Backtesting

Drafting a strategy

Checked October 2026

A draft is the strategy the test runs, and it names what it trades, the exact entry, the exact exit, and the size. Stocks, options, futures, forex and crypto can all be drafted, and a line you draw by hand cannot.

Backtoast

You pay $99 for two full tests of your own strategy, and a pass is an offer of 30% of the profit Backtoast makes trading it with its own money.

What you can write

Charts are 1-minute, 5-minute, 15-minute, 1-hour, 4-hour and daily, and a higher chart can set the direction while a lower chart times the entry. A Bollinger band, a triangular average (the middle of the window counts more), a golden cross and death cross, an RSI divergence, a three-candle reversal, and a target at the stop or at an earlier high or low can all be written, because each one is a price. A line you draw by hand, or a zone you judge by eye, cannot, and that includes an ICT trading strategy until the prices are exact.

How the test handles other software trading in the same market is on agentic trading in 2026.

Stocks

You name what it trades, the exact entry, the exact exit, and the size. Dividends aren't credited, so a rule written to collect them isn't the version that runs, and a stock leg inside an option doesn't get the dividend either. A short book isn't run, and you can't add to a name or scale out of it, and a pair, long one name and short another, closed together, can't be one bet.

Options

You name the underlying, call or put, whether you buy or sell, and the expiry in days. You name the strike as a delta, a measure of how far the option sits from the current price, or as a percent away from that price. The fill is that day's closing quote, so a clock time, or an option that expires the same day, isn't the version that runs. Say whether a short put is cash-secured or on margin. Cash-secured sets aside the whole strike, and margin sets aside about 20% and sells more contracts than that cash would cover. One structure at a time, and a roll is the next trade after the exit.

Futures

One contract at a time, so a rule that adds more contracts after the first isn't the version that runs. Options on the S&P 500 futures, ES, can be drafted, and options on other futures can't. A spread across two contract months can't be one bet.

Forex

The forex test is spot, with overnight financing included, so a carry rule can be drafted, and forwards and options can't. A pass on a thin pair isn't proof the same rule works in a large size.

Crypto

Spot, and Binance perpetuals, can be drafted, and funding on a Binance perpetual is in the test. Name the venue, Coinbase or Binance, because the fees aren't the same. A spot long and a perpetual short, held as one hedged bet, can't be drafted. Shorting spot in the test doesn't charge borrow, and Coinbase spot can't be shorted. A price gap between two exchanges can't be tested.

How a chart tester compares with this is how to backtest on TradingView.