🎮 Trading Simulator - User Guide

Watch your strategy execute with realistic market conditions, configurable speed controls, and stress testing scenarios.

📋 Table of Contents

1. Overview

🎯 What is the Trading Simulator?

The Trading Simulator replays historical data at configurable speeds, testing your strategy's behavior under realistic execution conditions. Unlike instant backtesting, the simulator lets you watch your strategy execute in real-time (or accelerated time) and test edge cases with scenario injection.

Your Strategy Journey:

1. Strategy Builder - Design your strategy
2. Backtesting Lab - Quick historical validation
3. Trading Simulator - Realistic execution testing ← You are here
4. Paper Trader - Live data simulation
5. Live Trading - Real money

Key Features:

• ⏯️ Replay Mode - Watch strategy execute in real-time or accelerated
• ⚡ Speed Control - 6 speed modes from Realtime to 10x Fast
• 💥 Scenario Injection - Test flash crashes, volatility spikes, liquidity droughts
• 🎲 Execution Realism - Model latency, slippage, market impact
• 📡 Live Telemetry - Real-time streaming of execution events
• 📊 Progress Tracking - Progress bar with time estimates

🔄 Simulator vs Other Tools

2. Quick Start

Get Started in 5 Steps:

1. Navigate - Dashboard → Platform → Trading Simulator
2. Select Strategy - Choose from your saved strategies
3. Configure Market - Pick symbol, timeframe, and date range
4. Set Speed Mode - Choose Auto (recommended), Fast, Balanced, or Accurate
5. Click Start - Watch your simulation run!

💡 First time? Use Auto speed mode with 1 week of data for a quick test

3. Interface Overview

Left Panel (Configuration):

1. Strategy Selection - Load from library or Strategy Builder
2. Market Selection - Choose symbol and timeframe
3. Test Settings - Date range, capital, fees
4. Speed Control - Replay speed mode
5. Execution Realism - Latency, slippage, market impact
6. Scenario Injection - Add stress test events

Main Panel (Live Monitoring):

1. Progress Bar - Current progress with ETA
2. Portfolio Stats - Real-time equity, P&L, positions
3. Equity Curve - Portfolio value over time
4. Trade List - Executed trades with details

Telemetry Panel (Health Monitoring):

• Tick counter and processing speed
• Execution latency metrics
• Memory usage
• Connection status

4. Strategy Selection

📋 Loading Your Strategy

Select a strategy to simulate:

✅ Strategy Requirements

5. Market Selection

Market Types:

• Crypto - Binance data (BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, etc.)
• US Stocks - TwelveData (AAPL, TSLA, MSFT, etc.)
• Forex - TwelveData (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, etc.)
• Indian Equities - Demo data (RELIANCE, TCS, INFY, etc.)

Available Timeframes:

6. Test Settings

Configuration Options:

1. Capital Settings - Initial portfolio size and currency
2. Date Range - Start/end dates with quick selects (1W, 1M, 3M, 6M, 1Y)
3. Session Templates - Market hours (NSE, NYSE, Forex 24/5, Crypto 24/7)
4. Trading Fees - Commission and slippage rates

💰 Capital Options

💱 Currency Display: All P&L values in the simulation results are automatically converted to your profile's display currency. The simulation runs in the configured currency, but dashboard views show converted values using live FX rates.

📅 Date Range Quick Selects

⏰ Session Templates

7. Speed Control

⏯️ Speed Modes

💡 Tip: Start with Auto mode. The system optimizes based on your data volume and complexity.

⏱️ Time Estimates

8. Execution Realism

Simulate Real-World Trading Conditions:

⚡ Network Latency - Delay between order submission and execution 📊 Order Book & Liquidity - Partial fills and order rejections 📈 Market Impact - Large orders move prices 📉 Dynamic Slippage - Slippage increases during volatility

⚡ Network Latency

Models the delay between order submission and execution:

📊 Order Book & Liquidity

📈 Market Impact

Large orders move prices:

📉 Dynamic Slippage

Slippage increases during volatile periods:

Actual Slippage = Base Slippage × Volatility × Multiplier

9. Scenario Injection

Test Your Strategy Under Stress:

Inject market events to see how your strategy handles extreme conditions:

• 🌋 Volatility Spike - Sudden price movement increase
• 📉 Flash Crash - Rapid price drop and recovery
• 💧 Liquidity Drought - Reduced market depth and wider spreads
• 📰 News Shock - Price gap simulation
• 🔄 Regime Shift - Trend reversal

📋 Scenario Types

🌋 Volatility Spike Settings

📉 Flash Crash Settings

💧 Liquidity Drought Settings

10. Starting Simulation

Launch Process:

1. Click Start button
2. System validates your configuration
3. Historical data is fetched from provider
4. Simulation engine initializes
5. Strategy begins executing on replayed data
6. Live telemetry streams to your browser

Simulation States:

• Idle → Initializing → Loading → Running → Completed
• Can pause/resume at any time
• Stop ends simulation permanently

🎨 Status Indicators

11. Live Monitoring

Real-Time Telemetry:

The simulator streams live updates via Server-Sent Events (SSE) as your strategy executes:

• Tick Events - Each candle processed
• Order Events - Entries, exits, fills
• Portfolio Updates - Equity, positions, P&L

All updates appear instantly in the interface with no page refresh needed.

💰 Live Portfolio Stats

🖥️ Runtime Health

12. Playback Controls

⏯️ Controlling the Simulation

⏸️ When to Use Pause

💡 Tip: Pausing does NOT reset the simulation. You can resume from exactly where you left off.

13. Results Analysis

Comprehensive Performance Summary:

After completion, view detailed results across three categories:

📈 Returns:

• Total Return %
• Sharpe Ratio (risk-adjusted return)
• Sortino Ratio (downside risk)

📉 Risk:

• Max Drawdown %
• Volatility
• Value at Risk

🔄 Trading:

• Total Trades
• Win Rate %
• Profit Factor

📈 Key Metrics

📈 Available Charts

💾 Exporting Results

14. Templates

💾 Saving Configuration Templates

Save your simulation setup for reuse:

📁 Example Templates

15. Tips & Best Practices

Pro Tips:

✅ Start with Auto Speed - Let the system optimize for your data volume ✅ Enable Execution Realism - At least latency (50-200ms) and slippage (0.01-0.1%) ✅ Test Stress Scenarios - Every strategy should survive a flash crash ✅ Compare with Backtesting - Results should be similar but slightly worse due to realism ✅ Save Configuration Templates - Maintain consistency across tests ✅ Use Sufficient Data - Minimum 1-3 months for statistical significance

Common Mistakes:

❌ Zero slippage/latency - Unrealistic execution (always enable realism) ❌ Fast mode only - May miss execution issues (test slower modes too) ❌ No stress testing - Creates false confidence (add scenarios) ❌ Too short date range - Statistical noise (use 1-3 months minimum)

🎯 When to Use Simulator vs Others

16. FAQ

How long does a simulation take? Depends on data volume and speed mode. Typical times: 1 week (~2 min), 1 month (~8 min), 3 months (~20 min) on Auto speed.

Can I change speed during simulation? Not currently - stop and restart with different speed.

Why are results different from backtesting? Execution realism (latency, slippage, market impact) makes fills more realistic, usually slightly worse than backtesting.

What if I close the browser during simulation? Simulation continues on server. Reconnect to see progress and results.

How many scenarios can I add? No hard limit, but too many creates unrealistic conditions.

Does scenario injection modify historical data? No - scenarios are overlaid. Original data unchanged.

What if SSE connection fails? Page automatically attempts to reconnect. If issues persist, check network connection.

17. Related Guides

Your Trading Journey:

1. Strategy Builder - Create your strategy
2. Backtesting Lab - Quick historical validation
3. Trading Simulator - Realistic execution testing ← You are here
4. Paper Trader - Live data simulation
5. Dashboard - Platform navigation

🆘 Need Help?

• In-app support: Press Ctrl + ?
• Email: support@flytradr.com
• Documentation: docs.flytradr.com

Test your strategy with realistic execution conditions! 🎮