Emporium Software Releases Pikker
December 27, 2002

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Emporium Software has released Pikker v1.1, a product that is designed to make it easier for traders to evaluate the viability of stocks for trade. The Windows-based application simulates trading of specific stocks over years to evaluate how successfully they are likely to perform.

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Emporium Software has released Pikker 1.1, a Windows application that tests trading systems on historical data for multiple securities simultaneously, to help traders to evaluate trading systems and confidently pick stocks to trade.

Pikker uses technical analysis methods to select a portfolio of stocks from a collection of securities. Simulating trading activity over years of historical data in a realistically simulated account, Pikker will produce a detailed statistical analysis and report of the results of a technical trading system.

Pikker uses formulas written with any of 51 popular market indicators to create entry and exit rules to qualify recommended trades. Recommendations are sorted by an additional user defined formula, and selected to fill a complete portfolio according to account allocation specifications.

The vast majority of technical analysis software performs system testing on a single security at a time, which is contrary to the real-world practice of diversifying investments in a portfolio of stocks. Pikker fills this gap by providing a means to do system testing on multiple securities simultaneously, in an account portfolio setting. By consolidating the data and testing process in one application, Pikker automates the whole process, replacing hours of work with spreadsheets with a few moments of efficient computation. Function caching technology and other code optimizations make computations even faster.

Dataset flexibility allows users to try variations on systems. By separately loading a second system’s dataset, you can apply the same system to different datasets, comprising different market sectors, or data stored in different locations. With the ability to edit the dataset for an existing system, you can adjust the base security list, change an index, and remove a problematic security.

Pikker allows for system testing either automatically over a date range, or manually a day at a time. A Test System button will run an automated system test over a previously specified date range. A Walk Forward button will advance the system one day, and allow the user to select and execute recommended trades.

Individual account holdings can easily be edited to match an existing brokerage account. Pikker stores account balances, holdings and other parameters in a separate account file, which allows matching different accounts with different systems.