Noob Question: How to start...ticks vs timeframe and time adjustment

[PeteS62]

Hi
I apologise in advance for a couple of very simple questions, but this is all very new for me.

I'm in the process of developing a MT5 Expert Advisor which at the moment I am testing on a 5 min time frame but looks at a selection of indicators each tick to see whether there is potential for a profitable trade during the LONDON Session. So, from what I think I understand about Tickstory, am I correct in thinking I should choose 'tick' as the Timeframe option? Does MT5 then group up ticks depending on the timeframe my EA chooses?

Also, at the moment I am in the UK and intending to use Ava Trade as a broker, do I need to adjust the time zone to UTC+2?

Many thanks to anyone who takes the time to help.

Thank you.

[tickstory]

Hi PeteS62,

Testing with "real ticks" will utilize the ticks you have imported (as described in this post). When testing, the MT5 strategy tester will process these ticks as if they were being received in real-time. If you are making reference to any particular time-frame (such as 5-minute), then MT5 already has this data in its database. MT5 automatically creates all other time-frames from the 1-minute bars that are imported as part of Step 3 in our mentioned link.

Yes, you should adjust your time-zone to your broker's for consistent results.

Hope this helps.

[PeteS62]

Hi and thank you for the speedy reply.

I was confused because there are it options for all the periods from 1 sec to weekly.

If MT5 creates 5 min bars from the 1 min bars does the 5min chart have accurate tick data or are the longer time frames purely candle data?

My broker's time is an hour behind me at the moment, I assume because I'm in Daylight Saving British Summer Time hours, so looking at what the guide says I think I just select UTC+00:00 as it will automatically take the daylight saving into account?

Sorry for what maybe dumb questions, there is so much to learn!
Thank you.
Pete

[tickstory]

Hi Pete,

There are two data concepts you are referring to - tick data and bar data. Once you import the tick data, it is essentially used for all time-frames when you select the "real-tick" modelling method when testing. "Bar data" refers to all the M1, M5, etc time-frames (i.e. candle/bar data which is derived from the individual ticks that occur in that time-frame). You only need to import the M1 data and every other time-frame automatically gets generated from this data. Depending on your modelling method (tick vs open price vs control points), MT5 will automatically use the combination of tick and bar data to do the correct price calculations. If you are not using a 'tick' modelling method, then it will simply use the bar data (and therefore it is not necessary to import tick data if you don't want, however your tests will not be as accurate).

As for time-zones, it sounds like you need to use the "UTC+2 with European/London DST" option. This automatically accounts for European/London DST transitions.

As an aside, if you are currently learning about a particular topic such as time-zones, note that there is lots of useful information on our forum if you, for example, search "timezone" (or "time-zone").

Hope this helps.

[PeteS62]

That's really helpful thank you

[tickstory]

You're welcome - happy back-testing