If you use indicators or backtest trading systems then your results are going to be thrown way out of line. The
chart below shows FMG with a 2 moving average cross and a ATR% (Average True Range) reading.

Your backtesting would have shown either a massive profit on this trade or a massive loss which will
completely skew the results. The way around this is to find all the dodgy bits of metastock data and
calculate those trades yourself. An incredibly time consuming process.
If you use volatility based stops like the ATR (Average True Range) you will notice that it took
over a month for the figures to return to normal, once again skewing your trading results.
Now you can see first hand the importance of
accurate Metastock data before you run any type of system
testing.
What other errors
should I look out for?
Another example of a metastock data error that is often
overlooked is the time you get your data. The Australian Stock Exchange has several closes in their data, like the
after market close, then around 5pm all the brokers orders are adjusted, then around 7pm you get the preliminary
final data and then after 8-9pm you can download the fully adjusted data.
If you download your
Metastock data prior to the fully adjusted data you may have inaccurate volume or an inaccurate open, high, low or
close.
The most common is volume and if you use indicators like
OBV (On Balance Volume) then your results could be significantly different to what they should be.
Hopefully now you are beginning to get a clear picture
of the important of clean and accurate metastock data.
It is for these reasons that LearnCFDs.com recommends
and uses Premium Data from Norgate investment services.
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