Excel Model..NEED HELP

Hi,

I thought I would post here where the programming gurus are. I am starting to learn how to program and build trading models. Dur to my experience with excel, and my comfort level, I have decided to use excel instead of MQL4 as a base.

Here is my question. Can someone help me with some form of template or a quick few lines of instruction as to how to get excel to recognize an individual buy/sell.

Let me explain. Using a very simple moving average cross over system, how could I get the model to recognize buy on the up cross and sell on the down cross?

THE HUN

The Hun,

I am in your camp in using Excel (because MQL4 is over my head, yet I am proficient with Excel). It is challenging modeling buy/sell logic since all the logic is inverted. Initially, I created separate logic for Buys and Sells, either in separate columns or worksheets. This can be very cumbersome if your logic is complex. Over time, I have discovered a few things that work much better. Consider the following:

To have one set of logic and simplify pip calcs, create a working set of price columns stripping away decimals. Most importantly, create a variable to multiply them by 1 (for a buy) and -1 (for a sell). This basically inverts your price action so you can deal with one logic set. For analysis, you will need to run separate reports, but at least you can do it with one data set and one set of logic.

If you don't already know it... learn to use the OR and AND functions for your logic tests. Takes more columns, but a lot easier to construct and audit that a very complex and nested IF statement.

Learn to use Pivot tables for your analysis and filtering.

A moving average cross sounds simple, but, as you know, there are times during periods of consolidation where you will get a number of false signals that you may want to filter out. Extensive use of AND OR statements will really become useful.

If your model gets very complex, I think you will find Excel to be limiting. Keep your scope fairly simple, otherwise, you can find yourself spending many many hours.

I hope this helps. Best of luck to you.

Hey Norcal,

Thanks for the tips. I wouldn't say that it is extremely complex, but getting the model to recognize buy and sell would be extremely cumbersome. Your post really helped in that I was thinking about adding in additional columns and doing it that way. I think I know how to solve what I needed.

Take care,

THE HUN.