Glossary
Current Lona terms for strategy building, data, backtests, and optimization.
Platform terms
Backtest
Running a strategy against historical market data to produce a report of simulated trades, portfolio values, and performance metrics.
Canvas / Backtest panel
The right-side panel in chat. It shows identified rules, generated code, reports, and optimization work for the current strategy.
Chat
A saved conversation where you describe a strategy, clarify its rules, and build code. Recent chats appear when the desktop sidebar is expanded.
Strategy
The saved implementation of trading rules, including source code and version information.
Strategy version
An immutable saved strategy document. Updating a strategy creates a newer version in the same version group rather than overwriting an existing version.
Report
The result record for a backtest, including its data sources, configuration, status, metrics, and visualizations.
Export
The MT5-only workflow that translates strategy code into MQL5, compiles it, and packages the source and binary in a ZIP.
AI model
The model selected in the chat input to handle the conversation and strategy-building work. It does not replace the backtesting engine.
Data terms
Global data
Lona’s catalog of market symbols. The current global feed is sourced from Tiingo, adjusted for dividends and splits, and refreshed daily.
User-uploaded data
A CSV source stored for your account. The current upload flow supports OHLCV trading data. The data selector calls this option Custom Data, but the upload path remains OHLCV.
OHLCV
The standard bar format:
- Open: first price in the bar;
- High: highest price in the bar;
- Low: lowest price in the bar;
- Close: last price in the bar; and
- Volume: traded volume.
Timestamp and Close are required for a user upload. The other OHLCV fields are optional in mapping but recommended.
Symbol / ticker
The identifier for a market instrument, such as a stock, currency pair, or crypto pair.
Bar
A single OHLCV observation for a period of time.
Frequency
The duration represented by each bar. Global data supports 1d, 4h, 1h, 15m, and 5m. User-uploaded sources accept a numeric unit format such as 5m, 1h, 1d, 1w, or 1M.
Date-range overlap
The interval covered by every selected symbol. A backtest or optimization must use dates inside this intersection.
Strategy terms
Entry condition
The rule that opens a position, such as a moving-average crossover.
Exit condition
The rule that closes a position, such as an opposite signal, a stop, or a time limit.
Parameter
A named value used by strategy code, such as an indicator period or threshold.
Fixed parameter
A parameter held at one value for every optimization iteration.
Parameter grid
The minimum, maximum, and step used to generate values for one swept numeric parameter.
Optimization
Running a parameter sweep across selected data and simulation settings, then comparing the resulting metrics.
Iteration
One optimization run for one combination of swept parameter values.
Objective metric
The selected metric used to rank optimization results. The objective also specifies whether to maximize or minimize it.
Selected metrics
The objective metric plus any additional metrics requested for the result table.
Performance metrics
Lona can return the following optimization metrics:
| Metric | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Realized PnL | Profit or loss from closed trades. |
| Total return | Overall portfolio return for the run. |
| CAGR | Compound annual growth rate. |
| Calmar ratio | Return relative to maximum drawdown. |
| Recovery factor | Net result relative to drawdown. |
| Annualized Sharpe ratio | Risk-adjusted return using return variability. |
| Maximum drawdown percentage | Largest peak-to-trough portfolio decline as a percentage. |
| Standard deviation of returns | Dispersion of returns. |
| Profit factor | Gross profit divided by gross loss. |
| Payoff ratio | Average winning trade relative to average losing trade. |
| Expectancy | Average expected result per trade. |
| Average trade | Mean result per trade. |
| Percentage of winning trades | Share of trades with a positive result. |
| Average bars held | Mean number of bars positions stayed open. |
Equity curve
A time series showing portfolio value over a backtest.
Maximum drawdown
The largest decline from a portfolio peak to a later trough during the run.
Profit factor
Gross profits divided by gross losses. Interpret it with trade count, drawdown, and the test design rather than in isolation.
Sharpe ratio
A risk-adjusted return measure based on return variability. Its interpretation depends on the data frequency, assumptions, and sample period.
Win rate
The percentage of completed trades with a positive result. A high win rate alone does not establish a robust strategy.
Export terms
MT5 / MetaTrader 5
The supported external export target. Lona produces MQL5 intended for use as a MetaTrader 5 Expert Advisor.
MQL5
The programming language used for MetaTrader 5 Expert Advisors.
.mq5
The generated MQL5 source file included in a completed export ZIP.
.ex5
The compiled MT5 binary included when the generated MQL5 source compiles successfully.