Taking long to download datafeed

Hi,

I am trying to run a backtest and I have the setting "download data before backtest". I use IQdata as my datasource and I have about 7000 instruments with 1 day and 15 min resolutions. I am backtesting to 1/1/2014. This is the first backtest I am running so all instruments need to be downloaded.

Multicharts has been downloading the information for over 24 hours now and it's still at 2%. At this pace it's going to take me over a month to get all the data down.

Am I doing something wrong? Is there a setting I have screwed up? Any way to make this run faster?

Thanks

Hi,

I am trying to run a backtest and I have the setting "download data before backtest". I use IQdata as my datasource and I have about 7000 instruments with 1 day and 15 min resolutions. I am backtesting to 1/1/2014. This is the first backtest I am running so all instruments need to be downloaded.

Multicharts has been downloading the information for over 24 hours now and it's still at 2%. At this pace it's going to take me over a month to get all the data down.

Am I doing something wrong? Is there a setting I have screwed up? Any way to make this run faster?

Thanks

7,000 instruments?

I don't know anybody who does that. (not even 700 instruments).

Are you sure IQData has those instruments? and for those time periods?

Maybe MultiCharts is waiting for some data that does not exist.


ps. 7,000 instruments times 2 time scales times 350 trading days times 8 hours/day times 60 minutes per hour
equals to over TEN BILLION data points.
(if you are downloading 24/7 data, you will have even more data points)

How much memory does your computer have?

Hi,

Well I'm backtesting through the entire NYSE and NASDAQ stocks. QuoteManager seems to indicate that there are actually approx. 8000 of them.

However I seemed to have found the issue. I am still using the trial version of IQFeed which seems to have some limits. I shortened the backtest timeframe to just under a year and now it seems to be progressing much faster. Currently at 37% after an hour or so.

Have hexa-core i7 with 16GB memory.

It would be easier to simply backtest and trade the index.

Trading an index would be different. What I am trying to do is go through all NYSE and NASDAQ stocks and see which ones fulfill my entry requirements and then to buy the ones that do.

BFC

Wrong tool for the job.. Don't bang a nail in with a saw. MC is handy, but its not for what you're attempting to do.

Wrong tool for the job.. Don't bang a nail in with a saw. MC is handy, but its not for what you're attempting to do.

Hi Maverick,

Can you elaborate on why you think Multicharts is the wrong tool for the job? I mean as long as I have a powerful enough prosessor and enough RAM and a decently fast datafeed, it should get the job done shouldn't it?

Would you suggest otherwise?

In fact I changed my datafeed from IQFeed to eSignal and suddenly it's substantially faster. So I managing to progress to what I want to achieve.