Should I retest with adjusted parameters?

When retesting strategies from XAUUSD on a new pair like AUDUSD, you should first consider retesting with the original parameters before adjusting them. Here’s why, and the next steps if adjustments are needed:

Initial Retesting Without Adjustments:

  • Purpose: This helps you identify which strategies are naturally robust and can perform well across different currency pairs without any changes. It acts as a preliminary filter.
  • Benefits:
    • Saves Time: Quickly narrows down strategies that might be applicable to AUDUSD.
    • Robustness Check: Strategies that perform well on both pairs without adjustments are likely more reliable in various market conditions.
  • Approach: Load the strategies and run them on AUDUSD historical data to evaluate their performance metrics (e.g., profit factor, drawdown, Sharpe ratio).

Adjusting Parameters for Retest:

  • When to Adjust: If you find that many strategies are underperforming or only partially meet your criteria, consider retesting with adjusted parameters to better match the characteristics of AUDUSD.
  • How to Adjust:
    • Fine-Tune Key Parameters: Adjust strategy-specific inputs like moving average periods, stop loss, take profit, or trailing stop distances to align with AUDUSD’s volatility and behavior.
    • Adjust Risk Settings: AUDUSD may have different average volatility and trading volume compared to XAUUSD, so tweaking risk parameters can help improve performance.
  • Benefits:
    • Better Suitability: Tailors the strategies more specifically to AUDUSD.
    • Potential Performance Improvement: Strategies that did not perform well in the initial retest may show significant improvement after adjustments.

Recommended Workflow:

  1. Retest Without Adjustments: Start with a simple retest to identify strategies that work out-of-the-box on AUDUSD.
  2. Review Metrics: Analyze the retest results and focus on strategies that meet a minimum performance threshold.
  3. Adjust and Retest:
    • If you find strategies that are close to being successful, adjust their parameters and retest.
    • Use optimization to find the best set of parameters, but be careful to avoid overfitting.

Key Considerations:

  • Balance: Adjusting parameters can enhance performance, but too much adjustment risks overfitting. Aim for a balance that maintains general strategy robustness.
  • Start Small: Test parameter adjustments on a smaller set of top-performing strategies before applying them to a larger group.

In summary, start with a straightforward retest without changes. If needed, proceed to fine-tune the strategies’ parameters for AUDUSD to enhance performance and adaptability.