# TextToQuant Academy

> 12 short lessons from a first strategy to validating an edge, plus a 22-term glossary.

Source: https://www.texttoquant.com/academy
Every page below is available as raw Markdown by appending `.md` to its URL.

## Foundations

From a plain English sentence to a running backtest. Start here if you've never built a strategy. You'll learn how the engine reads your rules and how the pieces fit.

- [Your first strategy](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/first-strategy.md): How a plain English sentence becomes a backtest.
- [Reading the parsed rules](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/parsed-rules.md): Why there are no hidden AI decisions.
- [Indicators & signals](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/indicators-and-signals.md): The building blocks: trend, momentum, and bands.
- [Entries, exits & stops](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/entries-exits-stops.md): Every strategy needs a way in and a way out.

## Validation

A great backtest can be a lie. Learn the checks that separate a real edge from a curve fit fluke: out of sample, walk forward, Monte Carlo, and the Deflated Sharpe.

- [The overfitting trap](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/overfitting-trap.md): Why a great backtest can be a lie.
- [Out of sample is the real test](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/out-of-sample.md): Holding data back to catch curve fitting.
- [Monte Carlo & robustness](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/monte-carlo.md): How much of your result is luck?.
- [Deflated Sharpe & the multiple testing tax](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/deflated-sharpe.md): Why trying 100 ideas inflates the best one.

## Risk & Execution

Sizing, stops and costs decide whether an edge survives contact with a real account. Learn to think in R, place stops that fit volatility, and model the friction of real fills.

- [Position sizing & risk per trade](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/position-sizing.md): How much to bet is bigger than what to bet on.
- [Stops, targets & R multiples](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/stops-targets-r-multiples.md): Thinking in R instead of dollars.
- [Confirm across timeframes](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/multi-timeframe.md): Higher timeframe context filters bad trades.
- [Execution realism](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/execution-realism.md): The gap between a backtest and a real account.

## Reference

- [Reading a result](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/reading-a-result.md): How to interpret a TextToQuant backtest and report it honestly: what the grade means, what the honesty flags oblige you to say, and the order to say it in.
- [Glossary](https://www.texttoquant.com/academy/glossary.md): 22 terms defined in plain English.