Futures Trading Strategy Backtesting

What Is Futures Backtesting?

Futures backtesting simulates long and short positions on derivative markets, where traders do not own the underlying asset but trade contracts based on price movements.

Unlike spot trading, futures trading introduces additional variables such as leverage, margin requirements, and liquidation risk.

How Futures Backtesting Works on Backtestra

Backtestra’s futures backtesting engine processes historical futures price data to simulate position entries, exits, margin usage, and performance metrics.

• Test long and short positions across different market regimes
• Apply leverage and position sizing rules
• Evaluate stop-loss, take-profit, and trailing stop logic
• Measure drawdowns and risk-adjusted performance

Key Futures Backtesting Features

• Support for both long and short strategy simulations
• Leverage-aware position calculations
• Risk management with liquidation-aware logic
• Advanced analytics including drawdown and expectancy metrics

Why Futures Backtesting Matters

Leverage amplifies both gains and losses. Without proper testing, futures strategies can fail under real market conditions.

Backtesting futures strategies helps traders identify:

• Hidden liquidation risk
• Over-leveraged configurations
• Unstable strategies during volatile markets

Spot vs Futures Backtesting

While spot backtesting focuses on capital-backed trades without leverage, futures backtesting evaluates strategies in margin-based environments.

Understanding the difference between these two markets is critical before deploying any leveraged strategy.

Who Is Futures Backtesting For?

• Active traders using leverage and short positions
• Traders optimizing risk and liquidation thresholds
• Professional and quantitative traders testing complex strategies

Futures backtesting is available in Trader, Professional, and Quant plans, with higher data limits and advanced analytics unlocked in upper tiers.