Candle backtests guess which of your stop or target was hit first. Ticks know. Replay US100 on every bid and ask quote since 2016, with stop-loss and take-profit settled on the exact tick, real spreads and 5-second charts. Right in your browser.
We replayed 526,733 random trades on the Nasdaq 100 from 2016 to 2025, at a 1:2 reward-to-risk. Random entries have no edge, so the honest answer is zero. Here is what each method reported.
per trade. Every candle that touched both levels was booked as a win, so random trades looked like a profitable system.
per trade. Settled on the real tick order, the same trades came out at practically break-even, which is what random entries should show.
| Setup | Trades | Both levels in one candle | Stop hit first | Win rate (candles) | Win rate (ticks) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M15 · 1:2 | 418,517 | 14,213 (3.4%) | 67.6% | 35.8% | 33.6% |
| H1 · 1:2 | 108,216 | 6,357 (5.9%) | 67.0% | 37.5% | 33.6% |
| M15 · 1:1 | 418,516 | 8,244 (2.0%) | 50.0% | 51.0% | 50.0% |
| H1 · 1:1 | 108,216 | 3,826 (3.5%) | 50.0% | 51.8% | 50.0% |
Method: US100 bid ticks, January 2016 to December 2025 (564,979,767 ticks). A long and a short at every candle open; stop and target sized from the previous 14 candles' average range (1:2 = stop 0.5 ATR, target 1 ATR; 1:1 = stop and target 1 ATR). The first candle reaching either level decides the trade; where it reaches both, candle rules book the target and the ticks are scanned for which level traded first. Costs excluded so only fill order is measured; "got wrong" counts the double-hit trades where the stop traded first. Tighter stops, common when scalping the cash open, push more trades into these candles.
You replay candles and trade with the mouse the way you always have. The tick layer sits underneath and settles the moments candles cannot.
Every stop and target settles on the first tick that trades the level. Longs exit on the bid, shorts on the ask, just as a broker fills them.
Market entries pay the bid-ask spread actually quoted on the candle's last tick, wider overnight and around the cash open and data releases, instead of one flat number.
S5, S15 and S30 timeframes built straight from the ticks. Zoom into the 09:30 cash open or a CPI print and see the order the moves came in.
Over 640 million quotes through the 2020 crash, the 2022 bear market and the AI rally. Test across regimes, not one quiet year.
No tick downloader, no CSV import, no MetaTrader history settings. Each day's ticks stream into the chart the moment the replay needs them.
Win rate, expectancy, profit factor and drawdown from tick-settled trades, plus the full Ultra suite: sessions, MFE, tags and stress tests.
An M1 bar at the New York cash open hides a whole fight. S5 shows it: the first spike, the stop run, the reversal. The two hours after the open carry 20.6% of the Nasdaq's daily movement, and scalpers finally get to test entries there at the speed they actually take them.
If you already backtest the Nasdaq on candles, run the same rules again on ticks. An edge that survives is one you can size with confidence.
With Ultra active, the tick layer switches on for the Nasdaq automatically and the seconds timeframes appear in the switcher.
S5 for scalping the open, M15 or H1 for intraday swings. Everything after your start date stays hidden.
When price reaches your stop or target, the day's ticks decide which traded first, and the report is built on those fills.
Tick backtesting has meant installing a terminal, downloading history and writing an EA. Not here.
| Candle bar replay | MT5 tester (real ticks) | FxBacktest Ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SL and TP in one candle | Target assumed | Real order | Real order |
| Spread | Fixed number | Broker history | Real, per tick |
| Seconds timeframes | No | Custom symbols only | S5 / S15 / S30 |
| Manual bar-by-bar trading | Yes | EA-driven | Yes |
| Nasdaq 100 history | Varies | Depends on broker | Every day since 2016 |
| Setup | Browser | Install, account, EA | Browser |
One plan, the full analytics suite, and every Nasdaq tick since 2016.
Not ready? Nasdaq candles are free on every timeframe. How to backtest the Nasdaq
What traders ask before switching the Nasdaq to ticks.
No. The ticks stream into the backtesting chart, where they settle your trades and draw the seconds timeframes. They are not offered as a file download. If you need raw CSV files for your own code, use a tick downloader; if you want to replay and trade the Nasdaq on those ticks, this is the tool.
To January 2016 - every trading day of US100 bid and ask quotes since then, more than 640 million ticks in total.
Stop-loss and take-profit exits are settled on the first tick that trades the level, longs on the bid and shorts on the ask. Market entries take the real spread on the last tick of the candle. Pending limit and stop entries still fill on candle rules, and if a day's ticks are incomplete that candle falls back to candle rules too.
No. US100 is on the free plan with candle data on every timeframe; minute bars cover the most recent months on the free plan. Ultra adds the tick layer: tick-accurate exits, real per-tick spread and the S5, S15 and S30 seconds timeframes.
Yes. Ultra tick data covers four symbols: US100, gold (XAUUSD), EURUSD and GBPUSD, each from January 2016. See XAUUSD tick data for gold. Every other market is on candles - see all 105 markets.
Run your strategy on the ticks that actually printed. If the edge holds, trade it with confidence. If it does not, you just saved your account.