Oct 1 (as Thierry mentioned) the dashboard’s allocation was- Gold II, MYRS and BRS. But using the dashboard yesterday morning (Oct 1) to rank strategies by 3-mo returns it showed the top three for Oct were- GSRS, MYRS and Enhanced PP. And when I looked today (Oct 2) trailing 3-month returns were as follows-BRS n/a, NDX 100 n/a, MYRS =7%, Gold II +5%, Enh PP +5%). Could you also elaborate a bit on this discrepancy within the dashboard’s rankings as well?
https://logical-invest.com/app/dashboardIt would be nice to be able to rank all strategies by any trailing period like we used to be able to do on the rank page which has been disabled for many months, any suggested work around?
https://logical-invest.com/app/rankThanks,
10/04/2019 at 3:16 pm #71878DerrickParticipantI would also be interested in a reply to these posts. I like the idea of trading a “strategy of strategies” or “top 3”, but the allocation history on these strategies seem to change more frequently and drastically when the software or data is updated. These small changes are significant because they can cause a domino effect that impacts a full third (or 2/3) of the portfolio for a past month. For example on QT, the strategy of strategies shows it was invested in World top 4 in August, but this was not the case. At some point in September I believe the allocation in the past changed from BRS to World Top 4. This kind of change has a significant effect on the reliability of the long term statistics on these strategies. The theory behind the strategy is sound but its probably good to understand the limitations of the backtests and keep one’s expectations in check.
10/05/2019 at 1:39 am #71903ThierryParticipantI am glad that rikder also noticed the change in allocation of the Strategy of Strategies after its initial allocation at the beginning of August. I also brought this up in my post on 9/2/19 on this thread. I used the strategies listed under the ACTUAL tab to allocate my portfolio on Aug. 1st during the day. In late August I noticed that the strategies listed under the INVESTED tab were different from my portfolio allocation. As I understand it, the INVESTED tab reflects the allocation that should have been held since the beginning of the current month.
Something similar happened this month. When I rebalanced my portfolio on Oct. 1st, QT allocated the Strategy of Strategies to GLD-USD, MYRS ZIV Hedged, and GMRS Hedged under the ACTUAL tab. I have documented this in a screenshot that I took on Oct. 1st during the market session (I’d include the screenshot in this post but it doesn’t let me). Today, Oct. 4 after the close, QT shows a different allocation for the Strategy of Strategies under the INVESTED tab, in which GMRS Hedged has been replaced with BRS. This is also the allocation shown in the QT Historical Allocations Graph as being in effect since Oct. 1st! I also have a screenshot of this.
So for me there are two questions, if I am not mistaken: the stability of QT’s Strategy of Strategies allocation within a given month, and understanding the difference between QT’s Strategy of Strategies and the Top 3 Strategies listed online.
This being said, I did make a judgment call to use the Top 3 Strategies rather than the Strategy of Strategies on Oct. 1st, because I wasn’t comfortable having 56% of my portfolio in one asset (GLD) if I used the Strategy of Strategies. That was the result of GLD being used as a strategy of its own and also a hedge in GMRS. Just a matter of comfort level from my part.10/05/2019 at 3:43 am #71905Alex @ Logical InvestKeymaster1) The allocations for all strategies we publish on the web-site come straight out of Quanttrader, there are no different versions for what we publish in the web-app and QuantTrader. So for example the Top 3 Strategies Thierry referred to is the same strategy both in QT and the web-app. For technical reasons in QT it is (still) called “Strategies of Strategies” in QT, while in the web-app we changed it to “Top 3 Strategies”.
2) That being said, there are slight differences in how the metrics are calculated. For example in QT we assume a risk-free rate of 0% as default (you can change in settings), while in the web-app we use 2.5% – so this has an effect on Sharpe, Ulcer, etc. Also the rounding of other metrics is different. This does not affect the allocations, as in the “modified Sharpe ratio” ranking the risk-free rate does not matter.
3) Most importantly, and we’ve seen this a couple of times now in the forum: In QuantTrader the “current allocation” is updated each time you run the application, and uses the most recent available pricing information. While the “invested” tab is the allocation from the last “official” rebalancing. This is important out of two reasons:
i) A QY user can decide to rebalance on a date other then our “official” rebalance date, for example just after close, or 1 day after month end – with “fresh, most recent prices”, but obviously the signals in “current” might then be different from what we show in the web-app. For example, if you ran QT on Sept 30 6pm EST, or Oct 1st 2am by default the signals might be different, see also ii). What this means: QuantTrader is our more flexible product for power users, offers much more functionality and settings, all “secret sauce” under the hood of our algos – this compared to the web-app where we try to provide a less complex environment. As we offer both, we very often fall in the trap where signals and results of both are compared, and this is totally fine, but at the end very often timing or user defined parameters are the reason for these changes. So, our pledge to advanced users: Use QT, learn it, feel it, get used and fall in love with it – but then do not nail us if the web-app shows slightly different results :-)
Here a screenshot of the allocations as of October 4th, so you see that indeed since Sept 30th the allocations in the “current” tab has changed. So somebody just joining today or somebody who decided to rebalance every 4th of the month can use the most recent pricing information to invest into this allocation. However, this is not available in the web-app where we keep the allocations static after the rebalance to keep it simple. You see that in the last days BRS has fallen out of the Top 3 and has been replaced by GMRS.
ii) And this is a tricky one: We use “split and dividend adjusted prices”, not plain “cash prices”. These calculations are complex and update the price history of the involved assets. The timing of these calculations is hours after close of the exchanges, after all dividend information is submitted and then normally available around 5-6 AM US EST the date after month-end. This is why we normally send the signals around 7 am US EST. But: It has happened and will happen again that for some tickers the dividend and split adjusted prices are updated by the data provider after that hour, and then there can be differences to the allocations just send out. Solutions? We could wait more before sending out the newsletter, but then you would not have it before US markets close. Is it critical? No, as only in very marginal “close call” situations where two strategies (or their components) are very close together in the ranking, and a slight change in prices then changes this allocation. This seems odd, but in practice when two strategies are very similar in the ranking there is no “good or bad”, either is fine. There are mathematical approaches for this, like “fuzzy logic” or “trigger ranges”, but these do not help in the practical application in our feeling.
Here a screenshot of the allocations and ranking as of Sept 30: See the values of the “attenuated sharpe” column for GMRS and BRS, the difference of both was only 0.02, but decisive to which strategy would make it into the “Top 3” ranking. In practice this means either is good – they are better than the other strategies ranked much lower, and that’s the point of the strategy.
So in essence: QT users have much more information at their disposition, and the benefit of being able to compare QT vs. Web-App. But allow us some simplifications for the less sophisticated investors only using the web-app.
10/06/2019 at 5:57 pm #71975ThierryParticipantAlexander,
Thank you for your detail response. The thoroughness of you and other staff in responding to questions from individual users is something I appreciate about Logical Invest.
My earlier questions came from a desire to reproduce the allocations and performance of public strategies and metastrategies. Admittedly, QT is not needed to do that since the offical allocations are published online, and QT is designed to solve bigger problems than that. As you mentioned, some unavoidable changes in the data used by QT can cause changes in its outputs. When two strategies are a virtual tie in the rankings, they can be considered equally good to use in a statistical sense. However, their performance over the short term can be rather different. If that’s not acceptable, one can always increase the number of strategies that the metastrategy allocates to.
I understand that the allocation shown under the Current tab in QT can vary during the month. But is it correct that the allocation shown under the Invested tab should not change after it is updated with the offical rebalancing at the beginning of the month?10/08/2019 at 3:49 am #72024Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHi Thierry, appreciate your response. Yes, indeed the allocations in the “invested” tab should not change after the “official rebalancing”. The only “but” is what I explained above about later changes in prices due to dividends, which again is rare and rather an exception out of our hands and affects all data providers.
10/18/2019 at 3:25 pm #72498lpmcar1ParticipantHello, new subscriber here. You ETF rotation strategies are just what I have been looking for. I am eager to get started with the Max Draw Down Less than 15% Portfolio; however, I am not sure of the allocations to start with since I am starting mid month. The allocations on the website are as of October 1st. I have tried to use QT which has current allocations, but it seems to only have the component strategies and not the portfolio itself. So, what’s the best way to get started?
10/19/2019 at 2:23 pm #72513VangelisKeymasterHello and welcome!
The Max DD 15% is a portfolio constructed from QT strategies but outside the software using standard max-return/ min-drawdown optimisation. Two ways to go about it:
1. If your brokerage fees are low you can jump in based on the October 1st allocations.
2. You can wait for the November allocation.
3. Or you can:
a. Find which strategies are used and at what percentage (ie, 30% BRS, 50% UIS, etc)
b. Run current allocations on each strategy inside QT and export the allocations in an spreadsheet.
c. Add the ‘weighted’ component allocations and calculate portfolio allocations.Our recommendation would be in the order written.
10/24/2019 at 3:34 pm #72674TexastroseParticipantI just signed up for the
All Portfolios
$49/mo
All Portfolios and Strategies
Create a custom portfolio
QuantTrader Light software
–
Allocation and performance reports
Daily Performance tracking
Newsletter and market commentary
Forum and priority email supportI have opened two positions; first in the Max Drawdown less than 15% and the second is a combo of Nasdaq100, Max Yield, Leveraged gold and Bond Rotation. I have down loaded the QuantTrader software ans made an attempt to load these Portfolio’s in to software. However, i was notable to save the protfolio’s.
I am using TDA with TOS as my broker and software. How do others keep track of the investments
Mike
10/26/2019 at 2:03 am #72745Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHello Mike,
welcome to the Logical Invest community!
To replicate any of the portfolios from the web-app in QuantTrader, just follow the process described here, see the animation: https://logical-invest.com/quanttrader-application/portfolio-backtesting-builder-main-windows/#conssignals
In our terms portfolios are fixed-weight blends of our strategies (or ETF), so you can simply input the %s into the consolidated signals tool to see the allocations.
Hope this helps, Best, Alex
10/27/2019 at 11:47 pm #72831TexastroseParticipantHow many portfolios can you add to My Portfolio
11/04/2019 at 1:57 am #73186Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterCurrently only one by user, we’re working to allow for multiple in future.
For the time being you can “merge” serval portfolios into one like described here: https://logical-invest.com/create-portfolio-of-portfolios-portfolio-builder/
Or use QuantTrader which allows you to very quickly obtain signals for several portfolios as outlined here: https://logical-invest.com/quanttrader-application/portfolio-backtesting-builder-main-windows/#conssignals
01/07/2020 at 7:59 pm #77022lpmcar1ParticipantI have been using LI and QT for a couple of months now and getting more comfortable with the software. However, I have a couple of questions: If I developed a strategy in version 518s how to a import it into the new version 520s? A related question is how to load some of the ini files that I have seen posted. Also, I saw in one of your videos about the screen shot bottom in QT, but where does the image go for me to retrieve it? I cannot find it after clicking the button.
Many thanks, Leigh
01/08/2020 at 7:38 am #77050Frank1 GrossmannKeymasterBest is to make a copy of your old 518S strategy folder and then just replace QuantTrader518S.exe with QuantTrader520S.exe.
You can also just copy single strategies from the ini folder to a new QT version. The strategies look like BUG_20191212110548_LI.ini. If you do this, then you also have to copy all substrategies used by a strategy.
The screenshots (like: UIS SPXL-hedged (3x leveraged).png) go to the data subfolder02/05/2020 at 8:43 pm #77596Raj N.ParticipantHi Frank, what is the difference between QuantTrader and its Lite version. If I subscribe just to “All Strategies” what will I miss out on compared to subscribing to QuantTrader. Thanks.
02/06/2020 at 3:33 am #77597VangelisKeymasterHello Balraj,
In QuantTrader Lite you can see the backtests, the signals, etc but you cannot change parameters (lookback periods, etc) or create/combine strategies into new ones.
Another way to put it is that Lite is ‘read only’ and used to get LI strategy signals on your own time.
The full version, is ‘read-write’ and is quite powerful. It is what we use to create and tweak our strategies and meta-strategies. You can stress test the current strategies, create copies and tweak parameters and see instant backtests. You can combine strategies into portfolios or new strategies and issue signals for those.02/06/2020 at 12:33 pm #77599Raj N.ParticipantThanks Vangelis. Is there any active promo going on on subscriptions that I can avail?
02/06/2020 at 1:11 pm #77600VangelisKeymasterI see you have registered with us before. New pricing:
https://logical-invest.com/app/subscribe?newpricing02/10/2020 at 4:31 pm #77613Raj N.ParticipantThanks Vangelis. The last time I subscribed, one of my biggest issues was how to start the portfolio. For example, if I wanted to start a position in leveraged UIS. Do I wait for the next signal and incrementally get in? But the next signal may not be in/out signal but rather just adjustment of percentages. Entering just one of the components seems dangerous to me, but also entering SPXL at this peak point of the market is also scary. What is your suggestion?
Also, if I subscribe, am I covered for the future price increases?
Thanks,
02/11/2020 at 4:49 am #77616VangelisKeymasterBased on backtests it is better to just enter the positions. If you are unsure you can also scale-in but both sides at the same time.
As for the price, you are covered for the period you subscribe to. If you choose the yearly, you will be protected from any price increases for the year.02/11/2020 at 2:12 pm #77639Raj N.ParticipantThanks again. I am going to subscribe.
02/11/2020 at 2:23 pm #77640Raj N.ParticipantI am getting payment processing error. Trying to use discover. Is the site having issues?
02/12/2020 at 10:34 am #77643Raj N.ParticipantCan anyone help please? I am trying to subscribe but my payment is not getting processed. I checked with the credit card company and they are not receiving the payment request so it is getting rejected at the source.
02/12/2020 at 1:30 pm #77649Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHello Raj,
sorry for the trouble, but the site is working as normal, and a test subscription I just did went through without issues. Also cannot see any failed try reported, so it’s hard to say what’s happening.
Could you try with PayPal – this also allows you to enter your credit card in the next step. I will also email you..
02/12/2020 at 2:14 pm #77651Raj N.ParticipantThanks Alex. I don’t have a paypal account. I will try again with credit card and maybe you can check what’s going on.
02/12/2020 at 2:22 pm #77654Raj N.ParticipantLooks like you don’t accept discover, even though the site seems to convey that it does. I tried Visa and that worked. The error message should say that discover is not accepted.
02/13/2020 at 2:41 am #77656Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterHi Raj,
you’re right, thought we’d support Discover, but as we’re handling payments with a European provider we do actually not. Same for Diners and JCB, so basically only Amex, Visa and Mastercard – should have known before, sorry. Cards shown on the checkout have been updated.
04/04/2020 at 12:00 pm #78272socoolmeParticipantHello there LI Team,
Backgorund:
I am burnt with buy and hold and haven’t done anything to my 401K and looking at the big drop with the recent couple months. I realized I have to do something differently though it may be too late this time around. I have access to brokerage account under 401k and I believe I can have good flexibility to pick investments that I select. It would be heart breaking to liquidate the holdings and book the losses. I understand it has to be done if I want to find a different direction that will save this pain next time around.Confusion:
I am new and browsed through some material. I do not get the big picture. At a very basic level would one invest into strategy(ies) and follow whatever changes every month or or one would also have to start with a portfolio and then apply strategies to it. Do strategies have underlying funds or stocks that they are built with or they are just abstract algorithms kind of thing? If they aren’t abstract how could they have returns over year and monthly basis? Is any strategy can be applied to any portfolio or does it only work with its underlying funds?
I see that there are three portfolios and they seem to have some holdings under them. They do have their own performance numbers. Hypothetically If I select one portfolio and one strategy and try to build my investment mix, wouldn’t there be a conflict i.e. the portfolio would have some holdings that are selected and the strategy may have a bunch of other holdings. How would they work together, what would be the holdings in such a mix if that is possible, and how would be the expected performance in that situation?I am looking for something relatively simple to get started with. I would much prefer if I could pick a strategy or a few and follow them for some time without having to select a portfolio, or just select a portfolio and follow it without adding a strategy. My hope is that then I can see how things work, and actual returns would match the numbers that are recorded and shared here. Without that I believe it will be very difficult to figure out what I built and was it translated accurately to my account and monitor the results and try to match it to the service. I can spend some time on evenings or weekends and get build my understanding.
Also, moderators is it possible to extend a trial of the subscription? I would find it very helpful if that could be done. Thank you very much.
04/07/2020 at 6:49 pm #78287bobhParticipantI’m new to Logicalnvest and have several questions. A couple may be long. Is there an email I can send my questions to or should I just go ahead and post them here? Thank you, Bob
04/08/2020 at 9:13 am #78288VangelisKeymasterWelcome Bob,
Feel free to use the form at the bottom of the About Us page:
https://logical-invest.com/about/about-us/
or email us: info at logical-invest.com04/08/2020 at 9:29 am #78289VangelisKeymaster@socoolme Hello!
We have all been burned before, namely in 2008. That’s why we build Logical-Invest in the first place.
We start with ETFs that represent a basket of stocks/bonds/commodities, etc: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/etf.asp
Sometimes we also use individual stocks.We then build a “model”, which we call a strategy, which is a set of rules on how to trade a specific basket of ETFs, ie when to buy and sell.
We then build portfolios by combining multiple strategies (which themselves combine ETfs, which themselves combine stocks, bonds,etc).
Once a month, we unwind all this to give you a list of what ETFs/stocks the portfolio holds each month.
Since these models are based on rules, we can backtest them to see how they did in the past. That does not mean they will do so in the future.
Lastly, we are not advisors and cannot give you personal advice based on your life circumstances. We develop and publish strategies and portfolios that can help you make better (or at least more diversified) decisions in your own investing.04/09/2020 at 11:16 am #78295socoolmeParticipantThank you Vangelis. I gather that the streagties and portfolios are really similar, portfolios are a package of strategies. Theoretically one can pick one (or more) strategy and it would be like a portfolio built on that particular one (or more) straggly. If I got that right, I would also extend then that LI would allow one to pick a portfolio and add another strategy that may not be part of that portfolio and build a combo that one likes or wants to explore.
If you could confirm my understand is correct, that would be great.
04/09/2020 at 11:31 am #78296VangelisKeymasterYes that is right. So yes, you could pick a portfolio and add/subtract strategies from it to create a custom one. You can then save it as “My Portfolio” and that should report aggregate allocations every month.
There is an upside and a downside to this design. The upside is that we give you the tools to build a portfolio according to your preference of risk/safety/mix or assets etc.
The downside is that it is more complicated and there is a bit of homework to do, at least in the beginning.04/14/2020 at 1:55 am #78322sylphaParticipantDoes QuantTrader allow me to do the following?
1. Add / Remove the strategy in a porfolio (e.g. Maxdrawdown less than 15%).
2. See the latest allocation in a porfolio everyday. Not necessary at the beginning of month).
3. Implement it by tranch. e.g. I want to follow Maxdrawdown less than 15%, I want to buy 33% at the beginning of month (based on the beginning of month allocation), then 33% in the mid month based on mid month allocation and so on.Thanks.
04/15/2020 at 8:18 am #78328Frank1 GrossmannKeymasterThe portfolios are composed of a fixed allocation of LI strategies. To setup a portfolio in QuantTrader you have to go to the “Consolidated Allocations” menu where you an setup the same allocations. Under “Allocations” you can see the actual calculated allocation for the last available closing.
The buy by tranch approach can be simulated if you dont allocate to all your capital (say 100k$) but to 33k$ at the beginning of the month and so on…04/22/2020 at 10:21 am #78389benjaminhallParticipantHi all,
I am wondering what the LI team recommend for execution of trade orders following updates to the strategies? Volatility is high right now so market on open orders have a lot of slippage.
Thanks
04/23/2020 at 4:34 am #78393Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterWe always recommend to use limit orders, and give them time to execute, if needed adjust little by little. If your broker provides them, use some of the “smart algorithms” to get better fills.
04/23/2020 at 8:49 am #78394benjaminhallParticipantI use IB as my trading platform. What smart algorithm would you recommend? Also what if they market gets away from my limit order? Are you setting your limits at the exact closing of the prior trading day or adjusting given pre-open movements?
04/23/2020 at 12:10 pm #78395Alex @ Logical InvestKeymasterWe also trade with IB, I normally use the ‘adaptive order’: https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/software/tws/usersguidebook/algos/aboutibalgos.htm
Do not trade outside regular hours, try to stay away from first and last half an hour, just too much action. You set the limit depending on the movements of the last hour, or last 20 minutes, depends on how quickly you want to fill. If the market goes away you, so be it, adjust your limit – the aim is not to get last close price, but to get some cents more than with a market order or a rush limit order, and it accumulates with time.Plus, you get a feeling for the market.
04/24/2020 at 2:37 pm #78400bobhParticipantLeaving this forum.
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