Backtesting exotics is different. Spreads widen on weekends, gap across sessions, and tick data costs money you probably don't want to spend

Backtesting exotics is different. Spreads widen on weekends, gap across sessions, and tick data costs money you probably don't want to spend. If your backtest on $USDZAR looks too clean, it probably is - and the cleanup starts with the infrastructure, not the strategy code. Most retail backtesters default to point-in-time tick data and fixed spread assumptions. That works for $EURUSD. It fails for $USDTRY. A backtest that ignores a 40-pip spread during Ankara's Friday intervention window is producing fiction, not results. The first rule of exotic backtesting is spread realism: use variable spreads tied to session windows, not a...