AmiBroker is an array based charting program with a pretty good back-testing engine. As such, you can create almost any indicator you want with it, including DSP based functions. I have been writing code for this program for about 6 months now (on and off) and can say that if you are comfortable with basic C language programming, you can write amibroker code. The back tester is pretty good and allows you to do rotational and non-rotational backtesting. It does portfolio testing although I have not done that yet. It also does explorations (scans) for stocks that meet your criteria. For the price, it is a good analysis program. Its Interactive Brokers interface is very popular. Amibroker, along with Interactive Brokers is a credible alternative to Tradestation. Caveat: documentation (users guide, language reference, etc.) could be better.

I tried this program for more than one year, just to find out that its typical Microsoft based: lots of features, but nothing really works or only partly. I can't even start to describe the agony of loosing weeks of analysis, lots of data or simply wrong graphical information. All because of another Amibroker "system crash" or faulty programming (by the seller!).

Don't try to do serious trading with this software!

The program is clearly written with the aim to assumably cover all possible demands that traders could have, so it will sell easy at the "low" price. You get the picture.

Cheap will in this case turn out to be dear, if you have to rebuild charts and data after a hick up or crash of Amibroker and trading has to be stopped because of it.

A good program must be 1. super reliable and stabile, 2. accurate, 3. quick response, 4. easy to work with, 5. excellent back up with adequate support from the vendor.

Amibroker does not offer any of that. Don't waste your money on this one.

I spent the second half of last year using another provider which I thought did the business although lacked in the ability to run portfolio simulations. In Amibroker I have the answer. The C++ language and array computing takes a bit of getting used to, but once you overcome that, you have backtesting software that will do anything you want. Having designed a trading system, you can then run it as a portfolio on multiple assets, whilst stipulating inter-dependent rules (most budget software packages do not do this). And if you get stuck, they will reply to your emails within half a day at most. All this for under £300.. simply awesome.

I have been using AMIBroker for years and as a software developer there is no system that cannot be written in this application. Other software packages costing thousands cannot match the power of AMIBrokers. The pacakges that do match all the AMIBroker features leaves you wondering why they want thousands and AMIBroker only a couple of hundred bucks. It is a Fantastic applcation. Now, can you write a trading system that can make money, that is another story.

If your technically capable it's extremely powerful, if your a non programmer - its just great too - as my wife will attest.

With Amibroker you can do everything the more expensive programs can do and then some.

Like the other reviewers it's inexpensive, one-off price. You can examine all the manuals and formulae on the web before buying. Providing you don't mind programming type languages it is powerful and doesn't restrict you. It uses free data sources such as yahoo EOD or alternatively has APIs to/from other datasources and brokers, enabling you to place trades if you so wish. Besides the normal support there is a Yahoo user's group

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/amibroker/messages/

So good software for someone to cut their teeth without costing a fortune

Being a programmer, I found Amibroker to be the best option available. I have tested numerous platforms. On the negative side: the free, default dataprovideres are quite a bit lacking for Forex and Australian Stocks. Maybe for beginners - I mean non professional programmers - it is a bit hard to use but if you like to try your own ideas. Do programming or buy programming, I just find Amibroker unreplacable.

I am using and programming other software, too. Some are indeed easier to use but they tend to close you into a box and I like be able to explore my ideas freely.

Peter Fornai

for the price this is a great piece of software that works with different data sources. I am using it to trade eod and real time.

Takes a while to get used to it as the documentation is not that great unless you want to read the 600 page manual. I finding more more useful features everyday.

Support is via email and i they respond quickly. AB can only get better and its fast.

great software for all and great price a

very good backup and support

I bought Amibroker as it allows you to do your TA without paying a monthly fee. It's a one off cost of around £100.

You can then update the OCHLV data from a number of different (free) sources. i.e. Yahoo

This was ideal for me. I was starting up as a trader and wanted to try a number of different paper trading systems without having to pay out money each month.

The support is not the best, they will always get back to you but it might take a few attempts before you get the answer you're looking for. And the documentation could do with some updating.

There are many different indicators and you can customise them quite easily.

All in all, it does a job. If you don't want a monthly outgoing and are looking to position trade then it's great, but don't expect miracles!