Indicator Calculations Backtesting

[wallabee13]

I am backtesting a strategy that includes a 200 SMA, for dates say, 1/1/10-12/31/10. The trouble I am having is that the indicator does not have the correct value until the 200th (or close to) bar, or about 11/1/10, leaving calculations incorrect before then. I have plenty of historical data, that's not a problem. Changing "maximum bars look back" doesn't seem to change anything, the same for "min bars required" I can fix the problem by increasing the time period to approx 1/1/09-12/31/10 and looking at the results for only 2010, but I was wondering if there is a way to have the indicator calculate itself correctly starting on the start date.

Thanks

[NinjaTrader_Chip]

Hello wallabe13

Welcome to the NinjaTrader Support Forums!

There is not a workaround to this since the 200 SMA calculation requires a minimum of 200 data points in order to compute this average (output).

For more on Working with Indicators:

http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt7/index.html?working_with_indicators.htm

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.