FAQ

Does my data ever leave my machine?

No. WalkStrat is a TradeStation TradingApp that runs entirely on your PC. All parameter sweeps, generated strategies, and trade CSVs are written locally under your Working Folder. Nothing is uploaded.

Do I need to be a programmer?

No. You do need one thing: a basic strategy already coded in EasyLanguage. From there, WalkStrat is point-and-click — it generates the wrapped strategy, drives the optimization, and produces the final deployment code to compile and run in TradeStation.

What's the difference between WalkStrat Pro and Basic?

Pro is the full pipeline: WFO Config, real Walk-Forward execution, the Robustness tab, and the richer web-based Candidates experience. Basic covers the streamlined Settings → Strategy Code → Optimization → Trades Generator → Candidates → Deployment Code path without walk-forward validation.

Do I need TradeStation open to use WalkStrat?

Yes. WalkStrat is a native TradingApp — it runs inside a TradeStation Workspace and uses TradeStation's optimizer, data, and EasyLanguage compiler.

What is the Working Folder and why is it required?

It's the root folder WalkStrat reads and writes everything under — settings, generated strategy code, optimization outputs, trades files, WFO results. Nothing on any tab works until it's set (Settings → Folder).

What does "Real Validation Holdout" actually do?

It reserves the last RV Percent% of your history as a strictly out-of-sample tail. Optimization and Feasibility never see it; it's only touched during the final Walk-Forward stage. See Key Concepts → Real Validation Holdout.

Why do Monte Carlo numbers change between runs?

It's a random resample of your trade sequence. Small run-to-run variation is expected; look at the distribution and percentiles, not a single number.

What's the minimum trade count for results to mean anything?

Roughly 100 trades before Binomial screening and WFO efficiency start being trustworthy; 50 is the soft floor. Below that, treat everything as anecdotal.

Why does WFO show different efficiency than the Robustness "best" cell?

WFO uses the single (Segments, OOS%) configuration you picked. Robustness sweeps the whole grid. Robustness exists precisely to show whether your chosen WFO number is representative or a lucky cell.

Does WalkStrat place trades for me?

No. Deployment Code generates the final EasyLanguage strategy code. Compiling and running it in TradeStation is a manual step — by design.

How often should I re-validate a live strategy?

The Deployment Code tab surfaces two re-evaluation triggers: every X% change in equity, or every Y months. Whichever fires first is your cue to re-run the pipeline.