One of the major goals of any system testing effort is the determination of the optimal set of parameters to trade. The Parameter Stepping Graph allows one to see how the values of a given summary measure varies as the values for a particular parameter varies.
For a single parameter test run, the Parameter Stepping Graph shows a line indicating the values of the measure for each step in the test. For example, the above graph for a test stepping the Donchian System's Entry Breakout parameter shows an almost 45%CAGR% value at 30 days for the Entry Breakout dropping to 30% as the Entry Breakout moves higher to 42.
For tests with more than one parameter, the Parameter Stepping Graph shows a band of values for each parameter step.
The above graph shows another test that also stepped the Exit Breakout from 6 to 14. This means that for each of the steps on the Entry Breakout there are nine different steps for the Exit Breakout. The graph plots the average, minimum, maximum and a band that is one standard deviation above and below the average for each value.
The above graph shows that for an Entry Breakout of 30, the MAR varies from just below 40% CAGR to just above 45% CAGR%.
A narrow band around the average indicates that the other parameters affected the results in a relatively minor way. A wide band indicates that the other parameters affected the test in a large way.The wider the band, the greater the influence the other parameters had on the test measure.
The preferences item Measure of Goodness Index from the Reporting General preference page controls the measure used for the Parameter Stepping Graphs. In the above examples, this value was set to CAGR%.