I used Vector Vest about 3 or 4 years ago with good results. I later got involved with options and quit using it. I am thinking of trying it again and wonder if there is any other similar computer system that lets you check past stock performance and has built-in or user created systems you can back test different methods of picking stocks.
I am aware some call VectorVest a scam and others say it gives results you can get for free and others say its no good.
Maybe I was lucky in my use of it, but my results were profitable. That was some time ago so I am curious about the present and anyone else's experience with it or another computer based system with lots of flexibility in choosing stocks and being able to back test their results.
I am aware back testing has flaws and does not predict future performance. However since most analysts results don't seem reliable, possibly an impartial computer set of selections may be just as good. That was my original reason for using VectorVest.
Vector Vest, MetaStock, FastTrack, and other popular trading software all suffer at the hands of users who over optimize their results. The more complex and the more often you tweak a trading system, the more likely that you fit that system to a trading history which is unlikely to continue.
In 1999 FastTrack addressed that issue by withdrawing support for user promoted optimized trading systems, offering, instead, simple basic strategies that are effective broadly. I am not sure what the other popular products have done to curb abuses.