Tim Arnold’s Trading Blox software is one of the few software trading packages that traders actually use to accurately test technical trading concepts. While not as well known as many more popular packages, Trading Blox has a dedicated and loyal following. If you can imagine a trading idea, there is a good chance you will be able to “write” it into Trading Blox and backtest your idea.
Founded in 2001, Trading Blox was built specifically for systematic traders who need to test trend following strategies with the same rigor that professional managed futures operations apply to their own research. The platform is designed around end-of-day data and trend following style trading — not day trading, not high-frequency, not intraday. This focus means the tool is built for exactly the kind of testing that matters for the systematic approaches documented on TurtleTrader.
The software’s architecture is built around reusable “blox” — modular components that handle entries, exits, position sizing, risk management, and money management separately and can be combined in any configuration. The Turtle System is included as a built-in system. Additional built-in systems include Donchian channel breakout, Triple Moving Average, ATR Channel Breakout, Bollinger Breakout, Dual Moving Average, and others. The entry-level Trading Blox Turtle edition provides these pre-built systems without requiring any programming. The Builder edition adds a scripting environment for users who want to code custom systems from scratch.
What distinguishes Trading Blox from the more popular but less rigorous charting packages is its portfolio-level backtesting capability. Most retail backtesting tools test one system on one market at a time. Trading Blox allows backtesting of 10 strategies simultaneously on end-of-day futures, forex, and equities, with portfolio-level analysis built in rather than requiring third-party products. This matters because trend following is a portfolio approach. Testing a system on a single market in isolation produces results that do not reflect the diversification effects, correlation dynamics, and position sizing interactions that occur when trading many markets simultaneously.
The platform handles futures contract rolls, volatility-based slippage modeling, and dynamic money management where position sizes change based on current equity. These features are specifically relevant to systematic trend following. A backtest that does not account for contract rolls overstates returns in futures markets. A backtest that uses fixed dollar slippage rather than volatility-proportional slippage produces unrealistic results in highly volatile markets. Trading Blox builds these realistic market conditions into its simulation engine rather than treating them as optional adjustments.
The parameter stepping capability is the research feature that professional-grade system development requires. The software can run thousands of parameter combinations automatically, testing whether a system is robust across a range of parameter values or dependent on a single precisely tuned setting. A system that performs well at a 20-day lookback and poorly at 18 or 22 days has failed the robustness test. A system that performs consistently across a range from 15 to 30 days has passed it. Trading Blox makes this test executable rather than theoretical.
Users consistently note that Trading Blox produces results that are closer to live trading performance than competing platforms, specifically because of the realistic simulation features. The value of a backtesting platform is not how good the results look but how accurately they predict live trading performance. Over-optimistic backtests are the source of the most painful live trading discoveries. Trading Blox is built to minimize the gap between backtest and live results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Trading Blox specifically recommended for trend following research?
Because it is designed for end-of-day data and trend following style trading, includes the Turtle system as a built-in starting point, handles portfolio-level backtesting natively, and implements realistic simulation features including contract rolls, volatility-based slippage, and dynamic position sizing. Most retail charting platforms are designed for shorter-term discretionary use and lack the portfolio-level capabilities that systematic trend following research requires.
What is the difference between the Trading Blox editions?
The entry-level Turtle edition includes pre-built systems including the Donchian and Turtle systems and full backtesting and order generation capabilities without requiring programming. The Professional edition adds more built-in systems. The Builder edition adds the Blox Basic scripting environment for coding custom systems. The Live edition adds direct API integration with Interactive Brokers for live trading order generation and intraday support.
What makes Trading Blox backtesting more realistic than competing platforms?
The combination of futures contract roll accounting, volatility-proportional slippage modeling, dynamic position sizing that changes with current equity, and portfolio-level simulation across multiple systems and markets simultaneously. These features replicate the actual conditions of systematic trend following more accurately than platforms that use static slippage, ignore contract rolls, or test one market in isolation. The gap between backtest and live performance is smaller when the simulation engine is more realistic.
Trend Following Systems
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