BenchMark_ET.xls measures Excel performance with 6 trading related Excel/VBA tests. Once the benchmark is complete, your results can be submitted to the Database (just press “Submit”). All submitted results are available here (all results are sortable). The default view is most recently submitted result topmost (so your result should be on top until you sort). System Information is listed along with each test result (processor name, OS, Clock Speed, Cores, Excel Version, File type). A composite Scoring system is in place, but each individual test result is also listed in the results database. All results can be sorted in ascending/descending order by clicking each result’s title. For best results disable autosave and background error checking in Excel options.

Instructions:

1. Download Benchmark_ET.xls.
2. Open Benchmark_ET.xls and press the button “Start Benchmark”
3. (optional) Submit and view your results.

Below is an explantion of each test:

Test 1: Data Build Time

Measures the time it takes VBA to create 5 columns * 65535 rows of random tick data.

Test 2: MACD VBA Calculation

Measures the time it takes VBA to calculate the MACD indicator for the 5 columns * 65535 rows of data created in test one. (The VBA code for the MACD calculation is here.)

Test 3: Dispayed Ticks (30 Sec)

Measures the number of ticks (price changes) than can be displayed in 30 seconds. In my original benchmark this was the only type of test. The results varied so greatly that newer versions of excel took hours to complete the benchmark while older versions took just minutes making the benchmark annoying to run. By limiting this test to 30 seconds the total time to run the benchmark will be similar among all systems tested.

Test 4: 63000 ticks converted to OHLC

After 63000 ticks are created, this test converts the tick data to OHLC data. The result is measured in time.

Test 5: Live formula Test

This test begins with with 5000 bars of OHLC and a series of formula based indicators. The last price changes in E5000 as rapidly as possible but waits for all formulas to calculate between each price change.  The benchmark result is the number of price changes that can be completed with formula recalculations within 30 seconds.  Below is the list of indicators calculated with live formulas in this test.

1. SMA (100,200,300)
2. RSS
3. RSI
4. Fisher Transform of RSI

Test 6: Live formula Test

This test is identical to test 5 except that all formulas also refer to and are dependent on the changing cell, E5000. Test 6  compared to Test 5  is meant to test the “smart recalculation engine” promoted by Microsoft.  More info can be found in this Microsoft article under the section titles “Understanding Calculation Methods in Excel”.

Scoring:

A composite scoring system is in place and the result is listed in column two on the results data base page and also at the top of the benchmark results form upon completion. With the exception of test 3 all tests are counted equally. Test 3, which tests displayed ticks on a stock chart is counted 3 times because for trading it’s an important result to consider. To establish the composite score 20 tests were run on various systems and excel versions. The best and worst scores for each test were used to establish the benchmark score. The best scores from the initial tests resulted in a score of 100 and the worst scores resulted in a score of 0 therefore scores greater than 100 and below 0 are possible.  On the results page idle processor speed is shown and overclocked systems may not show the true processor speed. If you see two systems that look the same with significantly different scores, the higher score is likely from an overclocked system. Thanks for trying my Excel benchmark and submitting your system’s result!

In addition to the code based conversion, the function can also be used with live data. For example the function can be used in a formula like Bconver("120 01.5"). In that case "120 01.5" could be replaced with a dde link.

Option Explicit

Function Bconver(x As Variant)
Dim y As Variant
y = Split(x, " ")
If UBound(y) = 1 Then
Bconver = y(0) + y(1) / 32
Else
Bconver = x
End If
End Function

Sub bondconvert()
Dim wsET As Worksheet
Dim lr As Long
Dim r As Range
Dim x As Variant
'Set wsET = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Data")
Set wsET = ThisWorkbook.ActiveSheet
With wsET
lr = .Cells(Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row
For Each r In .Range("B2:E" & lr)
r.Value = Bconver(r.Value)
Next r
End With
End Sub

'www.Exceltrader.net, Copyright © 2011 Excel Trader - All Rights Reserved

1. Install 32 bit Java. (remove any old java installations first)
2. Install TWS (followed by the API if you are using it)
3. Copy the file “Javaw.exe” from “C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin” and place it in “C:\Windows\System32″
4. Now open from the TWS shortcut as normal.

As an example, SPY futures are available in contracts with a multiplier of 1000 and 100 on the ONE exchange.

The error message received in this case is “The contract description specified for SPY is ambiguous;”

The solution is to first find the local symbol. You can do this by first adding the contract in TWS, right click on the contract name within TWS, then select contract details and select “details”.
This will open the page shown below and you can find the local symbol. As shown below, leave out the other parameters such as expiration date as it’s inherit in the local symbol (and will result in no data).

1. Ex Dividend Date
2. Dividend pay date.
3. Dividend Yield.

The instructions are:

1. Enter your symbols in Column A
2. Press the “Get Dividend Data” button.

Below is an image of the file.

Both files contain the exact same set of Open High Low Close data. The formula based version should be easier to understand and serves as a way to verify that the VBA code that I wrote is correct. Both methods give the same result for both %k and %D.  The major benefit of using VBA is that the parameters for Stochastics can be easily changed from the input boxes. In addition the VBA method shows only the final result rather than take up five columns.

The VBA based version can be downloaded here.

The formula version can be downloaded here. Below is an image of the formulas used in the formula based version.

Below is the code that I wrote for the VBA based version.

Sub ETstochastic() 'written by Exceltrader www.exceltrader.net
Dim StochSetting As Integer, Ksetting As Integer, Dsetting As Integer
Dim A() As Double, B() As Double, C() As Double, D() As Double, E() As Double
Dim Count As Long
Dim Xcounter As Integer, Xavg As Double
Dim Zcounter As Integer, Zavg As Double
Dim x As Integer, y As Integer, z As Integer
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
''  The below three lines are the Stochastic settings.
''  The Values can either be changed here or uncomment the inputbox lines to be prompted.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
StochSetting = 14 'InputBox(Prompt:="Enter Stoch settings Number of Periods.", Title:="Stochastic Period", Default:="13")
Ksetting = 2 'InputBox(Prompt:="Enter Moving Average For %K", Title:="%K Setting", Default:="5")
Dsetting = 3 'InputBox(Prompt:="Enter Moving Average For %D", Title:="%D Setting", Default:="6")
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Svba")
    With ws
    LR = .Cells(Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row
'does the same as formula =E15-(MIN(D1:D15))
        For Each DataRange In ws.Range(.Cells(2, "A"), .Cells(LR, "A"))
        Count = DataRange.Row
        ReDim Preserve A(1 To Count)
                If Count >= StochSetting + 1 Then
                     A(Count) = .Cells(Count, "E") - Application.Min(ws.Range(.Cells(Count - StochSetting, "D") _
                     , .Cells(Count, "D")))
                End If
        Next DataRange
     'does the same as formula   =MAX(C36:C50)-MIN(D36:D50)
        For Each DataRange In ws.Range(.Cells(2, "A"), .Cells(LR, "A"))
        Count = DataRange.Row
        ReDim Preserve B(1 To Count)
                If Count >= StochSetting + 1 Then
                     B(Count) = Application.Max(ws.Range(.Cells(Count - StochSetting, "C"), .Cells(Count, "C"))) _
                     - Application.Min(ws.Range(.Cells(Count - StochSetting, "D"), .Cells(Count, "D")))
                     End If
        Next DataRange
        '=100*(I50/J50)
        ReDim Preserve C(StochSetting + 1 To UBound(B))
            For Count = StochSetting + 1 To UBound(B)
                   C(Count) = (A(Count) / B(Count)) * 100
            Next Count
        '=AVERAGE(K49:K50)
        ReDim Preserve D(StochSetting + Ksetting To UBound(B))
            For Count = StochSetting + Ksetting To UBound(B)
                For Xcounter = Count - Ksetting + 1 To Count 'just go back and get the first C and go forward to current
                    Xavg = C(Xcounter) + Xavg
                Next Xcounter
                D(Count) = Xavg / Ksetting
                Xavg = Empty
            Next Count
            ReDim Preserve E(StochSetting + Ksetting + Dsetting - 1 To UBound(B))
            For Count = StochSetting + Ksetting + Dsetting - 1 To UBound(B)
                For Zcounter = Count - Dsetting + 1 To Count 'just go back and get the first C and go forward to current
                    Zavg = D(Zcounter) + Zavg
                Next Zcounter
                E(Count) = Zavg / Dsetting
                Zavg = Empty
            Next Count
  x = Empty: y = Empty: z = Empty
  x = LBound(E)
  y = UBound(E)
  'put the stochastics on the workbook. Change column Letter as needed
  .Cells(x - 1, "J") = "%D"
  .Cells(x - 1, "I") = "%K"
  For z = x To y
  .Cells(z, "J") = E(z)
  .Cells(z, "I") = D(z)
  Next z
End With
End Sub
            
            
            

Both files contain the exact same set of Open High Low Close data. The formula based version is easier to understand and serves as a way to verify that the VBA code that I wrote is correct. Both methods give the same result.  The major benefit of using VBA is that the parameters for MACD can be easy changed from the input boxes. In addition the VBA method shows only the final result rather than take up five columns.

The VBA based version can be downloaded here.

The formula version can be downloaded here. Below is the code from the VBA based version.

Sub ETmacd() 'written by Exceltrader www.exceltrader.net
Dim EMAslow As Double, EMAfAst As Double, ws As Worksheet, LR As Integer
Dim eMaF() As Double, eMaS() As Double, EMAdif(), emaPer() As Double, MacDper As Double, coUnt As Integer
Dim DataRange As Range
Dim ExPSlowWeight As Double
Dim ExPFastWeight As Double
Dim PerWeight As Double
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
''  The below three lines are the MACD settings.                                         ''
''  The Values can either be changed here or uncomment the inputbox lines to be prompted.''
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
EMAslow = 13 'InputBox(Prompt:="Enter Macd Slow settings.", Title:="MACD SLOW", Default:="13")
EMAfAst = 5 'InputBox(Prompt:="Enter Macd Fast settings.", Title:="MACD Fast", Default:="5")
MacDper = 6 'InputBox(Prompt:="Enter Macd Period settings.", Title:="MACD Period", Default:="6")
ExPSlowWeight = 2 / (EMAslow + 1)
PerWeight = 2 / (MacDper + 1)
ExPFastWeight = 2 / (EMAfAst + 1)
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("VBA") 'or use exact sheet name for example ThisWorkbook.worksheet("Sheet1")
'slow
    With ws
    LR = .Cells(Rows.coUnt, "A").End(xlUp).Row
        For Each DataRange In ws.Range(.Cells(2, "A"), .Cells(LR, "A"))
        coUnt = DataRange.Row + 1
        'fill the eMA slow Array
        ReDim Preserve eMaS(1 To coUnt)
                If coUnt = EMAslow + 1 Then
                    'get the first value which is the Simple Moving average
                     eMaS(coUnt) = Application.Average(ws.Range(.Cells(2, "E"), .Cells(coUnt, "E")))
                ElseIf coUnt > EMAslow Then
                    eMaS(coUnt) = (.Cells(coUnt, "E") * ExPSlowWeight) + (eMaS(coUnt - 1) * (1 - ExPSlowWeight))
                End If
        Next DataRange
'fast
        For Each DataRange In ws.Range(.Cells(2, "A"), .Cells(LR, "A"))
        coUnt = DataRange.Row + 1
        'fill the eMA slow Array
        ReDim Preserve eMaF(1 To coUnt)
                If coUnt = EMAfAst + 1 Then
                    'get the first value which is the Simple Moving average
                     eMaF(coUnt) = Application.Average(ws.Range(.Cells(2, "E"), .Cells(coUnt, "E")))
                ElseIf coUnt > EMAfAst Then
                    eMaF(coUnt) = (.Cells(coUnt, "E") * ExPFastWeight) + (eMaF(coUnt - 1) * (1 - ExPFastWeight))
                End If
        Next DataRange
        ReDim Preserve EMAdif(EMAslow To UBound(eMaF))
            For coUnt = EMAslow + 1 To UBound(eMaF)
                EMAdif(coUnt) = eMaF(coUnt) - eMaS(coUnt)
            Next coUnt
'MacD Period
        Dim x As Integer, y As Integer, z As Integer, Avee As Double
        y = EMAslow + MacDper - 1
            For x = y To UBound(EMAdif) - 2
                'get the SMA for first value
                If x = y Then
                        For z = EMAslow + 1 To EMAslow + MacDper  '(EMAslow + MacDper - 1)
                        Ave = Ave + EMAdif(z)
                        Next z
                        ReDim emaPer(x To LR)
                        emaPer(x) = Ave / MacDper
                ElseIf x > y Then
                emaPer(x) = (EMAdif(x + 1) * PerWeight) + (emaPer(x - 1) * (1 - PerWeight))
                End If
            Next x
  x = Empty: y = Empty: z = Empty
  x = LBound(emaPer)
  y = UBound(emaPer)
  For z = x To y - 1
  .Cells(z + 1, "J") = EMAdif(z + 1) - emaPer(z)
  Next z
End With
End Sub 'written by Exceltrader www.exceltrader.net