niweefiT®€K§
`(CMWCCDDHTHES
`
`VOLUME 14
`
`'Edited by Jack K. Hutson
`
`Technical Analysis, Inc., 4757 California Ave. SW, Seattle, WA 98116-4499 (206) 938-0570
`
`BLOOMBERG ET AL — EXHIBIT 1005
`BLOOMBERG ET AL - EXHIBIT 1005
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`QQQR
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`SAN
`
`661-5317
`
`Technical Analysis, Inc., Seattle, WA 98116-4499
`
`Copyright © 1995, 1996 by Technical Analysis, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United
`States of America. Reproduction or translation in any form or by any means in part or in whole of
`this work beyond that permitted by the United States Copyright Act of 1976 without the permission
`of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for copyright permission or further information
`should be addressed to the Permissions Department, Technical Analysis, Inc.
`
`Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
`Main entry under title:
`Hutson, Jack K., 1948—
`
`Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES: Volume 14
`
`Includes bibliographies and indices.
`Contents: v.1. Profitable Trad
`ing Methods, v.2. InvestmentTechniques, v.3. Successful
`Trading, v.5. Trading Strategies, v.6. Market Timing,
`Speculation, v.4. Intelligent
`v.7. Volume 7, v.8. Volume 8, v.9. Volume 9, v. 10. Volume 10, v. 11. Volume 11,
`v. 12. Volume 12, v.13. Volume 13, v.14. Volume 14
`1. Investments 2. Stocks 3. Stock exchange 4. Securities 5. Commodity Exchange
`Finance 9. Forecasting.
`6. Futures 7. Speculation 8.
`
`1. Hutson, Jack K. 2. Title: Te
`chnical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities: Volume 14.
`3. Title: Stocks & Commodities. 4. Technical Analysis, Inc.
`
`HG4521.T3 8
`
`1996
`
`332.63’2 86—50575
`
`v. 1)
`ISBN 0-938773-00-3 (pbk. :
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`ISBN O—938773-16—X (pbk. :
`ISSN 0735-3355 Serialmagazine
`me series
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`
`
`PRODUCT REVIEW
`
`'
`
`Trade Station 4.0
`
`Build 15
`
`OMEGA RESEARCH
`9200 Sunset Drive
`
`Miami, FL 33173-3266
`I’hone: 800 556-2022
`Fax: 305 270-8919
`
`E-mail: sales @omegaresearch.com
`Internet: http:ii'
`www.0megaresearch.com
`Product: Real-time charting, techni-
`cal analysis and system testing
`software plus reporting of fundamen-
`tal information.
`
`Equipment requirements: IBM-PC
`compatible 386 processor or later
`(486 processor or faster recom-
`mended); Windows 95, 3.1,
`WorkGroups 3.11, NT 3.5 or NT 4.0;
`MS or IBM DOS 5.0 or later (6.2
`recommended); 8 MB RAM (16
`recommended); 30 MB hard disk
`space (520 MB hard drive or larger
`recommended); Microsoft-compatible
`mouse; ISO 9660—compliant CD-ROM
`(for the CD version) or 3.5-inch
`floppy drive for the disk version;
`monitor and graphics compatible with
`your Windows version; 14.4 BPS v.
`32N.32bis modem (28.8 v.34
`recommended); Windows-compatible
`
`printer; math coprocessor recom-
`mended for 386 or 486SX machines;
`
`Data: Real-time: Signal, BMI, Dow
`Jones Telerate, FutureSource, S&P
`ComStock. Ofiline: Dial Data,
`Telescan. Data formats: MetaStock,
`CompuTrac, TeleChart 2000, CSI,
`Knight-Bidder Final Market, Mega-
`Tech, Tick Data, AIQ, Omega
`Historical and ASCII.
`
`Price: $2,274 real time, $1,194
`offline. (Can be paid $189.50 x 12
`months plus $19 shipping and
`handling.) Upgrade pricing varies
`from free for very recent purchasers
`of version 3.5, up to $395.
`
`
`by John Sweeney
`
`hen it comes to real-
`
`timetradingsystemde—
`velopment and imple—
`mentation software,
`
`OmegaResearchdom«
`inates with its TradeStation product.
`Developed from a trading system cre-
`ator called SystemWriter, TradeStation
`has evolved into a do—everything behe-
`moth of software (for instance, how
`many programs arrive with six manu-
`als?), Omega’s flagship product and
`one with little competition at its price
`point. Version 4.0 refines the dominant
`beast that TradeStation has become,
`
`cleans up some bugs and integrates
`Omega’s newest product features.
`TradeStation’s forte is its system test-
`ing and automation (Figure 1). Its sister
`products down the price chain are
`SuperCharts ($295) and Wall Street
`Analyst ($49 retail). Both of these do
`many of the things that TradeStation
`does but lack, respectively. Easy Lan-
`guage (the system testing development
`environment) and some indicators and
`charting features. TradeStation was once
`the only real-time product in Omega’s
`arsenal, but SuperCharts went real time
`in August 1996. All three come with
`Omega’s massive 25-year equity and
`mutual fund database of price and fun~
`damental history (three years for fu-
`tures).
`
`ON THE BASICS
`
`Getting today’ s trading software up and
`running is far less hassle than it was
`even two years ago, but Omega has
`gone to impressive lengths to make it
`nearly effortless. Beyond theusual Win-
`dows installation, Omega software di-
`rectly attacks the problems of linking
`up with a data provider, getting the
`proper symbols and feeding them to the
`provider, and getting company finan-
`cial data downloaded — not to mention
`
`filling in gaps in data that occur be-
`
`
`
`Tradestaiion version 4, Omega Fiesearch‘s ”395thproductand
`one with little competition at its price point, retinas me dominant
`beast that the software has become and integrates Omega’s
`newest product features.
`
`
`
`tween shipping and installation.
`TradeStation comes with Down-
`
`Loader and a 15-minute setup to link
`with Dial Data, including local access
`numbers, a 10,905—item symbol uni-
`verse plus price histories (on CD-ROM),
`modem and communications port loca-
`tion and testing, the ability to read the
`formats listed above, seamless integra-
`tion of CD and downloaded data, and
`
`access to company information as well
`as past historical information. For the
`financial analysts among us, the com-
`pany information is mostly current, not
`historical. However, historical earnings
`per share (EPS), dividend payout and
`split information is included for chart-
`ing purposes.
`Those who‘ ve been through the setup
`wars will appreciate all this and those
`who haven’t must take my word that
`having an easy setup system alleviates
`days of frustration. The result? A
`TradeStation (or Omega) customer is
`up and running as fast as he can run the
`setup — probably an hour or two for
`everything.
`TradeStation users could be using
`delayed data from an online (FM, cable
`orsatellite)datafeed;rea1—timedatafrom
`an online feed; intraday (tick-by-tick),
`offline data from Omega’s sites on
`America On-Line and the Web; end-of-
`
`day daily price data from Dial Data or
`Telescan; or end-of-day daily price data
`from any of the vendors listed at the
`beginning of this review, downloaded
`
`Technicaldnaiysis of STOCKS 8.: COMMODITIES . 649
`
`

`

`
`
`by those vendors’ software.
`One point about the servers is worth
`noting: TradeStation’ 5 server, using the
`Signal datafeed,
`takes the place of
`Signal’s own server, the result being
`that both cannot run at the same time.
`
`Therefore, if you have another applica-
`tion that requires the use of Signal’s
`server, you must buy two datafeeds from
`Signal if the third-party vendor is not
`compatiblewiththeOmegaserver.Omega
`wrote its server before Signal’s server
`existed; they had to in order to create their
`Window's—based TradeStation. In doing
`so, they included the ability to use five
`different data vendors and store the his-
`
`torical data, a key feature that Signal
`doesn’t offer. Omega has opened its
`server to third—party applications by
`publishing an open protocol for retriev-
`ing historical and real—time information
`from the Omega server. Omegais work-
`ing to use the standard Signal server
`(but continue to store historical data)
`even as this is going to press, but that
`delivery date is not yet set.
`
`PROGRAM FUNCTIONS
`Once datafeeds and downloads are un-
`
`der control, it's time to consider what
`can be done with all the information
`
`that's flooding in. Assuming you’re
`beyond the stage of just throwing up a
`chart of a specific tradable in order to
`draw orapply an indicator. some screen-
`ing must be done. TradeStation screen-
`ing comes through a feature called
`ChartScanner.
`
`Keep in mind that trading system
`testing, optimization and automation are
`all big favorites of futures traders, who
`often ask how to trade a Specific item
`optimally. In comparison, stock traders
`often ask which stock (or stocks) can be
`traded the way they want to trade (that
`is, value, momentum, sector specific
`and so forth). The distinction is impor-
`tant, because screening by fundamen-
`tals, financials or technical indicators is
`
`a key focus of equity-oriented traders,
`while optimization of technical indica-
`tors is the focus of futures traders, who
`
`have far fewer choices for trading ve-
`hicles. While TradeStation Serves both,
`its heritage in the futures world gives it
`a technical emphasis, and its screening
`
`Populerlndicators. drawing tools and Instruc-
`The PowerEcItot can promote simple trading systems
`tions are right on the toolbars. Use the
`or very complex
`me. Here. the rules tor a sin e
`puttdown menus to accessthe otherleaturee.
`system based on
`e parabola indicatorere shown
`arrows on the batches are the tracing slgnals.
`
`
`Tmteb Ilonb 0m: summer: Crude (lam—Ila
`_H
`' . fifilifllfil: -"
`
`"TWP-El...—3.7M“
`
`-'
`
`":11.-EEI ‘. so:use-t.W a
`
`
`
`
`_.._.._......u...-...-...—.u—.—..—..—-..t.._'—I"__.._.._.,_..-
`
`_
`fllndovr 'Hclp
`_EllemfirlttLII“! _Iools
`.
`. :*~—1_.’.~¥;@'
`Input: MICFACTHL2]:
`snap:
`IF CurrentBer I! or MorkslPosillon <>1Then Buy ParabollcmCCFACTFI]
`IF CurrentEl-r >1 and MsrhetPesItlon '1 I’hen Sell PenbolchACCFACTFI] Stop:
`ERIFIE I:i
`
`lg.
`
`-4.—.-....—..—....-....-....-..._..—...
`
`‘4._..-...—...—......-u...u._._._.._
`
`Scroll throu h the chart to see
`all the sign 5
`
`Your system can enter a position. add positions and
`then go liat or reverse. The trafing signals as well as
`the indicators can be plotted on the chart.
`
`FIGURE 1: TRADES'I'A'I’IDII. TradeStation's forte is its system testing and automation.
`
`is also technically oriented.
`ChartScanner can sift through your
`entire real-time directory, specific lists
`you make of tradables, specific work-
`spaces (sometimes referred to as lay-
`outs or chart suites in other programs)
`or specific directories you designate. In
`so doing, it can scan for alerts triggered
`by technical indicators, by things you’ve
`drawn on the chart such as support or
`resistance lines, or for trading system
`positions and orders. In combination,
`this allows you to scan everything by a
`single format of analysis or to scan
`everything by each item with its own
`customized analysis, or to make up a
`mixed scan. Results are dumped to a
`report along the lines of Figure 2. The
`only drawback to the process is that
`workspace updating is suspended dur-
`ing the scan, so it’s best to schedule
`scanning after hours or use the manual
`capability to invoke a specific, quickly
`performed scan.
`
`ANALYSIS
`
`It’s hard to imagine much in the way of
`classical analysis that can’t be done in
`
`TradeStation (Figures 3 and 4). Version
`4.0 doesn't revise the list of 90-plus
`indicators and studies, though it does
`add a dynamic recalculation of indica-
`tors that can be moved — for example,
`linear regression. It is worth remember-
`ing that TradeStation also incorporates
`the innovative ShowMe and PaintBar
`
`analytics, which allow you to decorate
`your charts with colors and symbols
`highlighting particular market behav-
`iors. Here, they come with 10 or 12
`examples each, and you can roll your
`own if your choose.
`
`INTERACTION
`
`TradeStation is getting close to being
`fully object-oriented and Microsoft in-
`terface-standard. Drag-and-drop, for
`example, works within a window but
`not between windows. Right-clicking
`on an object is the feature that most
`commonly delight users, because they
`can now modify whatever they see with
`amenur'properties window that pops up
`without sorting through icons. Though
`the pop—up window isn't exclusively
`the object’s property window (it’s a
`
`650 - Tecfinfmtfimiysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES
`
`0004
`
`

`

`
`
`
`
`
`
`attach trading alerts to them. Candle—
`stick patterns can now be automati-
`cally identified and labeled (plus, if
`you don't like the labeling. you can
`write your own labeling rules).
`System indicators (like trading eq-
`uity) can now be placed on the charts
`_ that is, plotted ~— and referenced
`in trading rules and alerts. Similar to
`Microsoft programs, a Function
`Wizard helps you select, specify and
`install functions from TradeStation’ s
`
`FIGURE 2: SBAIIIIIIIG RESULTS. New Yodtllghl crude violates
`analhsrsuppcrt level on the way down. Tradestatlon provides
`alerts from evening chart scanning; on-lr‘ne drawings crstudles:
`or trading systems.
`
`built-in list, now expanded by 30%
`or so. Some new functions not only
`allow the placement of text on the
`screen (or reading it off the screen as
`in, say, an Elliott wave label or a
`pivot point), but you can then invoke
`an expert analysis (yours, say, or
`mine) in the form of a box, a voice or a
`movie. Omega Research claims that
`more than 180 developers are working
`- on turning your TradeStation sessions
`into a full-on multimedia extravaganza
`
`using the new functions!
`Up to 1,000 systems, indicators and
`userfunctions can be maintained atonce,
`up from 200. Systems that are devel-
`oped can use a modified optimizer re-
`port that graphically shows profit over
`time. The output table can be sorted by
`any field but doen't show the array of
`output values.
`As a great convenience, Trade-Station
`automatically adjusts for the dollar con-
`versions necessary when using futures
`instead ofstocks. These go far to make the
`system developer' 5 life easier, but system
`and optimization reporting is also one
`area where Omega solution providers
`(that is, companies offering add-on ap-
`plications that work with TradeStation)
`flourish, given TradeStation’s system
`reporting approach (see sidebar, “Solu-
`tion providers").
`uuuau; u an“... —-...-......________
`Trade-Qfaiicn lictc accent-i511 infar-
`
`mation including total net profit, open
`position profit & loss, gross profit,
`gross loss, total number of trades, per-
`centage profitable, number of win-
`ning and losing trades, largest winner
`and loser, average winner and loser,
`maximum censecutive winners and
`losers, average number of bars in win-
`ners and losers, maximum intraday
`drawdown, profit factor, maximun
`
`way station to other menus),'it‘s very
`fast and very flexible. In that result, it
`may be a valuable example ofnonstand-
`ard programming being more innova-
`tive than Microsoft’s standard.
`
`SYSTEM SPECIFICATION
`Though trading signals can be generated
`by any number of programs (though not
`usually onreal-timedata),TradeStation’s
`exclusivity comes in its ability to not
`only generate signals as all the other
`programs do, with simple ruies, but also
`to construct elaborate trading rule sets
`with a programming language called
`Easy Language. That Easy Language is
`not a breeze can be attested to by the
`number of Easy Language program-
`mers for hire, but Omega hasn’t backed
`offtrying to educate themasses; they’ve
`continued to expand their educational
`efforts on Easy Language through the
`manual, seminars and video course they
`offer. The video course is a confidence-
`
`builder, but it’s the manual that pro-
`vides the goods: a thorough exposition
`of a unique trading language.
`For TradeStation 4.0, Omega has
`
`made some significant improvements,
`the biggest of which is the addition of
`truelfalse user functions. Not only do
`they contribute to more elaborate trad-
`ing logic, but they make possible some
`cool indicatOrs that even non—power
`
`users can exploit immediately. For ex-
`ample, trendlines can now be automati-
`cally drawn by the program and you can
`
`
`
`
`FlflllliE 3: TRADING SYSTEM. Six currencies npd is with
`six indicators and a trading screen concurrently. Just about
`any classical form of technical analysis together with trading
`rules exploiting the analysis can be programmed in
`TradeStatton.
`
`number of contracts held, account size
`required and return on account. 0n
`the wish list are batch run facilities for
`testing and, down the line, portfolio
`testing capabilities, but even without
`these, Easy Language is the current
`standard for system development.
`Generally, routine specifications and
`functions for trading systems have been
`honed well since the last time we re-
`viewed TradeStation, but once you get
`into exotic things like, for example, the
`six ways an entry bar might be treated
`for entry, exit and re-entry on the same
`bar, it's apparent that many years will
`pass before all the possible elaborations
`of Easy Language and real-world trad-
`ing can be settled. Count on a continu-
`ing evolution of TradeStation and give
`Omega Research credit for being the
`only company doing this work while
`meeting a payroll.
`
`
`Til-Eight
`
`
`‘mammal-£115.511
`
`.
`'
`
`r
`I
`
`:i
`<0
`
`Hi
`
`i”
`
`”i'
`, _- Wit"—
`
`lill .i
`
`FIGURE 4: THMESTATIOII. Plot charts. hdlcatcrs and sys-
`tern signals, both intraday and end of day.
`
`
`Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES ' 651
`
`0005
`
`

`

`
`
`Sfllll'l'lllll PROVIDERS
`
`One great strength of Trade-Station is
`the elaborate network of develoPers
`who build products dependent on
`TradeStation. Omega Research has
`constructedacomparativelyopenplat—
`form that other people can use to en-
`hance its features or build features
`
`that Omega could neverjustify devel-
`oping. As just one small example,
`fluent custom programming for Easy
`Language is frequently listed in the
`Omega solution providers catalog. In
`the course of this review, I had the
`opportunity to briefly check out some
`of these vendors. Below is a quick
`summary of a few of them:
`
`WinBEEP 2.12
`
`Integra Technology
`International, Inc.
`411 10801 Ave. NE, Suite 1600
`Bellevue, WA 98004
`Phone: 800 842-8395, 206 637-5600
`
`Sales fax: 206 637-5607
`E-mail:
`747713433 @Compuserve.com
`BBS: 520 577-297?
`Product: Software to transmit mes-
`
`sages from your personal computer to
`your beeper.
`Equipment requirements: IBM-PC
`compatible 386 or later, 4 MB RAM or
`more. WindoWS 3.1 or later, 3 MB
`diskspace;EGAfVGAfSVGA video;MS
`mouse orWindows-compatible point-
`ing device; Hayes-compatible modem.
`Price: $99
`
`TradeStation’s ability to invoke this
`program to send you notifications of
`its alerts is a dramatic new feature that
`
`many will use. WinBeep installs eas-
`ily, accepted all ofTradeStation’s calls
`that I tried and capably phoned my
`paging service, which dutifully re-
`transmitted the news to me. Though it
`does modify your autocxec path com-
`mand modification and config.sys
`files, I forgave it that breach of eti-
`quette when itworked so smoothly. In
`fact, there's little to write about so
`well—done a product. You turn it on, it
`works, you forget it. Wonderful.
`
`PERFBRMAHGE SUMMARY PLUS
`
`Rina Systems, inc.
`7854 Weavers Lane
`Maineville, OH 45039
`Phone: 513 575-9128
`Fax: 513 575 4325
`E-mail: dsinvest@ix.netcom.com
`
`Internet: http:flwww.geocities.coml
`wallstreeu' 1610
`
`Product: Elaborate summary measures
`of trading system testing results.
`Equipmentrequirements: 4 MB RAM
`(8 MB recommended), 10 MB free
`hard disk space; access to TradeStation
`or SuperCharts text files.
`Price: End ofday, $99. Standard, $299.
`Professional, $399.
`
`Nothing is more slippery than gauging
`trading system performance. Your
`greed is pulling for good numbers and
`your fear doubts everything. Your key
`measure may, and probably does, dif-
`fer from someone else's. The actual
`
`analytics can involve both descriptive
`and parametric statistics. and then there
`are — God help us — portfolio effects.
`How to sort all this out?
`
`RiNA Systems, a creation of math-
`ematician Leo Zmansky in collabora—
`tion with trader David Stcndahl, at-
`
`tacks this with Performance Summary
`Plus. By adding a special PSP indicator
`to your trading system, data from sys-
`tem testing can be exported to a text
`file. The data files are so extensive, I
`
`will only outline them here:
`
`- Gross system analysis — 'stan-
`dard reporting plus a computa-
`tion of gross profit when outlying
`trades are stripped from the re—
`sults.
`
`' Total trade analysis
`- Run-up analysis
`' Drawdown analysis
`- Rewardfrisk ratio
`- Outlier trades
`
`_ ' Entry, exit and total efficiency
`'
`_ Winning (losing) trade analysis
`0 Consecutive winning (losing) se-
`ries data
`
`_' Time analysis
`
`' Equity curve analysis
`- Open position analysis
`- Protective stop analysis
`- Trading summary
`
`PSP cuts the basic numbers most ways
`that are possible but omits summary
`analysis of adverse and favorable ex-
`cursionsfromentry.Thestandardand
`professional versions can handle
`intraday data, and the professional
`version goes so far as to chart some of
`the results. Portfolio analysis isn't
`part ofthe package, since TradeStation
`can’t run batch jobs with multiple
`trading instruments to generate the
`required data. Both the efficiency and
`outlier analyses are innovative and
`worth investigation.
`System testers wanting just about
`every conceivable descriptor of sys-
`tem performance should check out
`Performance Summary Plus. Get a
`sample of the reporting to be sure
`your measures are included.
`
`MESAQE Fflfl THADES'I'ATIGH
`MESA Software
`PO Box 1801
`
`Goleta, CA 93116
`Phone: 800 633-6372
`Fax: 805 969-1358
`
`E-mail: mesa@rain.org
`Product: Software to measure cycles
`in price data and predict future price
`direction.
`
`Equipment requirement: Trade-
`Station up and running.
`Price: $495 (MESA96 standalone is
`$350)
`
`Getting a good cut at where prices are
`going — or even good odds — would
`make most traders’ days. MESA (not
`only the name of the company; it’s
`also the acronym for maximum en-
`tropy spectral analysis), a technique
`frequently described and advertised
`in STOCKS & COWODITIES, does so
`
`based on the dominant cycle it finds
`in the price streamit’swatching. Now,
`that same technique can be applied in
`real time with MESA Software’s
`MESA96.
`
`652 - Technical Analyst's of STOCKS & Cosmoorrres
`
`0006
`
`

`

`
`
`MESA96 loads as another indica-
`
`that. the standalone
`product produces.
`'
`Security for the soft-
`ware is obtrusive. You
`
`must put in your regis-
`tration number every
`time you invoke one of
`the four indicators you
`would load on any one
`chart. Technical limi»
`
`ZMEE‘MT‘"-'"
`nun Fm)! uh mun-r fltll
`IEEUEIEHFHE:filfiilfilflnhulrignamdumemm
`
`__mm collar: 4.“ mum mull munlw‘ u“I II”:
`
`tor in your trading system —— or,
`actually, four indicators, which are:
`' moving average trendlines,
`the
`sinewave indicator, the phase of the
`cycle and the dominant cycle's
`length. (See sidebar Figure 1.) For
`trading purposes, you need only load
`the sinewave, though the last two
`help determine if there’s enough cy-
`clic content to justify trading.
`tations only allow you
`A sample system for trading off the
`to invoke any one indi-
`indicators is included in your soft-
`cator' (say,
`the phase
`ware. If you want to roll your own
`indicator) five times
`system, look to this sample to learn
`anywhere ' in Trade
`how to call up dynamic library links
`Station. After that, you
`(DLLs) to write your own trading sys-
`can’tuseitagain.’1lius,
`tem. Even expert analysis is included,
`. you’ll only be able to
`so you can load the expert system, '- invoke MESA96 five
`times, a limitation for those who trade
`click on a bar on the screen and get
`is hobbled by excessive security re-
`developer John Ehlers’s educational
`more than five things.
`quirements and technical limitations
`input on what to do next. Unfortu—
`to just five tradables.
`ME5A96 is a fine analytical product
`nately, MESA96 doesn't give you the
`for those periods when cyclic behavior
`—John Sweeney, Technical! Editor
`
`nifty visual projection of the cycles
`is in evidence, but the implementation
`
`IiI
`
`.i..a
`I
`
`SltlEflAtl FthJtlE 1: h'IESA tlll THRlJESTthflII. MESA goes southon
`bonds to March 1995 Those famtttar with DLLs can create thatrown trading
`systems using MESABS's indicators.
`
`. MONITORING
`
`SPF. CIALTY'ITEMS
`
`Once you've created a trading system
`and installed it
`in a workspace,
`TradeStation monitors it and alerts you
`with popups if events have changed
`according to the criteria you specify.
`New to version 4.0 is the ability to have
`the program call your paging service
`and notify you if alerts have been trig-
`gered. As one active trader put it, this
`allows you to have a life other than daily
`retinal abuse from your monitor. About
`half of this worked for me and the single
`other user I could track down: alerts
`
`from charts (drawn objects, studies or
`trading systems) were fast and reliable,
`but the feature whereby regular market
`situation reports were sent, say, every
`' 60 minutes only worked erratically. At
`press time, Omega Research was still
`tracking this down. Still, for position
`traders, alerts could be enough: today’s
`nationwide (and soon to be worldwide)
`paging systems make it possible for
`your computer to tend to the dataflow
`while you deal with other work, await-
`ing only notification to enter a trade.
`
`Perhaps the trading vehicle most used,
`aside from an outright, is an option. Em-
`bedded in TradeStation 4.0 is ”an options
`calculator (with a graphics display at-
`tached), QuickOptions, that allows some
`convenient computations of options pric-
`ing or volatility. QuickOptions goes and
`pulls current prices from the server, but
`since you have to enter all the rest of the
`information manually (it can't be copied
`from previously entered columns), posi-
`tions involving more than one leg can'tbe
`quickly put in while trading in real time.
`In any event, QuickOptions quickly
`calculates expected price andfor vola-
`tility at any specified date — even dates
`after expiration. It also does the greeks:
`delta, gamma, theta and vega.
`
`NEWS MONITOR
`
`A separate application not part of
`TradeStation is Omega NewsMonitor,
`shipped along with TradeStation. As-
`suming you have BMI or Signal
`in-
`bound, you can get headlines as they
`stream in and, if there’s a story attached
`to the headline, the story as well. Signal’ s
`news services include Dow Iones head--
`
`lines, Data Broadcasting Corp. neWs
`headlines, Option News headlines, Fu-
`tures World headlines and Hightower
`news headlines, each separately sub-
`scribed. BMI offers headlines and news
`
`stories from each of its news providers.
`
`SUPPORT
`
`Meriting kudos is the new documenta-
`tion, which is easily the best in the
`industry in thoroughness, cross-refer—
`encing, indexing, exposition and detail.
`I was able to get nearly everything pos-
`sible running using this material. Creat-
`ing this musthave beenatruly Herculean
`task, but the result is both very impres-
`sive and useful.
`
`Omega’s technical support, while
`somewhat lackluster in the past, has
`improved; I got one rave comment on
`tech support. In addition, Omega says
`the company has nearly tripled the size
`of its tech support staff. I called blind
`twice themorning I was writing this and
`got through in 42 seconds and 16 sec—
`onds, respectively, so there may be some
`light at the end of the tunnel. Most users
`reported the best path for tech support,
`however, was via E-mail.
`
`Technicaldnoiysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES - 653
`
`0007
`
`

`

`%
`
` SUMMARY
`
`New TradeStation purchasers may
`find another, if less authoritative, re-
`sponse via the Internet at a discussion
`listmaintainedby Jim Osborne. Ifyou’ re
`electronically enabled (and what
`TradeStation user wouldn’t be?), you
`may want to consider subscribing by
`sending Email with the word “sub-
`scribe” in the subject line to omega-list-
`request@eskimo.com or to omega-di-
`gest—request@eskimo.corn, if you pre-
`fer to get the digest rather than the raw
`postings. As in all Internet lists, a lot of
`trivia floats by, but folks with genuine
`expertise and long experience with
`TradeStation do monitor the list, so help
`is generally at hand.
`
`like C++ or Visual BASIC, each getting
`progressively more involved. Nearly all
`should start with TradeStation and Easy
`Language unless they've already done
`the groundwork for data management,
`trading functions and graphics in their
`spreadsheets —— which amounts to rec-
`reating portions of TradeStation. Nov-
`ices should also check online on
`eskimo.com to see ifany particularfunc~
`tions they absolutely need have reported
`problems.
`
`You Won’t get something of this size
`and power without some gray areas and
`complexities. However, in the end, buy-
`ing version 4.0 ofTradeStation (when it
`becomes available) is an easy decision
`if you want to do sophisticated system
`development.
`
`John Sweeney is Technical Editor for
`STOCKS & COMMODITIES.
`
` .; » ; l\'l‘:"".' _-
`
`as
`
`TradeStation's capabilities, promise and
`what it can already do, but at the same
`time they were irritated by gaps in its
`capabilities. The bottom line, however,
`is that there isn't anything else like it out
`there. This is the only program around
`that can write, test, optimize and trade a
`complicated trading system in real time.
`The result of all this shows up in
`version 4.0’5 evolving nature: It's a
`broad collection ofimprovements rather
`than a radical upgrade (except for the
`documentation). Yet to come is the move
`to 32-bit support and the 64K limit on
`trading systems. Significant improve-
`ments include an improved interface
`with most control via mouse, greater
`stability under Windows 95, more Easy
`Language programming features, the
`TradeStation is the Goliath ofreal-time,
`addition of News Monitor and Pager
`delay and end-of~day system testing
`Alert, and allowing up to 1,000 studies
`and trading software. As this article was
`instead of 200. TradeStation is a hugely
`being prepared for press, we Were work-
`capable program and a work in progress.
`ing with build 15, nearly the completed
`New users needing programming ca-
`version coming to market as Trade-
`pability for their trading conceptions
`Station 4.0. TradeStati on users consis-
`have the choices of Easy Language in
`tently reported a love-hate relationship
`TradeStation, spreadsheets (ortheirtrad-
`with Omega: They consistently loved
`ing workalikes), or compiled languages
`iSee deers’ Glossaryfor definition
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`variables are required because MESA96
`is dynamically adjusted, using the pre-
`vious bar’s dominant cycle as the mea-
`surement length for the calculation of
`the current bar. The restriction only
`applies to real-time charts because bar-
`by-bar updates are not performed on
`end-of-day data. There is no limitation
`on the number of charts that can be used
`in real time or end of day.
`JOHN EHLERS
`
`BLAHIFIBATIBH
`Editor.
`
`We Were delighted to find MESA96 fea-
`tured as a Solution Provider in John
`Sweeney’s review of TradeStation 4.0
`in your October 1996 issue. We would
`like to clarify several points.
`MESA96 is supplied with a registry
`code
`that
`corresponds
`to the
`TradeStation security block number.
`Once that code is entered as the default
`for an indicator, no further action is
`required on the part of the user. If the
`defualt is not entered, the registry code
`
`
`
`must be reentered with each use. This is
`unnecesary if the default is set.
`MESA96 supplies five dynamic link
`libraries (DLLs) foreachindicator, num-
`bered xxxl through xxx5. These DLLs
`are identical except for their name. An
`unlimited number of DLLs can be cre-
`ated by copying and renaming. The rea-
`son for the different names is the way
`TradeStaion assigns global variables —
`assigned by the name of the DLL. If the
`same indicator using the sameDLL name
`is used on two charts, the global vari-
`ables become scrambled. The global
`
`654 - recanrmtxnaryxts of STOCKS & COMMODITIES
`
`President, MESA Software
`
`