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Short answers to the questions traders ask most. For the deeper “is this real?” explanation, see Is the backtest real?.
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always test before you trade.
Usually a few minutes. The exact time depends on how much data the strategy covers, how many indicators it uses, how complex the rules are, and current load. You’ll see the results on the strategy card when it’s done — total P&L, win rate, number of trades, average trade, and max drawdown.
Yes. Reported P&L is net of modeled slippage and commission by default — slippage of 1 tick per trade and commission of 1/side∗∗onmicrosand∗∗1/side** on micros and **2.50/side on full-size contracts. You can adjust both when you build or refine a strategy.Even so, live results can differ from a backtest because of real-world factors a simulation can’t fully capture: actual fills, liquidity, latency, and changing markets. Treat backtests as analytical tools, not guarantees.
Roughly 74 listed futures contracts across equity indices (including international index futures like DAX and FTSE), energy, metals, grains, interest rates, FX, crypto, livestock, softs, and volatility — think E-mini and Micro S&P 500, Nasdaq, Crude Oil, Gold, and Bitcoin, plus many more. Most are CME Group markets (CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX), with a few closely linked international contracts. We use back-adjusted continuous contracts built with standardized roll logic. We don’t support single-name stocks or ETFs, equity options, or spot FX. See Supported symbols for the full list.
No. AskFutures is a research and analysis tool. It does not provide investment advice, trading recommendations, brokerage services, commodity trading advice, or legal or tax advice. You are solely responsible for your own trading decisions.
Market data is updated daily from an institutional-grade vendor feed and goes through internal quality checks and normalization. Backtests run on minute-level history (1-minute, 5-minute, and daily bars), evaluated on completed bars at your chosen timeframe. The strategy doesn’t see future data — chronological ordering is strictly enforced, so it only uses information that would have been available at the time.
No. AskFutures does not connect to a broker, place orders, or trade any real money. It’s a backtesting and research tool — every result is a hypothetical, simulated replay of your rules over historical prices. Trading the idea live is entirely up to you, through your own broker.
Your account details and the strategy ideas you describe are used to run the service, keep it reliable and secure, and prevent abuse. We do not sell personal data. Interactions may be logged and monitored for security, abuse prevention, and improving the product. We apply reasonable safeguards to protect your information, though no system can promise absolute security.To request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information, email support@askfutures.com.
A backtest runs one strategy — one fixed set of parameters — over historical data and reports how it performed. An optimization runs many backtests across a range of parameter values (say, every stop from 200to200 to 800) to see which settings held up best.Same deterministic engine either way; optimization just sweeps the dials for you. See Backtesting and Optimization.
No. You describe your idea in plain English the way you’d say it to another trader, and AskFutures turns it into a precise, rule-based strategy. No code, no formulas, no platform scripting. You can refine it by chatting, too.
AskFutures offers an MCP server so you can drive it from tools like Claude, Cursor, or Codex. To get set up, email support@askfutures.com. See the Developers overview for what the MCP server can do.
You can cancel at any time — cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period. Subscriptions auto-renew at the end of each cycle unless you cancel before renewal. Subscription fees are non-refundable, and there are no partial refunds for unused time. A free trial may be available; if so, it converts to a paid subscription at the end of the trial unless you cancel first.
No. The AI translates your words into rules, and like any automated system it can occasionally produce something incomplete, inaccurate, or not quite what you meant. Always review the strategy card — entries, exits, filters, and parameters — and check that it matches your intent before you rely on it.Where AskFutures had to make a call or couldn’t add something, it tells you: look for the Assumptions and Issues notes on the strategy. The numbers, on the other hand, are not AI-generated — once the rules exist, a fixed, deterministic engine produces every result. More on that in Is the backtest real?.
Backtest results are hypothetical and simulated. Because no trades were actually executed, results may under- or over-state real outcomes — liquidity, slippage, volatility, and execution delays differ live, and simulated programs are designed with the benefit of hindsight. Past performance — actual or simulated — does not guarantee future results. Always test before you trade.

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Next steps

Is the backtest real?

How AskFutures separates AI interpretation from deterministic math.

Build a strategy

Go from a plain-English idea to a backtested strategy.

Core concepts

Strategies, backtests, and what makes the numbers trustworthy.

Developers

Drive AskFutures from Claude, Cursor, or Codex with the MCP server.