partypooper,

Aah the age old problem......

"What increases the profit or strike rate, is it the filter you applied or something else contained within or indirectly related to that filter?"

I look for a stable pattern when applying a filter.

E.G. if decreasing the number of days since last start, you should see a continuing trend of increasing strike rate, not huge increases and drops as you shorten the number of days, if you do it may be something else which is increasing the result.

The problem is that the strike rate may increase, but you lose all value.

When I find an increase in both, then I investigate further.