Why does live differ from my backtest?
Costs, the bid and ask, gaps and your broker.
- Backtests have no costs. No spread, commission, fees, swaps or slippage. Profit is the price difference (E12).
- Live trades on the bid and the ask. A buy fills on the ask, a sell on the bid, and stops and targets trigger on the side that can actually trade (E3, E5). A backtest has one price.
- Gaps move fills. When a bar opens beyond a stop, the fill is the open, not the stop price (E8).
- The broker decides live fills. A live trade exists only once your broker confirms it. Execution speed and liquidity are outside the script.
- The data may be thinner.
data.coveragetells a script how much history it has and whether it is exact.
Past performance does not guarantee future results.