Welcome to Zorro! Getting Started

Zorro is an ecosystem for financial research and algorithmic trading. It is not a 'robot' and not a trading platform, but has some elements of both. Technically it's a frontend to a software library specialized on time series analysis and trading strategies. The frontend allows with a few button clicks to train machine learning algorithms, optimize parameters, backtest strategies with several advanced methods, and trade them live with online brokers and exchanges. This workflow is reflected in the buttons of Zorro's control panel.

Control panel

We admit: the user interface is not particularly pretty. But you can define your own user interface for your trading tools and scripts, with as many colorful buttons as you want. The default one is designed for minimum space (~ 300x600 pixels), so several instances can run on a small netbook screen in the background. There is no menu, only buttons, scrollboxes, and entry fields for setting up the broker connection and selecting the script and assets to trade.

Broker Account Account type (Demo, Real, or user-defined accounts) and broker connection (FXCM, IB, Dukascopy, Oanda, MT4, MT5, Bittrex, Binance, etc). Login User ID, account number, password, API token, or other account credentials. Status Broker server time and current price in [Trade] mode. The square is green when the connection is established, and red when it is interrupted. Strategy Script Select a script from the Strategy folder. [Change] to a different folder, [New] for a new script. See scripts for included, and tutorial for writing new scripts. Asset Select the asset to trade. With multi-asset scripts, select the asset for the log and chart. Add more assets through the asset list.  Action Select an action from the list in Zorro.ini or from the script. Run Zorro tasks, external programs, or script functions with a mouse click Period Bar period in minutes; set up by script or with this slider.  Slider1..3 General sliders for entering or displaying parameters in real time. Buttons Help Open the help manual and script reference. Edit Open the selected script and asset list in the editor. Test Test the strategy with historical price data. Several test modes can be set up in the script, such as single-step, out-of-sample, or walk-forward. Train Train the strategy by optimizing parameters or by generating trade rules or training neural networks. Trade Trade the strategy live. Connect to the broker and start earning (or losing) money. Click again to stop and optionally close open positions. Result Open the chart viewer/debugger with a plot of the trading history, and the editor with the log and the performance analysis. Result Progress State of the trading or backtest. Profits are green, losses red. Info Current backtest, account, or trading status. Messages Displays Zorro's messages. A double click copies them to the clipboard.

What you need

Some traders have acquired a desk full of PCs and monitors for boasting on trader forums with a show of indicators and price curves. But for serious trading, you only need to invest in two machines:

• As long as you don't do HFT, you won't need great computing power for live trading. Either get a plain laptop that runs in the background with permanent Internet connection, or rent for a small fee a Windows VPS from Amazon, Google, or another provider. The smallest VPS is normally sufficient for two or three Zorro instances. The trading machine should be dedicated to trading and have no other tasks. Make sure to disable automatic Windows updates for preventing reboots that interrupt the trading session. For setting up a VPS, look under Zorro in the Cloud.
   
• While developing a trading system, you'll be testing it all the time, and the computer can't be fast enough. Get a performant desktop with several cores, such as an Intel i9 machine with 16 or 32 GB RAM. Often you'll run variants of a strategy in parallel for comparison. Multiple cores, such as 8 or 16, allow faster walk-forward analysis or parallel tests without performance loss. If you're using deep learning algorithms, get a strong nVidia graphics card with CUDA support. If your computer at home won't do, the alternative is to rent a powerful VPS in the cloud.

Getting started

• Set up Zorro: Download Zorro (it's free) from http://zorro-project.com/download.php, and install it on your PC and/or on a trading server. For installing Zorro in special ways, see Zorro in the Cloud.
   
• Let Zorro do something: Select Workshop4 under Script, select EUR/USD under Asset, then click [Test]. After clicking [Result] a chart viewer pops up and displays a chart with the detailed development of your equity. For learning more about strategy development with Zorro, go through the tutorial or get the Black Book. Note that not all scripts are strategies (try Mandelbrot or Pi), and that some won't run directly, as they require first training or additional historical data. Here's a list of included scripts.
      
• Earn virtual money: Open a demo account with your preferred broker. Five minutes later you should have a $50,000 demo account and can log in and start trading. Start Zorro, select the broker, enter your login credentials, select a Z strategy or one of the Workshops, and click [Trade]. Wait a couple of months and observe the money accumulate on your account...
   
• Earn real money: The free Zorro version is fully functional and can trade with real money. But before investing your hard earned money in the included strategies, please read the Z systems chapter from top to bottom. Open a real money account with the broker of your choice; for finding a broker, read the Brokers page. Once the account is established, transfer some money onto it. Start Zorro, select the strategy and begin trading. If you don't own Zorro S, withdraw your profits regularly from the broker account, as the free Zorro version stops trading when the account balance exceeds $7000 (see profit limits for details).
      
• Go from here: Read the main topics of this manual. For developing your own trade strategies, learn in the Tutorial how to code them. For deeper understanding, get a book about algorithmic trading. If you have a question or an issue with Zorro, ask on the user forum. For in-depth support, subscribe a support ticket on the Zorro download page. If you need help with developing a trading strategy, contact our system development service.

See also

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