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ProTA 4 User Manual

1. e Choose a ColorPicker interface by selecting an icon at the top of the window e Store your favorite colors in the re sizable tray at the bottom To add a favorite color drag from the color bar at the top to a square in the tray To select one of your favorites click the square e To choose a color that exists anywhere on your screen click the eyedropper then click anywhere on the screen Click the Line Style Gear popup on the right side of the color chicklet to choose a new line style None Normal Heavy Fat Y None Normal Heavy Fat Fill None 124 You can toggle on off three categories of display for any line Line Thickness refers to the normal line plot of the indicator values Drop Lines draw a vertical line from the indicator value down to zero Also referred to as a Histogram Adornments are small markers drawn at each indicator value Lines Menu Many Indicators include a Lines menu in the lower section of the Inspector Display v Indicator Indicator and MA Line Oscillator Ind MA Display Indicator and MA Line By MA 9 Simple The Display menu allows you to choose an alternate to the normal indicator line Indicator To plot the indicator as defined by the settings in the Inspector without any further adjustment This is the normal setting Indicator and MA Line To plot the indicator line as well as a smoothed moving average of the indicator line Choose the sm
2. Existing Dates Replace Delimiter Comma f i Replace Existing Security Names _ Skip Specific Lines lt gt ColA Symbol Col B Date Filter Weekends Coli Open Filter Holidays None A Col D High J ColE Low Adjustments Col F Close KJ Adjust Fields ColG Volume Col H ignore Map Tickers None lt gt Li Col ignore Col J ignore B Dates and Numbers ColK Ignore January 15th is wis B Col L Numbers 1 234 56 i Use the Gear widget at the top to manage saved Settings Save Current Settings As Cooltrader Format eoddata com Format Tip Save a Settings file for each text file format you will frequently import Parsing Parsing _ Automated Guess Delimiter Comma J Col A Symbol J Col B Date a Col C Open vw Col D High S Col E Low J Col F Close CoiG Volume os Col H ignore J Col ignore wc Col J ignore a ColK ignore B Col L ignore J 210 Automated Guess When checked the UTI will scan the source text file and make a best guess regarding the delimiter and the content of each field When Automated Guess is checked the Delim and Col A L popup menus are disabled here Tip Automated Guess is a good choice for random individual imports However if you will be importing a batch of files with the same known format it is best to manually specify the delimiter and columns to avoid any possible errors that might arise with th
3. Directional Movement Plot Inspector Qu 14 DI E t Di MM ox 14 ADx E 14 ADXR E Check the boxes of the indicators to plot Wilder recommends a period of 14 for the DI DI DX ranges and also a period of 14 for the ADX and ADXR smoothing calculations Ease of Movement Ease of Movement EMV was developed by Dick Arms in conjunction with his Equivolume charting method EMV reduces each period s Price and Volume to a single value that represents the ease at which prices are moving upward or downward 92 Equity Line Midpoint High Low 2 Midpoint Move Today s Midpoint Previous Midpoint Box Ratio Volume 100 High Low EMV Midpoint Move Box Ratio The raw EMV calculation is quite volatile ProTA smoothes the raw EMV with a moving average EMV is normally plotted in its own Pane A trading approach is to buy when EMV crosses above the zero line indicating ease of upward price movement Sell when EMV crosses below the zero line indicating ease of downward price movement Ease of Movement Plot Inspector QU Period 14 mm w Display Indicator EJ Period Enter the period for the smoothing moving average Common values are ST 14 IT 26 LT 255 Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two The Trading Systems you ve developed or acquired can be plotted in a chart just like an indicator See the Trading Systems and
4. Exchange Up Down Volume Plot Inspector Q O Ticker NYSE VOL Period 1 mn Calculation U D Cumulative Summation Indicator ad Display Ticker Choose the prefix of the Ticker Symbol quote file to access for the computations Enter NYSE to use the NYSE VOL quote file Period Enter the period to average U D and T Normally 1 Calculation Choose the calculation method Cumulative Summation Check this box to plot a running total of the raw values Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two The Force Index combines price changes and Volume into a single value that attempts to represent the magnitude of the force driving a rally or decline Force Index Volume x Today s Close Yesterday s Close The raw Force Index is quite volatile and is usually smoothed with a moving average calculation The Force Index is normally plotted in its own Pane When the smoothed Force Index crosses the zero line it indicates a change in trend and can be used as a buy sell signal You can also plot the cumulative summation of the Force Index and interpret it much the same as the Accumulation Distribution indicator 95 Force Index Plot Inspector Q U Period 2 i w Cumulative Summation Display Indicator kJ Period Enter the period for the smoothing moving average Elder recommends 2 or 13 Cumulative Summation Check this box to plot a running total of the For
5. Month Month Month Returns the month based on the date from the quote file e When plotted in a chart the value for March 9 2006 would be 3 MorningDojiStar MorningDojiStar MorningDojiStar Returns TRUE when a Morning Doji Star formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e MorningDojiStar returns TRUE when a Morning Doji Star pattern is detected MorningStar MorningStar MorningStar Returns TRUE when a Morning Star formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e MorningStar returns TRUE when a Morning Star pattern is detected MovingAverage MA MA Period Type Array Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation 189 Type A TYPE WORD specifying the type of average to compute S or Simple E or Exponential W or Weighted Calculates the specified Moving Average indicator Identical to the built in Moving Average indicator e MA 21 is the 21 period Simple Moving Average of Closes e MA 21 E is the 21 period Exponential Moving Average of Closes e MA 21 E RSI 14 is the 21 period Exponential Moving Average of the 14 period Relative Strength Index NegativeVolumelndex NVI NVI Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Normally 1 Calculates the Negative Volum
6. Pane Shades a rectangular area enclosing the entire Pane for each trade Frame Shaded Area Check this box to draw a solid frame around each of the shaded areas 118 TRIN Arms Index General Market TRIX TRIN short for TRader s INdex also know as the Arms Index was developed by Dick Arms to combine market breadth information with market Volume information to produce a single value A Advancing Issues the number of stocks that Closed higher D Declining Issues the number of stocks that Closed lower UV Up Volume the volume of stocks that Closed higher DV Down Volume the volume of stocks that Closed lower TRIN A D UV DV Note The original TRIN calculation places overbought conditions at the bottom of the Pane This is contrary to every other oscillator indicator ProTA includes an option to invert the plot such that overbought conditions appear normally at the top of the Pane TRIN measures the power of the volume associated with advancing issues when compared with decliners TRIN is normally plotted in its own Pane and is used as both an overbought oversold indicator as well as a confirmation divergence indicator when compared to the price plot of the overall market averages Note This plot requires that you maintain special A D and VOL formatted Market Data files in your database TRIN Arms Index Plot Inspector Q U Ticker NYSE AD and VOL Period 10 E t Invert Plot Display I
7. Period Type EXCHANGE PREFIX Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies which A D quote file to use for the calculation Normally NYSE NASD or AMEX for the NYSE A D NASD A D or AMEX A D market data files The indicated quote file must be present in your Market Data section Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Normally 1 Type A TYPE WORD specifying the type of Advance Decline calculation AD Advances Declines ADU Advances Declines Unchanged ADAD Advances Declines Advances Declines Calculates the Advance Decline General Market indicator Identical to the built in Advance Decline General Market indicator e AdvDecl NYSE 1 calculates Advancing issues minus Declining issues on the NYSE e AdvDecli NYSE 1 ADU calculates Advancing issues minus Declining issues divided by Unchanged issues on the NYSE e CUM AdvDecl NYSE 1 is the standard NYSE Advance Decline Line Alert Alert Alert Array Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT or ARRAY specifying the number of bars to extend the TRUE condition 174 Returns TRUE when Array is TRUE non zero and also extends the TRUE results Period bars forward starting with today e Alert Volume gt 10000 3 returns TRUE when the Volume is greater than 10000 and also TRUE for the following 2 bars even if the Volume is not greater than 10000 on the 2 subse
8. FN My Awesome Oscillator 13 is identical to MA 13 178 DarkCloudCover DarkCloudCover DarkCloudCover Returns TRUE when a Dark Cloud Cover formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e DarkCloudCover returns TRUE when a Dark Cloud Cover pattern is detected DayOfMonth DayOfMonth DayOfMonth Returns the calendar day of month from the quote file e When plotted in a chart the value for March 9 2006 would be 9 DayOfWeek DayOfWeek DayOfWeek Returns the day of week from the quote file 1 Monday 2 Tuesday 3 Wednesday 4 Thursday 5 Friday 6 Saturday 7 Sunday e When plotted in a chart the value for Thursday March 9 2006 would be 4 DirectionalMovement DM DM DXPeriod ADXPeriod ADXRPeriod Type DXPeriod ADXPeriod ADXRPeriod 3 INTEGER CONSTANTS specifying the periods for the indicator calculation Type A TYPE WORD specifying the component of Directional Movement system to compute ADX ADX line MinusDI or DI DI line PlusDI or DI DI line DX DX line ADXR ADXR line Calculates the specified component of the Directional Movement system Identical to the built in Directional Movement indicator e DM 14 14 14 ADXR returns the 14 period ADXR line e DM 14 14 14 returns the 14 period ADX line 179 Doji Doji Doji Returns TRUE when a Doji formation is detected
9. Parabolic Initial Step MaxValue Initial Step MaxValue 3 FLOATING POINT CONSTANTS specifying the parameters of the indicator calculation Calculates the Parabolic SAR indicator Identical to the built in Parabolic SAR indicator e Parabolic 02 02 2 returns the 02 02 2 Parabolic SAR indicator PeakBarsAgo PeakBarsAgo PeakBarsAgo PeakNum ReversalAmt ReversalType ExamineType PeakNum An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the number of Peaks ago to examine ReversalAmt A FLOATING POINT CONSTANT specifying the reversal criteria for a Peak ReversalType A TYPE WORD specifying the reversal criteria method for a Peak or Percent P or Pts ExamineType A TYPE WORD specifying the field s to examine HL or HighsLows C or Closes Returns the number of Bars time periods that have passed since a swing high Peak occurred PeakNum peaks ago Peaks are determined using the ZigZag indicator and in fact the last three parameters used here are the same as for ZigZag See the Indicators chapter If the requested Peak never took place zero is returned e PeakBarsAgo 1 20 returns the number of Bars that have passed since the last Peak high occurred as defined by a 20 pullback from the Highs e PeakBarsAgo 2 10 Pts Closes returns the number of Bars that have passed since the second to last Peak high occurred as defined by a 10 Point pullback looking at Closing values only 191 PeakValue Peak
10. Type Smartlist Custom Suite 34 tickers selected for Batch Processing Cancel Entire Database All tickers in the TickerPicker TickerPicker To select individual tickers from your TickerPicker listing Type To select all tickers based on type Smartlist To select all tickers defined by a Smartlist criteria Custom Suite To select all tickers listed in a specified Chart Suite The remainder of this section covers the specific settings for each of the four Batch Processing actions 20 Adjust Quote Records Batch Processing Action Adjust Quote Records Securities Delete Quote Records Export Quote Records Date Range 1 1 60 Edit Quote File Type Field Volume Adjustment Multiply by 34 tickers will be processed Entire Database 12 31 19 Begin Date Range Specify the beginning and editing dates inclusive to adjust within each quote file Select a wide range of dates such as 1 1 1960 12 31 2019 to adjust all records within each quote file Field s Choose the Field to adjust Select OHLC to adjust four fields Open High Low and Close Adjustment Choose the operation and an amount for the adjustments Delete Quote Records Batch Processing Action Adjust Quote Records Securities Entire Database Delete Quote Records Export Quote Records Edit Quote File Type Date Range to Delete 1 1 60 34 tickers will be processed 42 81 19 Begin Date Range Specify the beginnin
11. Zig Zag Plot Inspector Qu Reversal Amount 10 kJ Examine Highs amp Lows Line Style EE The above example is for a ZigZag Indicator Plot The content of the Inspector varies depending on the object that is selected However the Toolbar at the top always provides the following features Highlight Click to highlight the selected item in the chart This is particularly useful when there is more than one instance of same object in a chart for example you may have added several Trendlines to a chart By clicking the Highlight button you can see which Trendline is currently displayed in the Inspector Delete To remove the selected item Settings A database of user defined settings is maintained for each type of chart object The following example is for Zig Zag Indicator Plots y lt a r wi m gt Defaut Setteags tor 3 New Do cag Pict JOM Thei Cray Lew Default Settings for a New Zig Zag Plot Use the pop out menu to select any of the settings you have saved for this plot type In this example 20 Thick Gray Line is a settings that was previously saved and has been selected as the default to be used for all new Zig Zag plots Save Current Settings Once you ve configured a Zig Zag to a state that you might like re use again in the future choose this item to give ita name and save the state Delete a Saved Settings To permanently delete one of previously saved settings Apply Settings Previously
12. Display Indicator Ticker Choose the prefix of the Ticker Symbol quote file to access for the computations Enter NYSE to use the NYSE A D quote file Period Enter the period to average A D and U Normally 1 Calculation Choose the calculation method Cumulative Summation Check this box to plot a running total of the raw values Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Range Average True Range ATR is a volatility measure developed by J Welles Wilder ATR is calculated as an average of modified Daily ranges Each day s True Range is defined as the greatest of Today s High Today s Low Absolute Value of Today s High Previous Close Absolute Value of Today s Low Previous Close ATR Simple Moving Average of True Ranges ATR is normally plotted in its own Pane As a volatility measure ATR increases when the range of price swings are increasing and decreases when price variability slows Often volatility increases at market tops and decreases as a price correction ends Average True Range Plot Inspector Q U Period 14 E t Display Indicator Period Enter the period for Simple Moving Average calculation Wilder suggests 14 81 Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Bars Bars are the most common of the Price Plots The Highest point of the Bar represents the High
13. ProlA User Manual ersion Contents Legal o 3 Getting Started 2 4 TickerPicker 2 2 A Data Downloader si ac 23 Chart Suites 26 Content Tables 32 Content Table Columns Z 41 Charts o 59 Indicators 19 Line Studies 127 Custom Indicators 1354 Smartlists 187 Trading Systems 141 eo aa OO Preferences ss 204 Appendix I Universal Text Importer UTI ee 208 Appendix II Dial Data eee 218 Appendix lll Holidays amp Mappings 2 222 Legal License Agreement and Disclaimer Read the following before using this software If you do not agree to the terms and conditions in this agreement promptly return the software to the original place of purchase for a refund By using this software you agree to the following terms and conditions e BeeSoft retains title to and ownership of all the products contained herein e You may make archival copies for personal backup purposes only e You may not rent or lease the program e You may not re sell or transfer your rights without the express written permission of BeeSoft e You may install the software on multiple computers if you are primary user of said computers BeeSoft warranties that the enclosed programs will perform generally in compliance with the included documentation but BeeSoft does not warrant that the program and manuals are free from all programming bugs errors or omissions The user will assume the entire risk of using the programs Any liability wi
14. Year Year Year Returns the 4 digit year based on the date from the quote file e When plotted in a chart the reading for March 9 2006 would be 2006 ZigZag ZigZag ZigZag ReversalAmt ReversalType ExamineType ReversalAmt A FLOATING POINT CONSTANT specifying the threshold for a reversal ReversalType A TYPE WORD specifying the measurement method for a reversal or Percent P or Pts ExamineType A TYPE WORD specifying the field s to examine HL or HighsLows C or Closes Calculates the Zig Zag indicator Identical to the built in Zig Zag indicator e ZigZag 20 plots the Zig Zag indicator for 20 or larger retracements 203 Preferences Overview e To view and edit global preferences choose Preferences from the ProTA menu e Click an icon in the Toolbar to switch Preference panes Suites Preferences j Suites Dates amp Numbers Quotes General Initial Settings for New Chart Suites Chart Grid 1x1 Sync Chart Content Sync Chart Time Scales Show Table Panel Show Browser Inspector Panel Smartlist Stocks Columns Ticker Name Chart Template Parabolics Shaded Volume The settings here affect the initial state of all new Chart Suite documents They do not affect the settings in any existing documents See the Chart Suites chapter for details Chart Grid Choose the grid option for new Chart Suite documents Normally 1x1 Sync Chart Content New Chart Suite documents will be created wi
15. vs B amp H P amp L Net P amp L B amp H P amp L vs B amp H P amp L Net P amp L B amp H P amp L B amp H P amp L is B amp H P amp L Security s Price When the Test Began vs B amp H RR Ratio Reward Risk Ratio B amp H Reward Risk Ratio B amp H Reward Risk Ratio is B amp H P amp L B amp H Max Drawdown Current Position The status of the Trading System at the conclusion of the test Long Short or Flat Open Trade P amp L If the trade status at the conclusion of the test is Long or Short displays the net P amp L of the open trade Trade Taken Today If a trade was taken on the last day of the test displays Enter Long Exit Long Enter Short or Exit Short otherwise displays No Trade Listing Entry Exit g Type Bars Date Date P amp L Pts P amp L Reason for Exit 1 Long 17 09 07 05 09 30 05 1 860 22 52 Exit Long Rule 2 Long 76 10 03 05 01 23 06 0 980 14 83 Exit Long Rule 3 Long 1 01 31 06 02 01 06 0 350 6 42 Exit Long Rule 4 Long 69 02 08 06 05 18 06 2 880 58 54 Exit Long Rule 5 Long 59 02 20 07 05 15 07 2 270 21 35 Exit Long Rule 6 Long 9 01 24 08 02 06 08 7 720 25 13 Exit Long Rule 7 Long 53 02 07 08 04 24 08 10 970 47 22 Exit Long Rule 8 Long 1 09 08 08 09 09 08 2 030 7 40 Exit Long Rule 9 Long 49 09 10 08 11 18 08 13 530 51 23 Exit Long Rule 10 Long 81 11 25 08 03 25 09 5 980 48 23 Exit Long Rule 11 Long 49 05 17 11 07 27 11 29 430 22 33 Exit Long Rule 12 Long 120 10 04 11 03
16. File Dates time period Audit Paani Display All Trades Range Period One Day MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Include Commission amp Fees Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Extended Total Per Share Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned ROI Heading P amp L Display You can limit the display to a particular trade status All Trades To display and total P amp L for all rows with trade data Open Trades To display and total current P amp L for all rows with purchase trade data but no sales data Closed Trades To display and total P amp L for all rows that have both purchase and sales trade data Period Choose the period to calculate the P amp L Choose Since Purchase to calculate P amp L for the entire trade period Include Sale Commission and Fees Check this box to include the purchase and sales commission and fees in the P amp L calculation increases the cost basis and reduces the sales value Extended Total Choose this button to display the extended dollar amount Dollar P amp L Sales Value Cost Basis Per Share Choose this button to display the extended dollar amount divided by the number of shares or contracts Per Share P amp L Dollar P amp L Shares x Multiplier 57 ROI Displays the percentage return on investment of a trade position e Ifa trade is closed displays the actual ROI generated from the trade e Ifa trade is open displays
17. High of Range High of Range From Range Low Percentage the Latest Close falls above the Lowest Price for the period From Range Low Low of Range Latest Close Low of Range New High Low Flag Indicates whether a new High Low is set for the period by the most recent data in the quote file New High Ifthe latest data in the quote file represents the High of Range ProTA displays a 1 New Low Ifthe latest data in the quote file represents the Low of Range ProTA displays a 1 Within Range In all other cases ProTA displays a 0 Period Choose the time period for the range calculation The time period always ends with the most recent date in the quote Use this popup menu to specify the begin date for the range calculation One Day The 2nd to last record in the quote file One Week Seven calendar days prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used One Month One month prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used 47 Three Months Three months prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used Six Months Six months prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used On
18. ProTA adjusts the tick mark spacing as necessary to best fit the specified date range Style Choose between the two date styles Jan Feb Mar Oct Nov Dee Jan F Mar OoOo o o 05 06 01 31 02 28 03 31 1025 nhs 1207 1229 01 23 0213 03 07 0328 2005 2006 Vertical Gridlines Choose the frequency of vertical gridlines in the chart The color of gridlines is set in the Chart Body Inspector Scrolling the Date Range Displayed in a Chart e Drag the chicklet in the scrollbar for dynamic live scrolling e Click in the scroll alley to scroll one virtual page at a time e A small downward tickmark at the right side of the Time X Axis indicates we are scrolled to the end of available data Adjusting the Zoom Level of a Chart e To zoom the chart display up or down one level click and option click the Zoom button or press the or keys Adjusting the Periodicity of the Time X Axis e Click the Periodicity Menu located to the right or left of the Time X Axis to choose between Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly Yearly or Calendar periodicity 64 Viewing Associated Quotes Data Choose Show Quotes Data from the Quotes menu to open the TickerPicker window revealing the quotes data associated with this chart Right click on the Time X Axis and choose Shows Quotes Data to reveal the associated quotes data for the date you have clicked on Adjusting a Price Y Axis Each Price Y Axis is an indivi
19. The distance from the moving average is determined by a standard deviation calculation Upper Band Moving Average Standard Deviations LowerBand Moving Average Standard Deviations Band Width Upper Band LowerBand The Band Width is a measure of volatility During periods of price consolidation the Band Width tightens When a new price trend begins the Bands widen Potential tops and bottoms are highlighted when the security Closes above the Upper Band or below the Lower Band then subsequently Closes within the Bands Optionally you can plot B B is an oscillator that measures the location of the Close in relation to the trading range defined by the Bollinger Bands B is usually plotted moved into its own Pane B Close Lower Band Band Width Bollinger Bands Plot Inspector Qu MA Period 20 w Band Deviations 2 E t Display Bands with MA Basis Closes kJ MA Type Simple ad XShift 0 YShift 0 ad MA Period Enter the number of periods to use in the Moving Average and Standard Deviation calculations Bollinger recommends 20 Band Deviations Enter the number of Standard Deviations to shift the Bands from the Moving Average Bollinger recommends 2 Display Choose the line s to plot Bands Plots the Upper and Lower Bands Bands with MA Plots the Upper and Lower Bands and the Moving Average line B Plots the B oscillator Basis Choose the security s price field to use in the calculation Clos
20. The next chapter Indicators describes each of the price plots and indicators in detail Adding a Price Plot or Indicator Each chart can contain an unlimited number of Price Plots and Indicators e From the Indicators menu choose the price plot or indicator to add or e From the File Browser menu click the Apply button lt or double click an item from the Standard Indicators Custom Indicators or Trading Systems categories Price based plots are overlaid onto the price based Y Axis if one exists All other plots are added to a new pane new y axis at the bottom of the chart Note Selections from the Indicators menu always result in the addition of a new plot existing plots of the same type are not replaced This allows you to for example add one Moving Average set to a Period 12 then add another Moving Average set to a Period 50 Selecting and Editing a Price Plot or Indicator 66 You can re configure the color line style or computational parameters of any plotted item in a chart window e Move the mouse over the price plot or indicator The cursor changes to a pointing finger e Click the mouse on the plot The Indicator s specifications are shown in the Inspector window e As edits are made in the Inspector the chart is redrawn to reflect the new specifications Tip Use the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard to cycle the selection Inspector window through all of the editable items in the chart Movin
21. and the Latest Close is higher than the Latest Moving Average ProTA displays a 1 Crossed Below MA If the Prior Close was higher than the Prior Moving Average and the Latest Close is lower than the Latest Moving Average ProTA displays a 1 No Crossover In all other cases ProTA displays a 0 Volume Analysis Displays the latest Volume figure as a percentage of average daily volume 49 Quote Values Volume Analysis Security Name Displays the most recent Volume Security Type as a percentage of average File Dates Volume Audit Change Period 50 Range MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartilist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Vol vs Avg 50 Period Enter the period to calculate the average daily volume A simple average is used Volume Comparison Latest Volume Average Daily Volume Candle Pattern Displays the candlestick pattern for the most recent data See the Candlesticks section of the Indicators chapter for candlestick patterns recognized by ProTA Quote Values Candlestick Pattern Security Name Displays the best Candlestick Security Type Pattern that can be identified for File Dates the most recent data Audit Change Range MA Analysis Volume Analysis Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Candle There
22. fractional portion 172 21 1 250 e FLOATING POINT CONSTANT Some Functions require a FLOATING POINT CONSTANT as one of the parameters A FLOATING POINT CONSTANT is any numerical value 21 1 65 8 839 3987 467 0 0052 e ARRAY Some Functions require an ARRAY as one of the parameters An ARRAY is any numerical value or mathematical expression An ARRAY can be virtually any expression that can be specified using the ProTAscript 21 8 839 109 3 67 Close High 5 MA 21 Close IF Close gt Open Volume 10 Volume 8 e TYPE WORD Some Functions require a TYPE WORD as one of the parameters A TYPE WORD is one of a special set of keywords that are specified within each Function section below MA 21 Exponential Exponential is a TYPE WORD that specifies the MAType BBands 20 2 UB UB is a TYPE WORD that specifies the Upper Band of the Bollinger Bands 173 AbsoluteValue ABS ABS Array Returns the Absolute Value of the Array Absolute Value is the number without its sign e ABS 10 7 returns 10 7 e ABS 10 7 returns 10 7 AccumulationDistribution AD AD Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Normally 1 Calculates the Accumulation Distribution indicator Identical to the built in Accumulation Distribution indicator e AD 1 is the standard Accumulation Distribution indicator AdvanceDecline AdvDecl AdvDecl EXCHANGE PREFIX
23. returns zero e PREV 1 returns a value of 1 on the first date 2 on the second date 3 on the third etc Note Unlike all of the other ProTAscript functions the PREV function is implemented internally as a recursive call and can consume substantial computation resources 193 Depending upon the complexity of the overall formula and the size of the underlying data file calculation times will grow exponentially Use PREV sparingly and only when you cannot find a way to write a formula without it PriceVolumeTrend PVT PVT Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Normally 1 Calculates the Price Volume Trend indicator Identical to the built in Price Volume Trend indicator e PVT 1 is the standard Price Volume Trend indicator PutCallRatio PutCall PutCall Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Normally 1 Calculates the Put Call Ratio Identical to the built in Put Call Ratio General Market indicator This function requires the market data file PUT CALL e PutCall 1 is the standard Put Call Ratio indicator PutVolumelndicator BPVI BPVI Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Normally 10 Calculates the Bollinger Put Volume Indicator Identical to the built in Put Volume Indicator General Market indicator This function requires the market data file
24. s Main Heading Chart Body Inspector Q U Main Heading Ticker Symbol Security Name Date Range Exclude Padded Date Last Close Last Change Custom Text Chart Body Colors Gridlines Background Axes i Text E Main Heading Display Check the boxes desired to specify the format of the Main Heading including any user specified custom text Exclude Padded Dates Refers to the Date Range that will be displayed Check this box to exclude from the range the padded dates that are added when you specify a Date Padding in the Time X Axis Inspector Background Click the color box to set the color for the chart s background Gridlines Click the color box to set the color for the chart s horizontal and vertical gridlines Axes Click the color box to set the color for the chart s Time X Axis and Price Y Axes Text Click the color box to set the color for the text in the chart s headings and axes Note For all color chicklets other than the Background color chicklet ProTA maintains a dual color set One set of colors is maintained for Black Darker Background chart and the other for White Lighter Background chart Your choice of Background color determines which of the two color sets are used for all of the other color chicklets in the chart For example you might specify Black Text when the chart has a White Background but also specify White Text when the chart has a Black Background The dual color system allows
25. single line expression you can use Reference Variables to break up the formula into several more manageable and more readable sub calculations A formula can contain an unlimited number of Reference Variables If used Reference Variable lines should come after all of the Parameters The syntax for a Reference Variable line is ReferenceVariableName ANY EXPRESSION For My First Indicator lets compute the two moving averages before going on to subtract them We ll use two Reference Variables shortMA MA shortPeriod longMA MA longPeriod These Reference Variable lines assign the moving average values to the variables named shortMA and longMA Notice how the MA functions use the Parameters shortPeriod and longPeriod When this formula is evaluated ProTA substitutes shortPeriod and longPeriod with the values that are provided for the chart plot see below Final Calculation All formulas must contain the Final Calculation as the last line of the formula Since Parameters and Reference Variables are optional many simple formulas consist entirely of a single Final Calculation line The Final Calculation line is the value that is actually returned by the formula the value that is plotted for a Custom Indicator the buy sell rule that is evaluated in a Trading System or the criteria that is examined when Database Scanning The syntax for the Final Calculation line is ANY EXPRESSION For My First In
26. the first line at a local peak then release the mouse e With the mouse button up move the mouse up or down to define the second Basis Price 2 As you move the mouse Fibonacci Retracement lines are drawn and the Pane Heading displays the basis prices Position the mouse at a local trough then click the mouse By default Fibonacci Retracements draw two heavy horizontal lines at the two Basis Prices and a series of lighter horizontal lines representing the Fibonacci support and resistance levels The Fibonacci levels are calculated as P1 Basis Price 1 P2 Basis Price 2 Range P1 P2 Retracement levels 1 P2 382 x Range 2 P2 500 x Range 3 P2 618 x Range Extension levels 1 P2 1 382 x Range 2 P2 1 618 x Range 3 P1 1 382 x Range 3 P1 1 618 x Range 128 Fibonacci Retracements Inspector Qu 5 Fibonacci Lines Basis Pricel 36 1 Basis Price2 32 325 Fibonacci Retracement Levels 50 E x 38 2 61 8 138 2 F Si 161 8 w Leonardo Fibonacci was a mathematician of the Middle Ages best known for the Fibonacci series 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 etc Successive numbers are generated by adding the previous two Unique to this series is the number of interrelationships between the numbers of the series Each number is approximately 1 618 times the previous and is approximately 618 times the following number These ratios show up frequently in nature art and aes
27. AM w Completed Downloads Intraday None Details End of Day None Details Click the Intraday Gear widget or click the End of Day Gear widget and choose Perform Custom Download Now 221 Appendix Ill Holidays amp Mappings Holidays You can maintain a database of exchange holidays Dates listed in a Holidays file can be used by ProTA in the following areas e Data Downloader Automated sessions will skip Holiday dates e Universal Text Importer The UTI can be configured to filter out Holiday dates during an import procedure e Dial Data The automated sessions feature can be set to skip Holiday dates From the Tools menu choose Holidays Holidays Files Date Name NYSE Holidays 1 1 80 New Year s 2 18 80 Washington s Birthday 4 4 80 Good Friday 5 26 80 Memorial Day 7 4 80 Independence Day 9 1 80 Labor Day 11 4 80 Special 11 27 80 Thanksgiving 12 25 80 Christmas 1 1 81 New Year s 2 16 81 Washington s Birthday ay a 4 17 81 Good Friday Holidays Files can be used to 5 25 81 Memorial Day filter non trading dates when 7 3 81 Independence Day importing or auditing data BS e and atthe left refer to the administration of Holiday files in the table at the left e and atthe right refer to the administration of individual dates in the table at the right e Select a file in the left table to view its contents in the right table e Click any selected cell to edit the text t
28. Breadth A Advancing Issues the number of stocks that Closed higher D Declining Issues the number of stocks that Closed lower U Unchanged Issues the number of stocks that Closed unchanged ProTA will plot three variations of the Advancing Declining Issues comparison A D Plots the number of Advancing Issues minus the number of Declining Issues When plotted as a cumulative summation this is commonly referred to as the Advance Decline Line A D U Divides the net A D issues by the number of Unchanged Issues This has a normalizing affect over time E G 30 years ago there were far fewer issues listed Dividing by a relative value such as Unchanged Issues makes the indicator values of 30 years ago comparable to current values A D A D Divides the net A D issues by the total of Advancing and Declining Issues This has a normalizing affect over time see above All three indicators are best viewed as a cumulative summation plotted in their own Pane The Advance Decline Line is commonly viewed as a confirmation divergence indicator when compared to the price plots of the overall market averages See Accumulation Distribution for interpretation of a confirmation divergence indicator Note This plot requires that you maintain an A D formatted Market Data file in your database 80 Average True Advance Decline Line Plot Inspector Qu Ticker NYSE AD Period 1 ma Calculation A D kJ Cumulative Summation
29. Exit Short 2 No Trades 0 e Traded My Awesome Trading System returns 1 when My Awesome Trading System opened a new Long position 2 when it closes a Long position etc TroughBarsAgo TroughBarsAgo TroughBarsAgo TroughNum ReversalAmt ReversalType ExamineType TroughNum An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the number of Troughs ago to examine ReversalAmt A FLOATING POINT CONSTANT specifying the reversal criteria for a Trough ReversalType A TYPE WORD specifying the reversal criteria method for a Trough or Percent P or Pts ExamineType A TYPE WORD specifying the field s to examine HL or HighsLows C or Closes Returns the number of Bars times periods that have passed since a swing low Trough occurred TroughNum troughs ago Troughs are determined using the ZigZag indicator and in fact the last three parameters used here are the same as for ZigZag See the Indicators chapter 200 If the requested Trough never took place zero is returned e TroughBarsAgo 1 20 returns the number of Bars that have passed since the last Trough low occurred as defined by a 20 rally from the Lows e TroughBarsAgo 2 10 Pts Closes returns the number of Bars that have passed since the second to last Trough low occurred as defined by a 10 Point rally looking at Closing values only TroughValue Trough Trough TroughNum ReversalAmt ReversalType ExamineType TroughNum An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the
30. Maximum Profit trigger after 0 Pts ka of Profit Inactivity Stop 0 Periods of 0 Pts ad Range Trading Max Trade Len 0 Periods Loss Stop Exits an open trade if the losses from the trade exceed the specified amount Profit Stop Exits an open trade if the profits from the trade exceed the specified amount Trailing Stop Exits an open trade if a specified amount of the trade s maximum profit is lost For example A 2 point trailing stop triggered after 10 points of profit If the trade ever reaches a profit of 10 points it will then set a loss stop exactly 2 points below the maximum profit the trade has achieved The 2 point trailing stop is constantly updated as the trade makes larger and larger profits Once the trade pulls back 2 points from its best profit the stop is hit Inactivity Stop Exits an open trade if the security s High Low trading range is restricted to the specified range over the specified time period Max Trade Len Exits an open trade if the length of the trade exceeds the specified time period Execution Specify when trades should be filled The most common approach is Market on Close orders 144 0 Trading Systems lt 8 Basic MA Cross B Mm Entry Orders Market on Close E Today B Exit Orders Market on Close Today Market on Close Fills the trade at the Closing price Market on Open Fills the trade at the next day s Opening price Limit Stop Similar to a broker s L
31. Net P amp L 113 380 Percent Net P amp L 1 437 01 Number of Trades 17 Average P amp L per Trade 6 669 Percent Winning Trades 52 94 Tota Days in Test 2459 Percent Days in Market 33 35 Average P amp L per Day 0 046 Max Drawdown 33 170 Reward Risk Ratio 3 418 Buy amp Hold P amp L 196 435 vs B amp H P amp L 83 055 vs B amp H Percent P amp L 1 052 66 vs B amp H Reward Risk Ratio 0 986 Current Position Flat Open Trade P amp L 0 000 Traded Last Day No 15 dates at the beginning of this quote file were excluded from the test range because this trading model requires 15 data points before the first value can be calculated e A summary description of the System Test specification is provided in the top section of the window e The table of results ranks the individual tests based upon any of 17 user configurable columns Click a column heading to change the sort column and or sort order See the section Formatting the Results Table below to customize the columns displayed in the table For Single Runs this table will only list one item e Click a row in the table to see report details in the pane at the bottom e Use the report type popup menu at the right to choose a report to display in the report pane at the bottom See the section System Test Reports below for details about each report e To export data out of this window click the table of results or highlight text in the report pane Copy and then P
32. O or Open H or High L or Low NormType A TYPE WORD specifying the Normalization method N or None A or Arithmetic R or Ratio NormDate Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies the date at which to Normalize the two securities Defaults to 12 31 04 Calculates the performance ratio when compared to another security Identical to the built in Relative Performance Comparison Overlay indicator e RelPerf AAPL S returns the Relative Performance vs AAPL stock e RelPerf IBM S H returns the Relative Performance vs IBM stock looking at Highs instead of Closes 195 RelativeStrengthindex RSI RSI Period Array Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the Relative Strength Index indicator Identical to the built in Relative Strength Index indicator e RSI 14 is the 14 period Relative Strength Index e RSI 14 MA Q is the 14 period Relative Strength Index of the 9 period moving average line Round Round Round Array DecPlaces DecPlaces An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the number of decimal places Rounds the Array value s up or down to the nearest number of decimal places e Round 654 321 1 returns 654 3 e Round 654 321 0 returns 654 e Round 654 321 1 returns 650 RoundDown RoundDown RoundDown Array DecPlaces DecPlaces An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the number of decimal places Rounds the Array value s d
33. PUT CALL e BPVI 10 is the standard Bollinger Put Volume Indicator RateOfChange ROC ROC Period Array Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the Rate of Change indicator Identical to the built in Rate of Change indicator e ROC 26 is the 26 period Rate of Change of the Closes e ROC 26 MA 13 is the 26 period Rate of Change of the 13 period moving average line 194 Reference REF REF Array Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the number of periods to look back or ahead Negative numbers look backward and are the norm References a previous or subsequent value in the Array Negative Periods look back in time positive Periods look ahead e REF Close 1 returns the previous Close e REF MA 21 10 returns the 21 period moving average value 10 periods ago e REF Close 0 returns the Close Same as Close e REF Close 5 returns the Close 5 periods ahead RelativePerformance RelPerf RelPerf TICKER SecurityType FieldType NormType NormDate TICKER Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies the ticker symbol of a security in your quotes database SecurityType A TYPE WORD specifying the security s type S or Stock M or MutualFund or Index F or Futures O or Option B or Bond D or MarketData FieldType A TYPE WORD specifying the field to access in the specified security s quote file C or Close
34. Peak PeakNum ReversalAmt ReversalType ExamineType PeakNum An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the number of Peaks ago to examine ReversalAmt A FLOATING POINT CONSTANT specifying the reversal criteria for a Peak ReversalType A TYPE WORD specifying the reversal criteria method for a Peak or Percent P or Pts ExamineType A TYPE WORD specifying the field s to examine HL or HighsLows C or Closes Returns the swing high Peak value PeakNum peaks ago Peaks are determined using the ZigZag indicator and in fact the last three parameters used here are the same as for ZigZag See the Indicators chapter If the requested Peak never took place zero is returned e Peak 1 20 returns the last swing high value as defined by a 20 pullback from the Highs e Peak 2 10 Pts Closes returns the second to last swing high value as defined by a 10 Point pullback looking at Closing values only Performance Perf Perf Date Type Array Date Text enclosed in quotation marks the basis date for the Performance calculation Type A TYPE WORD specifying the reporting type for Performance or Percent P or Pts Calculates the Performance indicator Identical to the built in Performance indicator e Perf 1 1 2006 calculates the percentage gain or loss since 1 1 2006 based on the Closing prices PiercingLine PiercingLine PiercingLine Returns TRUE when a Piercing Line formation is detected othe
35. ProTAscript chapters for the creation and administration of Trading Systems The Equity Line is a powerful tool for assessing the performance of a Trading System It is presented as a line plot representing the day to day equity balance of the Trading System The day to day equity balance is simply the starting equity balance plus or minus the cumulative profit or loss the Trading System has generated Ideally the Equity Line should slope upward steadily Large spikes can indicate a Trading System that is inconsistent and risky The validity of a Trading System that generates large profits concentrated in just a single trade or in a very short time span is doubtful See also the Trading System section There are two tabs to configure for an Equity Line plot Click a tab to configure that section 93 Coppock Curve Reversal Plot Inspector QU Line Style J Coppock Curve Reversal Parameters ShortMAPeriod 22 ROCPeriod 250 LongMAPeriocd 150 Parameters tab If the Trading System includes Parameters you can edit the values for those parameters in this tab Line Style See the end of this chapter for a description of Line Style options Coppock Curve Reversal Plot Inspector Qu Parameters Trade Accounting Trade Size Fixed Number of Shares 1 Share s per Trade Commissions 0 Round Turn Slippage 0 kd Trade Accounting tab Use this tab to specify the accounting rules to be followed in the day to day equit
36. Scales is enabled e As you select various charts in the Content Table each new chart coming into view is initialized with the x axis settings from the previous chart e If the chart suite has multiple chart views displayed in a grid each view is synchronized with the same time scale e When you adjust the scrollbar zoom in out etc each chart view is dynamically synced with the same x axis settings 60 Disabled When Sync Time Scales is disabled all chart views in the suite scroll independently with no relation to each other s time scale What to expect when Sync Time Scales is disabled e As you select various charts in the Content Table each new chart coming into view is initialized with the same x axis settings from the last time you viewed edited it If the chart has not yet been viewed in this suite the time scale is initialized with default settings e Ifthe chart suite has multiple chart views displayed in a grid each view retains its own time scale allowing you to view one chart as Daily and another as Weekly for example e When you scroll zoom or otherwise adjust a chart s time scale only the selected chart is edited Other charts time scales are unaffected Anatomy of a Chart The following chart elements are referred to in the sections that follow AAA Anatomy of a Chart O NAPS Napster 3 24 06 11 27 06 3 660 0 190 Bars l Moving Average 60 Simple Closes Main Heading Pane Zoom Hide Me
37. They can be placed anywhere in the formula but the most common practice is to place them at the very beginning of the formula text IPriceScale When this is plotted as a Custom Indicator it will be added to the same pane and Y Axis as the price plots such as Bars or Candles VolumeScale When this is plotted as a Custom Indicator it will be added to the same pane and Y Axis as a Volume based plot Weekly The formula will be computed using Weekly source data rather than the basic Daily data found in the quote file Monthly The formula will be computed using Monthly source data rather than the basic Daily data found in the quote file lgnoreZeros When this is plotted as a Custom Indicator the line plot will not attempt to connect to zero values A pragma would be useful for example in the Custom Indicator written as follows MA 21 5 plot the MA shifted up 5 points When the above Custom Indicator is added to a chart it will be added in its own new Pane But most likely you would prefer this indicator is merged into the Pane and Y Axis of the existing price plots such as Bars Candles Adding the PriceScale pragma tells ProTA to add this plot to the existing price plots Pane and Y Axis PriceScale MA 21 5 plot the MA shifted up 5 points Order of Operations Formulas are generally evaluated top to bottom 168 1 Parameter values are substituted into the formula 2 Reference Variable lines are evaluated first t
38. Trading System within any formula The syntax to obtain the status of a Trading System named My Awesome System is Position My Awesome System Returns 1 if Long 1 if Short O if Flat TradeTaken My Awesome System Returns 1 2 1 2 O for Enter Long Exit Long Enter Short Exit Short or No Trade respectively See the ProTAscript chapter for more information 160 ProTAscript Overview ProTA includes a powerful formula building language called ProTAscript ProTAscript is used to e Write formulas for Custom Indicators High Low 2 MA 21 e Define buy and sell signals in Trading Systems Enter Long CrossesAbove Close MA 21 Exit Long CrossesBelow Close MA 21 e Specify criteria for Smartlists RSI 14 gt 60 AND IsRising Volume The same language is used in all three areas of the program Once you become comfortable writing Custom Indicators for example you are well on your way to mastering Trading Systems and Smartlists Tip There are a number of samples to review included in the default ProTA installation Take a look at the Custom Indicators and Smartlists that ship with ProTA Structure of a Formula The term formula refers interchangeably to a Custom Indicator formula a buy or sell rule in a Trading System or a formula used as the criteria for a Smartlist Formulas can include the following types of instructions Parameters optional Reference Variables optional Fin
39. Typical Price HLC High Low Close 3 90 Typical Price OHLC Open High Low Close 4 Weighted Close High Low Close x 2 4 Data Lines are considered a Price Plot and are commonly used as a substitute for or as an overlay to the common Bars or Candlestick plots Data Line Plot Inspector Q O Line Basis Closes ad Line Style EE x XShift 0 YShift 0 Ey Line Basis Choose the price field or the weighted calculation to plot Line Style See the end of this chapter for a description of Line Style options X Shift Enter the number of ticks on the Time X Axis to shift the plot forward positive number or backward negative number in time Y Shift Enter the number of points or percentage to shift the plot up positive number or down negative number on the Price Y Axis Detrended Price Oscillator The Detrended Price Oscillator DPO is an oscillator that attempts to eliminate the trend in prices highlighting the overbought oversold cycles in the price action X Period 2 1 Shifted MA Simple Moving Average of Closes shifted back X periods DPO Close Shifted MA Detrended Price Oscillator Plot Inspector Q Period 26 EI w Display Indicator EJ 91 Period Enter the period for Simple Moving Average and X Shift calculations Normally set to approximate the short term peak trough cycle in the security s price action Lines You can plot the indicator a moving averag
40. WMFI categories McClellan Oscillator General Market The McClellan Oscillator measures expanding or contracting market breadth based on the number of advancing and declining issues on an exchange The McClellan Oscillator compares a shorter exponential moving average EMA of breadth to a longer EMA of breadth A Advancing Issues the number of stocks that Closed higher D Declining Issues the number of stocks that Closed lower 98 McClellan Oscillator Shorter EMA of A D Longer EMA of A D You can plot the raw McClellan Oscillator or a cumulative running total of the McClellan Oscillator referred to as the Summation Index Each is best viewed in its own Pane and is commonly viewed as a confirmation divergence indicator when compared to the price plot of the overall market averages See Accumulation Distribution for interpretation of a confirmation divergence indicator Note This plot requires that you maintain an A D formatted Market Data file in your database McClellan Oscillator Plot Inspector QU Ticker NYSE AD Short Period 19 Long Period 39 Cumulative Summation Display Indicator Ticker Choose the prefix of the Ticker Symbol quote file to access for the computations Enter NYSE to use the NYSE A D quote file Short Period Enter the period for the shorter EMA Normally 19 Long Period Enter the period for the longer EMA Normally 39 Summation Index Check this box to plot a runnin
41. an RSI when you wanted a CCI simply because of a typographical error e Review and test your formulas carefully e Use the Function Library to copy paste functions to avoid typos e Use the FN CustlInd function to avoid having to type the same formulas over and over Note One type of error condition a Circular File Reference is relatively time consuming to detect so ProTA will only test for that error when you load or save the file A Circular File Reference occurs when a formula refers externally to another file which in turn refers back to the original file External references to other files only takes place with four Functions FN Custlnd ScanCriteria Position and TradeTaken For example if the Custom Indicator you are currently editing is named ABC be sure not to use FN XYZ in it if indicator XYZ includes the statement FN ABC 166 Elements of the ProTAscript Language There are over 130 elements in ProTAscript than can be used to construct a wide range of mathematical functions and logical analyses ProTAscript elements can be divided into three major categories Quote Field Operators and Functions Quote Field elements Quote Field elements permit access to the six data fields of the security They can be accessed using either the long or short name Long Name Short Name Open O High H Low L Close C Volume V Openlinterest Close 5 plots the Closing price shifted up 5 points
42. are no parameters for the Candlestick Pattern column If no pattern is recognized ProTA displays None 50 Rank Displays the sorted ranking order in the list Quote Values Rank Security Name Displays the sorted ranking order Security Type for each ticker in the list File Dates Audit Reverse Order Change Range MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Rank Reverse Order Check this box to number the rows in reverse order Custom Indicator Displays the calculated value for the specified Custom Indicator Custom Indicators can be virtually any mathematical calculation As such this column type provides the greatest computational flexibility in your Content Table Quote Values Custom Indicator Security Name Displays the calculated value for Security Type the specified Custom Indicator File Dates Audit Change Click to select datai Date Latest MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Custom Indicator Click to select Choose a Custom Indicator See the Custom Indicator chapter for the creation and administration of Custom Indicators 51 Date Choose a date to evaluate the Custom Indicator See the explanation for the Quote column for an explanation of the date options i
43. by a g party data vendor ProTA s Universal Text Importer UTI automatically detects parses and imports a wide variety of data formats Virtually any comma tab or space delimited text file is supported The importing process involves four steps e Download capture or otherwise create a Text file containing the data to import e Open the Text document for import e Review the settings in ProTA s Universal Text Importer window Make changes as necessary then run the import e After the import review the UTI Results Log window UTI Window From the Quotes menu choose Universal Text Importer E Universal Text Importer E a Pause Before Importing Each File Drag Text Files Into This Window To Import Them To Your ProTA Database Start Importing Filename Status Time Queued t Current Settings Custom Parsing Processing Automated Guess Errors Log AAC 20120118 1 3 1 33 1 3 1 33 72416 N Auto Create Ie AAD 20720118 1 02 1 035 1 015 1 035 970675 AAE 20120118 0 008 0 01 0 008 0 01 6933921 Existing Dates Replace AAR 20120118 0 011 0 011 0 01 0 01 950000 AAX 20120118 2 77 2 93 2 77 2 93 303799 Replace Existing Security Names ABC 20120118 2 97 3 02 2 95 2 98 2450654 Skip Specific Lines ABP 20120118 1 91 1 91 1 89 1 895 688715 l ABU 20120118 0 062 0 062 0 06 0 062 14428217 Filter Weekends ABY 20120118 0 77 0 815 0 77 0 81 594008 Filter Holidays ABZ 20120118 0 36 0 36 0 36 0 36 2658 ACB 20120118 0 275 0 3 0 27 0 285 1361951
44. can be an INTEGER CONSTANT or ARRAY e LowestBarsAgo Close 5 returns the number of periods ago the Close was at its lowest level The returned value would be in the range of 0 4 where zero indicates today e LowestBarsAgo Close 1 always returns 0 MACD MACD MACD LongPeriod ShortPeriod SignalPeriod Type Array LongPeriod ShortPeriod and SignalPeriod 3 INTEGER CONSTANTS specifying the periods for the indicator calculation Type A TYPE WORD specifying which of the MACD lines to compute Hist or Histogram Signal or MACDSignal MAOsc or MAOscillator Calculates the specified component of the MACD indicator Identical to the built in MACD indicator e MACD 26 12 9 returns the 26 12 9 MACD Histogram e MACD 26 12 9 Signal High returns the 26 12 9 MACD Signal line using the Highs as the basis of calculation MarketFacilitationindex WMFI WMFI Calculates the Market Facilitation Index indicator Identical to the built in Market Facilitation Index indicator 187 e WMEFI returns the Market Facilitation Index Maximum MAX MAX Array1 Array2 Returns the larger of the two parameters Same as IF Array2 gt Array1 Array2 Array1 e MAX Close 20 returns either the Closing price or 20 whichever is greater e MAX 15 20 always returns 20 McClellanOscillator McOsc McOsc EXCHANGE PREFIX ShortPeriod LongPeriod EXCHANGE PREFIX Text enclosed in quotation mar
45. choose Trendline Press the mouse in the appropriate Pane While the mouse is held down the date and price for the first Trendline anchor point are displayed in the Pane Heading Position the mouse appropriately then release the mouse With the mouse button up move the mouse to set the second anchor point As you move the mouse the Trendline is drawn and the Pane Heading displays Date of anchor point 1 Price of anchor point 1 Date of anchor point 2 Price of anchor point 2 Time period between the two anchor points Price difference between the two anchor points Percentage price difference between the two anchor points Slope of the line Angle of the line in degrees Position the mouse appropriately then click the mouse 131 Vertical Line Trendline Inspector Trendline Anchor Points Date 1 17 06 5 8 06 Price 11 63 9 94 Trendline Display Line Style Ei 5 ha Extend Left Extend Right Anchors Always On Qu Click Snap Anchor Points in the Toolbar double arrows icon to shift the Trendline anchor points to exactly match the security s Highs Lows or Closes for the selected anchor Dates Extend Left Right When checked the Trendline extends endlessly into the past and or future When unchecked the line is limited to the distance between the two anchor points The application and interpretation of Trendlines is too expansive to cover in these pages Briefly A rising Trendline is normally drawn such t
46. folder navigation button at the top of the table y Brokerage Accounts j Chart Suites Brokerage Accounts Wi My Ameritrade Account The six buttons at the bottom middle are shortcuts to other common ProTA work areas TickerPicker Smartlists Custom Indicators Trading Systems System Tests Data Downloader Click the ProTA icon in the upper left or the activation information in the upper right to view commands related to your registration and Activation Code Beta7 User 76591 xxxx xxxx 1894 Valid through Jun 5 2015 Go to BeeSoft Website Send E mail to support beesoft net Purchase an Extension to Your ProTA Activation Enter New Activation Code Copy Your Current Activation Code to Clipboard 27 Anatomy of a Chart Suite e Choose New Chart Suite commands N from the File menu Charts File Browser 0 Charif Suite oa ana Close MSFT Microsoft 11 14 14 5 22 15 46 900 0 520 1 10 a 8 ABX Barrick Gold Corp 12 290 Candlesticks Up Down Zig Zag 10 Highs amp Lows Tickers Plts Columns ADBE Adobe Systems Incorporated 80 040 z AMGN Amgen Inc 163 580 pa Smartlists AMZN Amazon Com Inc 427 650 Name Modified BIIB Biogen Idec Inc 398 680 i 48 500 be Security Types 4 26 15 BRK B Berkshire Hathaway 144 600 48 000 gt Signals 3 10 15 CMG Chipotle 626 440 a h Today s Performance 3 10 15 COST Costco Wholesale Corp 143 680 I i i 47 350 52 Week High Today 5 22 15 DIS Walt
47. for the period The Lowest point represents the Low The horizontal tick mark on the right represents the Close Optionally the horizontal tick mark on the left can be added representing the Open Bars Plot Inspector Qu Bars Candlesticks Closes Primary E Secondary 9 Not Used Open Tick Marks Thicker Tick Marks Unique Tick Mark Color ij Primary Choose the main color for the Bars Secondary Optionally you can choose to paint Bars a secondary color under specified conditions Not Used Do not use a secondary color Up Closes If a Bar s Close is greater than previous Bar s Close Down Closes If a Bar s Close is less than previous Bar s Close Unchanged Closes If a Bar s Close equals previous Bar s Close Outside Bars If a Bar s High is greater than previous Bar s High and the Bar s Low is less than previous Bar s Low Inside Bars If a Bar s High is less than previous Bar s High and the Bar s Low is greater than previous Bar s Low 82 Bear Power Gap Creating Bars If a Bar s Low is greater than previous Bar s High or a Bar s High is less than previous Bar s Low Key Reversal Bars If a Bar s Open is greater than the previous Close and the High is greater than previous Bar s High but the Close is less than the previous Bar s Low Or if a Bar s Open is less than the previous Close and the Low is less than previous Bar s Low but the Close is higher than the previous Bar s High Open Tick Marks Check this box to
48. in the UTI window e g if a field should be a Date but the UTI encounters letters or a malformed date 20141128 txt Status Halted and awaiting user response Parsing text Line 1 of 5024 Invalid Date Field S Line 1 will be skipped 1PG 141128 0 840 0 850 0 770 0 835 711035 5 0 1 PAGE LTD FPO Continue Stop Importing UTI Results Log Once the importing process is complete ProTA displays a report summarizing the results of the import 215 UTI Pragmas Universal Text Importer Report Run time Jun 5 2015 2 13 04 PM Source file 20141128 txt Settings Custom Parsing Comma Symbol Date Open High Low Close Volume Processing Log Errors Skip New Symbols Replace Existing Dates Adjustments None Dates 1 15 Numbers 1 234 56 5024 lines of text were encountered 5023 lines were successfully imported 1 line was skipped due to an error Ticker does not exist in your database AAR Stock AAR 141128 0 010 0 010 0 010 0 010 0 S 0 ANGLO AUSTRALIAN FPO Click the Gear widget in the upper left and choose Show Cumulative Log File to see a cumulative results log for all recent UTI sessions A pragma is a directive to the UTI providing instructions regarding the data that will follow If your source text files include accurate pragmas you can be 100 assured the UTI will import the file properly without having to review preview any settings Eight pragmas are supported Settings Can be the name of any
49. includes a Name field you can check this box and the UTI will overwrite any existing security names in your database with the new names in the text file Tip This feature impacts the speed of text imports so it is normally left unchecked unless you know for certain the text file has newer security names that should replace the existing names in your database Skip Specified Lines Some text data files include a header line or extra text inserted by the data provider You can instruct the UTI to skip lines using a number of criteria Skip lines shorter than O characters Skip lines longer than o characters Skip lines exactly 0 characters long Skip if Line The String Use the checkboxes to skip lines based on specified length parameters Press the Add button to create a new text based skip criteria For example Skip if line Contains the string All rights reserved Click on the left column cell to choose the characteristic Begins with Ends with Contains Equals Double click on the right column cell to edit the text then type Enter Filter Weekends Check this box to ensure Saturday or Sunday dates are skipped 212 Filter Holidays Check this box to ensure the specified Holiday dates are skipped Adjustments Adjustments Adjust Fields Map Tickers Adjust Fields Check this box to mathematically adjust any of the numerical fields prior to importing them to your database For example the source text file might inc
50. limit the number of combinations to approximately 1000 Batch Tickers Run A Batch Tickers Run applies the selected Trading System to a group of securities in your database The resulting report ranks all of the test results in a concise summary table and also provides access to detailed trade statistics for every test in the run There are three tabs to configure for a Batch Tickers Run The Accounting and Parameters tabs are identical to those described above for a Single Run Scope tab Use the Scope tab to specify a batch of securities to test Accounting Parameters Tickers Stocks Click the button to specify which tickers to test Batch Systems Run A Batch Systems Run applies a group of Trading Systems to a single security in your database The resulting report ranks all of the test results in a concise summary table and also provides access to detailed trade statistics for every test in the run There are two tabs to configure for a Batch Systems Run The Accounting tab is identical to that described in the Single Run section Scope tab Use the Scope tab to specify the security and the batch of Trading Systems to test Accounting Ticker NFLX Stock ad Systems Basic MA Cross BBands Oversold Key Reversals Gap Up RS Oversold Use this popup menu to add Trading Systems to the list Highlight an item in the list and click Remove to remove it from the test batch 149 Running a System Test Click Run Test
51. multiple of Multiple that is greater than or equal to the Array value e Ceiling Close 0 25 returns the Close rounded up to the nearest quarter point 176 ChaikinOscillator ChaikinOsc ChaikinOsc LongPeriod ShortPeriod LongPeriod ShortPeriod Two INTEGER CONSTANTS specifying the periods for the indicator calculation Calculates the Chaikin Oscillator indicator Identical to the built in Chaikin Oscillator indicator e ChaikinOsc 10 3 is the standard Chaikin Oscillator indicator Change Change Change Array Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT or ARRAY specifying the lookback period Defaults to 1 Returns the change in Array compared to Periods ago e Change C 2 returns the Close minus the Closes 2 periods ago e Change RSI 14 returns the 1 period change in the 14 period RSI indicator CommodityChannellndex CCl CCI Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the Commodity Channel Index indicator Identical to the built in Commodity Channel Index indicator e CCI 14 is the 14 period Commodity Channel Index indicator Cosine COS COS Array Returns the Cosine of Array The Array value s should be in degrees e COS 30 returns 0 866 Cross Cross Cross Array1 Array2 Returns TRUE on days when Array1 has crossed above or below Array2 otherwise returns FALSE e Cross Close 20 is TRUE when the Close moves from above 20
52. otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e Doji returns TRUE when a Doji pattern is detected DojiStar DojiStar DojiStar Returns TRUE when a Doji Star formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e DojiStar returns TRUE when a Doji Star pattern is detected EaseOfMovement EOM EOM Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the Ease of Movement indicator Identical to the built in Ease of Movement indicator e EOM 26 is the 26 period Ease of Movement indicator EngulfingLine EngulfingLine EngulfingLine Type Type A TYPE WORD specifying the type of candle patterns to identify Any Both Bullish and Bearish Engulfing Line candles Bull Bullish Engulfing Line candles Bear Bearish Engulfing Line candles Returns TRUE when an Engulfing Line formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e EngulfingLine Bear returns TRUE when a Bearish Engulfing Line pattern is detected e EngulfingLine returns TRUE when any Engulfing Line pattern is detected EveningDojiStar EveningDojiStar EveningDojiStar Returns TRUE when an Evening Doji Star formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns 180 e EveningDojiStar returns TRU
53. row Quote Values Days Owned Security Name Displays the number of days the Security Type trade has been was open File Dates Audit Display All Trades Change Pa B Range MA Analysis Exclude Weekends Holidays Volume Analysis Holidays None Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Days Owned Display You can limit the display to a particular trade status All Trades To display and average days owned for all rows with trade data Open Trades To display and average days owned for all rows with purchase trade data but no sales data Closed Trades To display and average days owned for all rows that have both purchase and sales trade data Exclude Weekend and Holiday Dates Check this box to only count weekdays and non Holiday dates in the days owned calculation Holidays The determination of excluded dates can make reference to a Holidays file 56 P amp L Displays the profit or loss of a trade position e Ifa trade is closed displays the actual P amp L generated from the trade e Ifa trade is open displays the current P amp L of the position based on the latest closing price in the quote file Values are calculated and displayed only when trade purchase data has been entered for the row Quote Values Security Name Security Type P amp L Displays the calculated trade Profit or Loss for the specified
54. saved Setting file in your Settings database Delim Specify the delimiter used in the file Can be Tab Comma or Space Fields Specify the order of the fields used in the file Errors Log or Show Alert New Symbols Skip Show Alert or Auto Create Existing Dates Skip or Replace Dates USA or Intl Numbers USA EUROPE FRANCE SWISS Pragma lines must be located at the beginning of a text file The format of a pragma line S lt Pragma Name gt Description An example of all 8 pragmas lt Settings gt Yahoo Spreadsheet lt Delim gt Comma 216 lt Fields gt Date Open High Low Close Volume lt Errors gt Show Alert lt New Symbols gt Show Alert lt Existing Dates gt Replace lt Dates gt USA lt Numbers gt USA 28 May 99 26 9688 27 2812 26 625 27 25 333000 2 May 99 27 2188 27 5312 26 50 27 125 73100 26 May 99 26 3438 27 5156 25 9375 27 2812 20084600 25 May 99 27 4219 27 4219 26 0312 26 0938 16188000 Note Normally you would not provide all 8 pragmas in the same file Either provide a Settings pragma or provide any all of the remaining 7 pragmas 217 Appendix Il Dial Data Overview ProTA s Data Downloader via Yahoo Finance is hard to beat in terms of ease of use and price free But in some cases an alternate data source may be required such as for Futures and Options One solution is Dial Data Dial Data tracks just about every traded instrument in the United States as well as over a dozen for
55. switch is no longer in the table the associated MSFT chart is discarded during the mode switch Switching from Smartlist to Custom Smartlists are automatically recalculated any time there is a change to your database If your Data Downloader is updating the database throughout the trading day a Smartlist such as All Stocks Up gt 1 will constantly change throughout the day Perhaps you would like to freeze the list and possibly add or remove a few items manually You can convert the table from Smartlist to a Custom e Click the gear widget and choose Convert Current Smartlist Suite to Custom Content Suite Convert Current Smartlist Suite to Custom Content Suite F Add Column Show Column Inspector Toggle Averages Row Toggle Totals Row Switching from Custom to Smartlist e Simply apply any Smartlist using the suite s File Browser The results of the Smartlist computation will replace any existing rows Switching from one Smartlist to Another Smartlist e Simply apply the new Smartlist using the suite s File Browser The results of the newer Smartlist computation will replace any existing rows 34 Administering Rows in Custom Mode In Custom Mode you can manually add and remove rows Each row represents one security with an associated chart You can add the same security more than once if desired Adding Rows e Click the button in the Rows section of the Toolbar Ticker Name Type Entire D
56. than the previous High otherwise returns FALSE e KeyReversalDay returns TRUE on any Key Reversal Day LinearRegressionForecast LRF LRF LookBackPeriod LookAheadPeriod Array LookBackPeriod INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the lookback period for the indicator calculation LookAheadPeriod INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the look ahead period for the indicator calculation If omitted defaults to 0 Calculates the Linear Regression Forecast indicator Identical to the built in Linear Regression Forecast indicator e LRF 26 returns the 26 period Linear Regression Forecast for the current date e LRF 26 5 High returns the 26 period Linear Regression Forecast for the High 5 days in the future Log LOG LOG Array Calculates the natural logarithm of Array e LOG 10 returns 2 303 186 Lowest Lowest Lowest Array Period Returns the lowest Array value over the specified preceding periods including the current day Period can be an INTEGER CONSTANT or ARRAY e Lowest Close 5 returns the lowest Closing price over the last 5 days including the current day e Lowest Close 2 returns the lower of the current or previous day s Close e Lowest Close 1 always returns the current Close LowestBarsAgo LowestBarsAgo LowestBarsAgo Array Period Returns the number of Bars time periods ago the Array was at its lowest value over the specified preceding periods including the current day Period
57. that 13 and 36 might be worth a look you would have to re write the formula using these values But with the longer Parameter version of the formula you have the option of altering the 10 and 21 defaults in the Inspector window associated with the plotted indicator Inspector window when plotting the shorter version with no Parameters My First Indicator Plot Inspector QU Output Display My First Indicator Mm t 163 Inspector window when plotting the longer version with Parameters My First Indicator Plot Inspector Qu Input Parameters shortPeriod 21 longPeriod 10 Output Display My First Indicator mn Trading Systems Parameters are also important when defining buy sell rules in Trading Systems You cannot optimize Trading Systems that do not use Parameters However with Parameters included you can test a range of parameter combinations looking for the best possible values For example if the Enter Long rule is shortPeriod 10 longPeriod 21 shortMA MA shortPeriod longMA MA longPeriod EnterLong CrossesAbove shortMA longMA ExitLong CrossesBelow shortMA longMA You can perform an Optimize Run to test hundreds or thousands of combinations of periods looking for best combination of values oe System Tests fj Untitled 1 System My First Trading System Run Type Optimize Run Scope Accounting Parameters shortPeriod 10 to 20 Step 1 longPeriod 21 to 31 Step 1 121 tests
58. the entire plot forward positive number or backward negative number in time Y Shift Enter the number of points or percentage to shift the entire plot up positive number or down negative number on the Price Y Axis Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Moving Average Convergence Divergence MACD is a price oscillator based on the difference between two moving averages ProTA s MACD tool allows you to plot a number of variations on the MA oscillator theme ShortMA Moving Average of prices based on Short Period LongMA Moving Average of prices based on Long Period MACD Oscillator ShortMA LongMA MACD Signal Line Moving Average of the MACD MACD Histogram MACD Oscillator MACD Signal Line A trading rule for MACD is to sell when the MACD moves below the MACD Signal Line Buy when the MACD moves above the MACD Signal Line Another approach is to sell when the MACD Histogram makes a peak well above the zero line then begins to reverse Buy when the MACD Histogram makes a low well below the zero line then begins to reverse MACD Plot Inspector Qu Long Period 26 F D Short Period 12 Signal Line Period 9 mw Basis Closes MA Type Exponential ka Display MACD Histogram Long Period Enter the period for the LongMA Normally 26 Short Period Enter the period for the ShortMA Normally 12 Signal Line Period Enter the period for the MACD S
59. the intensity level of the price action A marked increase in Volume after a prolonged decline in prices can indicate a reversal of trend A decrease in Volume after a price rally often signals a short term top Volume Plot Inspector Q U Line Style 9 t Line Style See the end of this chapter for a description of Line Style options Williams Accumulation Distribution Larry Williams Accumulation Distribution AD is a price momentum indicator that attempts to measure the true movement of prices during a trend AD is a cumulative summation of modified daily price changes as follows True Range of Highs TRH The greater of Previous Close or Today s High True Range of Lows TRL The lesser of Previous Close or Today s Low Modified Change Today s Close TRL if Today s Close is greater than Yesterday s Close Today s Close TRH if Today s Close is less than Yesterday s Close 0 if Today s Close is equal to Yesterday s Close 121 Williams R AD Previous AD Modified Change Williams AD is normally plotted in its own Pane The shape of the AD plot closely follows the shape of the security s price plot Divergences can be noted by comparing new highs lows in the AD plot versus new highs lows in the security s price plot Distribution of the security a potential top is indicated when the AD plot makes a new local high but the security does not Accumulation of the security a potential bottom is indicated when the
60. the security s type S or Stock M or MutualFund or Index F or Futures O or Option B or Bond D or MarketData FieldType A TYPE WORD specifying the field to access in the specified security s quote file C or Close O or Open H or High L or Low NormType A TYPE WORD specifying the Normalization method 197 N or None A or Arithmetic R or Ratio NormDate Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies the date at which to Normalize the two securities Defaults to 12 31 04 Calculates the price spread compared to another security Identical to the built in Spread Comparison Overlay indicator e Spread AAPL S returns the price spread vs AAPL stock e Spread IBM S H returns the price spread vs IBM stock looking at Highs instead of Closes SquareRoot SQRT SQRT Array Returns the square root of the Array value s e SQRT 64 returns 8 StandardDeviation StDev StDev Period Array Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the Standard Deviations indicator Identical to the built in Standard Deviations indicator e StDev 26 is the 26 period Standard Deviations based on Closes e StDev 26 High is the 26 period Standard Deviations of the Highs Stochastics Stochastics Stoch KPeriod KSlowingPeriod DPeriod Type KPeriod KSlowingPeriod DPeriod 3 INTEGER CONSTANTS specifying the periods for th
61. to below 20 or when the Close moves from below 20 to above 20 177 CrossesAbove CrossAbove CrossAbove Array1 Array2 Returns TRUE on days when Array1 has crossed above Array2 otherwise returns FALSE e CrossAbove Close 20 is TRUE when the Close moves from below 20 to above 20 CrossesBelow CrossBelow CrossBelow Array1 Array2 Returns TRUE on days when Array1 has crossed below Array2 otherwise returns FALSE e CrossBelow Close 20 is TRUE when the Close moves from above 20 to below 20 Cumulate CUM CUM Array Calculates a cumulative summation of Array dating back to the beginning of the Array e CUM Close is a running total of all Closing values e CUM 1 returns the current Bar data point count The first date in the quote file is 1 the second date Is 2 etc Custind FN FN Custom Indicator Name Param1 Param2 Param3 Param4 Param5 Custom Indicator Name Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies the name of a previously created and saved Custom Indicator file Param1 5 Optional values can be passed into the Custom Indicator to be used in place of the default Parameters Returns an array of values as calculated by the specified Custom Indicator FN My Awesome Oscillator returns the values calculated by My Awesome Oscillator If the saved formula for My Awesome Oscillator is period 2 MA period Then FN My Awesome Oscillator is identical to MA 27
62. to edit Type in the new text and press Return to save the changes Double click the Type cell to change a ticker s Type category Choose the new Type from the popup menu Updating Quote File Data For most users ProlTA s Data Downloader will automatically obtain historical and current data for you Please see the Data Downloader chapter for configuration and usage details Alternative Methods to Update Quote File Data ProTA quote files can be updated via manual data entry in a manner similar to that of a spreadsheet View the Quote File s content via the TickerPicker spyglass button see above Adding Data Click the button in the lower right to add a new row of data On the new row enter the date Use the tab key to advance to the next cell right Enter the remaining quote values for the row Press Enter or Return The new quote record is immediately sorted in the window by date Unlike a spreadsheet document ProTA saves changes to your quote files as soon as they are entered 17 Editing Data Any cell in a ProTA quote file can be edited in a manner similar to that of a spreadsheet e Double click the mouse in any cell then type backspace or otherwise edit the value in the cell in the same manner as any OS X edit field Deleting Data e Highlight the row s to be deleted Use commanda click or shift click to select multiple rows e Click the button in the lower right Updating via Copy Paste Da
63. to incorporate it into your formula 169 Function Summary ProTAscript includes over 100 Functions which provide a wide variety of ready to use mathematical and analytical calculations The Function Reference in the next section lists each Function in alphabetical order with details about its syntax and purpose This section provides a summary of Functions grouped by type Long Name Short Name Built in Indicators Identical to the ProTA built in Indicators AccumulationDistribution AdvanceDecline Average TrueRange BearPower BollingerBands BullPower ChaikinOscillator CommodityChannellndex DirectionalMovement EaseOfMovement ExchangeVolume ExternalReference Forcelndex LinearRegressionForecast MACD MarketFacilitationIndex McClellanOscillator MedianPrice MoneyFlowIndex MovingAverage NegativeVolumelndex NetHighsLows OnBalanceVolume ParabolicSAR Performance PositiveVolumelndex PriceVolume Trend PutCallRatio PutVolumelndicator RateOfChange RelativePerformance RelativeStrengthIndex Spread StandardDeviation Stochastics TRIN TRIX TypicalPrice Volatility WeightedClose WilliamsAccumDist WilliamsPercentR ZigZag AD AdvDecl ATR BearP BBands BullP ChaikinOsc CCI DM EOM ExchVol XREF Force LRF MACD WMFI McOsc MP MFI MA NVI NetHL OBV Parabolic Perf PVI PVT PutCall BPVI ROC RelPerf RSI Spread StDev Stoch TRIN TRIX TP Volatility WC WAD PercentR ZigZag Dat
64. wonderful reference for Candlestick charting Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques Following is a brief description of the patterns ProTA will recognize Big Candle An unusually long body with a wide range between high and low Dark Cloud Cover A long white candle followed by a black candle The black candle opens above the white candle s high and closes well into the white candle s body Doji The open is the same as the close Doji Star A Doji that gaps above or below the previous candle 86 Engulfing Line Bullish A small black body followed by a large white body The white body completely extends above and below the black body Engulfing Line Bearish A small white body followed by a large black body The black body completely extends above and below the white body Evening Doji Star A large white body followed by a Doji that gaps above or below the previous candle A third black candle closes well into the white body Evening Star A large white body followed by a small body either color that gaps above or below the previous candle A third black candle closes well into the first candle s body Gravestone Doji The open is the same as the close and are equal to the low Hammer Bullish A small body either color near the high with a long lower shadow and a short or no upper shadow Hammer Bearish A small black body near the low with a long upper shadow and a short or no lower shadow Harami Bull
65. you to switch between Black Background charts and White Background charts more easily 62 Adjusting a Chart s Date Range and Time X Axis Settings The Time X Axis of a chart is located along the bottom of the window Some of the configurable properties of the Time X Axis include The range periodicity and optional padding of dates displayed in the chart The spacing between ticks on the axis The style of axis display The frequency of vertical gridlines Adjusting Time X Axis Settings via Inspector All of the chart s Time X Axis settings can be administered in its Inspector window Click the mouse on the Time X Axis Time X Axis Inspector Q OU k X Axis Data Display Spacing 4 1 100 Date Padding O 0 999 Periodicity Daily Point amp Figure Date Range End with last date 10 27 14 to 5 22 15 X Axis Formatting Style Jan Feb Mar Gridlines Quarterly kJ Spacing Choose the amount of spacing between tick marks Date Padding Enter the number of tick marks to pad at the end of the chart A number greater than zero will leave space at the end of the chart for the extension of trendlines into the future Periodicity Choose the periodicity of data to calculate and display ProTA assumes each quote file contains Daily data Daily ProTA displays the data as is from the security s quote file Calendar Similar to Daily but weekends holidays and any other dates are inserted such that every
66. 1 to see the BullPower BullP current price plot overlaid with the prices from 1 2 and 3 years ago Ceiling Ceiling P Calendar 3 6 15 _ _ ChaikinOscillator ChaikinOsc p KST 3 6 15 ee ae v Price Overlays 3 6 15 Close C 7 Bollinger Bands Shaded 4 29 15 CommodityChannellndex CCl 7 Crossing MA s Shaded 4 29 15 5 da MA Period TypeCode Arra 7 Donchian Channels 6 2 15 Calculates the built in ProTA indicator Moving Average 7 eltner Channels 6 2 15 P e TEN 7 Sine Weighted Moving Average 3 13 15 TypeCodes S E W Simple Exponential Weighted gt Shader Overlays 3 11 15 Array Defaults to Closes if omitted w Syntax OK New Delete Syntax Status File File The window is divided into three sections horizontally e On the left is the Files Table listing all of your saved Custom Indicators Click any item in the table to select Single click the name within a selected row to edit the file s name Drag files or folder to organize them within sub folders e The middle section displays the editable content of the currently selected Custom Indicator file Choose Save from the File menu Ccommand S after you have made edits On the right is a Function Library for reference help with ProTAscript You can find functions in the table then double click to Copy it to the clipboard or simply drag the item from the table into the text in the middle to incorporate the function into your Custom Indicator Next Previous File Pres
67. 27 12 39 930 36 27 Exit Long Rule 13 Long 63 05 21 12 08 20 12 9 160 7 52 Exit Long Rule 14 Long 8 11 23 12 12 05 12 8 100 8 42 Exit Long Rule 15 Long 49 12 06 12 02 19 13 3 160 3 55 Exit Long Rule 16 Long 13 02 26 13 03 15 13 4 650 5 18 Exit Long Rule 17 Long 103 03 20 13 08 15 13 48 820 56 70 Exit Long Rule A trade by trade summary The first trade taken by this Trading System was a Long trade that lost 22 52 points The trade was closed because the Exit Long rule specified for this Trading System was evaluated as TRUE after 17 trading days of being long 154 Run Recap Basic MA Cross Optimize Run of 1999 Parameter Combinations using AAPL Jun 4 2015 4 10 48 PM 1 Fixed Share per Trade 0 Comm Slip Period 2 2 000 1 Date Range Specified All Formula Period 21 EnterLong CrossesAbove C MA Period ExitLong CrossesBelow C MA Period Entry Execution Market on Close Orders Taken Today Exit Execution Market on Close Orders Taken Today Stops None Recaps specifications of the Trading System and the Scope and Accounting rules provided for this run Trade Count Analysis Trade Count Winners Losers Long Trades 17 9 52 94 8 47 06 Short Trades 0 0 0 00 0 0 00 All Trades 17 9 52 94 8 47 06 Summarizes the number of trades by category In the example above there were 17 Long Trades 9 of the Long Trades were Winners 52 94 of the Long Trades were Winners and the other
68. 5 Z Up or Down gt 1 Today 5 22 15 E Up or Down gt 2 Today 5 22 15 Z Up or Down gt 3 Today 5 22 15 Z Up Today 5 22 15 gt Year To Date Performance 3 10 15 lt 5 l Apply New Delete e Click any of the seven categories at the top to display the files for that type The TickerPicker option is only available for Custom content Chart Suites e Click lt to apply the selected item to the suite Applying a Smartlist Chart Template or Columns Template will replace the existing setting with the new Applying from the TickerPicker Standard Indicators Custom Indicators or Trading Systems will add the selected item to the suite Tip Simply double click an item to Apply it to the suite e Click to create an item for the selected type For example when the Custom Indicators category is chosen clicking will open the Custom Indicators window and create a new Untitled Custom Indicator e Click to delete the selected items s e Drag items to from folders to organize them Click the disclosure triangle to the left of any folder to show hide the contents of the folder Tip Single click any selected file name or folder name to rename the item 30 Inspector The Inspector displays the customizable settings for the selected object in a chart Click any item in a chart to view and edit its parameters and display style Your edits are reflected immediately in the associated chart Highlight Settings Delete
69. 8 Long Trades were Losers 47 06 of the Long Trades were Losers There were no Short Trades 155 Trade P amp L Analysis Trade P amp L Analysis P amp L P amp L Winners P amp L Losers Long Trades 113 380 152 600 79 55 39 220 20 45 Short Trades 0 000 0 000 0 00 0 000 0 00 All Trades 113 380 152 600 79 55 39 220 20 45 Summarizes Net P amp L totals by trade type In the example above the Net P amp L for all Long Trades was 113 38 Long Trades that were Winners netted 152 604 79 55 of the absolute value total of Winners and Losers Trade Avg Analysis Avg P amp L Avg P amp L Avg P amp L Win Avg P amp L Loss Win Loss Ratio Long Trades 6 669 16 956 4 902 0 78 Short Trades 0 000 0 000 0 000 0 00 All Trades 6 669 16 956 4 902 0 78 Summarizes Average Trade Net P amp L amounts by trade type In the example above the Average Net P amp L per Long Trade was 6 669 The Average Net Profit per Winning Long Trade was 16 956 The Average Net Loss per Losing Long Trade was 4 902 The Win Loss Ratio is calculated as Avg Win Avg Win ABS Avg Loss Day Analysis All Winning Losing Days Days Days Long 820 399 48 66 421 51 34 Short 0 0 0 00 0 0 00 Total 820 399 48 66 421 51 34 Flat 1639 Total 2459 Summarizes counts of trade days by type 156 Note A day is considered Flat for any of the following conditions e The Trading System is out of the market the entire day e The Trading System is out o
70. 9 830 131 510 35 640 637 0 Creating New Quote Files Click the button in the lower right to add a new data row AAPL Apple Inc Click the button in the lower right to delete the selected data row s Double click any cell to edit the value There are three primary approaches to create new quote files in your database Adding a Ticker from ProTA s listing of Known tickers adding your own custom ticker and Adding a Batch of tickers via import Adding Tickers From ProTA s Listing of Known Tickers From the File menu choose Add New Ticker Symbol or in the TickerPicker press the button 14 00 Add Tickers USA Stocks 1Q Ticker Name Type A Agilent Technologies Stock AA Alcoa Inc Stock AAC Aac Holdings Inc Stock AADR BNY Mellon Focused Growth ADR ETF Stock AAIT AC Asia Information Tech MSCI Ishares Stock AAL American Airlines Group Inc Stock AAMC Altisource Asset Stock AAME Atlantic American Corp Stock AAN Aaron s Inc Stock AAO Applied Optoelectronics Inc Stock AAON Aaon Inc Stock 7612 items 0 selected Select tickers to add to your ProTA TickerPicker database Greyed items are already included in your database To adda ticker not listed here click the Other button Other Use the popup menu to select a ticker list such as USA Stocks or USA S amp P 500 Stocks If you know the ticker just start typing to locate and select that ticker if it is present in the list If you Know t
71. ACL 20120118 0 285 0 29 0 285 0 285 31135 Adjustments ACN 20120118 0 13 0 135 0 12 0 135 166770 ACR 20120118 3 35 3 42 3 33 3 39 400841 Adjust Fields ADD 20120118 0 013 0 013 0 013 0 013 150000 ADN 20120118 0 068 0 068 0 067 0 067 66438 Map Tickers ADO 20120118 0 072 0 074 0 068 0 068 3790702 ADX 20120118 0 072 0 075 0 07 0 074 597887 ADY 20120118 0 061 0 065 0 061 0 064 251014 Dates and Numbers AEE 20120118 0 18 0 185 0 18 0 18 100000 3 7 AEI 20120118 0 22 0 22 0 22 0 22 70537 January 15th is 1 15 AEJ 20120118 3 05 3 06 3 05 3 05 694 iaeaioare 1234 56 AEM 20120118 0 006 0 006 0 006 0 006 1100000 AEU 20120118 0 95 0 95 0 93 0 95 50847 AEZ 20120118 0 003 0 003 0 002 0 002 540000 The window has several administrative buttons at the top and then Is divided into three main sections below that 208 UTI Settings The Files Queue Table in the upper left lists all of the files that are to be imported or have recently completed Selecta file in the table to see its contents in the text pane below if the file has already been imported the results log for that file is displayed instead The right side of the window is dedicated to the settings that will be used when importing the file s Pause Before Each File When checked the Queue will pause at each file awaiting the Start Importing command in the Toolbar Uncheck this to import an entire queue of files without interruption Adding Files To Be Imported Once you have obtain
72. AD plot makes a new local low but the security does not Williams A D Plot Inspector Q U Line Style EE Display Indicator ad Line Style See the end of this chapter for a description of Line Style options Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Larry Williams R Range is a simple price oscillator that relates the current Close to the range of prices over a specified period R is nearly identical to the raw K component of Stochastics Note Williams formula for R places overbought conditions at the bottom of the Pane This is contrary to every other oscillator indicator ProTA s R calculation modifies Williams original and is inverted such that overbought conditions appear normally at the top of the Pane R Today s Close Lowest Low over X Periods Highest High over X Periods Lowest Low over X Periods R is normally plotted in its own Pane See Stochastics for interpretations Williams R Plot Inspector QU Period 26 m w Display Indicator EJ OB OS Lines 20 r 122 Zig Zag Period Enter the time period for the range calculations Common values are 12 26 255 OB OS Lines Check this box to add overbought oversold lines Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Zig Zag completely filters out ignores price moves that are less than a specified perce
73. BE Adobe Systems Incorporated Stock 80 550 0 940 1 18 5 21 15 3871 AMGN Amgen Inc Stock 163 950 0 030 0 02 5 21 15 3871 AMZN Amazon Com Inc Stock 431 970 8 110 1 91 5 21 15 3871 BIDU Baidu Stock 200 380 4 870 2 49 5 21 15 2465 BIIB Biogen Idec Inc Stock 401 070 0 070 0 02 5 21 15 3871 BRK B Berkshire Hathaway Stock 145 360 0 580 0 40 5 21 15 3871 cC Citigroup Inc Stock 54 915 0 025 0 05 5 21 15 3871 CMG Chipotle Stock 633 080 4 840 0 77 5 21 15 2346 COST Costco Wholesale Corp Stock 144 140 0 650 0 45 5 21 15 3871 DIS Walt Disney Company Stock 110 475 0 275 0 25 5 21 15 3871 EBAY eBay Stock 59 720 0 570 0 96 5 21 15 3871 F Ford Motor Company Stock 15 515 0 215 1 41 5 21 15 3871 FB Facebook Stock 80 530 0 020 0 02 5 21 15 756 GM General Motors Company Stock 35 510 0 490 1 40 5 21 15 1133 GMCR Keurig Green Mountain Inc Stock 91 130 1 600 1 79 5 21 15 3871 GOOGL Google Stock 556 400 3 890 0 70 5 21 15 2708 HD Home Depot Stock 112 110 0 010 0 01 5 21 15 3871 IBM IBM Stock 173 470 0 290 0 17 5 21 15 3871 INTC Intel Corp Stock 33 500 0 130 0 39 5 21 15 3871 34 items 1 selected Tip To select an item in the list type its ticker symbol Selecting Rows in ProTA Windows e To select a single row click the row to highlight it e To select multiple contiguous rows click the first row in the group then Shift click on the last row in the group e To select multiple non contiguous rows click the first row then
74. Command click on additional rows e To select all rows choose Select All from the Edit menu Quote File Administration Click the button to create new quote files Click the button to permanently delete the selected quote file s Click the gear popup button to choose additional options f Clear and Re Download Quotes Data Stock Split Distribution Rebuild TickerPicker Index File 12 Clear and Re Download Quotes Data Removes all data from the selected quote files then re downloads the full price history from Yahoo Finance Stock Split Distribution Adjust historical pricing data for the effect of a Stock Split or a Mutual Fund Return of Capital Distribution Rebuild TickerPicker Index File In exceptional cases the TickerPicker summary listing may not accurately reflect the actual quote files that reside in your database You can rebuild the TickerPicker based upon a complete scan of the source quote files stored on your hard drive Customizing the TickerPicker Table e Re order or resize the columns by dragging them left or right e Sort the list by click any column heading Display Chose to list the entire database or limit the listing by security type Quote File Content Each quote file contains the basic source information for the security including ticker symbol name type decimal display and years of historical pricing data To view Quote File content select a row in the TickerPicker window then
75. Disney Company 110 260 F 46 900 52 Week Low Today 5 22 15 EBAY eBay 59 720 46 500 12 Down Today 5 22 15 F Ford Motor Company 15 270 Am 46 000 Up or Down gt 1 Today 5 22 15 GMCR Keurig Green Mountain Inc 90 760 K E Up or Down gt 2 Today 5 22 15 GOOGL Google 564 520 E Up or Down gt 3 Today 5 22 15 E a Up Today 5 22 15 a ee 44 500 gt Year To Date Performance 3 10 15 MCD McDonald s 98 990 l i ieee MSFT Microsoft 46 900 lt Z NFLX Netflix 621 870 43 500 E Pandora 18 330 if l 43 000 Candlesticks Plot Inspector Q 5 T AT amp T Inc 34 710 en YHOO Yahoo Inc 43 485 Ni Bars Closes AGSPC S amp P 500 Index 2 126 060 42 000 ANDX NASDAQ 100 4 527 160 j i 41 500 Up RUA Russell 3000 1 269 980 41 000 Dom M Unique Shadow i 40 500 TETE T OE TOTTE ER Pattern EE None kd Nov Dec an Feb Mar Apr May Daily Down Today 24 items 71 Conte nt Table Toolbar Inspector Content Table A customizable listing of the charts included in the Chart Suite Discussed in detail in the following chapter Charts Each row in the Content Table has an associated chart A single chart is displayed above up to 25 charts can be shown at once in a grid Please see the separate Charts chapter for details Toolbar Shortcut access to the primary tools used to manage and customize Charts File Browser Detailed access to the analytics that define the Chart Suite T
76. E when an Evening Doji Star pattern is detected EveningsStar EveningStar EveningStar Returns TRUE when an Evening Star formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e EveningStar returns TRUE when an Evening Star pattern is detected ExchangeVolume ExchangeVolume ExchVol EXCHANGE PREFIX Period Type EXCHANGE PREFIX Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies which VOL quote file to use for the calculation Normally NYSE NASD or AMEX for the NYSE VOL NASD VOL or AMEX VOL market data files The indicated quote file must be present in your Market Data section Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Normally 1 Type A TYPE WORD specifying the type of Exchange Volume calculation UD UpVol DownVol UDT UpVol DownVol TotVol UDUD UpVol DownVol UpVol DownVol Calculates the Up Down Volume General Market indicator Identical to the built in Exchange Up Down Volume General Market indicator e ExchVol NYSE 1 calculates Up Volume minus Down Volume on the NYSE ExchVol NYSE 1 UDT calculates Up Volume minus Down Volume divided by Total Volume on the NYSE Exponent EXP EXP Array Computes e raised to the power specified in Array e EXP 2 is e squared ExternalReference XREF XREF TICKER SecurityType FieldType No
77. H L 2 plots the midpoint of the High Low range Operators Operators provide the basic math comparison and logic functions Math Operators T Addition Subtraction j Multiplication Division Comparison Operators lt Less than lt Less than or equal to gt Greater than gt Greater than or equal to Equals lt gt Not equals Logical Operators AND Logical AND both conditions must be TRUE OR Logical OR either condition must be TRUE Note AND and OR must be preceded and followed by a space or Tab character Result of Operations e The result of Math operations is numerical 167 e The result of Comparison and Logical operations is a Boolean TRUE or FALSE In ProTA TRUE is plotted as a value of 1 FALSE is plotted as a value of 0 e When ProTA needs to perform a Boolean operation but a numerical value is provided all non zero values are considered TRUE and all zero values are considered FALSE Functions The power and depth of ProTAscript lies in its Function library Functions perform a wide variety of mathematical operations including indicator math pattern recognition and price analyses See the Functions Reference section for details on each Function Pragmas Your formulas can optionally contain several pragmas indicating special meta processing takes place when using the formula Pragmas are case insensitive but must not contain any spaces and always begin with the character
78. Holidays Choose a Holidays file ProTA will not run automated sessions on Holiday dates Convert Stock Volumes to Hundred Blocks Dial Data reports Stock Volume information in raw share values Check this box to convert the raw Volume figures to 100 share blocks divide by 100 before importing to your database Configuring Automated Dial Data Sessions You can instruct ProTA to run Dial Data sessions automatically in the background Note In order for the Automated Sessions to execute at the appropriate time you must leave your computer on and you must leave your ProTA application running Intraday Click the Intraday Gear widget and choose Configure Intraday Downloads Perform Automated Intraday Downloads jil Update Entire Database From B30AM lt 2 to 3 30PM Frequency Every 15 min xd The ProTA application must be running for Automated Downloads to take place Update Click the button to choose the securities to update during the day From Frequency Seta time range that generally coincides with the exchange s trading hours in your local time Consider adding an extra 30 minutes at the end to catch any late trades adjustments 219 End of Day Click the End of Day Gear widget and choose Configure End of Day Downloads Perform Automated End of Day Downloads it Update Entire Database At 7 10 AM Historical Start Date 12 31 99 Recollect End Dates 2 Adjust Back Data for MF Distributions The Pro
79. Next Previous Run Show Hide Function File Current File Test Files Table Library eoe Trading Systems n Trading Systems Q lt amp Basic MA Cross E WwW All Name Modified Full Name Short Name oe Stops Executions a Modulus MOD Basic MA Cross Long amp Short 6 4 15 Period 21 Power Power Buy amp Hold 3 13 15 Round Round EnterLong CrossesAbove C MA Period Coppock Curve Reversal 3 13 15 ExitLong CrossesBelow C MA Period oe on amp Gap Up 3 13 15 RoundUp RoundUp Sine SIN Key Reversals 3 13 15 Slope Slope LRF Upside Trend 3 13 15 SquareRoot SQRT My First Trading System 5 28 15 Summation SUM k Oversold Reversals 3 9 15 BarsSince BarsSince Cross Cross CrossesAbove CrossAbove CrossesBelow CrossBelow Highest Highest HighestBarsAgo HighestBarsAgo If If BarsSince ExpressionArray Returns the number of bars since ExpressionArray was TRUE non zero BarsSince Close gt MA 21 returns the number of bars since the Close was above its 21 period moving average E ha Syntax OK New Delete Syntax Status File File The window is divided into three sections horizontally e On the left is the Files Table listing all of your saved Trading Systems Click any item in the table to select Single click the name within a selected row to edit the file s name Drag files or folder to organize them within sub folders e The middle section displays the editable content of the currently selected Tradi
80. RIN EXCHANGE PREFIX Period EXCHANGE PREFIX Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies which A D and VOL quote file to use for the calculation Normally NYSE NASD or AMEX for the NYSE A D NYSE VOL NASD A D NASD VOL or AMEX A D AMEX VOL market data files The indicated quote files must be present in your Market Data section Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Normally 1 Calculates the TRIN Arms Index indicator Identical to the built TRIN Arms Index General Market indicator e TRIN NYSE 1 calculates the standard TRIN for the NYSE 199 TRIX TRIX TRIX Period Array Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the TRIX indicator Identical to the built in TRIX indicator e TRIX 12 is the 12 period TRIX indicator based on Closes e Cross TRIX 12 0 is TRUE when the 12 period TRIX crosses above or below the zero line TradeTaken Traded Traded Trading System Name Param71 Param2 Param3 Param4 Param5 Trading System Name Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies the name of a previously created and saved Trading System file Param1 5 Optional values can be passed into the Trading System to be used in place of the default Parameters Returns the trade taken that day by the specified Trading System Enter Long 1 Exit Long 2 Enter Short 1
81. RSI is an oscillator that attempts to measure the internal strength of a security by analysis of recent price changes U Average Up price change over the specified time period D Average Down price change over the specified time period RSI 100 100 1 U D RSI is normally plotted in its own Pane RSI oscillates between 0 and 100 and normally tops out above 70 and bottoms below 30 The most common use of RSI is as an overbought oversold indicator When RSI moves above 70 then begins to retrace the rally in the underlying security may be over When RSI moves below 30 then begins to move up this is an early indication of a market bottom RSI is more completely interpreted by its author J Wells Wilder in New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems Relative Strength Index Plot Inspector Qu Period 14 E n Display Indicator OB OS Lines 30 r D Period Enter the time period for the RSI calculation Common values are 9 14 and 25 113 OB OS Lines Check this box to add overbought oversold lines Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Spread A Spread represents the raw price difference between the base security and another security in your database Spread Base Security Price Compare Security Price The Spread is normally plotted in its own Pane A reading of zero indicates the Base Security Price Compare Security Price An increasing S
82. Right Arrow keys Advances the Inspector to inspect the next previous selectable item in the currently selected chart Return key Advance the visible chart to reveal next item in the Content Table cycling back to the first item after the last item in the list Option Return to move in the opposite direction and keys and Zoom In Zoom Out the currently selected chart Option and keys and Increase Decrease the Periodicity of the currently selected chart Mouse Wheel and Trackpad Gesture Horizontal Scrolling e Swipe left or right to scroll the chart forward or backward in time e Hold down the option key and swipe left or right to scroll the chart one date ata time e Hold down the command key and swipe left or right to scroll for unlimited scrolling Mouse Wheel and Trackpad Gesture Vertical Scrolling e Hold down the option key and swipe up or down to advance to the next or previous ticker e Hold down the command key and swipe up or down to advance to the next or previous ticker in an unlimited capacity Right Click a Chart s Main Heading for a popup menu of handy commands including Go to Yahoo s Web Page for lt ticker gt and Clear and Redownload All Data for lt ticker gt 78 Indicators Overview An indicator is a technical calculation based on the data fields of a quote file Technical analysts use indicators to help identify tendencies for future price action inc
83. Stops and custom Execution specifications Click any category name to view and edit the specifications Formula This is where you specify the rules for taking trades using ProTAscript When evaluating a Trading System ProTA will trigger a trade when the formula you ve entered evaluates to TRUE or a non zero value For example if the Enter Long rule is EnterLong CrossesAbove RSI 14 20 ProTA will trigger a buy signal when the 14 period Relative Strength Index crosses above 20 from a level below 20 For a Trading System that takes only Long trades you will write at least two lines EnterLong Your Rule Here ExitLong Your Rule Here For a Trading System that also takes Short trades you will write these additional two lines EnterShort Your Rule Here ExitShort Your Rule Here See the ProTAscript chapter and the Technical Reference for System Tests section for details 143 Stops Specify special stop rules to exit both long and short trades even before your Exit Long or Exit Short rules are triggered When a stop is hit the trade is exited immediately at the stop price regardless of the other Execution settings All Stops can be specified in Points or Percent Percentage based Stops are calculated using a percentage of the trade entry price 0 Trading Systems Basic MA Cross rj Formula Executions Loss Stop 0 Pts of Loss Profit Stop 0 Pts of Profit Trailing Stop 0 Pts Ee From
84. TA application must be running for Automated Downloads to take olace Update At Click the button to choose the securities to update once per day after the markets have closed and settled Set the time for the evening after the markets have closed and settled in your local time Historical Start Date Enter the earliest date to collect data Recollect Recent Dates Choose the number of data points to recollect from Dial Data data that already exists in your database Tip Track Data will correct errors in its database over time often within several days If you Recollect 2 3 days in each sessions you will automatically pick up any corrections Dial Data has made over the past 2 3 days Tip Volume and Open Interest for commodity futures is not reported as final until the following day If you are updating Futures quote files this item should be set to at least 1 or 2 to ensure the previous day s Volume and Open Interest data is re collected Note ProTA does not request data for expired futures contracts unless the quote file is empty Adjust Back Data for MF Distributions If checked ProTA will automatically adjust your historical data for the effect of mutual fund distributions as the data is downloaded 220 Running a Manual Dial Data Session e From the Tools menu choose Dial Data 0 0 Dial Data Track gt k Account Settings Next Downloads Intraday Today 3 00 00 PM Ee Da End of Day Jun 8 2015 7 10 00
85. Tickers 20 6 24 15 fil Bollinger Studies Stocks 16 6 24 15 W Ichimoku Stocks 16 6 30 15 W P amp F Stocks 16 6 30 15 uu RSI Oversold Model Stocks 16 6 24 15 uu S amp P 500 Comparison Stocks 16 6 30 15 Wu Shaded MA s Stocks 16 6 30 15 Trial Mode 20 Tickers Custom 20 6 30 15 W Up 3 Days In A Row Up 3 Days In A Row 1 6 24 15 W Up or Down gt 1 Today Up or Down gt 1 Today 5 6 24 15 Wl Up or Down gt 2 Today Up or Down gt 2 Today 0 6 24 15 W Volume Studies Stocks 16 6 30 15 W YTD Stocks Performance Stocks 16 6 24 15 h Brokerage Accounts fil My 401k Custom 6 24 15 W My Ameritrade Account Custom 6 24 15 oo ee P aR f Open e Choose Open Chart Suite Ccommand Q from the File menu When you save a Chart Suite document it is included in this window e Click the button to create a new Chart Suite or choose New Chart Suite command N from the File menu e Click the button to delete the selected Chart Suite s 26 Click the Gear widget to Duplicate an existing Chart Suite file or to create a New Folder Drag items to from folders to organize them Click the disclosure triangle to the left of any folder to show hide the contents of the folder Tip Single click any selected file name or folder name to rename the item Tip Double click any file to open the document Tip Double click any folder to display only the contents of that folder To navigate back up to the root folder click the
86. Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Name All Uppercase Check this box to display the security name in all uppercase letters Security Type Displays the security s type classification Column Inspector lt gt O Quote Values Security Type Security Name Displays the ticker s Type Stock Mutual Fund Index etc File Dates Audit Abbreviate Change Range MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Type Choose Abbreviate to display an abbreviated code in place of the full type name 43 Full Name Abbreviated Code Stock Mutual Fund Index Futures Option Misc Data File ovon File Dates Displays Date or Records information from the quote file Quote Values File Dates Security Name Displays Date or Record Count Security Type information for the ticker Audit Change Display Number of Dates kd Range MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Records Display Choose the type of information to display First Date Displays the first oldest date in the quote file Last Date Displays the last most recent date in the qu
87. acquire it from Yahoo e For any chart choose Clear and Re Download Quotes Data from the Quotes menu e Inthe TickerPicker command T window select the ticker then click the Gear widget at the bottom to select Clear and Re Download Quotes Data Visting Yahoo Finance e While viewing any chart choose Visit Yahoo s Web Page For TICKER from the Quotes menu Reviewing Download Session Logs Short summaries of the most recent Intraday and Historical download session are displayed on the right side of the Data Downloader window ProTA also retains a cumulative Log of all recent download sessions e Inthe Data Downloader command D window hover the mouse over the right side of the window to reveal the Show Log button or e Choose Logs from the Tools menu 25 Chart Suites Overview Chart Suites are the primary document in your ProTA workflow A Chart Suite consists of a Content Table with a collection of associated Charts A slide out File Browser and Inspector panel provides fast access to hundreds of customization features Chart Suites Database Your saved Chart Suites are organized and displayed in the Chart Suites database window This window is normally displayed at ProTA startup To show the Chart Suites window at any other time eo0oe Chart Suites ProTA 72982 xxxx xxxx 2445 version 4 05 Valid through Sep 6 2016 Documents ProTA Chart Suites Name Content Rows Modified wW Black Chart All
88. adable For example look at all the typing that went into defining the extremely simple My First Indicator Custom Indicator two pages back If you later want to write a Smartlist criteria that scans for My First Indicator greater than zero you don t have to re type the entire formula for the Smartlist criteria Simply refer to the Custom Indicator using FN FN My First Indicator gt 0 See the ProTAscript chapter for more information 136 Smartlists Overview ProTA s Smartlist feature automatically searches your database for securities that meet your own custom tailored criteria Instead of manually paging through hundreds or thousands of charts looking for patterns crossovers new highs lows etc you can codify your criteria into a simple formula and let ProTA find the matches for you You can use Smartlists to e Discover which securities have just generated a buy or sell signal e List all securities that have crossed their 200 day moving average on above average volume e Limit your Content Table to only include securities that are up more than 50 since 1 1 2012 e See all stocks that are above their 21 day average have an RSI above 60 and the Stochastics have just crossed above 80 e View all securities that are currently Long or Short any of your Trading Systems This is just a small sampling of possible criteria Since your criteria is specified with ProTAscript you are only limited by yo
89. add the Open tick mark to each Bar Thicker Tick Marks Check this box to draw the tick marks in double thickness Unique Tick Mark Color Check this box to use the specified color for the tick marks Bull Power and Bear Power are two components of Dr Alexander Elder s Elder Ray analysis Both are oscillators that attempt to measure the raw power of bulls and bears versus the consensus Bull Power High Exponential Moving Average of Closes Bear Power Low Exponential Moving Average of Closes A quote from Dr Elder s book Trading for a Living Bull Power is normally positive It rises when bulls become stronger and falls when they stumble Bear Power is normally negative It deepens when bears grow stronger and rises when they become weaker Bull Power and Bear Power are normally plotted in their own Panes but a plot of both Bull and Bear Power in a single Pane can be illuminating The complete Elder Ray analysis is a price plot with an overlaid exponential moving average the Bull and Bear Power plotted in two Panes below Bear Power Plot Inspector Qu Period 13 m x Period Enter the period for the Exponential Moving Average calculation Elder recommends 13 Bollinger Bands John Bollinger s Bollinger Bands attempt to define the upper and lower boundaries of a security s normal trading range Bollinger Bands are normally overlaid on a Price Plot 83 Bands lines are plotted above and below a moving average line
90. ade Data Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Cost Basis Display You can limit the display to a particular trade status All Trades To display and total cost bases for all rows with trade data Open Trades To display and total cost bases for all rows with purchase trade data but no sales data Closed Trades To display and total cost bases for all rows that have both purchase and sales trade data Include Purchase Commission and Fees Check this box to include the purchase commission and fees in the cost basis calculation increases the cost basis Extended Total Choose this button to display the extended dollar amount Dollar Cost Basis Purchase Price x Shares x Multiplier Purchase Commission amp Fees Per Share Choose this button to display the extended dollar amount divided by the number of shares or contracts Per Share Cost Basis Dollar Cost Basis Shares x Multiplier 54 Sales Value Displays the liquidation value of a position e Ifa trade is closed displays the Sales Proceeds generated upon exiting the trade e Ifa trade is open displays the current Sales Values of the position based on the latest closing price in the quote file Values are calculated and displayed only when trade purchase data has been entered for the row Quote Values Sales Value Security Name Displays the calculated Sales Security Type Value of the trade File Dates Audit Change Display All Tra
91. ake the Trading System back to a Flat position Special Rules for Stops When Long or Short ProTA first checks for Stops It checks for Stops in the same order they are listed in the Trading System window Loss Profit Trailing Inactivity Max Length If a Profit Stop and Loss Stop are both hit in a given day ProTA assumes the Loss Stop was encountered first With end of day data there is no way of knowing which intra day stop would actually have been hit first ProTA takes a conservative stance and assumes the Loss Stop was hit before the Profit Stop If no Stops are hit ProTA then looks at the ExitLong or ExitShort rule If the Trading System includes Profit Stops it is possible the system will stop out at the High price of the day In real world trading it is nearly impossible to have a Stop order filled at the High of the day To avoid being stopped out immediately on the first day of trade Trailing Stops are not evaluated until the second day of a trade A Trailing Stop is evaluated each day as follows First the maximum profit of the trade is updated and compared to the trigger after amount If it has been triggered ProTA then checks for a sufficient pullback from the High or Low for Shorts as defined in the Stops window For Inactivity Stops the trade entry date is included in the period of dates tested for restricted range trading If a percentage range is specified that percentage is applied to the price at wh
92. al Calculation required or Multiple Outputs optional Many simple formulas consist entirely of a single line Final Calculation line while others can span dozens of lines of Parameters Reference Variables with Multiple Output lines In all cases each line of code should be terminated with a semi colon For example Sum Volume 20 20 161 The next three sections discuss each part of the formula structure In each section we will build up an example formula My First Indicator My First Indicator is a simple Oscillator that subtracts the 10 period moving average from the 21 period moving average In this example we like the moving average periods 10 and 21 but wed also like to have flexibility to adjust these values when plotting My First Indicator in a chart Parameters Parameters allow you to assign a default numerical value to a defined name in the formula A formula can contain an unlimited number of Parameters but only the first 5 will be editable when plotting in a chart Parameters are optional but when they are used they should come first in the formula The syntax for a Parameter line is ParameterName FLOATING POINT CONSTANT For My First Indicator we might start off the first two lines of the formula as follows shortPeriod 10 longPeriod 21 These two lines assign the specified values as defaults for each Parameter Reference Variables Rather than aggregating your entire formula calculation into one long
93. amp Figure X O 87 000 t 86 000 85 000 t 84 000 t 83 000 B i 82 000 81 000 t 80 000 t 79 000 78 000 JTW 77 000 76 000 75 000 T 74 000 73 000 72 000 71 000 t 70 000 t 69 000 da Q8 04 26 08 02 Daily The ABK chart above uses a Box Size of 1 1 point and a Reversal of 3 Boxes 3 points While ABK rallied from 75 to 82 see A there might have been minor reversals along the way but they were all less than 3 Boxes in size After weeks of rallying up to 82 ABK fell 3 Boxes from that high thus we moved to the right and began tracking the pullback with O s see B The price declined to the 77 Box then the price rallied 3 Boxes so we again moved to the right and began tracking the upswing using X s again see C The interpretation of P amp F charts largely centers on support and resistance levels which are indicated by the termination levels of the columns of X s or O s When several columns terminate and reverse at the same price level that price level will likely provide support or resistance in the future A piercing of that level can be seen as a breakout confirming a continuation of the trend Most general scope TA books provide a quality overview at P amp F charting Point amp Figure Charts are Unique 107 P amp F charts are somewhat unique as their Time X Axis is computed based upon reversal dates The dates on the time axis represent the date each trend began When usin
94. another format 213 UTI Progress Panel If the importing process takes more than second or two ProTA displays a progress window 20141128 txt Status Importing a Parsing text Line 3886 of 5024 Stop Importing If the settings for Errors and New Tickers was set to Log the import will proceed uninterrupted Any errors will be noted in the UTI Results Log upon completion of the import If the settings for Errors and New Tickers was set to Show Alert progress can be halted in the following cases e The source text file has no field indicating the ticker symbol The UTI will prompt you with the following 20141128 txt Status Halted and awaiting user response Reviewing user settings None of the specified fields indicate a Ticker Symbol Assign a ticker symbol for the data in this file then click Continue Ticker Symbol F Stock Continue Stop Importing e The UTI encounters a ticker symbol in the source Text file that is not in your ProTA database You will be alerted with the option to create a new quote file 214 20141128 txt Status Halted and awaiting user response Parsing text Line 12 of 5024 O Ticker symbol AAR is not in your database AAR 141128 0 010 0 010 0 010 0 010 0 S 0 ANGLO AUSTRALIAN FPO Ticker AAR Type Stock KJ Name AAR F Skip This Line Create Stop Importing e An erroneous line in the source file that does not match up with the Fields described
95. ase security assigned to the chart For example you can manually customize a chart to display a Bars plot with Volume and MACD plotted in two Panes below set the color of the Volume plot to orange and change the style of the MACD plot to a histogram If you save this overall look as a Chart Template you can later apply all of the customized settings to any other chart with just one mouse click Saving a Chart Template Once you have configured the overall look of a chart you can then save that state to a Template file e Click the Chart Templates button in the Toolbar and choose Save Current Chart To New Template File Template Name Bright Colors Templatd In addition to storing all plots also include the settings for Time Axis Settings Line Studies amp Texts Cancel Save 13 Time Axis Settings Check this box to include the settings for the Time X Axis in the Template These settings include the date range zoom level periodicity and vertical gridline settings Line Studies amp Texts Check this box to include all of the Line Studies and Text Items in the current chart in the Template Tip Lines Texts are almost always relevant only to the specific chart ticker symbol they were originally added to and therefore are not generally a good fit for Templates As such this box is normally left unchecked Applying a Chart Template When you apply a Chart Template the content of the current chart is replaced wit
96. aste into a spreadsheet program etc 151 v Click Review Edit Test Specifications to modify test parameters for a retest or to re execute the System Test with the latest data If you originally ran the test yesterday and have since downloaded or imported another day s worth of data into your quotes database use the Review Edit Test Specifications button to recalculate the entire System Test to include the newer data e al Click Format Table to customize the sortable columns displayed in the results table e Click Create Chart or double click any row in the table to create a new Chart Suite window displaying the Trading System for the highlighted row Formatting the Results Table tt Click the Format Table button in a System Test Results window to customize the columns displayed in the results table Net P amp L Percent Net P amp L Max Drawdown Reward Risk Ratio Number of Trades Average P amp L per Trade Percent Winning Trades Current Position Open Trade P amp L Traded Last Day Buy amp Hold P amp L vs B amp H P amp L vs B amp H Percent P amp I vs B amp H Reward Risk Ratic Total Days in Test Percent Days in Market Average P amp L per Day Done Choose among the 17 system test statistics to be displayed in the results table Each of these items is described in the Test Summary report section below System Test Reports There are ten specific reports available for any Trading System Run in additi
97. at you maintain a special PUT CALL Market Data file in your database Put Call Ratio Plot Inspector Q U Period 1 E a Display Indicator kd Period Enter the time period to average P and C before dividing Normally 1 Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two 111 Rate of Change The Rate of Change ROC indicator compares the Closing price of the security to the Closing Price a number of periods ago The indicator s value represents the percentage change in the security over the specified time period For example a 12 day ROC is calculated as ROC Today s Close Close 12 Day s Ago Close 12 Day s Ago ROC is normally plotted in its own Pane A reading of zero indicates the security s price is the same as x days ago A reading of 20 indicates the security has increased by 20 A reading of 20 indicates the security has decreased by 20 As a security moves from a bearish trend to a bullish trend the ROC will cross from negative to positive As a bullish trend accelerates the ROC will move higher Relatively high ROC values followed by a retracement can indicate exhaustion of the bull move The opposite applies for bearish trends Rate of Change Plot Inspector QU Period 26 w Display Indicator Period Enter the comparison time period for the ROC calculation Common values are ST 12 IT 26 LT 255 Lines You can plot the indicator a mo
98. ata Line ProTA treats the Custom Indicators you ve developed or acquired in a manner consistent with its built in Standard Indicators The Inspector for a Custom Indicator looks very much like that for the built in indicators Following is an example for a Custom Indicator named Double MA which has two input Parameters shortPeriod and longPeriod and two Output lines shortMA and longMA Double MA Plot Inspector QU Input Parameters shortPeriod 10 longPeriod 50 Output Display shortMA mw X longMA ER 5 Range Fill r D When there are two or more Output Display lines the Range Fill option is presented Range Fill will shade color the vertical area between the final two Output lines The first color box left is used when the bottom Output line is less than the previous Output line the second color box right is used for the opposite situation Click Show Source to reveal the formula for this Custom Indicator Custom Indicators can customize up to 5 Parameters See the Custom Indicator and ProTAscript chapters for the creation and administration of Custom Indicators Data Lines are simple line plots based on price fields in the quote file Optionally you can shift the plot forward or backward in time and up or down on the Price Y Scale You can plot any of the price fields in the quote file Open High Low Close or choose one of the weighted calculations Median Price High Low 2
99. atabase AAPL Apple Inc Stock TickerPicker ABX Barrick Gold Corp Stock Type Adobe Systems Incorporated Smartlist AMGN Amgen Inc Stock AMZN Amazon Com Inc Stock Custom Suite ARTGX Artisan Global Value Fund Inv Fund BIDU Baidu Stock BIIB Biogen Idec Inc Stock BRK B Berkshire Hathaway Stock C Citigroup Inc Stock 1 ticker selected for Portfolio Cancel uan e Add tickers individually or in batch via selection in the TickerPicker by Security Type or by copying a listing from a Smartlist or another saved Custom Suite New tickers are inserted into the table in conformance with the current sort order Adding Rows via Paste If you already have a listing of tickers in a spreadsheet text document or any other source that has a Copy command you can Copy the ticker list and then choose Paste from the Edit menu to add the tickers to the Content Table Note The pasted ticker symbols must exist in your TickerPicker database If you try to Paste in ticker symbol ZYXW but that ticker is not in your TickerPicker database the ticker will not be added to the table Removing Rows e Select the row s to remove then click the button in the Rows section of the Toolbar Adding or Editing Trade Data Each row in a Custom Mode table can contain detailed purchase and sales data for the security e Click the mouse to highlight a single row e Click the spyglass button in the Rows section of the Toolbar You can also double click the
100. ate of the split or distribution All data prior to this date will be adjusted Tip ProTA scans the quote file and automatically fills in the adjustment date For noticeable stock splits there is usually no need to change this field Adjustment Amount For stock splits use the popup at the right or manually enter the ratio of the stock split For a 1 for 5 reverse split enter 0 2 1 divided by 5 For fund distributions enter the amount of the distribution 19 Stock Splits All price values prior to the adjustment date are divided by the adjustment amount All volume figures prior to the adjustment date are multiplied by the adjustment amount Fund Distributions All price values prior to the adjustment date are adjusted by the ratio of the distribution amount to the Closing value on the date of the distribution For example a fund priced at 12 50 on 8 6 96 pays a 1 00 distribution and falls to 11 00 on 8 7 96 Enter 8 7 96 as the adjustment date and 1 00 as the adjustment amount ProTA will reduce all price values prior to 8 7 96 by 8 333 1 00 11 00 1 00 Batch Processing Multiple Quote Files The Batch Processing tools allow you to perform operations for a set of quote files e From the Tools menu choose Batch Processing e Select one of the four Batch Processing actions at the left e Click the button labeled Securities to select the tickers to be processed Entire Database TickerPicker All Tickers Selected
101. between the two On Balance Volume On Balance Volume OBV attempts to show the volume flow into or out of a security OBV is a cumulative summation of Volume If Today s Close is greater than Previous Close OBV OBV Volume If Today s Close is less than Previous Close OBV OBV Volume OBV is normally plotted in its own Pane and can be interpreted in much the same way as the Accumulation Distribution indicator On Balance Volume Plot Inspector Qu Period 1 Mm t Display Indicator J Period Enter the period for the Closes comparison and Volume summation Normally 1 Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two 103 Open Interest PaintBars Open Interest is a simple line plot of the Open Interest field values in the security s quote file Open Interest represents the number of open contracts for commodity futures or options An increase in both prices and Open Interest can be interpreted as positive confirmation new buyers are entering the market pushing prices higher Conversely an increase in prices with declining Open Interest can imply a reduction in liquidity and can lead to a reversal in the trend Open Interest Plot Inspector QU Line Style EE Line Style See the end of this chapter for a description of Line Style options PaintBars allows you to color shade highlight and draw markers based on your own custom criteria It is best u
102. cal data Recollect End Dates Choose the number of data points to recollect from Yahoo Finance data that already exists in your database A non zero value such as 2 is recommended On the rare occasion Yahoo Finance provided an erroneous data point it is often corrected within 48 hours Recollecting will automatically pick up any correction Yahoo Has made over the past several days Note ProTA will compare the End Date to the last date in each quote file If the End Date is greater than the last date in the quote file ProTA will request the missing data from Dial Data If the quote file is empty ProTA will request data from the Start Date through the End Date 24 Manual Download Sessions Occasionally there will be a need to run a download session immediately rather than waiting for one of the Automated sessions trigger Running a Download Session Immediately e From the Quotes menu choose Data Downloader command D e Click one of the two Run Now buttons to begin a custom download session right now Before the download begins you will be asked to choose which tickers to include in the download session Reacquiring All Data For a Ticker Under certain circumstances you may need to remove all of the data for a ticker and reacquire fresh data Some examples are a stock split or if you notice a gap in your data or perhaps there is a bad data point in the historical data You can clear out all of the data for that ticker and re
103. calendar date is shown in the X Axis For Calendar dates not present in the quote file ProTA simply repeats the previous day s price volume values Weekly Monthly Quarterly Yearly ProTA compresses a period of data from the security s quote file into one tick mark e The Open is the Open for the first trading day of the period 63 e The High is the highest High for the period e The Low is the lowest Low for the period e The Close is the Close for the last trading day of the period e The Volume is the average of Volume for the period e The Open Interest is the average of Open Interest for the period e The Date is the last day of the period even if it is weekend or holiday date Weekly data always uses a Friday date Note The chart data is compressed for purposes of chart display only The actual data in the ProTA quote file is not affected When you switch to a periodicity other than Daily all indicators in the chart are re calculated based on the new periodicity For example a 26 period Moving Average Plot is a 26 day moving average when viewing a Daily chart but recalculates as a 26 week moving average when switched to a Weekly view Point amp Figure Unlike every other Indicator and Plot Point and Figure charting is unique in that the Time X Axis is computed based upon reversal dates Check this box to enable P amp F charting Date Range Choose the range of dates to display in the chart If Auto fit is chosen
104. ce Force Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the Force Index indicator Identical to the built Force Index indicator e Force 2 is the 2 period Force Index indicator e CUM Force 2 is the Cumulative Summation line of the 2 period Force Index indicator 182 Fraction FRAC FRAC Array Eliminates the integer portion of the Array value s and returns only the fractional part e FRAC 10 563 returns 0 563 e FRAC 21 returns 0 Gap Gap Gap Returns TRUE when there is a price gap from the previous Bar otherwise returns FALSE Specifically a Gap occurs if the Low is greater than the previous High or the High is lower than the previous Low e Gap returns TRUE on any Gap day GapDown GapDown GapDown Returns TRUE when there is a downward price gap from the previous Bar otherwise returns FALSE Specifically a Gap Down occurs if the High is lower than the previous Low e GapDown returns TRUE on any Gap Down day GapUp GapUp GapUp Returns TRUE when there is an upward price gap from the previous Bar otherwise returns FALSE Specifically a GapUp occurs if the Low is greater than the previous High e GapUp returns TRUE on any Gap Up day GravestoneDoji GravestoneDoji GravestoneDoji Returns TRUE when a Gravestone Doji formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candles
105. ce Index values Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Linear Regression Forecast Linear Regression Forecast LRF is based on the statistical least squares regression line A statistical regression line line of best fit minimizes the distance between the data points and the line ProTA s LRF calculates a line of best fit at each date then plots the Price Y Value of that line at the specified point in time The LRF plot is similar in display and interpretation to a moving average It is usually overlaid on a Price Plot Linear Regression Forecast Plot Inspector Q 5 Lookback Period 26 mm t Lookforward Period 0 Basis Closes XShift 0 YShift 0 D Display Indicator ka Lookback Period Enter the number of data points to use when calculating the lines of best fit This value is similar to the period for a moving average Lookforward Period Enter the number of periods to look forward on the line of best fit when determining the Price Y Value to plot Enter a 2 to plot the value forecasted by the line of best fit 2 days into the future Enter a zero to forecast the current day s price Zero is the most common setting and is sometimes referred to as an End Point Moving Average Basis Choose the price field to use as the basis for the calculation usually Closes 96 MACD X Shift Enter the number of ticks on the Time X Axis to shift
106. cial Market Data files manually 126 Line Studies Overview Cycle Lines A line study is a line or series of lines displayed in a chart Pane Technical analysts use line studies to visually indicate trends support and resistance levels or key dates in the chart Line studies are defined by anchor points in the Pane Each anchor point is defined as a Date and or a Price level To add a line study use the mouse to draw in the chart window defining the anchor point s for the study As you draw the study the Pane Heading displays helpful information about the anchor points Once a study has been added to a chart it is redrawn appropriately as the chart is scrolled zoomed etc Once a Line Study has been added to a chart you can adjust it by clicking and dragging the entire line or by clicking and dragging one of its anchor points You can also edit the line s parameters in the floating Inspector window This chapter provides a brief description of each line study See Adding a Line Study in the Charts chapter for the generalized instructions for adding a line study to a chart Cycle Lines are equally spaced vertical lines extending endlessly forward and backward in time Use Cycle Lines to highlight dates in the chart every x days Cycle Lines require two anchor points to define the study e From the Line Studies menu or tool item choose Cycle Lines e Press the mouse in the appropriate Pane While the mouse is held down
107. cing histories are available providing decades of past data ProTA includes a fully automated interface to Yahoo Finance for both Historical data downloading as well as for periodic Intraday price updating Once you have added tickers to your TickerPicker ProTA will automatically take of the data acquisition for you Legal Notice The Yahoo Finance data is to be used for PERSONAL USE ONLY As of this writing the Yahoo terms of service forbid commercial redistribution of data you obtain via Yahoo Finance Quoting section 12 of the Yahoo Terms of Service https policies yahoo com us en yahoo terms utos index htm You agree not to reproduce duplicate copy sell trade resell or exploit for any commercial purposes any portion or use of or access to the Yahoo Services Configuring Automated Downloading e From the Quotes menu choose Data Downloader command D Note In order for the Automated Downloads to execute at the appropriate time you must leave your computer on and you must leave your ProTA application running 23 0 o Data Downloader YAHOO Skip Holidays NYSE Holidays wd e F in ance The ProTA application must be running for Automated Downloads to take place Perform Automated Intraday Downloads Run Now Next Tomorrow 8 30 00 AM Last May 21 2015 3 10 00 PM Update Entire Database 32 files updated No errors From 8 30AM to 3 30PM Frequency Every 2 min intraday downloads will update t
108. ck this box to add overbought oversold lines Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Moving Averages A Moving Average is a calculation of the security s average price over a period of time The average is recalculated for each data point in time and therefore moves up and down as the price of the security moves up and down Moving Averages are sometimes referred to as smoothing moving averages because they react slower to price movements than the underlying security and can filter out shorter term price swings ProTA includes three Moving Average calculation methods Simple A simple or arithmetic moving average is a true average of price values A Simple Moving Average SMA is calculated as the sum of values over a period of time divided by the number of values in the period A 9 day moving average of Closes is calculated by adding the last 9 Closing values then dividing the total by 9 This process is repeated each day Exponential An Exponential Moving Average EMA is calculated in cumulative succession applying a percentage of the current price value to the previous EMA The initial EMA value is calculated using a Simple Moving Average Subsequent EMA values are computed as Percentage 2 EMA Period 1 EMA Today s Price x Percentage Previous EMA x 1 Percentage For example to calculate a 9 day EMA of Closes begin with the 9th day in the qu
109. ckup your ProTA work drag the ProTA folder to your backup medium The preferences file stores window locations as well as your serial number so for completeness it is also recommended to backup the com beesoft prota4 plist file ProTA Workflow The ProTA environment was designed to provide fast and intuitive access to all of ProTA s features This section covers the basic elements of the ProTA workflow Each section here and items in bold are more deeply explored in their own chapters that follow Quotes Database e TickerPicker command T ProTA maintains a quotes database of prices and other market information locally on your hard drive The name of this database is the TickerPicker In order to chart or otherwise analyze a new security the first step is always to create a quote file in the TickerPicker e Data Downloader command D Each evening and throughout the trading day ProTA s Data Downloader will automatically keep your TickerPicker files up to date with fresh data sourced from Yahoo Finance Optionally you can also import data from 3 party web vendors such as eoddata com using ProTA s Universal Text Importer Virtually any comma or tab delimited text files can be imported Charting and Analysis e Chart Suites command 0 ProTA s primary feature is the charting and technical analysis that takes place in Chart Suite windows Chart Suites contain a Content Table and an associated Chart for each row in the tab
110. column from the Content Table Use the list at the left to select the general type of column A brief description is provided in the upper right of the panel The options on the right side of the panel differ based upon the Column Type selected This section allows you to customize and set parameters where applicable In this example you can choose to display the Security Name in all uppercase characters Use the Heading section to specify the title to use for the column in the table You can type in any text or use the popup button at the right to choose from several suggested titles The balance of this chapter is divided into sub sections for each Column Type 41 Quote Values Displays the specified quote field value for the specified date Quote Values Quote Values Security Name Displays the specified quote Security Type value for the specified date File Dates Audit Field Close Change B Range Date Latest wd MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Close Field Choose the field to reference in the quote file Date Choose the date to reference in the quote file Latest The most recent date in the quote file One Day Prior The 2nd to last record in the quote file One Week Prior Seven calendar days prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first da
111. d zoomed etc the scaling remains constant based on the values you ve entered Price Highlights Choose the style to display the most recent values for plotted items or choose None Decimals Choose the decimal format for Y values Location A Price Y Axis can be located on either side of the Pane or Hidden from view Horizontal Gridlines Choose the frequency of horizontal gridlines in the Pane The color of gridlines is set in the Chart Body Inspector Logarithmic Scale Check this box to use logarithmic scaling With logarithmic scaling the vertical chart space between the price levels of 10 and 20 a 100 increase is the same as the spacing between 20 and 40 a 100 increase Logarithmic scaling is most useful when viewing long term charts 20 years ago a one day 50 point move in the Dow Jones Industrial Average represented a huge market move Today it is commonplace Logarithmic scaling displays price movements such that a 10 rally 20 years ago at lower price levels covers the same vertical chart space as a 10 rally today at higher price levels Administering Price Plots amp Indicators The Indicators menu and button popup include over 50 built in price plots and indicators as well as all of the Custom Indicators and Trading Systems you ve developed Each is fully configurable in terms of color line style and computational parameters This section covers the general logistics of administering plots in a chart
112. day 6 3 15 CrossesAbove CrossAbove E 52 Week Low Today 5 24 15 CrossesBelow CrossBelow Highest Highest Down Today 6 3 15 HighestBarsAgo HighestBarsAgo Up or Down gt 1 Today 6 3 15 if if y Up or Down gt 2 Today 5 24 15 IsFalling Falling Up or Down gt 3 Today 5 22 15 IsRising Rising jE Up Today 5 24 15 Lowest Lowest v Year To Date Performance 3 10 15 METAF AGOTA Rising Array Period Returns TRUE 1 if Array is higher today than it was Up or Down gt 20 YTD 6 3 15 Periods ago isRising Close 5 is TRUE if the Close is greater than the Close 5 periods ago Period Can be a computed array of values Defaults to 1 if omitted E ha Syntax OK New Delete Syntax Status File File The window is divided into three sections horizontally e On the left is the Files Table listing all of your saved Smartlists Click any item in the table to select Single click the name within a selected row to edit the file s name Drag files or folder to organize them within sub folders e The middle section displays the editable content of the currently selected Smartlist file Choose Save from the File menu Ccommand S after you have made edits e On the right is a Function Library for reference help with ProTAscript You can find functions in the table then double click to Copy it to the clipboard or simply drag the item from the table into the text in the middle to incorporate the function into your Smartlist for
113. de a mixture of security types such as a Chart Suite s Content Table General eo ee Preferences Suites Dates amp Numbers Quotes General Default Y Axis Price Highlighting Faint Shadow Print Charts in B amp W Print Charts with White Background Hide Price Highlights in Y Axes When Printing Display Registration Info in Main Window Default Y Axis Price Highlighting Affects all new charts see the Charts chapter in the Price Y Axis section for more Print Charts in B amp W Colors look good on screen but not always on the printed page This is especially true for B amp W Grayscale laser printers Check this box to convert all chart elements to black when printing Print Charts with White Background ProTA s on screen charts can use any background color including black To preserve ink or toner you ll probably want to print those charts with a white background Hide Price Highlights in Y Axes When Printing Charts Y Axes tend to look cleaner on the printed page with this option enabled Display Registration Info in Main Window When enabled your Activation Code and expiration information will be displayed in the upper right of the main Chart Suites window 207 Appendix Universal Text Importer UTI Overview ProTA s Data Downloader via Yahoo Finance is hard to beat in terms of ease of use and price free But in some cases an alternate data source may be required One solution is importing text data provided
114. des Range Include Commission amp Fees MA Analysis Extended Total Volume Analysis paee Per Share Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Sales Value Display You can limit the display to a particular trade status All Trades To display and total sales values for all rows with trade data Open Trades To display and total current sales values for all rows with purchase trade data but no sales data Closed Trades To display and total sales proceeds for all rows that have both purchase and sales trade data Include Sale Commission and Fees Check this box to include the sales commission and fees in the sales value calculation reduces the sales value Extended Total Choose this button to display the extended dollar amount Dollar Sales Value Sales Price x Shares x Multiplier Sales Commission amp Fees Cost Basis Per Share Choose this button to display the extended dollar amount divided by the number of shares or contracts Per Share Sales Value Dollar Sales Value Shares x Multiplier 55 Days Owned Displays the number of days the trade has been was open e Ifa trade is closed displays the number of days the trade was open e Ifa trade is open displays the number of days since the purchase date through today Values are calculated and displayed only when trade purchase data has been entered for the
115. dicator the Final Calculation would be 162 shortMA longMA The entire My First Indicator looks like this shortPeriod 10 longPeriod 21 shortMA MA shortPeriod longMA MA longPeriod shortMA longMA Multiple Outputs Sometimes you will want to write a Custom Indicator that produces more than one output For example an indicator that plots trading bands 10 above and below a Moving Average line You could write two separate indicators one for the upper band and one for the lower band But it is much simpler to write a single indicator to produce both outputs Any Reference Variable line or the Final Calculation line that is preceded with the symbol will produce output that will be plotted in the chart Up to 5 lines can be prefixed with to produce up to 5 outputs per Custom Indicator formula For example Period 5 PercentShift 10 ShiftAmt MA Period PercentShift 100 UpperLine MA Period ShiftAmt LowerLine MA Period ShiftAmt Advantage of Using Parameters Custom Indicators If we did not use any Parameters or Reference Variables My First Indicator could be condensed into a single line formula MA 10 MA 21 The advantage of the longer version is primarily in the use of Parameters The short version has 10 and 21 hard coded into the formula Every time you plot the short version of this formula it will use 10 and 21 in the computation If you later decide
116. dually configurable object that controls the vertical scaling of plotted items within the Pane To adjust the scaling location or display options for any Price Y Axis Click the mouse on a Price Y Axis Price Y Axis Inspector QU 7 Y Axis Data Display Price Range Auto Max 35 646518 Min 31 622512 Y Axis Formatting Price Highlights Default Decimals Default o U O Location Right Horizontal Gridlines Major amp Minor ka Logarithmic Scale Price Range Choose the range between minimum and maximum value Auto Sets the range based on the minimum and maximum values for all plots displayed in the Pane When the chart is scrolled zoomed etc the scaling automatically adjusts to the appropriate minimum and maximum values Auto with padding Similar to Auto but the minimum and maximum is expanded by an amount you specify either in point or by a percentage Auto all data Similar to Auto but the minimum and maximum is set based on values for the entire range of dates in the security s quote file When the chart is scrolled zoomed etc the scaling remains constant 0 1 A fixed range from 0 0 to 1 0 0 100 A fixed range from O to 100 0 Auto The lower boundary is fixed at 0 while the upper boundary is computed following the Auto rules see above 1 1 A fixed range from 1 0 to 1 0 65 100 100 A fixed range from 100 to 100 Manual A user specified fixed range When the chart is scrolle
117. e best guess algorithm When Automated Guess is unchecked you must specify the delimiter and the contents of each column field Delim The UTI Supports Tab Comma and Space delimited text files The Space delimited option treats contiguous spaces as a single field separator Col A L Specify the content of each field in the text file from left to right such that Col A is the first field at the left followed by Col B etc Ignore If the source text file includes any extra fields that have no destination into your database choose Ignore Symbol ProTA will automatically convert all letters to uppercase The ticker symbol must be 17 characters or less else it will be truncated Type S Stock M Mutual Fund Index F Futures O Option B Misc G General Market Data This field only has a use to the UTI when a new quote file needs to be created in your ProTA database Name The security name must be 80 characters or less else it will be truncated Date ProTA accepts dates in the most common text formats 5 28 15 150528 05 28 2015 28 May 2015 and many more Note International users can specify whether the day precedes the month such as 28 5 15 or 152805 in the Dates amp Numbers section below Open High Low Close Volume Openint ProTA accepts any floating point values Note International users can specify whether the decimal and thousands markers in the Dates amp Numbers section below P
118. e Double click the row in any of the numerical cells Or e Click the spyglass button in the lower left The Quote File content panel slides up from the bottom of the window revealing the data content for the selected ticker Click the spyglass button again to dismiss the Quote File content panel 13 eoe TickerPicker Display All Q Ticker Name Type Last Change Change Last Date Lines AAPL Apple Inc Stock 131 510 1 450 1 11 5 21 15 3871 ABX Barrick Gold Corp Stock 12 470 0 040 0 32 5 21 15 3871 ADBE Adobe Systems Incorporated Stock 80 550 0 940 1 18 5 21 15 3871 AMGN Amgen Inc Stock 163 950 0 030 0 02 5 21 15 3871 AMZN Amazon Com Inc Stock 431 970 8 110 1 91 5 21 15 3871 BIDU Baidu Stock 200 380 4 870 2 49 5 21 15 2465 BIIB Biogen Idec Inc Stock 401 070 0 070 0 02 5 21 15 3871 BRK B Berkshire Hathaway Stock 145 360 0 580 0 40 5 21 15 3871 C Citigroup Inc Stock 54 915 0 025 0 05 5 21 15 3871 CMG Chipotle Stock 633 080 4 840 0 77 5 21 15 2346 COST Costco Wholesale Corp Stock 144 140 0 650 0 45 5 21 15 3871 34 items 1 selected Date Open High Low Close Volume Open Int 5 13 15 126 150 127 190 125 870 126 010 34 322 000 0 5 14 15 127 410 128 950 127 160 128 950 44 487 500 0 5 15 15 129 070 129 490 128 210 128 770 37 921 200 0 5 18 15 128 380 130 720 128 360 130 190 50 176 600 0 5 19 15 130 690 130 880 129 640 130 070 44 351 200 0 5 20 15 130 000 130 980 129 340 130 060 35 965 000 0 5 21 15 130 000 131 630 12
119. e Index indicator Identical to the built in Negative Volume Index indicator e NVI 1 is the standard Negative Volume Index indicator NetHighsLows NetHL NetHL EXCHANGE PREFIX Period EXCHANGE PREFIX Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies which H L quote file to use for the calculation Normally NYSE NASD or AMEX for the NYSE H L NASD H L or AMEX H L market data files The indicated quote file must be present in your Market Data section Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Normally 1 Calculates the Net New Highs Lows General Market indicator Identical to the built in Net New Highs Lows General Market indicator e NetHL NYSE 1 calculates net number of New Highs vs New Lows on the NYSE e CUM NetHL NYSE 1 is a cumulative summation line of the net New Highs vs New Lows on the NYSE OnBalanceVolume OBV OBV Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Normally 1 Calculates the On Balance Volume indicator Identical to the built in On Balance Volume indicator 190 e OBV 1 is the standard On Balance Volume indicator OutsideDay OutsideDay OutsideDay Returns TRUE when the High is greater than the previous High and the Low is lower than the previous Low otherwise returns FALSE e OutsideDay returns TRUE on any Outside Day ParabolicSAR Parabolic
120. e Related Provides Day Month Year values DayOfMonth DayOfWeek Month Year DayOfMonth DayOfWeek Month Year External Calls Return values from other Custom Indicators Trading Systems or Database Scan criteria Custlind Position ScanCriteria Trade Taken Math Perform basic math functions AbsoluteValue ArcTangent Ceiling Change Cosine Cumulate Exponent Floor Fraction Integer Log Maximum Minimum Modulus Power Round RoundDown RoundUp Sine Slope SquareRoot Summation Patterns Candlestick and other basic BigCandle DarkCloudCover Doji DojiStar EngulfingLine EveningDojiStar EveningStar Gap GapDown GapUp GravestoneDoji Hammer Harami HaramiCross InsideDay KeyReversalDay MorningDojiStar MorningStar OutsideDay PiercingLine SeparatingLine 171 FN Pos ScanFN Traded ABS ATAN Ceiling Change COS CUM EXP Floor FRAC INT LOG MAX MIN MOD Power Round RoundDown RoundUp SIN Slope SQRT SUM pattern recognition BigCandle DarkCloudCover Doji DojiStar EngulfingLine EveningDojiStar EveningStar Gap GapDown GapUp GravestoneDoji Hammer Harami HaramiCross InsideDay KeyReversalDay MorningDojiStar MorningStar OutsideDay PiercingLine SeparatingLine ThreeBlackCrows ThreeBlackCrows ThreeWhiteSoldiers ThreeWhiteSoldiers Window Window Special Miscellaneous analytics Alert Alert BarsSince BarsSince Cross Cross CrossesAbove CrossAbove CrossesBelow Cros
121. e Year One year prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date used Week to Date Last Friday based on today s date If Friday wasn t a trading day the previous trade date is used Month to Date Last day of the previous month based on today s date If that wasn t a trading day the first date in the file prior to the target date is used Year to Date Last day of the previous year based on today s date If that wasn ta trading day the first date in the file prior to the target date is used Note For all range options listed above if the target date falls before the first date in the quote file ProTA will use the first date in the quote file All Dates in File First date in the quote file Since Purchase The date specified in the Date Purchased field of the row If the target date is not found the first date in the file subsequent to the target date is used Since Specified Date The date entered to the right of the menu If the target date is not found the first date in the file subsequent to the target date is used MA Moving Average Analysis Displays a calculated moving average or comparative value for the specified time period using the latest data in the quote file Quote Values Moving Avg Analysis Security Name Displays Moving Average related Security Type values for the most recent data on in the quote file Audit Display Movi
122. e indicator calculation Type A TYPE WORD specifying which of the Stochastic lines to compute D or D K or K Oscillator or Osc Calculates the specified component of the Stochastics indicator Identical to the built in Stochastics indicator e Stoch 14 3 5 returns the 14 3 5 D line e Stoch 14 3 5 Osc returns the difference between the 14 3 5 K and D lines 198 Summation SUM SUM Array Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT or ARRAY specifying the range of periods Returns the sum of all Array values over the preceding Periods including the current period e SUM Close 3 sums up the current Close and the preceding two Closes e SUM 5 3 always returns 15 e SUM ScanFN My Awesome Criteria 10 returns the number of days My Awesome Criteria was TRUE over the past 10 days including the current day ThreeBlackCrows ThreeBlackCrows ThreeBlackCrows Returns TRUE when a Three Black Crows formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e ThreeBlackCrows returns TRUE when a Three Black Crows pattern is detected ThreeWhiteSoldiers ThreeWhiteSoldiers ThreeWhiteSoldiers Returns TRUE when a Three White Soldiers formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e ThreeWhiteSoldiers returns TRUE when a Three White Soldiers pattern is detected TRIN TRIN T
123. e of the indicator or the difference between the two Directional Movement Directional Movement is actually a complete trading system that was developed by J Welles Wilder ProTA includes all five indicators in the Directional Movement System DI DI DX ADX and ADXR Briefly DI DI DI represents the sum of adjusted increasing price movement over a period of time DI represents the sum of adjusted decreasing price movement over a period of time DI and DI are normally plotted together in their own Pane A buy signal is generated when DI moves above DI a sell signal is given when DI moves below DI DX ADX ADXR DX is a rating 0 100 of the absolute directional movement of a security s price over the specified time period If a security moves up in price a number of days then down in price ending basically unchanged the DX will give a low reading If the security consistently moves up or down in price the DX will be higher DX can be volatile so a smoothing average is applied resulting in the ADX indicator ADXR is a special averaging of ADX ADX and or ADXR are normally plotted in a separate Pane Low readings of ADX or ADXR indicate low directional movement a consolidating or choppy market High ADX or ADXR readings indicate high directional movement a trending market The calculation of the Directional Movement indicators is too complex for these pages See Wilder s New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems
124. e period for Moving Average calculation Common values are 5 9 21 50 200 Type Choose the Moving Average method Basis Choose the price field to use as the basis for the calculation usually Closes X Shift Enter the number of ticks on the Time X Axis to shift the entire plot forward positive number or backward negative number in time Y Shift Enter the number of points or percentage to shift the entire plot up positive number or down negative number on the Price Y Axis 101 Tip You can create the traditional Envelopes plot by plotting two Moving Averages one Y Shifted up by several percent and another Y Shifted down by several percent Negative Volume Index The Negative Volume Index NVI is initially set to 100 then changes value only when Volume is declining If Today s Volume is lower than Volume X Periods ago NVI NVI x 1 Today s Close Close X Periods ago Close X Periods ago NVI is normally plotted in its own Pane Since declining prices usually accompany declining Volume the NVI will tend to trend downward One interpretation of NVI is based on the assumption that price action on lower Volume days is driven by market professionals lower volume indicates the uninformed public is absent Therefore relative changes in the NVI reflect the direction of the smart money Negative Volume Index Plot Inspector QU 7 Period 1 ei 5 zi Display Indicator ed Period Enter the time period for t
125. e period for the EMA calculations Common values are ST 12 IT 26 LT 255 Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Volatility Chaikin s Marc Chaikin s Volatility calculation measures price volatility as an expansion of the daily High Low range Avg Range Exponential Moving Average of High Low Volatility Rate of Change Avg Range Volatility is normally plotted in its own Pane Volatility increases when the range of daily price swings are increasing and decreases when price variability slows Often volatility increases at market tops and decreases as a price correction ends Volatility Chaikin s Plot Inspector Q U 5 EMA Period 10 E a ROC Period 10 Display Indicator 120 EMA Period Enter the period for the Exponential Moving Average calculation Chaikin recommends 10 ROC Period Enter the period for the Rate of Change calculation Chaikin recommends 10 Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Volume Volume is simple plot of the Volume field values in the security s quote file Volume represents the number of shares or contracts traded during the period For Stocks Volume is often reported in 100 share blocks check with your data vendor Volume reviewed in conjunction with a price plot is one of the most basic forms of technical analysis Volume provides insight into
126. e trader s small body might look a little hefty to another 87 Candlesticks Plot Inspector QU Bars Candlesticks Closes Up Ss Unique Shadow E Down E Pattern EE None Up Choose a color for the Body of Up Candles Down Choose a color for the Body of Down Candles Unique Shadow If checked you can choose a color for the Shadow of each Candle Pattern Choose a Candlestick pattern to highlight ProTA draws a shaded box around all Candlesticks that comprise the specified pattern Chaikin Oscillator The Chaikin Oscillator is based on Marc Chaikin s Accumulation Distribution AD indicator It is calculated as the difference between a 3 period exponential moving average EMA of AD and a 10 period EMA of AD Chaikin Oscillator 3 Period EMA of AD 10 Period EMA of AD The Chaikin Oscillator is normally plotted in its own Pane A simple approach is to buy when the oscillator moves above the zero line and sell when it moves below zero The author recommends using the oscillator for divergence analysis especially at new highs or lows in the security s price If the security makes a new high or low that is not confirmed by the Chaikin Oscillator a potential reversal is pending This is especially reliable when direction of the potential reversal agrees with the direction of the longer term trend Chaikin Oscillator Plot Inspector QU Long Period 10 Mm n Short Period 3 Display Indicator EJ Long Period Enter
127. eases at market tops and decreases as a price correction ends Standard Deviations Plot Inspector Qu Period 26 m x Deviations 1 Basis Closes ed Display Indicator ka Period Enter the period for calculation Common values are 12 26 255 Deviations Enter a multiplier The raw standard deviation calculation is multiplied by this value Normally 1 Basis Choose the price field as the basis for the calculation usually Closes Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Stochastics is an indicator popularized by George Lane that compares the current Close to the range of prices over a specified period of time Raw Stochastics values are very volatile and are usually smoothed with a moving average calculation The first component of Stochastics is K K Today s Close Lowest Low over X Periods Highest High over X Periods Lowest Low over X Periods K represents the percentile the current Close ranks within the recent trading range A reading of 0 indicates the current Close is at the bottom of the recent trading range A reading of 100 indicates the current Close is the high of the recent trading range Since the raw K values tend to swing very rapidly from one extreme to the other smoothing is usually applied The smoothing method is a simple moving average of the raw K values The second component of Stochastics is D D Simple Movi
128. eck this button to calculate the percentage increase or decrease in price 45 Change Latest Price Compare to Price Compare to Price Uncheck this button to compute a simple Price Change Change Latest Price Compare to Price Period Choose the time period for the change calculation The time period always ends with the most recent date in the quote Use this popup menu to specify the begin date for the change calculation One Day Compare to the 2nd to last record in the quote file One Week Compare to seven calendar days prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used One Month Compare to one month prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used Three Months Compare to three months prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used Six Months Compare to six months prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used One Year Compare to one year prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date used Week to Date Compare to last Friday based on today s date If Friday wasn t a trading day the previous t
129. ed text file s from your data source the first step is loading them into the UTI queue e Select files in the OS X Finder and drag them into the UTI Files Queue Table to queue them for import or e Press the button in the upper left to select file s to be queued e To remove items from the list highlight the rows then click the button at the upper left The text files will not be deleted from your hard drive they are simply removed from the Files Queue Table listing Note The Queue of files is cleared when you quit the program Configuring Settings The entire right side of the UTI window is dedicated to the settings for the import Use the Gear widget to save a Settings for future re use or to apply a Settings that was previously saved Below the Gear widget are the controls that specify and manage the importing logic All of the various options are described in the UTI Settings section Start Importing Once you have reviewed and edited the various settings click Start Importing in the upper right to begin the importing process If the process takes more than a few seconds you will se a progress panel Upon completion a results log is displayed for the import The UTI provides a lot of flexibility for your importing needs As a consequence there are a lot of options to configure for any given import 209 t Current Settings Custom Parsing Processing _ Automated Guess Errors Log New Symbols Skip
130. eign exchanges U S histories are available back to 1972 1963 for commodities Dial Data provides flat rate monthly pricing plans permitting unlimited 24 hours a day access ProTA includes a fully automated interface to Dial Data Updating your database via Dial Data is a four step process e Create new empty quote files in your database as necessary e Configure the pre logon Dial Data window e Connect to Dial Data e Once Dial Data has updated your database review the summary report window To use Dial Data with ProTA you ll need a Dial Data account number and password Your Dial Data account number must be prefixed with the letters BS For specific information about Dial Data s offerings pricing setting up an account etc please visit their web site at www trackdata com Configuring Your Dial Data Account Once you obtain a BS prefixed account number from Track Data enter the account information into the Dial Data window e From the Tools menu choose Dial Data Press the Account Settings button Login User ID BS Password Domain dd trackdata com Please contact Track Data Inc to create an account www trackcata com Skip Holidays NYSE Holidays ki Convert Stock Volumes to Hundred Blocks User ID Enter your Dial Data User ID account number 218 Password Enter your password Domain Enter Dial Data s server If they did not provide you with a server address use dd trackdata com Skip
131. ely enclosed by the previous day s High Low trading range otherwise returns FALSE e InsideDay returns TRUE on any Inside Day Integer INT INT Array Eliminates the fractional portion of the Array value s and returns only the integer part e INT 10 563 returns 10 e INT 21 returns 21 IsFalling Falling IsFalling Array Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT or ARRAY specifying the lookback period for the indicator calculation If omitted defaults to 1 Returns TRUE if Array is less than it was periods ago otherwise returns FALSE 185 e IsFalling Close 5 returns TRUE if the Close is lower than 5 periods ago e IsFalling Close returns TRUE if the Close is lower than the previous period IsRising Rising IsRising Array Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT or ARRAY specifying the lookback period for the indicator calculation If omitted defaults to 1 Returns TRUE if Array is higher than it was periods ago otherwise returns FALSE e IsRising Close 5 returns TRUE if the Close is higher than 5 periods ago e IsRising Close returns TRUE if the Close is higher than the previous period KeyReversalDay KeyReversalDay KeyReversalDay Returns TRUE when the Open is higher than the previous Close and the High is greater than the previous High but the Close is lower than the previous Low OR the Open is lower than the previous Close and the Low is lower than the previous Low but the Close is higher
132. en the chart is scrolled zoomed etc the text symbol will move with it If this box is unchecked the text symbol is anchored to window coordinates Scrolling the chart will not move the text symbol Tip When the text box is highlighted in the Inspector panel you can choose Special Characters from the Edit menu to display the standard OS X Character Palette Double click or drag a character into the Text Inspector panel oO Characters tv lt Recently Used gt gt gt P gt gt 4 lt Arrows h V _ A A Parentheses s Punctuation A sr gt gt gt E Currency Symbols amp amp gt sz 3 Pictographs A gt Bullets Stars yk ewe Ok amp Pepea kk k k k k k BULLET OPERATOR fo i s Add to Favorites E SE OR E Ok E A Latin x k KH K K K Xk DSA toa O xvx vY XR X X wv OU TO UY Editing a Text Item e Move the mouse over the text symbol The cursor changes to a pointing finger e Click the mouse on the text symbol Edit the Text Item in the Inspector window as described above Moving a Text Item e Move the mouse over the text symbol The cursor changes to a pointing finger 70 e Click the mouse on the text symbol The Text Item is highlighted indicating it is selected With the mouse button still down drag the mouse to the new location for the text symbol As the mouse is moved the Pane Heading displays information about the text symbol s new position e Release the mouse to
133. es are normally used MA Type Choose the Moving Average method X Shift Enter the number of ticks on the Time X Axis to shift the entire plot forward positive number or backward negative number in time Y Shift Enter the number of points or percentage to shift the entire plot up positive number or down negative number on the Price Y Axis This setting will shift both the Upper and Lower Band in the same direction 84 Bollinger Put Volume Indicator General Market Bull Power The Bollinger Put Volume Indicator was developed by John Bollinger to highlight excessive bearish sentiment The indicator compares current OEX S amp P 100 Put Volume to its recent average P Volume of OEX S amp P 100 Put options Bollinger Put Volume Indicator P Moving Average of P The Bollinger Put Volume Indicator is normally plotted in its own Pane and is commonly viewed as a contrary indicator Excessive bearish speculation a high indicator reading especially following a decline implies a pending market bottom Note This plot requires that you maintain a special PUT CALL Market Data file in your database Bollinger Put Volume Indicator Plot Q U k Period 10 E n Display Indicator Period Enter the time period for the Moving Average calculation Bollinger recommends 10 Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Bull Power and Bear Power are two comp
134. es is reported at the bottom of the Test Summary Net P amp L The final profit or loss realized by the trades taken in the test net of commissions and slippage This value does not include any idle interest that was earned Net P amp L 100 Net P amp L Beginning Balance The Beginning Balance is determined uniquely for each of the three trade size accounting options Fixed Number of Shares Number of Shares Security s Price When the Test Began Fixed Dollar Amount Fixed Dollar Amount Percent of Equity The specified Beginning Equity balance Number of Trades This is a count of all trades including a trade that is still open at the conclusion of the test Avg P amp L Trade Net P amp L Number of Trades Winners Number of Winning Trades Number of Trades A winning trade is a trade that has a P amp L of zero or greater after considering commissions and slippage Total Days in Test Number of days in the Test Range as defined above This is not a calendar day count but rather a count of the bars data points within the Test Range period Days in Market Number of Days Long or Short Total Days in Test Avg P amp L Day Net P amp L Total Days in Test Max Drawdown The maximum peak to trough dip in the day to day equity of the trading system A measure of risk 153 Reward Risk Ratio Net P amp L Max Drawdown B amp H P amp L P amp L if the security was simply Bought amp Held for the entire Test Range period
135. es or decreases at an exponential rate giving the indicator a parabolic shape Parabolic SAR is normally overlaid onto a Price Plot ProTA plots the SAR stop loss level for each day When the SAR is below the price plot the system is long when the SAR is above the price plot the system is short The Parabolic SAR calculation is too complex for these pages See Wilder s New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems 105 Performance Parabolic SAR Plot Inspector Q 5 Initiial 0 02 Step 0 02 Maximum 0 2 Line Style EE Initial Enter the initial Acceleration Factor AF to use in the SAR calculation at the beginning of each trade Normally 02 Step Enter the amount to increase the AF each time the trade makes a new high if long or low if short Normally 02 Maximum Enter the maximum AF Once the SAR calculation has stepped up to this AF the AF remains constant until the trade reverses Normally 2 Line Style See the end of this chapter for a description of Line Style options Parabolics is normally plotted as a series of dots or markers The Performance indicator displays the price performance of the base security from a specified Basis Date in the past Performance is measured by the change in raw points or by the percentage change Performance Pts Today s Close Basis Date s Close Performance Performance Pts Basis Date s Close Performance is normally plotted in its own Pane A reading of
136. f the market all day but makes a Market on Close entry at the end of the day e The Trading System closes out a previous trade Market on Open and remains out of the market the entire day Trade Size Analysis Average Longest Most Largest Duration Duration Consecutive Winning Trades 48 820 71 778 120 4 Losing Trades 13 530 21 750 76 3 Long Trades 48 820 48 235 120 17 Short Trades 0 000 0 000 0 0 Various trade statistics categorized by trade type Largest Largest absolute value Net P amp L amount by category The worst single trade loss was 13 53 Average Duration Average number of days a trade was open by category In this case days are trading days data points not calendar days Each Winning Trade averaged 71 778 days in duration Longest Duration The longest number of days a trade was open by category Again days are trading days data points not calendar days The longest Long Trade was 120 days long Most Consecutive The largest number of consecutive trades of each category type This Trading System endured 3 Losing Trades in a row at one point Trade Equity Rollforward Beginning Equity 0 000 Trades P amp L 113 380 Commissions 0 000 Slippage 0 000 Interest 0 000 Net P amp L 113 380 Ending Equity 113 380 Provides a bookkeeping reconciliation of beginning to ending equity balances Beginning Equity The equity balance before the test began This amount was specified in the Accounting tab of t
137. ft Corporation Yahoo is a trademark of Yahoo Inc All other products and logos mentioned in this documentation are trademarks of their respective owners Getting Started Welcome Thank you for selecting ProTA 4 for Mac OS X ProTA pronounced Pro Tee A is a market charting and technical analysis program written exclusively Mac OS X ProTA was designed from the ground up to take full advantage of the elegant Macintosh interface A combination of modern programming techniques OS X compliant interface design and close attention to our customers feedback has resulted in software that truly represents the state of the art in Macintosh based investment software ProTA balances powerful features and ease of use in a way that both beginners and seasoned traders will appreciate In fact ProTA is so easy to use you may be tempted to skip this manual altogether We recommend however that you set aside time to review the entire manual You ll be much better prepared to command ProTA s features make better trades and improve your profitability At a minimum new users should read the complete Getting Started chapter If you are upgrading from the previous version of ProTA a separate document Transitioning from ProTA 3 highlights the major changes and new features in ProTA 4 Tip You can access these manuals from within ProTA by clicking the Help menu in the menubar About This Manual This manual assumes some familiar
138. g a Price Plot or Indicator You can move any plotted item to another location within the chart e Move the mouse over the price plot or indicator The cursor changes to a pointing finger e Click and hold the mouse on the plot When the mouse is held down on a plotted item the plot is highlighted e Drag the mouse As the drag begins the cursor changes to the hand cursor and the plot s original Pane and Y Axis are shaded e Drag the mouse to another Pane destination Pane within the chart window The Pane and Y Axis of the destination is now shaded Drag the mouse to the extreme left or right of the chart to specify a specific Y Axis as the destination Tip To move the plot into a brand new Pane drag the mouse to the Main Heading or to the Time X Axis e Release the mouse to move the plot If the original source Pane is left empty after the move the source Pane is deleted from the chart All remaining Panes are proportionally resized to fill the vertical chart space Note To move a copy of the plot hold down the option key when pressing the mouse button on the plot Note To move a copy of the plot to a different chart use Copy Paste from the Edit menu Note To adjust the drawing order of overlapping plots right click any plot and choose Move Forward or Move Backward Removing a Price Plot or Indicator You can remove any plotted item from a chart window e Move the mouse over the price plot or indicator The curso
139. g and editing dates inclusive to delete within each quote file Select a wide range of dates such as 1 1 1960 12 31 2019 to delete all records within each quote file 21 Export Quote Records Batch Processing Action Adjust Quote Records Securities Entire Database Delete Quote Records Export Quote Records Delimiter Tab Edit Quote File Type Date Range 1 1 60 7 12 31 19 Fields Symbol Date Open High Low Close Edit Volume 34 tickers will be processed Begin The Export tool will create a text file that can be opened in a word processing or spreadsheet program Delimiter Chose the character that will separate each field Date Range Specify the beginning and editing dates inclusive to export from each quote file Select a wide range of dates such as 1 1 1960 12 31 2019 to export all records in each quote file Fields Click the Edit button at the right to specify the exported fields Edit Quote File Specs 0o Batch Processing Action Adjust Quote Records Securities Entire Database Delete Quote Records Export Quote Records Change Security Type To Stock kd 34 tickers will be processed Begin Change Security Type To Check this box to change all of the specified quote files to the specified type 22 Data Downloader Overview Yahoo Finance tracks just about every traded stock fund and many market indexes in the United States as well as dozens of foreign exchanges Pri
140. g the Crosshairs tool the Pane Heading readout displays the value of the top most and bottom most box for each trend If you add a Volume related plot ProTA calculates and uses an average Volume for each trend column In most other respects the P amp F chart can be treated as any other You can overlay indicators trendlines text annotations etc To invoke a Point amp Figure plot click the Time X Axis then check the Point amp Figure box in the Time X Axis Inspector Time X Axis Inspector QU 7 X Axis Data Display Spacing 16 1 100 Date Padding 0 0 999 Periodicity Daily B Point amp Figure Date Range End with last date kd 9 11 13 to 5 27 15 P amp F Box Size Fixed 1 P amp F Reversal Boxes 3 Percentage 5 Examine Closes EJ The bottom portion of the Inspector relates specifically to Point amp Figure plots P amp F Box Size Choose the scaling size all prices are rounded down to the nearest Box level Fixed A user specified Box Size Auto ProTA will calculate a Box Size based upon recent prices Variable Based on Dorsey s P amp F methodology When prices are less than 20 a Box Size of 0 50 is used When prices are between 20 and 100 a Box Size of 1 00 is used For prices above 100 a Box Size of 2 00 is used P amp F Reversal Define the quantity of price retracement that will be ignored in trends Boxes Number of boxes the security s price must retrace for a reversal of trend Perce
141. g total of the McClellan Oscillator Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Money Flow Index The Money Flow Index MFI is an oscillator that attempts to quantify the strength of money flowing into and out of a security The MFI calculation is similar to that of the popular Relative Strength Index except MFI also gives consideration to Volume Average Price High Low 2 Money Flow Volume x Average Price Positive Money Flow occurs when Today s Average Price is greater than the Prior Average Price Negative Money Flow occurs when Today s Average Price is less than the Prior Average Price U Sum of Positive Money Flow over the specified time period D Sum of Negative Money Flow over the specified time period MFI 100 100 1 U D 99 MFI oscillates between O and 100 and is normally plotted in its own Pane The most common use of MFI is as a divergence indicator When the security s price trends higher and the MFI trends lower a top may form When the security s price trends lower and the MFI trends higher a bottom may form Another approach is to look for market tops or bottoms when the MFI reaches extreme values close to 0 or 100 then retraces Money Flow Index Plot Inspector QU Period 14 E g Display Indicator EJ OB OS Lines 20 2t Period Enter the time period for the MFI calculation Common values are 9 14 and 25 OB OS Lines Che
142. h the settings saved in the template The panes plots colors formatting etc from the template are applied to the chart s base security e Click the Chart Templates button in the Toolbar and choose a template to apply to the chart Tip You can assign a default Chart Template to be used for all new charts in Preferences Note When a Chart Template is applied to a Chart Suite in Sync Content mode the template s settings become the new settings for all chart views in the suite including the Time Axis Settings and Line Studies amp Texts if those boxes were checked when the Template was saved Administering Chart Templates Columns Templates can be organized and administered via the Chart Suite s File Browser e ifthe File Browser is not visible click the Show Hide File Browser button in the lower right of the Chart Suite window Tickers Plots Columns Name Modified ss 5 ZigZag 21 50 MA 3 11 15 ss 10 ZigZag 3 11 15 ss Bars 3 11 15 se Bollinger Band Studies 3 11 15 ss Candles Oscillators 3 11 15 se Candles Vol 3 11 15 se FParabolics Shaded Volume 3 11 15 se RSI Oversold Model 3 11 15 ss SPX Normalized to 12 31 14 3 11 15 ss Volume Studies 3 11 15 se YTD Performance 3 11 15 Black Charts 3 11 15 xe 74 Add or delete files create new folders using the gear widget and organize files folders in the table via drag and drop Double click an item or click the lt button to apply it Multi Char
143. hare This setting will provide P amp L values in the resulting system test reports that are in raw points which are often easiest to interpret 147 Commissions Specify the commission fees the Trading System will pay for each entry and exit Percent commissions are computed based on the trade entry or exit price Commissions are deducted from the day to day equity balance the day they are incurred lf Round Turn commissions are indicated the specified commission amount is applied at trade entry with no commission at trade exit Slippage Specify the slippage the Trading System will incur when filling all orders Percent slippage is computed based on the trade entry or exit price In the resulting test reports slippage is reported as a separate cost much like commissions Note Slippage occurs when there is a difference between the price at which the Trading System triggers an order and the price at which the Trading System would actually get filled on the floor of the exchange Due to the bid ask spread and other timing factors all Trading Systems incur some slippage when applied in the real world If you do not specify a slippage factor you should keep in mind that the results reported by ProTA are probably somewhat more positive that those that would have been achieved had you actually filled all of the orders through a broker Parameters tab If the selected Trading System includes Parameters you can adjust those parameters in this
144. hare price For each trade entry ProTA determines how many shares to purchase by dividing the Fixed Dollar Amount less any slippage and commissions incurred to enter the trade by the security s price at trade entry Fractional shares are allowed Percent of Equity Risks the specified percentage of the current equity balance per trade For each trade entry ProTA determines how many shares to purchase by first multiplying the specified percentage by the current equity balance to obtain a dollar figure for the trade That dollar figure is reduced by any slippage and commissions incurred to enter the trade and is then divided by the security s price at trade entry Fractional shares are allowed You can also specify an Idle Interest rate On days when the Trading System is out of the market interest is earned on the current equity balance Note Percent of Equity accounting can skew the underlying results of the test If the Trading System made large profits early in the test the returns for the latter part of the test will be much more heavily weighted in the final P amp L total since larger and larger trade sizes will be used as the test progresses On the other hand if the Trading System made large losses early in the test the returns for the latter part of the test will receive a smaller weighting in the final P amp L total since smaller and smaller trade sizes will be used as the test progresses Tip The most common Trade Size is 1 Fixed S
145. hat the anchor points connect two local bottoms in the rally A falling Trendline is normally drawn such that the anchor points connect two local tops in the decline The trend will continue until the Trendline is broken 0 Chart Suite AAPL Appleinc 1 4 06 9 22 06 9 840 0 220 2 19 Candlesticks Up Down Volume 111 800 2 L 11 000 n 10 500 y i i i Broken y t aga i A D Down 9 500 TLL A Trend Mi il N 1 i mi 9 000 i v SK h If H 8 500 i Wa e S Muh My 7 500 K 7 000 a Feb Mai Ap May Jun JAug Sep Daily Tip If you configure the chart to display a number of blank dates padded at the end of the data the Trendline can extend into the future Tip To create a new Trendline parallel to an existing Trendline Option Click on any existing Trendline then drag the copy to the new location A Vertical Line is a simple line extending from the top to the bottom of the Pane A Vertical Line requires one anchor point to define the study e From the Line Studies menu or tool item choose Vertical Line 132 e Press the mouse in the appropriate Pane While the mouse is held down the Vertical Line is drawn and the Pane Heading displays the Basis Date for the Line Position the line appropriately then release the mouse Vertical Line Inspector QU Vertical Line Basis Date 3 17 06 r D Use Vertical Lines to mark significant dates such as the entry or exit da
146. he Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e BigCandle Bull returns TRUE when a Bullish Big Candle is detected e BigCandle returns TRUE when any Big Candle is detected BollingerBands BBands BBands Period Deviations Type Array Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Deviations A FLOATING POINT CONSTANT specifying the number of standard deviations for the bands Type A TYPE WORD specifying the type of Bollinger Band value to compute B or B oscillator UB or UpperBand Upper Band LB or LowerBand Lower Band Calculates the specified component of the Bollinger Bands indicator Identical to the built in Bollinger Bands indicator e BBands 20 1 95 UB High returns the upper band value of the 20 period 1 95 deviations Bollinger Band indicator using the security s High field as the basis of calculation e BBands 20 1 95 returns the B value of the 20 period 1 95 deviations Bollinger Band indicator using the security s Close field as the basis of calculation BullPower BullP BullP Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the Bull Power indicator Identical to the built in Bull Power indicator e BullP 13 is the 13 period Bull Power indicator Ceiling Ceiling Ceiling Array Multiple Multiple AFLOATING POINT CONSTANT specifying the rounding multiple Returns the smallest
147. he System Test run specifications window If the accounting 157 specifications were Fixed Number of Shares or Fixed Dollar Amount the Beginning Equity Balance will be zero Trades P amp L The profit or loss realized from all trades without any deductions for commissions and slippage Commissions Total commissions incurred during the test Slippage Total slippage incurred during the test Interest Total idle interest earned when the Trading System was Flat the market Net P amp L Trades P amp L net of Commissions and Slippage plus Interest earned Ending Equity The final equity balance at the conclusion of the test Risk Adjusted Performance System Buy amp Hold Difference P amp L 113 380 196 435 83 055 P amp L 1 437 01 2 489 67 1 052 66 Annualized P amp L 146 92 254 55 107 63 Maximum Drawdown 33 170 80 770 47 600 P amp L Drawdown Ratio 3 42 2 43 0 99 Trading System performance compared to that of the naive Buy amp Hold strategy See the Trade Summary report for a description of the items in this report Technical Reference for System Tests This section provides a technical reference for the System Testing process Evaluation Logic 1 ProTA first determines the number of data records that are required at the beginning of the security s quote file before the first valid signal can be evaluated For example if the Trading System relies on a 50 day moving average 50 dates are required before ProTA can compute
148. he Volume and Closes comparison Normally 1 Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Net New Highs Lows General Market Net New Highs Lows compares the number of issues on an exchange setting a new 52 week high to the number of issues setting a 52 week low Net New Highs Lows Number of issues setting 52 week high Number of issues setting 52 week low Net New Highs Lows is normally plotted in its own Pane Readings above zero indicate a bullish tone to the market readings below zero are bearish When plotted as a cumulative summation the Net New Highs Lows plot is commonly viewed as confirmation divergence indicator when compared to the price plot of the overall market averages See Accumulation Distribution for interpretation of a confirmation divergence indicator 102 Note This plot requires that you maintain an H L formatted Market Data file in your database Net New Highs Lows Plot Inspector Qw Ticker NYSE HL Period 1 mm x Cumulative Summation Display Indicator ad Ticker Choose the prefix of the Ticker Symbol quote file to access for the computations Enter NYSE to use the NYSE H L quote file Period Enter the period to average H and L before subtracting Normally 1 Cumulative Summation Check this box to plot a running total of the raw values Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference
149. he mouse the Pane Heading displays information about the line study including the Date and Price Y Value associated with the mouse s position Some Line Studies require multiple mouse clicks to define the anchor points that define the study See the chapter Line Studies for details Note Each Line Study resides in a single Pane in the chart When there are multiple Price Y Axes in the Pane the Line Study is scaled based on the first Price Y Scale that was used in the Pane Selecting Editing and Removing a Line Study The steps for selecting editing and removing a Line Study are similar to those for Indicators See the Administering Price Plots and Indicators section immediately above Moving a Line Study You can move any line study to a new position within its Pane e Move the mouse over the line study The cursor changes to a pointing finger 68 e Click the mouse on the line study Drag the mouse to the new location for the line study As the mouse is moved the Pane Heading displays information about the line study s new position e Release the mouse to move the line study to its new position Note With a Cycle Lines Fibonacci Retracements or Trendline line study you can drag either of the two anchor points in addition to moving the entire line Note To move a copy of the Line Study hold down the option key when pressing the mouse button on the line This is particularly useful to create a second Trendline paralle
150. he security name click the Search box and type the name there As with other ProTA windows use command click or Shift click to select multiple items Note The tickers listed in this window are compatible with ProTA s default Data Downloading source Yahoo Finance Adding Your Own Custom Tickers If you need to enter a ticker that is not included in ProTA s ticker lists click the Other button in the Add Tickers window 15 eo Add New Ticker Ticker SHOP Stock KJ Name Spoify Ticker Lists O Add Ticker symbols should be 17 characters or less security names should be 80 characters or less Tip Use http finance yahoo com to find additional ticker symbols compatible with ProTA s default Data Downloading feature Adding a Batch of Custom Tickers You can add a list of new quote files to your ProTA database by importing a text file e In a spreadsheet or text processing application create a document consisting of one line per new quote file each line formatted as follows Ticker Symbol Type Code optional Security Name optional Ticker Symbol ProTA will automatically convert all letters to uppercase The ticker symbol must be 17 characters or less else it will be truncated Type Code optional S Stock M Mutual Fund Index F Futures O Option B Misc G General Market Data Note The Type Code is optional When omitted the importer will assume it is a Mutual Fund if the
151. hen type Return 222 Mappings Tip You can Paste comma or tab delimited text into the right table A mapping file is used to map a ticker symbol from an importable text file to the appropriate ticker symbol in your database For example your data vendor may use symbol DJ 30 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average but you use symbol IND in your ProTA database A mapping file can translate the DJ 30 to IND automatically during the import process Note Itis strongly recommended that you set up your ProTA quote file database using the same ticker symbols that your primary data vendor uses As such mapping files should never be necessary When mappings are necessary they should be the exception rather than the rule From the Tools menu click Mappings 00 Mappings Files External Ticker ProTA Ticker Type Index Mapping GFIX GOLD Index SFIX SLVR Index A ag Use Mappings to convert external 3rd party ticker symbols to tickers already present in your ProTA database e and atthe left refer to the administration of Mapping files in the table at the left e and atthe right refer to the administration of individual mapping entries in the table at the right e Select a file in the left table to view its contents in the right table e Click any selected cell to edit the text then type Return 223
152. ht Release the mouse to drop the column into its new location e To resize a column s width move the cursor to the dividing line between any two column headings The cursor will change to the sizing arrows Click and drag the mouse left or right to resize the column Sorting a Content Table You can sort a Portfolio by any column in ascending or descending order e Click any column heading to make it the primary sort key e Click the column heading a second time to reverse the sort order Note ProTA uses a stable sort algorithm When you change sort columns if there are any duplicate cells in the new column those equivalent rows will remain sorted in the order from the previous sort column For example you might want to sort a Portfolio by security type stocks funds and then within those groupings have it sorted by ticker symbol First click the Ticker column to sort by ticker then click the security Type column 38 Columns Templates A Columns Template is a description of a Content Table s columns and formatting information Columns Templates provide a handy way to quickly switch between various sets of columns For example you might save a template composed of several columns that compute Year to Date Performance another template with columns that show various 52 Week Range Analysis etc When you apply a Columns Template the columns displayed sort order and general formatting of the table all change to
153. ich the trade was entered If a Slippage amount is specified in the Accounting tab that slippage quantity is applied to all trades including trades that are exited due to a Stop Trading System Tips Avoid over optimizing your systems While it might be possible to sort an Optimize Run of 10 000 combinations and find a near perfect set of parameters you run the risk of curve fitting the system to only perform well with that particular set of quotes data Try to test the Trading System on a variety of securities covering a variety of market conditions Bull Bear Choppy It also helps to divide the test range into two or more sets The results for each test period should be similar 159 e Pay attention to the number of trades the system takes If there are a large number of trades be sure you ve specified a realistic commission and slippage amount else your real world results will greatly differ those of the test e When testing Futures or Options which involve leverage and multipliers the only accounting option that makes sense is Fixed Number of Shares For example Gold contracts have a multiplier of 100 A one point move in Gold provides 100 of P amp L per contract So for Gold futures use 100 Fixed Shares to mimic the trading results of a single Gold contract In this case commissions and slippage should not be specified in percentage term use points or dollars e Avoid using the ZigZag PeakValue and TroughValue functio
154. ickers Smartlists Standard Indicators Custom Indicators Trading Systems Chart Templates Columns Templates Inspector Customize colors styles and parameters of the selected Chart or Content Table item Tip You can customize the layout display and content for all newly created Chart Suites Choose Preferences from the ProTA menu To set a default window size for newly created Chart Suites resize any existing Chart Suite window then choose Save Current Window Size as Default from the Window menu 28 Chart Suite Toolbar Six toolbar items are always located beneath the charting area Show Apply Hide Zoom Template Content d a NE mw ME Mouse Add Grid Show Tools Indicator Settings Hide Panel Crosshairs Save Current Chart To New Template File Sync Content Save Current Chart To Template File 10 ZigZag Shading v Sync Time Scales Cycle Lines Bars Fibonacci Retracements Candlesticks Show Templates Browser v 1x1 Horizontal Line Closes Linear Regression i 1x2 Range Ruler Bollinger Bands ge ZigZag 21 50 MA 2x1 Trendline Data Line BE 10 ZigZag z i i x Vertical Line Linear Regression Forecast H 10 ZigZag Shading 3x1 Moving Average x i eE Bars 1 1x2 Text Item PaintBars ao Parabolics 4 Bollinger Band Studies 142x1 Zig Zag SB Candles Oscillators 1x4 oo Price Oscillators gt ma eesti 4x1 Volatility Studies Parabolics Shaded Volume 2x2 Volume Studies gt Be RSI Oversold Model mie 2x E gt aa SPX N
155. ide Menu Moving a Pane When there are multiple Panes in a chart you can alter the vertical ordering of the Panes by dragging any one of the Pane Headings to a new location e Move the mouse over the Pane Heading of the Pane to re position The cursor changes to a pointing finger e Click and hold the mouse down As you being the drag the cursor changes to the hand cursor and the Pane source Pane is highlighted 72 e Drag the mouse over another Pane destination Pane The destination Pane is highlighted e Release the mouse to move the source Pane to the new location Removing a Pane Chart Panes are automatically deleted when the last plot in the Pane is deleted or is dragged to another Pane It is also possible to delete a Pane along with all of its contents e Move the mouse over the Pane Heading of the Pane to remove The cursor changes to a pointing finger e Click and hold the mouse down Drag the mouse out of the bounds of the chart window e Release the mouse to remove the Pane and all of its contents Note You call remove all Panes effectively clearing the chart by right clicking the chart s Main Heading then choosing Clear Chart from the popup menu Chart Templates Chart Templates provide a quick and easy method of fully customizing any chart with just one mouse Click A Template is the overall look of a chart The settings stored in a Template can include every attribute of the chart except the b
156. ignal Line Normally 9 Basis Choose the price field as the basis for the calculation usually Closes MA Type Choose the Moving Average method usually Exponential Lines Choose the lines to display MACD Oscillator Plots the MACD Oscillator 97 MACD Lines Plots the MACD Oscillator and the MACD Signal Line MACD Histogram Plots the MACD Histogram Market Facilitation Index The Market Facilitation Index was originally published in Bill Williams Trading Chaos It is a technique that combines price action and volume to categorize each trading day into one of four types The value of the WMEFI plot is simply High Low Volume Each day is categorized based on the relationship between today s and yesterday s Volume and WMFI values Green Days Increase in both Volume and WMFI Fade Days Decrease in both Volume and WMFI Fake Days Decrease in Volume increase in WMFI Squat Days Increase in Volume decrease in WMFI Williams interprets each category differently Perhaps the most interesting are the Squat Days which indicate increased trading activity with little ability to move prices Multiple successive Squat Days can often point out a short term reversal in trend A complete description of WMFI is beyond the scope of this manual Please see Trading Chaos for a complete description Market Facilitation Index Plot Inspector Q U 7 si Green 9 Fade EE Fake w Squat 9 Choose colors for each of the
157. imit or Stop order eoo Trading Systems lt 8 Basic MA Cross Bb Mm Formula Stops Entry Orders Limit Stop Today _ Limit 0 Pts Eg from today s Close _ Stop oO Pts By from today s Close _ Cancel after 0 periods Exit Orders Market on Close E Today B Limit Similar to a broker s Limit order In the case of a buying trade a Limit price is set a specified distance below today s Close The trade is not executed until the 145 security moves down to the Limit price For selling trades the Limit price is set above today s Close Stop The opposite of a Limit order For buying trades the Stop price is set above today s Close For selling trades below Note The vast majority of Trading Systems use Market on Close or Market on Open executions These can most closely mimic real world trading for the typical end of day trader System Tests To initiate a new System test e Once you have a Trading System specified and selected it in the Trading Systems window click the Run Test button to begin a new System Test or e Choose System Tests from the Tools menu then click the button in the lower left 0 System Tests Name LRF w SBUX NFLX Tested RS Oversold TSLA Key Reversals Type Run Time 6 4 15 6 4 15 6 4 15 6 4 15 System Tests J Untitled 4 Basic MA Cross Single Run kd System Run Type Accounting Ticker AAPL Stock kd Parameters 1 test wil
158. in the lower right of the System Tests window to begin a test Basic MA Cross Basic MA Cross Optimize Run of 1999 Parameter Combinations using AAPL Jun 4 2015 4 10 48 PM 1 Fixed Share oer Trade 0 Comm Slio Period 2 2 000 1 Testing 523 of 1999 524 S eee Gain Loss Last 111 67 523 Best 143 50 172 Worst 51 40 28 Average 114 45 Cancel Test As the System Test proceeds progress is displayed along with an updated summary of the Last Best Worst and Average test in the run If the run does not appear to be going the way you envisioned it you can Cancel Test at any time Tip The testing process is threaded and non modal This means you can run time consuming batch tests in the background while working with other areas of the program You can also run several system tests at once When the test has completed the results are displayed in a System Test Results window 150 System Test Results eoe System Tests lt fy RSI Oversold E E gE RSI Oversold Batch Run of 29 Securities Jun 4 2015 4 14 05 PM 1 Fixed Share per Trade 0 Comm Slip Period 14 BuyThreshold 30 SellThreshold 70 Rank Ticker Net P amp L Net P amp L v Max Draw Reward Risk Num Trades Avg P amp L Trade 1 BIDU 113 380 1 437 01 33 170 3 418 17 6 669 2 NFLX 81 540 1 180 03 159 460 0 511 41 1 989 3 CMG 255 270 574 29 64 850 3 936 11 23 206 2 TSLA 74 550 368 69 46 700 1 596 8 9 319 BIDU Test Summary Test Range 8 26 05 to 6 4 15
159. ipotle 10 8 14 5 22 15 626 440 6 920 1 09 Bars l 700 000 650 000 l FEALL f 696 440 Oct Now TDec Jan Feb Mar Apr May or 14 15 Daily MSFT Microsoft 10 8 14 5 22 15 46 900 0 520 1 10 Bars i i i l i teer 46 900 45 000 Oct a Pewee wees Nov woos sewers ewe Dec woes sewers pewe wae Jan E owe wee Feb wore sews Sewers Mar wore sewee E wen Apr a Pewee wen nt May ee wees J 14 15 Daily S F pd Currently Selected Chart When more than one chart view is displayed a red arrow is shown in the Main Heading of the currently selected chart The currently selected chart is also highlighted in the Content Table at the left e All commands are routed to the currently selected chart If you add an Indicator apply a Chart Template the action affects the currently selected chart e To change the currently selected chart click the mouse anywhere in any of the chart views Displaying Charts in Random Access Order Normally the charts in a multi chart layout will be sequential relative to the Content Table at the left You can also choose to display a randomly accessed set of tickers in the chart views In the above 1x3 example you can display charts for T CMG and MSFT as follows e Click the mouse on the top chart view to make it currently selected chart The red arrow will display in its Main Heading Then click on T in the Content Table e Click the middle chart view to select it then click CMG in the Conten
160. ish A large black body is followed by a small white body The black body completely extends above and below the white body Harami Bearish A large white body is followed by a small black body The white body completely extends above and below the black body Harami Cross Bullish A large black body followed by a Doji that lies within the black body Harami Cross Bearish A large white body followed by a Doji that lies within the white body Morning Doji Star A large black body followed by a Doji that gaps above or below the previous candle A third white candle closes well into the black body Morning Star A large black body followed by a small body either color that gaps above or below the previous candle A third white candle closes well into the first candle s body Piercing Line A black candle followed by a white candle The white candle opens lower than the black candle s low but closes more than half way into the black body Separating Lines Two candles of opposite color with the same open Three White Soldiers Three white candles each with higher closes and short upper shadows Three Black Crows Three black candles each with lower closes and short lower shadows Window A candle that gaps above or below the previous candle Note Many Candlestick patterns are subjectively defined Long Big Small ProTA has built in rules for each pattern based largely on my own personal experiences Keep in mind that on
161. isplay the specified text at each relevant trade point Checking the P amp L and or box will also display the profit or loss at each exit point P amp L is displayed in points not currency You can specify color for Long vs Short trades and also optionally add a rectangular backing and frame around the text 117 My First Trading System Plot Inspector Qu Parameters Markers Shading Longs 9 5 Shorts BR Entry to Exit Line Closes Line Paint Bars based on Position at Close Tracing tab Tracings can be added using a unique color for Long and Short trades Entry to Exit Line Check this box to plot a line that connects each trade s entry date and price to the corresponding exit date and price Closes Line Check this box to plot a line that traces the Closes when the Trading System is Long or Short Paint Bars Check this box to paint a Bars plot with unique colors based on whether the Trading System is Long or Short My First Trading System Plot Inspector QU Parameters Markers Tracing Shading None High Low Channel Open Position Box Pane Longs Shorts Frame Shaded Area Shading tab Background shading can be added with a unique color for Long and Short trades None No shading Hi Low Channel Shades a rectangular area enclosing the highest and lowest prices encountered during each trade Open Position Box Shades a rectangular area enclosing the entry and exit prices for each trade
162. ist ProTA folder Contains all of your data files and saved work By default it is located in your Documents folder Important ProTA places your data files in specific locations within the ProTA folder structure It is important that you do not rename or relocate any of the files or folders residing in the ProTA folder All file maintenance can and should be administered from within the program If you need to restore data from a backup it is important you restore the entire ProTA folder as an intact whole Tip Your ProTA folder can potentially consume many megabytes of hard disk space as your database grows You can relocate the entire ProTA folder to another larger hard drive by moving the entire folder while ProTA is NOT running The next time you run ProTA the program will ask you to locate your ProTA folder Advanced Tip Most users will only need the single default ProTA data folder located in your Documents folder Advanced users might find it useful to maintain more than one ProTA database Hold down the option key when launching ProTA to create additional ProTA databases or to selected between multiple ProTA databases Only one ProTA database is usable at a time Uninstalling ProTA To completely remove ProTA from your hard drive simply drag the above 3 items to the Trash Backing Up Your Work On a periodic basis it is a good idea to make a backup copy of the ProTA related files that reside on your hard drive To ba
163. istribution Modified Volume Volume x Close Low High Close High Low Normalized Volume Modified Volume Period AD Previous AD Normalized Volume Accumulation Distribution is normally plotted in its own Pane and is commonly used as a confirmation divergence indicator The shape of the AD plot will loosely match the shape of the security s price plot The basic approach is to identify periods when the AD line indicates accumulation a rising AD line or a new high in the AD line while the price of the security is still moving lower or is consolidating below recent highs This indicates buying pressure preceding a potential price rally a buying opportunity Distribution a declining AD line or a new low in the AD line while the price of the security is still moving higher or is consolidating above recent lows indicates selling pressure preceding a potential price correction a selling opportunity 19 Accumulation Distribution Chaikin s Plot Q O 2 Period 1 Ea w Display Indicator ad Period Enter the time period to use when calculating the High Low and Volume Chaikin s original formula uses a 1 day period Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Advance Decline Line General Market The Advance Decline Line compares the number of advancing issues to the number of declining issues on an exchange This is sometimes referred to as Market
164. item choose Range Ruler e Press the mouse in the appropriate Pane While the mouse is held down the first endpoint is drawn and the Pane Heading displays the date and price When 130 Trendline measuring a rally position the first point at the local Low then release the mouse When measuring a pullback position the first point at the local High then release the mouse With the mouse button up move the mouse to now define the conclusion of the rally pullback As you move the mouse the Range Ruler is drawn and the Pane Heading displays the relevant dates and prices When measuring a rally position the second point at the local High then release the mouse When measuring a pullback position the second point at the local Low then release the mouse The Range Ruler can compute and display the size of the rally or pullback in both Point and Percent Range Ruler Inspector QU Range Ruler Anchor Points Date 2 24 15 5 6 15 Price 133 8 122 846863 Range Ruler Display Line Style w Extend Left Points Extend Right Percent Anchors Always On Extend Left Right When checked the horizontal lines extend endlessly into the past and or future helping to point out support and resistance When unchecked the line is limited to the distance between the two anchor points A Trendline is the most common line study A Trendline is a sloped line defined by two anchor points in the Pane From the Line Studies menu or tool item
165. ity with the overall Mac OSX interface as well as a basic understanding of the markets and technical analysis While the ProTA User s Manual attempts to explain all features in full detail neither ProTA nor this manual is intended to be a complete tutorial for market technical analysis ProTA is an acronym for Professional Technical Analysis Several of ProTA s pro features Custom Indicators Trading Systems and Smartlists may be beyond the immediate reach of the budding technical analyst If you are new to technical analysis software such as ProTA we recommend learning the basics of the software before moving on to these advanced techniques Enjoy System Requirements To use ProTA you ll need the following equipment and software e Mac OS X version 10 7 or higher e 100MB of hard drive space for the installation plus associated data e Intel processor e A display with minimum resolution width of 1280 pixels Installing ProTA 1 Download the latest version of ProTA from www beesoft net 2 The software is packaged as a compressed folder zip file If you are using Apple s Safari web browser the zip is automatically decompressed after it has been downloaded If you are not using Safari simply double click on the downloaded zip file to decompress it 3 Open the downloaded folder which includes the ProTA application and a Read Me file Drag the ProTA icon to your Applications folder replacing any older version of Pr
166. ize the parameters within your trading rules to find the most profitable systems e Compare and rank the results of multiple systems to determine which is working best for a given security The buy and sell rules for a Trading System are constructed using ProTAscript A simple example of an Enter Long rule is EnterLong CrossesAbove Close MA 21 Generates a BUY signal when the security s closing price crosses above the 21 day moving average line If you are familiar with writing formulas in spreadsheets the above example will look familiar to you You can probably start writing Trading Systems right away If this looks confusing don t worry The ProTAscript chapter covers the language in great detail and there are a number of commented sample Trading Systems included in the ProTA software Trading Systems 1 2 3 1 Define a Trading System Entry and exit rules stops and or trade execution rules See Creating a Trading System 2 Set scope and accounting rules then run a system test See Running a System Test 3 Review the results of the test dozens of trade statistics sortable tables trade by trade listings charts of trading activity and day to day profitability analyses See Reviewing a Trading System Report 141 Administering Trading Systems The creation and organization of Trading Systems is administered in the Trading Systems authoring window e Choose Trading Systems from the Tools menu Show Hide
167. ks that specifies which A D quote file to use for the calculation Normally NYSE NASD or AMEX for the NYSE A D NASD A D or AMEX A D market data files The indicated quote file must be present in your Market Data section ShortPeriod LongPeriod 2 INTEGER CONSTANTS specifying the periods for the indicator calculation If omitted defaults to the standard 19 and 39 Calculates the McClellan Oscillator indicator Identical to the built in McClellan Oscillator indicator e McOsc NYSE calculates the standard McClellan Oscillator for the NYSE e McOsc NYSE 30 60 calculates a modified McClellan using 30 and 60 period EMA s MedianPrice MP MP Calculates the MedianPrice indicator Same as High Low 2 e MP returns the Median Price Minimum MIN MIN Array1 Array2 Returns the lower of the two parameters Same as IF Array2 lt Array1 Array2 Array1 e MIN Close 20 returns either the Closing price or 20 whichever is lower e MIN 15 20 always returns 15 188 Modulus MOD MOD Array1 Array2 Returns the remainder when Array1 is divided by Array2 e MOD 10 7 3 returns 1 7 e MOD Y 3 returns 0 MoneyFlowlndex MFI MFI Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the Money Flow Index indicator Identical to the built in Money Flow Index indicator e MFI 14 is the 14 period Money Flow Index indicator
168. l run Run Test The name of the Trading System to be tested is shown on the System button e Use the System button to choose a Trading System to test e Once the window has been configured click Run Test in the lower right to begin the test There are four types of System Test runs available in the Run Type popup menu v Single Run Optimize Run Batch Tickers Run Batch Systems Run Single Run 146 A Single Run applies the selected Trading System to a single security from your database By definition one test will run There are three tabs to configure for a Single Run Click the mouse on any tab to configure that section Scope tab Use the Scope tab to select the security to test Accounting Parameters Ticker AAPL Stock EJ e Enter the ticker symbol and security type via popup menu Accounting tab Use the Accounting tab to specify trade size commissions and other bookkeeping related specifications Scope Accounting Parameters Trade Size Fixed Number of Shares kJ 1 Shares Commissions 0 KJ Round Turn Slippage 0 xd The Accounting tab is the same for all four run types Trade Size Specify the size of each trade to be taken by the Trading System Fixed Number of Shares Trades the same quantity of shares or contracts in every trade regardless of the current share price or the current cumulative P amp L Fixed Dollar Amount Risks the same dollar amount per trade regardless of cumulative P amp L or s
169. l to the original Administering Text Items You can annotate text symbols or a linked combination of both to any chart Adding a Text Item e Click the Mouse Tools button in the Toolbar then choose Text Item The cursor changes to the text insertion cursor e Click the mouse at the location in the chart to annotate the text symbol While the mouse is held down the Pane Heading displays the Date and Price Y Value of the mouse position e Release the mouse to add the text symbol Text Item Inspector Q U Text w BUY J Left Center Right None Rectangle en Rounded Rectangle Text i None Back Frame Up Down Left Arrow Tf Ee B mm Right Bind to Date Price 69 Text Check this box to provide text with an optional frame Enter the text then adjust the slider below to adjust the size Click the popup widget at the right for enclosure options Rectangle Rounded Rectangle Pointing Down Text Check this box to provide a custom color otherwise defaults to Black for White charts and White for Black charts Back Check this box to provide a backdrop color for the text Frame Check this box to provide a frame color for the text Arrow Check this box to show an arrow with the text Choose an arrow direction with the popup menu and a color Use the slider to adjust the arrow s size Bind to Date Price Check this box to anchor the text symbol to the Date and Price Y Value in the Pane Wh
170. le The Content Table can be a custom listing of tickers of your choosing or it can be tied to a Smartlist you have created see below Charts can be customized in many ways with Indicators Custom Indicators Trading Systems and a variety of hand placed Line Studies Authoring Custom Analysis e Smartlists Tools menu Specify criteria to highlight an interesting subset of your entire TickerPicker database All Stocks Up gt 2 Today or Buy Signal From My New Trading System are easily defined in a Smartlist e Custom Indicators Tools menu Dozens of industry standard technical indicators are built into ProTA Custom Indicators allow you to customize the existing indicators or write your own analytics from the ground up using a simple formula building language ProTAscript e Trading Systems Tools menu Specify rules to Enter Long Exit Long Enter Short Exit Short Stops and Execution rules ProTA computes and charts all trades along with a wide variety of statistics based on the historical results of your models e System Tests Tools menu Test your Trading Systems against a single ticker a Batch of Tickers or allow ProTA to optimize the parameters of your models by testing thousands of parameter combinations and then viewing the model results in a sortable table of trading statistics Good luck with your investments 10 TickerPicker Overview Quote files are the source documents ProTA uses as the basis f
171. lected chart Administering Custom Indicators The creation and organization of Custom Indicators is administered in the Custom Indicators authoring window e Choose Custom Indicators from the Tools menu 134 Show Hide Next Previous Show Hide Function File Current File Files Table Library 0 0 Indicators oe Custom Indicators lt Price Overlays yg Lookback Overlay lj All Name Modified IPriceScale Full Name Short Name 7 Mass Index 4 30 15 AccumulationDistribution AD LookBackPeriod 251 7 Normalized RSI 4 30 15 AdvanceDecline AdvDecl 7 PRO GO 4 30 15 DayCount CUM 1 Alert Alert AND AND 7 StochRSI 4 30 15 PrevYear1 IF DayCount gt LookBackPeriod REF C LookBackPeriod C gt rons ieee nude ances PrevYear2 IF DayCount gt LookBackPeriod 2 REF C LookBackPeriod 2 C ArcTangent ATAN PrevYear3 IF DayCount gt LookBackPeriod 3 REF C LookBackPeriod 3 C AverageTrueRange ATR 7 True Strength Index 4 30 15 f BarsSince BarsSince Ulcer ind PP Displays 3 time shifted historical price plots enabling you to compare where the price was 7 gt Ulcer Index a year ago two years ago and 3 yers ago BearPower BearP 7 Ultimate Oscillator 4 30 15 BigCandle BigCandle Note Works best when you have at least 4 years of historical data gt 7 Vertical Horizontal Filter 4 30 15 y y BollingerBands BBands Z Vortex Indicator 5 15 15 Since there are 251 trading days in a year you can use a LookBackPeriod of 25
172. ll be limited exclusively to the replacement of the product or a refund of the original purchase price In no event will BeeSoft be liable to you for damages including any loss of profits lost revenues lost savings lost data or any other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of the program Even though BeeSoft has tested the software and reviewed the documentation BeeSoft makes no warranty or representation either expressed or implied with respect to software its quality performance merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose As a result this software is sold as is and you the purchaser are assuming the entire risk as to the quality and performance The products contained in this package are proprietary products of BeeSoft and are protected by international copyright law All rights reserved The Yahoo Finance data is to be used for PERSONAL USE ONLY As of this writing the Yahoo terms of service forbid commercial redistribution of data you obtain via Yahoo Finance Quoting section 12 of the Yahoo Terms of Service https policies yahoo com us en yahoo terms utos index htm You agree not to reproduce duplicate copy sell trade resell or exploit for any commercial purposes any portion or use of or access to the Yahoo Services Trademarks ProTA is a trademark of BeeSoft Macintosh Finder Safari are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc Microsoft Excel Word are trademarks of Microso
173. lude Volume data in raw shares but your existing database has Volumes as 100 share blocks divided by 100 Click Show List to review and edit the settings Open Leave as is KJ 0 High Leaveasis Bj 0 Low Leave as is ka 0 Close Leave as is Volume Leave as is 0 Open Interest Leave as is Map Tickers Check this box to convert ticker symbols in the source text file to different ticker symbols in your database Dates amp Numbers Dates and Numbers January 15this 1 15 Numbers 1 234 56 ad January 15 is The important distinction is whether the day precedes the month or not For USA based dates choose 1 15 If the text file contains dates with month preceding day choose 15 1 Numbers The important distinction is the decimal marker and to a lesser extent the thousands marker Choose the option that best matches the price values in the source text file Note The Dates amp Numbers settings here in the UTI are not the same as the Dates amp Numbers settings in the ProTA Preferences window The settings in the application Preferences window control how ProTA displays dates and numbers to you in its windows whereas the settings here in the UTI are used to help describe the dates and numbers that will be encountered when importing a text data file This distinction is mostly important in non USA markets where it is more common to display view your data in one format yet receive data files from a vendor with dates numbers in
174. luding trends consolidations and overbought oversold conditions reversal of trends A library of 50 indicators and price plots are included in ProTA s Standard Indicator database Each is fully customizable in terms of color line style and computational parameters This chapter provides a brief description of each price plot and indicator While this chapter represents a good starting point you will gain a much better understanding of the indicators by reading the published literature Note See Adding a Price Plot or Indicator in the Charts chapter for the generalized instructions for adding an indicator to a chart window Note All of the Standard Indicators discussed in this chapter are also available for use in the ProTAscript which can be used to write Custom Indicators Trading Systems and Smartlists See the separate chapters for each of these topics Accumulation Distribution Chaikin s Marc Chaikin s Accumulation Distribution AD is a volume based momentum indicator that attempts to measure the flow of Volume into or out of a security Accumulation is said to occur when the security Closes above its midpoint for the day The closer the security Closes to its High the stronger the evidence of accumulation Conversely the closer the security Closes to its Low the stronger the evidence of distribution The AD indicator is a cumulative summation of the security s Volume modified to reflect the implied accumulation or d
175. mouse on the row 35 Row Inspector Shares Qty 100 Multiplier 1 Comment Purchase Sale Date 5 25 15 Price per Share 131 45 0 Commission 0 0 Other Fees 0 0 Extended Total 13 145 00 0 00 All fields are optional but certain Content Table columns require data in some of the fields For example ProTA cannot calculate a value for the Days Owned column unless a valid Purchase Date is entered Shares Qty The number of shares or contracts purchased For short sales enter a negative number Multiplier Use 1 for stock and mutual fund positions For futures and options trades the multiplier should be set to the dollar equivalent of a one point move in a one contract position For example a one point move in an S amp P 500 futures contract provides a 500 P amp L enter 500 for the multiplier A one point move in a Bond futures contract provides a 1000 P amp L enter 1000 for the multiplier Comment Enter a text comment limited to 255 characters Date The date you entered and exited the trade Price per Share The price at which the purchase and sale was filled Commission The dollar commission paid to enter and exit the trade For round turn commission structures you may wish to enter the full round turn commission on the purchase side for inclusion in open trade cost basis and P amp L calculations Other Fees Any other exchange or brokerage fees incurred at purchase and sale Note The trade information entered i
176. move the Text Item to its new position Note To move a duplicated copy of a text symbol hold down the option key on the keyboard when initially clicking the text symbol Removing a Text Item e Move the mouse over the Text Item The cursor changes to a pointing finger e Click the mouse on the Text Item The Text Item s specifications are shown in the Inspector window e Click the Trashcan button in the Inspector panel Using the Crosshairs Cursor The Crosshairs tool provides a read out of the Price Y Values for all plots at the location of the mouse e Click the Mouse Tools button in the Toolbar then choose Crosshairs The Crosshairs mode is the normal default state so usually this step is not required e Position the mouse in the chart such that it is not over any plotted objects The cursor will be an arrow e Press the mouse While the mouse button is held down each Pane Heading displays the Date and Price Y Values for each plot in the chart Each Price Y Axis displays the value for the current vertical position of the mouse e While dragging the mouse press the option command or shift key for a slight variation on the crosshairs display Note Hold down the Option key when clicking the Mouse Tools button to toggle on of Sticky mode When Sticky mode is on the cursor will remain in line drawing or text adding mode until you manually choose Crosshairs again When Sticky mode is off the default ProTA return
177. mula Next Previous File Press these buttons to quickly flip back and forth between the previous or next selected files Useful when editing two related Smartlists Syntax Status As you type formulas ProTA will dynamically check for syntax errors and report them at the bottom of the window Smartlist Criteria The middle portion of the Smartlists authoring window displays the editable content for the currently selected Smartlist file 138 eoe Smartlists lt Year To Date Performance Up or Down gt 10 YTD LT Scan Securities Entire Database Evaluate Date s Latest Date Criteria Custom Formula Securities will be included in this Smartlist when this formula evaluates to true or non zero ABS Performance 12 31 14 gt 10 Syntax OK Scan Securities Click the button to specify which securities to test for inclusion Evaluate Dates Specify a date or range of dates to evaluate each security for TRUE conditions Hits Choose Custom Range to enter your own specific date range Latest Date Week to Date Month To Date Year To Date Week Month Year All Dates Custom Range Note When you choose a date range that spans more than a single date the scanner will consider each security a Hit if any of the specified dates evaluate to TRUE Criteria There are 8 criteria types Custom Formula Is Long ls Short Is Flat Trade Was Entered Trade Was Exited Trade Was Executed Cu
178. n this menu Trading System Displays the trade status of the specified Trading System Quote Values Trading System Security Name Displays trade status for the Security Type specified Trading System File Dates Audit Change Click to select Range 5 Date Latest MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Smartlist Trade Taken Position Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Trading System Click to select Choose a Trading System See the Trading Systems chapter for the creation and administration of Trading Systems Date Choose a date to display the Trading System status See the explanation for the Quote column for an explanation of the date options in this menu Trade Taken Displays Enter Long Exit Long Enter Short or Exit Short if the Trading System made a trade on the specified date If no trade was taken the cell is left blank Position Displays Long or Short or Flat based on the status of the Trading System on the specified date Smartlist Displays a checkmark if the specified Smartlist criteria is true non zero for the latest date 52 Quote Values Smartilist Security Name Displays whether the ticker is Security Type included in the specified File Dates Smartlist Audit Change Click to select Range MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cos
179. ndicator EJ Ticker Choose the prefix of the Ticker Symbol quote file to access for the computations Enter NYSE to use the NYSE A D and NYSE VOL quote files Period Enter the time period to average A D UV and DV Normally 1 for TRIN To plot the indicator commonly referred to as Open TRIN enter a value greater than 1 usually 10 Invert Plot Check this box to flip the plot upside down the numerator and denominator are swapped in the calculation Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two TRIX is a price oscillator developed by Jack Huston publisher of Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities magazine TRIX displays the one period percentage change of a triple smoothed exponential moving average EMA of the security s Closes 119 TripleEMA The EMA of the EMA of the EMA of Closes TRIX Today s TripleEMA Prior TripleEMA Prior TripleEMA TRIX is normally plotted in its own Pane The three levels of smoothing filter out volatile short term swings in the security s price movement The trend of a security has changed when TRIX moves across the zero line Another approach is to plot TRIX with a 9 period moving average of TRIX Buy when TRIX crosses above its moving average Sell when TRIX moves below its moving average TRIX Plot Inspector Q 5 Period 12 a Z Display Indicator and MA Line kJ MA 9 E 7 Exponential EJ Period Enter the tim
180. nes You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two 109 Price Overlay Comparison Overlays Price Overlay adds the price plot of another security to the current chart You can choose to add a Bars or Line plot and can optionally adjust the overlaid price plot such that the Closing price for the overlay security is equal to the Closing price of the base security as of a specified date This can aid in viewing relative performance of the two securities from the specified date forward in time Price Overlays are commonly added both in separate Panes or as overlays to an existing Pane By default a new Price Overlay plot is added with its own Price Y Axis To merge the Price Overlay plot into an existing price scale drag the Price Overlay plot onto the Price Y Axis of the base security Price Overlay Plot Inspector Q Ticker GSPC Index B 12 31 13 Normalization None Primary Line Not Used Secondary Open Tick Marks Thicker Tick Marks Unique Tick Mark Color Ticker Type Enter the Ticker Symbol and Type of security to overlay Normalization You can adjust the overlaid price data such that the Closing price for the overlay security is equal to the Closing price of the base security as of a specified date Bars Choose this button to add a Bars plot Line Choose this button to add a Line plot The settings at the bottom are used to configure the di
181. ng System file Choose Save from the File menu command S after you have made edits e On the right is a Function Library for reference help with ProTAscript You can find functions in the table then double click to Copy it to the clipboard or simply drag the item from the table into the text in the middle to incorporate the function into your Trading System formula Next Previous File Press these buttons to quickly flip back and forth between the previous or next selected files Useful when editing two related Trading Systems Syntax Status As you type formulas ProTA will dynamically check for syntax errors and report them at the bottom of the window Run Test Once you have defined all of the rules for a Trading System press this button to begin a System Test based on this Trading System Syntax Status As you type your trading rules ProTA will dynamically check for syntax errors and report them at the bottom of the window See page 166 142 Creating a Trading System The middle portion of the Trading Systems authoring window displays the editable content for the currently selected Trading System file oe Trading Systems Basic MA Cross Formula Stops Executions Period 21 EnterLong CrossesAbove C MA Period ExitLong CrossesBelow C MA Period Syntax OK Three Categories Define a Trading System A Trading System is composed of a Formula which contains your buy sell rules and optionally
182. ng Average Change e 9 9 z Range Period 26 Volume Analysis MA Type Simple kJ Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading MA 26 Period Enter the period for the moving average The period always ends with the most recent date in the quote file 48 MA Type Choose the moving average calculation method Display Choose the type of information to display Moving Average Displays the calculated moving average for the latest date in the quote file Pts from MA Displays the difference between the calculated moving average value and the latest close in the quote file Pts from MA Moving Average Latest Close from MA Displays the percentage difference between the calculated moving average value and the latest close in the quote file from MA Moving Average Latest Close Moving Average Above Below Flag Indicates whether the latest close is above or below the moving average Above MA If the Latest Close is higher than the Moving Average ProTA displays a1 Below MA Ifthe Latest Close is lower than the Moving Average ProTA displays a 1 Equal to MA Ifthe Latest Close is equal to the Moving Average ProTA displays a 0 Crossover Flag Indicates a crossing of the moving average line based on the latest and prior closing values Crossed Above MA If the Prior Close was lower than the Prior Moving Average
183. ng Average of K D is a smoother less volatile version of K 115 Stochastics is usually plotted both K and D in its own Pane A trading method is to sell when Stochastics reach overbought territory greater than 80 then retrace back Buy when Stochastics reach oversold territory less than 20 then retrace back A more aggressive approach is to trade when the K line crosses the D line Stochastics Plot Inspector Q U Stochastics Parameters K Period 14 E t K Slowing 3 D Period 5 mn MA Type Simple Stochastics Display Lines K and D OB OS Lines 20 w K Period Enter the time period for the raw K calculation Common values are 5 14 25 K Slowing Enter the period for the K smoothing moving average usually 3 D Period Enter the period for the D smoothing moving average usually 3 or 5 MA Type Use the popup menu to choose the moving average method for the D smoothing Lines Choose the lines to display K Plots the K line after smoothing K and D Plots the K and D lines Oscillator K D Plots the difference between K and D OB OS Lines Check this box to add overbought oversold lines Trading System The Trading Systems you ve developed or acquired can be plotted in a chart just like an indicator This provides a simple yet very powerful method of viewing a Trading System s activity and performance in a graphical format See the Trading Systems and ProTAscript chapte
184. nge the column type altogether e Click the spyglass button in the Columns section of the Toolbar The Inspector will display information for the selected Column Use the lt and gt buttons at the top of the Inspector panel to navigate the selected column See the section Adding a Column to a Content Table directly above for an example of the editing panel See the chapter Content Table Columns for complete details regarding each column type If the table is sorted by the edited column the list is automatically re sorted when the column parameters or type are changed Note The left most column is always the Ticker column It cannot be edited or removed 37 Removing a Column from a Content Table Individual columns in a Content Table can be deleted one at a time e Click the spyglass button in the Columns section of the Toolbar The Inspector will display information for the selected Column Use the lt and gt buttons at the top of the Inspector panel to navigate the selected column Click the Trashcan button in the Inspector to remove the selected column Note The left most column is always the Ticker column It cannot be edited or removed Moving and Sizing a Column in a Content Table The left right ordering and width of any column can be adjusted by dragging the mouse e To move a column left or right click on the column heading and drag it to a new location The columns will shift around as you drag the mouse left and rig
185. ns in your Trading System definitions These are calculated by ProTA with 20 20 hindsight an advantage you won t have when trading in real time e The same warning applies to the REF function when used with a positive Period parameter When a positive Period is used ProTA is shifting values from the future back to today e It is important that your quote files are free of errors and omissions A transposed digit or a zero value especially in the Closes field will produce unreliable trading results The garbage in garbage out rule applies here Other Uses for Trading Systems In addition to Running a System Test Trading Systems can be used elsewhere in the ProTA software e Chart Plots Just like the built in Indicators discussed in the Indicators chapter you can plot a Trading System in any new or existing chart Display Trading Systems in the suite s Filer Browser in the upper right then double click any Trading Systems to plot the results in the currently selected chart e Content Table Columns For a spreadsheet style display of Trading System status Long Short etc add a column of type Trading System to any Content Table See the Content Table chapter for general instructions about adding a column and the Content Table Columns chapter for specifics about the Trading System column option e Custom Indicators Smartlists or Trading Systems within Trading Systems ProTAscript allows you to refer to any previously written
186. ntage Percent price retracement required for a reversal of trend Examine Choose Closes to determine local highs and lows based only on the security s Closes field Choose Highs amp Lows to examine the High and Low fields When you enable Point amp Figure all Price Plots Bars Candles Closes become Point amp Figure plots To edit the display style of a Point amp Figure plot click on the Point amp Figure plot 108 Point amp Figure Plot Inspector Qw Point amp Figure Formatting x E O Click the Time X Axis for additional P amp F settings Choose colors for the columns of X and O Positive Volume Index The Positive Volume Index PVI is initially set to 100 then changes value only when Volume is increasing If Today s Volume is higher than Volume X Periods ago PVI PVI x 1 Today s Close Close X Periods ago Close X Periods ago PVI is normally plotted in its own Pane Since rising prices usually accompany rising Volume the PVI will tend to trend upward One interpretation of PVI is based on the assumption that price action on higher Volume days is driven largely by the uninformed public rising volume indicates the public has entered the market Therefore relative changes in the PVI reflect the movement of naive money Positive Volume Index Plot Inspector Q O Period 1 E 5 a Display Indicator EJ Period Enter the time period for the Volume and Closes comparison Normally 1 Li
187. ntage or number of points The Zig Zag indicator connects the major sequential highs and lows in the security s price action A major high is set when the security makes a local high that is followed by a correction of at least X Pts or before another new high is set A major low is set when the security makes a local low that is followed by a rally of at least X Pts or before another new low is set Zig Zag is normally overlaid onto a price plot and is used to highlight the major rallies and corrections in the security s price movement Zig Zag Plot Inspector Q U Reversal Amount 10 Examine Highs amp Lows Line Style r S Reversal Amount Enter the threshold to define major highs or lows The impact of this value will vary with each security but a general guideline for major market moves is a 10 to 20 threshold Examine Choose Closes to determine local highs and lows based only on the security s Closes field Choose Highs amp Lows to examine the High and Low fields Line Style See the end of this chapter for a description of Line Style options Features Common to Several Indicator Inspectors Following are the options common to several of the Indicator Inspectors Color Chicklet and Line Styles Popup Just about every plotted element can be customized in terms of color and line style 123 Mm it Click the Color Chicklet to choose a new color TAT 2 gae seeae S58 BB
188. nto a row is not automatically displayed in the table You must add columns that display this information or switch to a Columns Template that displays it see sections that follow for details about Columns and Columns Templates 36 Adding a Column to a Content Table There are hundreds of column configurations to choose from Up to 64 can be displayed in a single Content Table This section covers the logistics of adding a column The next chapter Content Table Columns describes each of the column configurations calculations The first left most column is always the Ticker column You can add or locate columns anywhere to the right of the Ticker column e Click the button in the Columns section of the Toolbar Column Inspector Quote Values Security Name Security Name Displays the ticker s Name Security Type File Dates Audit All Uppercase Change PP Range MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Name Use the list at the left to select the type of column to add A brief description is provided at the right The options on the right allow you to customize the specific attributes of each column type See the next chapter Content Table Columns for complete details regarding each column type Editing a Column in a Content Table You can edit the parameters of an existing column or cha
189. nu Pane Heading j h 4m Line Study i m Wh al Bic aa o H J ra hy s4se Price Plot Sold 4 28 3 200 Text annotation Z Hi 3 250 Hl ht Chart Body M Hyh Ma y 3 000 Price Y Axis H he a 2 750 p Panes Volume Pane Divider 5000 dnadh ba EE A E T TT RS Iatvttlaveeettn Time X Axis 5 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Daily 7 Periodicity Menu Scrollbar lt a h Note Editing an item in an individual chart only affects that particular element in that particular chart window e To set overall preferences for all new chart windows you can assign a Template See Preferences e To set preferences for new individual chart elements you can assign a default Setting in the Inspector panel s gear widget An arrow may be displayed in the upper left of the Main Heading This arrow indicates the chart is now the currently Selected Chart Any charting commands issued such as adding an Indicator or applying a Chart Template will be processed on this Selected Chart Tip Right click Control click on any object to see a contextual menu of commands relevant to the clicked item 61 Editing Chart Body Colors amp Main Heading The format of the Main Heading and the colors of a chart s main structural elements are configured in the Chart Body Inspector e Click the mouse in the chart
190. number of Troughs ago to examine ReversalAmt A FLOATING POINT CONSTANT specifying the reversal criteria for a Trough ReversalType A TYPE WORD specifying the reversal criteria method for a Trough or Percent P or Pts ExamineType A TYPE WORD specifying the field s to examine HL or HighsLows C or Closes Returns the swing low Trough value TroughNum peaks ago Trough are determined using the ZigZag indicator and in fact the last three parameters used here are the same as for ZigZag See the Indicators chapter If the requested Trough never took place zero is returned e Trough 1 20 returns the last swing low value as defined by a 20 rally from the Lows e Trough 2 10 Pts Closes returns the second to last swing low value as defined by a 10 Point rally looking at Closing values only TypicalPrice TP TP Calculates the Typical Price indicator Same as High Low Close 3 e TP returns the Typical Price ValueWhen ValueWhen ValueWhen LookbackCount ExpressionArray OutputArray LookbackCount An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the number of occurrences ago to examine 201 Returns the value from OutputArray when ExpressionArray was last TRUE non zero looking backwards in time for LookbackCount occurrences of ExpressionArray e ValueWhen 1 Volume gt 10000 Close returns the Closing price the last time Volume was greater than 10000 Volatility Volatility Volatility EMAPe
191. o last 3 The Final Calculation line is evaluated Each calculation is interpreted in the same manner as most computer languages spreadsheets formularies The order of operations from first to last is as follows e Functions e Expressions in parentheses e Negative sign before values e e e lt gt lt gt lt gt e AND OR Within each category evaluation is performed left to right Function Library ProTA includes a handy in program reference to ProTAscript e In any of the authoring windows Custom Indicators Smartlists Trading Systems click the Show Hide Function Library button in the upper right All Full Name Short Name AINO AINU ArcTangent ATAN AverageTrueRange ATR BearPower BearP BigCandle BigCandle BollingerBands BBands BullPower BullP Ceiling Ceiling ChaikinOscillator ChaikinOsc BarsSince ExpressionArray Returns the number of bars since ExoressionArray was TRUE non zero BarsSince Close gt MA 21 returns the number of bars since the Close was above its 21 period moving average Click any function name in the list to see information displayed at the bottom See the following two sections for complete details about all functions required vs optional parameters etc Tip Start typing any function s name to reveal it in the list Tip Double click the mouse on any function in the list to immediately copy it to clipboard Tip Drag any function right into the text
192. oTA 4 Open your Applications folder then double click the ProTA icon to launch the program ProTA Trial Mode Window and Activation When an unregistered or expired ProTA program is launched you are greeted with the Trial Mode window Welcome to ProTA Trial Mode ProlA Trial Mode s Trial Mode is free Please explore all of ProTA s features with only one limitation Charting and analysis is limited to the 30 tickers provided in Trial Mode e When you are ready to unlock the database for unlimited tickers please click the Purchase Activation Code button below If you have any questions we are always happy to help support beesoft net See Pricing Evaluate in Trial Mode Enter Activation Code Purchase Activation Code Trial Mode If you have not yet purchased an activation code click the Evaluate in Trial Mode button to use the program in free Trial Mode Trial Mode is identical to the registered version with one exception Your database is always limited to tracking the tickers that shipped with the Trial Mode Otherwise all features are fully functional for your evaluation Activating Activating ProTA unlocks the database to be used with an unlimited number of tickers Click See Pricing or Purchase Activation Code to visit www beesoft net to purchase an activation code e Click the Enter Activation Code button Welcome to ProTA Trial Mode Please enter the Name and Activation Code exactly as it appear
193. oday s Bar with the current OHLC values Perform Automated Historical Downloads Run Now Next Tomorrow 6 10 00 PM Last May 21 2015 6 59 59 AM 34 files updated No errors Update Entire Database il At 6 10PM At ProTA Startup Historical Start Date 12 31 99 Recollect End Dates 2 Historical downloads will acquire final Daily data for all past dates Perform Automated Intraday Downloads Check this box to download today s current prices throughout the trading day Yahoo Finance updates most USA stocks and indexes throughout the trading day on a 15 minute delay basis Note For small and medium TickerPickers less than 1000 tickers with a quality internet connection it should be safe to use the most comprehensive settings update the entire database every 2 minutes For large TickerPickers over 1000 tickers or slower internet connections consider choosing to update only a subset of your entire database or choose to update less frequently Perform Automated Historical Downloads Check this box to perform a once per day acquisition of final Daily data It is recommend checking the box to update At ProTA Startup as well as at a time after the markets have closed and settled out usually a few hours after the markets have closed This will ensure your database is always completed even if you have not run ProTA for several days weeks or months Historical Start Date Enter the earliest date to collect histori
194. of Specified Date Close of Overlaid Security as of Specified Date Ratio To multiply each price value in the overlaid security s quote file by a constant value Constant Close of Base Security as of Specified Date Close of Overlaid Security as of Specified Date Special Market Data Quote Files ProTA s General Market indicators Advance Decline Line Put Call Ratio etc require specially formatted quote files of type Market Data Instead of the normal Open High Low Close etc fields these files contain a number of special fields with data for an entire exchange For example the NYSE H L file consists of two data fields that contain the number of issues reaching a New 52 Week High or Low each day The standard market data files are as follows using the New York Stock Exchange NYSE as an example NYSE A D Advancing Declining Unchanged and Total issues NYSE VOL Volume of shares closing Up Down and Total Volume NYSE H L Number of issues reaching a new 52 week High or Low Another unique file is used to plot ProTA s Put Call Ratio indicator PUT CALL Put Volume Call Volume Put Open Interest Call Open Interest for options trades on the S amp P 100 Index Updating the Special Market Data Files e Ifyou use Dial Data to update your database the special Market Data files are automatically updated e For other data vendors you ll need to check with your provider for the appropriate symbols then update the spe
195. on to a Combined Report which includes all ten together Reports are selected by clicking on the popup menu in the System Test Results Combined Report Test Summary Trade Listing Settings Recap Trade Count Analysis Trade P amp L Analysis Trade Avg Analysis Day Analysis Trade Size Analysis Trade Equity Rollforward Risk Adjusted Performance 152 Test Summary Test Range 8 26 05 to 6 4 15 Net P amp L 113 380 Percent Net P amp L 1 437 01 Number of Trades 17 Average P amp L per Trade 6 669 Percent Winning Trades 52 94 Total Days in Test 2459 Percent Days in Market 33 35 Average P amp L per Day 0 046 Max Drawdown 33 170 Reward Risk Ratio 3 418 Buy amp Hold P amp L 196 435 vs B amp H P amp L 83 055 vs B amp H Percent P amp L 1 052 66 vs B amp H Reward Risk Ratio 0 986 Current Position Flat Open Trade P amp L 0 000 Traded Last Day No 15 dates at the beginning of this quote file were excluded from the test range because this trading model requires 15 data points before the first value can be calculated Test Range The actual range of dates included in the test This range only includes dates that were eligible for trading A Trading System that uses a 21 day moving average for example is not eligible to take a trade until at least 21 days from the beginning of the quote file This is because it takes 21 days before the first moving average value can be computed The number of ineligible dat
196. onents of Dr Alexander Elder s Elder Ray analysis Both are oscillators that attempt to measure the raw power of bulls and bears versus the consensus Bull Power High Exponential Moving Average of Closes Bear Power Low Exponential Moving Average of Closes For more information see the separate Bear Power section 85 Candlesticks Bull Power Plot Inspector Q U Period 13 E t Period Enter the period for the Exponential Moving Average calculation Elder recommends 13 Japanese Candlestick charting dates back to the 1600 s Like Bars Candlesticks are a Price Plot However Candlesticks reveal more information about the Open High Low Close relationship than Bars do pper Shadow Candle Body Lower Shadow The highest point of the shadow represents the High The lowest point of the shadow represents the Low The top and bottom of the candle body represent the Open and Close A light colored candle body often White or Green indicates the Close was higher than the Open A dark body often Black or Red indicates the Close was lower than the Open Note By their nature Candlesticks require Open data If you plot Candlesticks for a security with no or only partially complete Open data ProTA substitutes the prior Close for the Open when necessary Keep in mind this is a work around solution which does not necessarily generate the appropriate patterns that Open data would Steve Nison has written a
197. oothed moving average method and period below the Display menu Oscillator Ind MA To draw a line plot of the difference between the indicator and a smoothed moving average of the indicator Choose the smoothed moving average method and period below the Display menu OB OS Lines Checkbox A number of indicators are constructed such that they oscillate between 0 and 100 Generally readings near 100 indicate overbought conditions readings near 0 indicate oversold conditions OB OS Lines 30 r S You can check the OB OS Lines checkbox to add two horizontal lines in the Pane indicating the overbought oversold thresholds For example enter 20 to plot the overbought oversold lines at the 20 and 80 level Normalization Menu 125 ProTA s Comparison Overlay plots involve comparisons to other securities Price Overlay Relative Performance and Spreads Each dialog box includes a Normalization menu Normalization Ratio kJ 12 31 13 Normalization adjusts the data of the overlaid security the security being compared to such that the Closing price of the overlaid security equals the Closing price of the base security This can be useful when comparing the performance of two securities as of a specified date forward in time None To use data from the overlaid security s quote file as is unadjusted Arithmetic To add a constant value to each price value in the overlaid security s quote file Constant Close of Base Security as
198. or all charting portfolio scanning system testing and data displays You cannot view a Chart Suite apply a Trading System etc unless the desired ticker has been added your TickerPicker quotes database Internally a separate ProTA quote file is maintained on your hard drive for each security you track Each quote file contains the basic source information for the security including ticker symbol name type decimal display and years of historical daily pricing data The primary interface to your quotes database is the TickerPicker window The TickerPicker window allows you to create delete edit and otherwise access your quotes database Note Itis important you do not rename or relocate any of the files or folders residing in the ProTA folder All file maintenance can be easily administered from within the program TickerPicker Window The TickerPicker window is the primary interface to your quotes database It serves as a simple summary listing of every quote file in your database as well as providing the tools to view edit add and delete quote files Open the TickerPicker in any of the following ways e Choose TickerPicker from the Quotes menu e Press command T Click this button when present in a ProTA window 11 0 TickerPicker Display All Q Ticker Name Type Last Change Change Last Date Lines AAPL Apple Inc Stock 131 510 5 21 15 3871 ABX Barrick Gold Corp Stock 12 470 0 040 0 32 5 21 15 3871 AD
199. ormalized to 12 31 14 Comparison Overlays gt au aa Volume Studies 2x3 Custom Indicator gt YTD Performance aF i x Trading System gt Black Charts gt Equity Li quity Line oa xd 3x4 4x4 2x5 3x5 4x5 5x5 Mouse Tools Click to add a hand drawn Line Study or Text Item to a chart See the Line Studies chapter for details Zoom Click to expand the Time X Axis spacing of the selected chart effectively zooming in Option click to zoom out Add Indicator Click to add an Indicator Custom Indicator or Trading System plot to the selected chart Apply Template Click to Save or Apply a saved Chart Template to the selected chart Grid Settings Click to adjust the Sync modes for the suite as well as choosing the grid layout from a single chart 1x1 up to 25 simultaneously displayed charts 5x5 Show Hide Content Click to toggle the Content Table at the left Show Hide Panel Click to toggle the File Browser Inspector panel at the right 29 File Browser The File Browser provides access to all of the ProTA files that can be applied to customize the various components of the Chart Suite Custom Chart Indicators Templates TickerPicker Standard Trading Columns Smartlists Indicators Systems Templates Ti N l l a8 os Tickers Plots Columns Smartlists Q Name Modified b Security Types 4 26 15 gt Signals 3 10 15 v Today s Performance 3 10 15 Z 52 Week High Today 5 22 15 Z 52 Week Low Today 5 22 1
200. ose gt 20 AND Close lt 40 Case is Insensitive Lower and upper case letters are interchangeable The following are evaluated identically IF Slope Close 1 gt 0 Volume Volume If SLOPE CLOSE 1 gt 0 volume VOLUME Comments Placed Between are Ignored You can add comments throughout your formulas by placing the comment text in between characters All text including line breaks in between is ignored myMin 20 set minimum to 20 myMax 40 set maximum to 40 Close gt myMin AND Close lt myMax must fall between min and max 165 Syntax Errors ProTA performs a syntax check of all formulas as they are edited and when they are saved If there are any syntax errors ProTA displays a red light and displays a description of the error Clicking the mouse on the red light or the error message will highlight the offending portion of the formula A Custom Indicator with a syntax error highlighted 0 0 Custom Indicators J My First Indicator shortPeriod 10 longPeriod 21 shortMA MA shortPeriod longMA MA longPeriod shortMA longMA Syntax Error Parentheses do not match ProTA does a good job of finding syntax errors but that does not mean a syntax free formula will always work as you expect it to The syntax check merely ensures that your formula does not break any of the formatting rules required by ProTAscript It is still possible that your syntax free formula is computing
201. ote file Number of Dates Displays the number of quote records in the quote file Audit Displays the number of missing or invalid dates in the quote file 44 Quote Values Audit Security Name Displays the number of missing Security Type or invalid dates in the ticker s File Dates quote file Display Num Missing Dates Change Range Holidays None MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartilist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Missing Display Choose the type of audit information to display Num Invalid Dates Displays the number of dates in the quote file that are weekend or holiday dates Num Missing Dates Displays the number of valid trading dates that are missing from the quote file Holidays The determination of valid invalid trading dates is made in part by reference to a Holidays file Change Displays the change or percentage change of a quote field over a specified time period Quote Values Change Security Name Displays Price Change or Security Type Change for the specified time File Dates period Audit Field Close v Change Range Period One Day MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Change Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Change Field Choose the field to reference in the quote file Change Ch
202. ote file and calculate a Simple Moving Average of the Closes Then each subsequent day calculate the new EMA value as follows 100 Percentage 2 9 1 20 EMA Today s Close x 20 Previous EMA x 80 An Exponential Moving Average places more weight on recent data than does a Simple Moving Average Weighted A Weighted Moving Average WMA places the most weight on recent data A Weighted Moving Average is calculated by averaging price values after applying a weighting to each value The weighting for each value is determined by the number of days in the WMA period For example to calculate a 4 day WMA of Closes Day Weight Close Weighted Close 1 1 10 10 2 2 12 24 3 3 14 42 4 4 16 64 Total 10 n a 140 WMA 140 10 14 This process is repeated each day All three Moving Average methods are applied and interpreted in the same manner The Moving Average plot is usually overlaid onto the underlying Price Plot A trading method is to go long when the security Closes above its Moving Average then cover and optionally go short when the security Closes below its Moving Average The trend of a security can be determined by reference to the slope of the Moving Average If the Moving Average is increasing the trend is up If the Moving Average is decreasing the trend is down Moving Average Plot Inspector Qa U Period 21 r D Type Simple Basis Closes XShift 0 YShift 0 wd Period Enter th
203. ote files are up to date e Save your favorite sets of columns as a Columns Template then apply that template to other tables with a single click 32 Content Table Modes ProTA Content Tables exist in one of two possible modes Custom Mode and Smartlist Mode The distinction between the two modes primary relates to the rows tickers composing the table Custom Mode In Custom Mode you manually add or remove tickers from the list hand picking the securities curating the list to include the specific tickers that make sense for this list Some examples when you will use Custom Mode e A list of Hot Stocks you are tracking this month e A table mirroring the tickers in your brokerage accounts e A list of all Technology Stocks in your database e Any Content Table that will hold information such as Date Purchase Number of Shares Purchase Price In Custom Mode the Content Table Toolbar looks like this 21 items s Si 0 890 Rows Columns These buttons are unique to Custom Mode The Custom Mode toolset is similar to the Smartlist version other than the Rows buttons at left These buttons allow you to manually add remove tickers and also to enter your personal Trade information Please see the section Administering Rows in Custom Mode for a detailed discussion of the Rows buttons Smartlist Mode In Smartlist Mode the tickers listed in the table are automatically computed by ProTA based upon your own c
204. own to the nearest number of decimal places e Round 456 789 1 returns 456 7 e Round 456 789 0 returns 456 e Round 456 789 1 returns 450 RoundUp RoundUp RoundUp Array DecPlaces DecPlaces An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the number of decimal places Rounds the Array value s up to the nearest number of decimal places e Round 654 321 1 returns 654 4 e Round 654 321 0 returns 655 e Round 654 321 1 returns 660 196 SeparatingLine SeparatingLine SeparatingLine Returns TRUE when a Separating Line formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e SeparatingLine returns TRUE when a Separating Line pattern is detected Sine SIN SIN Array Returns the Sine of Array The Array value s should be in degrees e SIN 30 returns 0 50 Slope Slope Slope Array Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT or ARRAY specifying the lookback period Defaults to 1 Returns the slope of a line connecting the current Array value to the Array value Periods ago e Slope Close 5 is the same as Close REF Close 5 5 e Ifthe Close was 1 point lower 5 periods ago Slope Close 5 returns 0 20 Spread Spread Spread TICKER SecurityType FieldType NormType NormDate TICKER Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies the ticker symbol of a security in your quotes database SecurityType A TYPE WORD specifying
205. pread indicates the base security is outperforming the comparison security A decreasing Spread indicates the base security is under performing the comparison security You can optionally normalize the Spread such that the Spread is adjusted to zero as of a specified date This can aid in viewing relative performance of the two securities from the specified date forward in time Spread Plot Inspector Q O Ticker GSPC Index EJ Normalization None EJ 12 31 13 Basis Closes Line Style E Ticker Type Enter the Ticker Symbol and Type of security to compare with Normalization You can adjust the comparison data such that the Spread equals zero as of a specified date Line Basis Choose the price field as the basis for the comparisons usually Closes Line Style See the end of this chapter for a description of Line Style options Standard Deviations Standard Deviations is a statistical measure of volatility It quantifies the mean deviation each data point falls from the average of the data points N Number of data points Avg Sum of data values N 114 Stochastics Sum of squared diffs gt Data point value Avg Standard Deviation Square root of Sum of squared diffs N 1 Standard Deviations is normally plotted in its own Pane As a volatility measure Standard Deviations increases when the range of price swings are increasing and decreases when price variability slows Often volatility incr
206. quent days e Alert C gt 10 1 is identical to C gt 10 ArcTangent ATAN ATAN Array1 Array2 Returns the ArcTangent of Array1 Array2 where Array1 and Array2 are presumably y x coordinates The values returned are in degrees from 0 to 359 O degrees is the right x axis 90 degrees is the upper y axis 180 degrees is the left x axis and 270 degrees is the lower y axis e ATAN O 1 returns 0 e ATAN 1 1 returns 45 e ATAN 1 0 returns 90 Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the Average True Range indicator Identical to the built in Average True Range indicator e ATR 14 is the 14 period Average True Range indicator BarsSince BarsSince BarsSince Array Returns the number of Bars time periods since Array was TRUE e BarsSince Close gt MA 21 returns the number of Bars since the Close was above its 21 day average BearPower BearP BearP Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the Bear Power indicator Identical to the built in Bear Power indicator e BearP 13 is the 13 period Bear Power indicator BigCandle BigCandle BigCandle Type Type A TYPE WORD specifying the type of candle patterns to identify Any Both Bullish and Bearish Big Candles 175 Bull Bullish Big Candles Bear Bearish Big Candles Returns TRUE when a Big Candle formation is detected otherwise FALSE See t
207. r changes to a pointing finger e Click the mouse on the plot The Indicator s specifications are shown in the Inspector window 67 e Click the Trashcan button in the Inspector Tip Another way to remove a plot is to click on the plot then drag the mouse outside the bounds of the window Release the mouse to remove the plot If there are no plots left in the Pane the Pane is also deleted from the chart All remaining Panes are proportionally resized to fill the vertical chart space Exporting Price Plot or Indicator Data You can export the data values related to any price plot or indicator via Copy Paste e Right Click the mouse on the plot Choose Copy from the Edit menu Then Paste the data into a spreadsheet or text application Administering Line Studies ProTA includes seven varieties of Line Study You add and position Line Studies graphically with the mouse much like drawing with a smart pencil This section covers the general logistics of administering Line Studies in a chart A separate chapter Line Studies describes each in detail Adding a Line Study e Click the Mouse Tools button in the Toolbar to see the popup menu of Line Studies to choose from Select one of the seven Line Studies e The cursor will change to the line drawing cursor Each Line Study has a unique drawing method but generally the drawing procedure begins by pressing and holding the mouse down in the chart area While dragging t
208. rade date is used Month to Date Compare to the last day of the previous month based on today s date If that wasn t a trading day the first date in the file prior to the target date is used Year to Date Compare to the last day of the previous year based on today s date If that wasn t a trading day the first date in the file prior to the target date is used All Dates in File Compare to the earliest date in the quote file Since Purchase Compare to the date specified in the Date Purchased field of the row Since Specified Date Compare to the date entered to the right of the menu Range Displays a calculated value related to the range of price values for the specified time period 46 Quote Values Range Security Name Displays Trading Range data for the specified period through the Security Type last date in the quote file File Dates Audit Seared Display Range xd Period One Year J MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartilist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Range Display Choose the type of information to display Range Range Highest Price for the period Lowest Price for the period High of Range Highest Price for the period Low of Range Lowest Price for the period From Range High Percentage the Latest Close falls below the Highest Price for the period From Range High Latest Close
209. reflect the new template The actual ticker symbols included in the table the associated charts and any trade data you may have entered does not change A Columns Template can also be specified to initialize all new Chart Suite documents see Preferences Saving a Columns Template Once you have added and configured columns set the sort order adjusted widths etc you can then save that state to a Columns Template file e Click the Columns Templates button in the Toolbar and choose Save Current Columns to New Template File Template Name Performance Ranking Columng Applying a Columns Template Once you ve saved a Columns Template it can be applied to any Content Table e Click the Columns Templates button in the Toolbar and choose any template from the popup menu or e Double click any row in the Columns Templates File Browser The column structure of the table changes to adopt the template all of the cells in each column are recalculated and the rows are re sorted based on the new sort keys Updating a Columns Template If you have applied a Columns Template and then made some edits to the columns and would now like to re save the template with the new settings e Click the Columns Templates button in the Toolbar and choose Save Current Columns to Template File Template Filename 39 Administering Columns Templates Columns Templates can be organized and administered via the Chart Suite s File Brow
210. riod ROCPeriod EMAPeriod ROCPeriod 2 INTEGER CONSTANTS specifying the periods for the indicator calculation Calculates the Volatility Chaikin s indicator Identical to the built in Volatility Chaikin s indicator e Volatility 10 10 is the standard Volatility indicator WeightedClose WC WC Calculates the Weighted Close indicator Same as High Low Close 2 4 e WC returns the Weighted Close WillliamsAccumDist WAD WAD Calculates the Williams Accumulation Distribution indicator Identical to the built in Williams Accumulation Distribution indicator e WAD returns the Williams Accumulation Distribution indicator WilllamsPercentR PercentR PercentR Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Calculates the Williams R indicator Identical to the built in Williams R indicator e PercentR 26 is the 26 period Williams R indicator Window Window Window Type Type A TYPE WORD specifying the type of candle patterns to identify Any Both Bullish and Bearish Window candles Bull Bullish Window candles 202 Bear Bearish Window candles Returns TRUE when a Window formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e Window Bull returns TRUE when a Bullish Window pattern is detected e Window returns TRUE when any Window pattern is detected
211. rmType NormDate TICKER Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies a ticker symbol for a security in your quotes database SecurityType A TYPE WORD specifying the security s type S or Stock M or MutualFund or Index 181 or Futures or Option or Bond or MarketData UWOT FieldType A TYPE WORD specifying the field to access in the specified security s quote file or Close or Open or High or Low rT oO NormType A TYPE WORD specifying the Normalization method N or None A or Arithmetic R or Ratio NormDate Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies the date at which to Normalize the two securities Defaults to 12 31 04 Returns the specified pricing data of another security Identical to the built in Price Plot Comparison Overlay indicator e XREF AAPL S returns the Closing prices from the AAPL stock quote file e XREF IBM S O returns the Opening prices from the IBM stock quote file e XREF SPX R 1 1 95 returns the Closing prices from the SPX index quote file after normalizing the SPX data to match on 1 1 95 using a ratio method Floor Floor Floor Array Multiple Multiple AFLOATING POINT CONSTANT specifying the rounding multiple Returns the largest multiple of Multiple that is less than or equal to the Array value e Floor Close 0 25 returns the Close rounded down to the nearest quarter point Forcelndex For
212. rocessing Processing Errors Log V A vw New Symbols Auto Create Existing Dates Replace Replace Existing Security Names Skip Specific Lines Filter Weekends Filter Holidays 211 Errors Choose Log to for an uninterrupted importing process Choose Show Alert to pause the import and report each error line in an alert window Tip f you are importing files that do not include a ticker symbol field be sure to set the Errors and New Symbols popup menus to Show Alert This allows the UTI to pause and ask for the ticker symbol New Symbols This controls the UTIs action when a line of text is encountered with a ticker symbol that does not exist in your database Skip Ignores the line Show Alert Pauses the import to show an alert window allowing you to create a new quote file or to skip over the line Auto Create Creates a new quote file in your database for the new ticker symbol If the text file includes a Type and or Name field See above they will be used when creating the new quote file Existing Dates Determines how the UTI will handle data lines that already exist in your database For example your AAPL quote file already contains a data line for 11 28 12 but you are importing a text file that also contains a line of data for AAPL 11 28 12 Choose Skip to leave your database as is Choose Replace to import the new text data overwriting any older values Replace Existing Security Names If the source text file
213. ross Bull returns TRUE when a Bullish Harami Cross pattern is detected e HaramiCross returns TRUE when any Harami Cross pattern is detected Highest Highest Highest Array Period Returns the largest Array value over the specified preceding periods including the current day Period can be an INTEGER CONSTANT or ARRAY e Highest Close 5 returns the largest Closing price over the last 5 days including the current day e Highest Close 2 returns the higher of the current or the previous day s Close e Highest Close 1 always returns the current Close 184 HighestBarsAgo HighestBarsAgo HighestBarsAgo Array Period Returns the number of Bars time periods ago the Array was at its largest value over the specified preceding periods including the current day Period can be an INTEGER CONSTANT or ARRAY e HighestBarsAgo Close 5 returns the number of periods ago the Close was at its highest level The returned value would be in the range of 0 4 where zero indicates today e HighestBarsAgo Close 1 always returns 0 IF IF IF Array TrueArray FalseArray A conditional function that returns the value from TrueArray if Array is TRUE otherwise returns the value from FalseArray e F 5 gt 10 High Low always returns the Low e IF IsRising Close 10 10 returns 10 on up days 10 on down days InsideDay InsideDay InsideDay Returns TRUE when the High Low trading range is complet
214. rrick Gold Corp 12 290 0 150 1 21 64 44 380 000 F Ford Motor Company 15 270 0 240 1 55 97 43 yar Apr May Daily 21 items 5 0 8 9 v a N a mw ME TOWS Columns die Show Hide Content Table __ Content Table ProTA Content Tables are two dimensional tables of information very much like a spreadsheet Each row in the table is an individual security from your TickerPicker and each column displays a user configurable piece of information about the security Content Table cells are automatically recalculated whenever data is updated or settings are changed Each row has an associated Chart in the Chart Suite The first left most column in a Content Table is always titled Ticker and contains the ticker symbol of each security At its most basic level a one column table is simply a list of ticker symbols from your ProTA TickerPicker database The Content Table can include every item in your database or just a sub set e Add up to 64 columns each displaying unique information about the securities in the table including file attributes pricing information trade information and technical analysis calculations There are hundreds of column configurations to choose from all automatically calculated e Enter real or paper trades and let the Content Table calculate a wide variety of trade performance values such as P amp L or Return on Investment e View file statistics for your entire database to ensure all qu
215. rs for the creation and administration of Trading Systems Trading System plots are generally overlaid directly on top of an existing Bars plot The Inspector for a Trading System plot is similar to those for the built in indicators with the addition of several powerful display options See also Equity Line There are four tabs to configure for a Trading System plot Click a tab to configure that section 116 My First Trading System Plot Inspector Q OU Markers Tracing Shading shortPeriod 10 longPeriod 21 Parameters tab Ifthe Trading System includes Parameters you can edit the values for those parameters in this tab If the Trading System contains no Parameter Variables this tab is empty My First Trading System Plot Inspector Q O Parameters Tracing Shading Markers EB Arrows Off High Low Longs EE Shorts E Text No Description P amp L D Longs Shorts 5 Text aa Back Frame Markers tab Markers can be plotted at the entry and exit points for each trade taken by the Trading System Markers Check this box to display the selected marker at each trade entry and exit point The markers are plotted at the exact entry or exit price Use the popup widget at the right to choose the type of Marker Arrows Check this box to display arrows at each trade entry and exit point The popup menu allows you to specify where the arrowheads for each trade should be located Text Check this box to d
216. rwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e PiercingLine returns TRUE when a Piercing Line pattern is detected 192 Position Pos Pos Trading System Name Param1 Param2 Param3 Param4 Param5 Trading System Name Text enclosed in quotation marks that specifies the name of a previously created and saved Trading System file Param1 5 Optional values can be passed into the Trading System to be used in place of the default Parameters Returns the trading position held by the specified Trading System Long 1 Short 1 Flat 0 e Pos My Awesome Trading System returns 1 when My Awesome Trading System is Long 1 when Short and 0 when Flat e F Pos My Awesome Trading System 1 Close 0 plots the Closes only when My Awesome Trading System is Long PositiveVolumelndex PVI PVI Period Period An INTEGER CONSTANT specifying the period for the indicator calculation Normally 1 Calculates the Positive Volume Index indicator Identical to the built in Positive Volume Index indicator e PVI 1 is the standard Positive Volume Index indicator Power Power Power Array Power Power A FLOATING POINT CONSTANT specifying the exponent Returns the Array value s raised to the Power power e Power 5 2 returns 25 Previous PREV PREV Returns the previous value of the current line of computation For the first date in a data array PREV
217. s a suite as a collection of individual charts each with their own unique analyses What to expect when Sync Content is disabled e As you select various charts in the Content Table each new chart coming into view is initialized with the same settings from the last time you viewed edited it If the chart has not yet been viewed in this suite it is initialized with default settings as specified in the Preferences window e If the chart suite has multiple chart views displayed in a grid each view is treated as an individual entity allowing you to view one chart as Bars and another as Candlesticks for example e When you add edit or remove an Indicator change colors resize a pane apply a Template only the selected chart is edited Other charts are unaffected Note Line Studies and Text annotations are almost always chart specific For example Trendlines drawn at specific highs or lows for ticker AAA are not going to be valid desirable when you switch to ticker BBB As such Line Studies and Texts are not normally included in the content synchronization process This allows you to retain unique Trendlines on each chart even when Sync Content is enabled Sync Time Scales Enabled When Sync Time Scales is enabled all chart views are scrolled zoomed and otherwise formatted so the time scales are synchronized This mode provides the ability to view all of the charts in the suite with the same time frame What to expect when Sync Time
218. s box to display the one year equivalent percentage return for the trade see above 58 Charts Overview A chart is a graphical representation of the data in a ProTA quote file combined with technical indicators and line studies Charts are the primary focus of study for the technical analyst Strictly speaking a technical analyst believes the price action and current price level of a security reflect all known historical information about the security as well as a consensus of expectations about where the security s price is headed into the future By studying price action with visual pattern recognition technical calculations indicators and other computational methods the technician attempts to identify tendencies for future price action including trends consolidations and overbought oversold conditions reversal of trends ProTA includes a robust set of charting tools for professional level technical analysis with unprecedented ease of use Each row in a Chart Suite s Content Table has exactly one chart associated with it A suite will usually display a single chart view representing one of the items from the Content Table listing On the other hand for comparative analysis up to 25 chart views can be viewed at once arranged in a grid Chart Suite Synchronization Modes Most Chart Suites will contain more than a single item in their Content Table The Chart Suite s synchronization modes determine whether there is any rela
219. s in the email from BeeSoft Name Jeffery Bizon Activation Code 12345 6789 0123 4567 Cancel Activate e When you are ready to unlock the database for unlimited tickers please click the Purchase Activation Code button below If you have any questions we are always happy to help support beesoft net See Pricing Evaluate in Trial Mode Enter Activation Code Purchase Activation Code e Enter the name and activation code exactly as it was provided to you then click the Activate button e Keep your registration information in a safe and private place You may need it again for future installations and upgrades Upgrading ProTA 3 files If you are a previous owner of ProTA 3 or ProTA Gold 3 please note the ProTA 3 database is NOT compatible with ProTA 4 ProTA 3 files need to be upgraded to be used in ProTA 4 Once ProTA has been activated you are given the option of Upgrading an older ProTA 3 database Thank you for Activating ProTA 4 lf you are upgrading from ProTA 3 your older ProTA 3 files will need to be converted and imported into your new ProTA 4 data folder To upgrade and import your older ProTA 3 files click Begin Upgrade then select your old version 3 ProTA data folder which normally would have been located at Library Application Support Processing may take a few minutes and cannot be cancelled once started Not now but remind me again at next app startup No Thanks Begin Upgrade e If yo
220. s these buttons to quickly flip back and forth between the previous or next selected files Useful when editing two related Custom Indicators Syntax Status As you type formulas ProTA will dynamically check for syntax errors and report them at the bottom of the window Uses for Custom Indicators Custom Indicators can be used throughout the ProTA software Chart Plots Just like the built in Standard Indicators discussed in the Indicators chapter you can plot a Custom Indicator in any new or existing chart Display the Custom Indicators File Browser in the Chart Suite and double click any item to add it to the selected chart 135 Content Table Columns For a spreadsheet style display of Custom Indicator values add a column of type Custom Indicator to any Portfolio See the Content Table chapter for general instructions about adding a column to a Content Table and the Content Table Columns chapter for a specific section about Custom Indicator columns Custom Indicators Smartlists Trading Systems or Custom Indicators within Custom Indicators ProTAscript allows you to refer to any previously written Custom Indicator within any formula The syntax to refer to a Custom Indicator named My First System is FN My First Indicator By using FN Custom Indicator Name in your Trading System formulas Smartlist criteria or even in other Custom Indicators you can save a lot of typing and make your formulas more re
221. s to Crosshairs mode automatically after you have added a single Line or Text Administering Panes Charts can contain an unlimited number of Panes Panes are automatically added as needed to accommodate new indicator plots 71 Formatting a Pane Heading e Click the mouse on any Pane Heading Chart Pane Inspector Qa U Pane Heading Display Alignment Left kz Display Standard heading Alignment Choose the horizontal alignment of the text in the Pane Heading Display Choose the content of the Pane Heading The standard heading displays a color coded legend for each plot in the Pane If you choose a custom text option you can enter the custom text in the edit field below the menu Resizing a Pane When there are multiple Panes in a chart you can adjust the vertical size of any Pane by dragging the Pane Divider or by accessing the Pane Zoom Hide Menu Adjusting a Pane Divider e Position the mouse over a Pane Divider The cursor changes to the sizing arrows e Press the mouse then drag up or down Release the mouse to re size the Pane Zooming a Pane to Full Chart Height e From the Pane Zoom Hide Menu in the appropriate Pane s Y Axis choose Maximize e To shrink the Pane back to its original size choose Unhide All from the Pane Zoom Hide Menu Hiding a Pane e From the Pane Zoom Hide Menu in the appropriate Pane choose Hide e To revert the Pane back to its original size choose Unhide All from the Pane Zoom H
222. sBelow Highest Highest HighestBarsAgo HighestBarsAgo If IF IsFalling Falling IsRising Rising Lowest Lowest LowestBarsAgo LowestBarsAgo PeakBarsAgo PeakBarsAgo PeakValue Peak Previous PREV Reference REF TroughBarsAgo TroughBarsAgo TroughValue Trough ValueWhen ValueWhen Function Reference Notes for this Function Reference section e The LongName is listed at the left margin the ShortName at the right A Function can be called with either These are identical MovingAverage 21 MA 21 e Parameters in Italics are optional For example MovingAverage Period MAType FieldType You do not have to specify a MAType or a FieldType If they are not provided the Function defaults to the underlined values specified in each section In this case the defaults are Simple and Close so MA 21 would calculate a 21 period Simple moving average of the Closes e For all Functions that include an optional Array parameter the default is Close e Ifyou skip an optional parameter in the middle of a parameter list you must include the comma For example the MovingAverage function has three parameters the last two are optional To specify the first and last parameter only MA 21 High The 2nd parameter isn t specified so it defaults to Simple Note the comma is still in place e INTEGER CONSTANT Some Functions require an INTEGER CONSTANT as one of the parameters An INTEGER CONSTANT is any number value without a decimal or
223. saved settings are listed here Choose any item to apply it to the currently selected chart object Factory Defaults applies the original default settings as originally shipped with the program Note The Charts and Indicators chapters cover each specific Inspector window in detail 31 Content Tables Overview 0 Custom Chart Suite Ticker Name Close Change Change v Vol vs Avg 50 dp BIIB 3 2 15 5 22 15 398 680 2 470 EBAY eBay 59 720 0 020 0 03 62 86 TR DIS Walt Disney Company 110 260 0 130 0 12 72 09 AMGN Amgen Inc 163 580 0 260 0 16 48 62 COST Costco Wholesale Corp 143 680 0 260 0 18 60 83 470 000 NFLX Netflix 621 870 1 150 0 18 39 33 GMCR Keurig Green Mountain Inc 90 760 0 230 0 25 82 72 MCD McDonald s 98 990 0 290 0 29 54 67 450 000 INTC Intel Corp 33 450 0 100 0 30 69 77 GOOGL Google 554 520 2 290 0 41 63 61 440 000 YHOO Yahoo Inc 43 485 0 195 0 45 68 83 BRK B Berkshire Hathaway 144 600 0 670 0 46 70 66 430 000 BIIB Biogen Idec Inc 398 680 2 470 0 62 38 66 H aie ADBE Adobe Systems Incorporated 80 040 0 520 0 65 74 75 f j IBM IBM 172 220 1 120 0 65 66 93 i i P Pandora 18 330 0 150 0 81 64 01 ane AMZN Amazon Com Inc 427 650 3 980 0 92 63 46 i 398 680 T AT amp T Inc 34 710 0 360 1 03 89 69 CMG Chipotle 626 440 6 920 1 09 100 46 380 000 MSFT Microsoft 46 900 0 520 1 10 67 71 i ABX Ba
224. sed on a chart that already contains a normal Bars Candles or Closes plot PaintBars Plot Inspector Q 5 C gt MA 21 Syntax OK Use the Criteria tab to enter your own custom criteria using ProTAscript In this example all Bars will be painted a custom color when the Close is greater than its 21 period Moving Average 104 PaintBars Plot Inspector Q U w Criteria Display Paint Bars Shading Full Pane Closes Line E w Arrows EE Off High Low ad Text Buy i Back Frame Use the Display tab to specify the highlighting to be applied when your criteria is true PaintBars Colors a Bars plot with the unique specified color Shading Applies a background shading color to the areas of the chart where the custom criteria is true Closes Line Draws a line plot connecting the Closes for the periods the custom criteria is true Arrows Draws Arrows at each Bar when the criteria is true Text Renders text at each Bar when the criteria is true Parabolic SAR The Parabolic Stop and Reverse SAR indicator is a trend following trading system developed by J Welles Wilder The SAR system is either long or short the market at all times Each day a new stop loss level is calculated for the trade If the market breaks through the stop loss level the system stops out and reverses e g if the system was long it covers and goes short The stop loss level begins some distance from the current price action then increas
225. ser ifthe File Browser is not visible click the Show Hide File Browser button in the lower right of the Chart Suite window Tickers Plots Columns Columns Templates Name Modified From 52 Week High 3 11 15 amp Change 3 11 15 amp Change v Volume 3 11 15 amp Change w Date 3 11 15 amp Quote File Audit 3 11 15 amp Smartlist Signals 3 11 15 System Trades Today 3 11 15 amp Ticker Name 5 24 15 YTD Stats 3 11 15 Trade Data 3 6 15 a Add or delete files create new folders using the gear widget and organize files folders in the table via drag and drop Double click an item or click the lt button to apply it 40 Content Table Columns Overview Column Inspector Quote Values Security Name Security Type File Dates Audit Change Range MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI This chapter covers the wide variety of customizable columns you can add to your Content Tables Inspecting and Editing a Column See the Content Table chapter for Adding a Column to a Content Table A general overview of the Inspector panel for editing a column is as follows Security Name Displays the ticker s Name All Uppercase Heading Name Click the lt and gt buttons to select the previous or next column in the Content Table Click the Trash button to remove this
226. splay options and are identical to the options for Bars and Data Lines Price Volume Trend Price Volume Trend PVT attempts to show the volume flow into or out of a security PVT is a cumulative summation of Volume adjusted by the magnitude of the security s price change PVT PVT Volume x Today s Close Previous Close Previous Close PVT is normally plotted in its own Pane and can be interpreted in much the same way as the Accumulation Distribution indicator 110 Price Volume Trend Plot Inspector QU Period 1 w Display Indicator Period Enter the period for the Closes comparison and Volume summation Normally 1 Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Put Call Ratio General Market The Put Call Ratio compares the Volume of Put and Call options traded on the OEX S amp P 100 Index P Volume of OEX Put options C Volume of OEX Call options Put Call Ratio P C The Put Call Ratio is normally plotted in its own Pane The ratio attempts to measure the level of speculation into the bearish versus bullish outlooks for the overall stock market This indicator is commonly viewed as a contrary indicator Excessive bearish speculation a high P C Ratio following a decline in prices implies a pending market bottom Excessive bullish speculation a low P C Ratio following a price rally implies a pending market top Note This plot requires th
227. stom Indicator e Choose Custom Formula to author a criteria directly in this window This is the most common approach Write a formula using ProTAscript such that a security is included 139 in the Smartlist whenever the formula resolved to TRUE or a non zero number See the ProTAscript chapter for details The next 6 items are used to query the state of a Trading System Use the popup menu at the right to select the desired Trading System to query Choose Custom Indicator when the desired criteria was already written and saved in a Custom Indictor file Then use the popup menu at the right to select the desired Custom Indicator file 140 Trading Systems Overview One of the most powerful features in ProTA Trading Systems allows you to determine the historical profitability of your trading strategies A Trading System is a user defined set of rules that specify when you should buy or sell a security Every aspect of a Trading System is fully customizable rules for triggering a trade entry or exit stop levels trade execution methods and even the accounting method used to track day to day equity balances You can use Trading Systems to e Determine how much money would have been made had you followed a specific trading strategy e Graphically examine Trading System activity in any chart with buy sell arrows shadings painted Bars equity lines e Create tabular rankings and reports for dozens of trade statistics e Optim
228. t Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Smartlist Click to select Choose a Smartlist See the Smartlists chapter for the creation and administration of Smartlists Trade Data Displays trade information that has been entered into the row Quote Values Trade Data Security Name Displays trade information input Security Type by the user File Dates Audit Change Number of Shares Range MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L ROI Heading Shares Display Choose the type of trade information to display Number of Shares Contracts Multiplier Comment Purchase Date Purchase Price Purchase Commission 53 Purchase Fees Sales Date Sales Price Sales Commission Sales Fees Total Commissions and Fees All display values are obtained from the information that has been entered into the row Cost Basis Displays the calculated cost basis to open the trade position Values are calculated and displayed only when trade purchase data has been entered for the row Quote Values Cost Basis Security Name Displays the calculated Cost Security Type Basis of the trade File Dates Audit Display All Trades Change pay B Range Include Commission amp Fees MA Analysis Extended Total Volume Analysis y oo Per Share Candle Pattern Rank Custom Indicator Trading System Smartilist Tr
229. t Grids A suite will usually display a single chart view representing one of the items from the Content Table On the other hand for comparative analysis up to 25 chart views can be displayed at once in a grid e Click the Multi Chart Grids button in the Toolbar Choose from any of the layout options in the popup menu v 1x1 The various options represent how the chart views will be placed into a grid like display The first number represents the number of charts displayed horizontally the second vertically The 1 1x2 1 2x1 2 1x2 and 2 2x1 options provide a hybrid arrangement where the first number represents chart views that will consume the entire vertical or horizontal window spacing and trailing pair of numbers represents a layout for the remaining chart view area of the window Note The ordering of chart views in a Layout generally flows from left to right then top to bottom similar to reading text on a page So when you switch to a grid that requires more chart views than are currently displayed new charts are appended at the bottom right Conversely if you switch from a 1x4 to a 1x2 the 2 charts views at the bottom are removed 19 eoe 1x3 Grid Lp T AT amp T Inc 10 8 14 5 22 15 34 710 0 360 1 03 Bars tll 34 710 L 32 500 Oct see Erara Nov soe raa Dec eee ae oe a Jan dnl 7 Era Feb see ee Mar se Apr Serre eee ae May a paranana m 14 15 Daily CMG Ch
230. t Table e Click the lower chart view then click MSFT in the Content Table 16 Printing Charts e Configure the chart s to be printed e From the File menu choose Page Setup Page Setup Settings Page Attributes Format For Any Printer Paper Size US Letter 8 50 by 11 00 inches Orientation 1 Te Scale Cancel Configure the standard OS X Page Setup window Charts are most commonly printed in landscape Orientation as shown above Click OK e To print the currently displayed chart s from the File menu choose Print Print Printer A Samsung CLP 310 Series SE Presets Default Settings Copies Pages All gt EE 1 of 1 PDF Show Details Cancel T Configure the OS X Print window Your print window may look different each printer manufacturer can provide their own custom print interface Click the PDF button for various PDF options including saving the output as a PDF file Note You can choose whether to render printed charts exactly as seen on screen vs custom settings for the printing page in Preferences Chart Suite Mouse and Keyboard Shortcuts Type a ticker symbol Click the Content Table if necessary to select it then begin typing a ticker symbol Swaps out the currently selected chart view for a new item from the Content Table Up Arrow Down Arrow keys Advance the visible chart to reveal next previous item in the Content Table Left Arrow
231. ta from a spreadsheet program or text data in a comma or tab delimited format can be pasted directly into a ProTA quote file window The columns displayed in the spreadsheet must be in the same order as the fields in ProTA s TickerPicker window Date Open High etc e Select and Copy all of the data in the spreadsheet program or text processor e Switch to ProTA View the destination Quote File contents e Click the Quote File contents table to select it then choose Paste from the Edit menu ProTA follows several simple rules when Pasting data from the clipboard e Lines of text that do not begin with a valid date are skipped e Control characters and line feed characters that sometimes reside in PC compatible source files are safely ignored e Invalid quote field values will be converted to zeros For example any price field that contains alpha characters e When an incoming row has the same date as an existing row the incoming row replaces the old row e All rows are automatically sorted in the quote file by date Updating via Text File Import You can update individual quote files or update a group of quote files via import from a text file Both processes are handled by ProTA s Universal Text Importer which is covered in full detail in its own chapter e From the Quotes menu select Universal Text Importer Updating via Dial Data 18 ProTA includes a comprehensive set of features for fully automated database upda
232. tab If the selected Trading System has no Parameter Variables this tab is blank Scope Accounting Parameters Period 21 Optimize Run An Optimize Run applies the selected Trading System to a single security using an array of varying Parameter values The resulting report ranks all of the test results allowing you to highlight the most profitable parameter values for the Trading System There are three tabs to configure for an Optimize Run The Scope and Accounting tabs are identical to those described above for a Single Run Parameter tab Use the Parameter tab to specify the combination of parameters to test Scope Accounting Period 20 to 50 Step 1 DownShiftMultiplier 0 95 to 1 Step 0 01 186 tests will run In this example ProTA will run 186 separate tests using all combination of Parameter values 20 60 inclusive for the parameter Period and 0 95 1 0 inclusive for the parameter DownShiftMultiplier That is 31 values for Period times 6 values for DownShiftMultiplier equals a total of 186 combinations to test 148 Note Ifthe selected Trading System has no Parameters the Parameters tab will be blank Tip Although ProTA allows you test up to 20000 Parameter combinations in an Optimize run performance may begin to suffer well below that quantity Each individual test generates of a very large repository of data to be stored in RAM or on your hard drive Large runs can consume hundreds of megabytes of disk space Try to
233. te in the file prior to the target date is used One Month Prior One month prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used One Year Prior One year prior to the last date in the quote file If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used End of Last Month Last day of the previous month based on today s date If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used First of This Month First day of the current month based on today s date If the target date is not found the first date in the file subsequent to the target date is used End of Last Year Last day of the previous year based on today s date If the target date is not found the first date in the file prior to the target date is used First of This Year First day of the current year based on today s date If the target date is not found the first date in the file subsequent to the target date is used First Date in File The earliest date in the quote file Purchase Date The Date Purchased field for the row Specified Date The date entered to the right of the menu 42 Security Name Displays the Name field from the quote file Column Inspector l gt O Quote Values Security Name Displays the ticker s Name Security Type File Dates Audit Change All Uppercase Range MA Analysis
234. tes of your trades or the dates of notable market events 133 Custom Indicators Overview ProTA includes a large library of built in Standard Indicators which represent some of the most widely followed analytical techniques in the industry see the Indicators chapter But the field of technical analysis is constantly evolving New analytical methods are published every month in new books trade magazines web publication or even by TA software users such as yourself When you discover new indicators or come up with your own new ideas you can implement them by writing a Custom Indicator Custom Indicators are constructed using ProTAscript A simple one line example is MA 21 Simple RSI 14 Computes a 21 day Simple Moving Average of the 14 day Relative Strength Index indicator If you are familiar with writing formulas in spreadsheets the above example will look familiar to you You can probably start writing Custom Indicators right away If this looks confusing don t worry The ProTAscript chapter covers the language in great detail and there are a number of commented sample formulas included with the default installation of ProTA software Custom Indicators 1 2 3 1 Define a Custom Indicator formula using ProTAscript See the next section 2 Create or Open any Chart Suite window 3 Display the Custom Indicators File Browser in the upper right of the Chart Suite and double click any Custom Indicator to add it to the se
235. th Sync Content mode enabled Sync Chart Time Scales New Chart Suite documents will be created with Sync Time Scales mode enabled 204 Show Table Panel New Chart Suite documents will be created with the Content Table displayed to the left of the chart view s Show Browser Inspector Panel New Chart Suite documents will be created with the File Browser and Inspector panel displayed to the right of the chart view s Smartlist Check to assign a default Smartlist to all new Chart Suites Columns Check to assign a Columns Template to all new Chart Suite Content Tables Chart Template Check to assign a Chart Template to all new Charts Dates amp Numbers eo 6 Preferences J Suites Dates amp Numbers Quotes General Dates January 15this 1 15 Separator ka Sample July 22 2015 Zero padding 7 22 15 Four digit years Lead with year Numbers and Currency Format 1 234 56 ad 1 234 56 Before Number aa The settings here affect both new and existing windows documents Any open windows will refresh as you make changes Dates Specify how Dates should be displayed in ProTA windows January 15 is The important distinction is whether the day precedes the month or not For USA based dates choose 1 15 Separator 1 2 2015 or 1 2 2015 Zero Padding Adds a leading zero to the month and day if there would otherwise be a single digit 1 2 15 would be displayed as 01 02 15 if enabled 205 Quotes Fo
236. the appropriate Pane While the mouse is held down the Basis Start Date for the Linear Regression study is highlighted and the Pane Heading displays the date Position the mouse at the date that begins the trend then release the mouse e With the mouse button up move the mouse left or right to define the Basis End Date for the Linear Regression study As you move the mouse the end date is highlighted the Linear Regression line is drawn and the Pane Heading displays the range of selected dates Position the mouse appropriately then click the mouse Linear Regression Line Inspector QU R Linear Regression Line Basis Start Date 12 19 14 Basis End Date 5 12 15 Extend Left Extend Right Anchors Always On Extend Left Right When checked the Linear Regression line extends endlessly into the past and or future When unchecked the line is limited to the distance between the two anchor points The Linear Regression line is often viewed as the equilibrium point within the trend Moves above the line can indicate overbought conditions while moves below can indicate oversold conditions Significant deviations from the line can signal a change in trend Tip If you configure the chart to display a number of blank dates padded at the end of the data the Linear Regression line will extend into the future Range Ruler is used to highlight and measure the vertical price change for a rally or pullback e From the Line Studies menu or tool
237. the current ROI of the position based on the latest closing price in the quote file Values are calculated and displayed only when trade purchase data has been entered for the row ROI Sales Value Cost Basis Cost Basis Annualized ROI ROI x 365 Days Owned Quote Values ROI Security Name Displays the calculated trade Security Type Return on Investment for the File Dates specified time period Audit Display All Trades V Change Pop B Range Period One Day MA Analysis Volume Analysis Candle Pattern Include Commission amp Fees Rank l Annualized ROI Custom Indicator Trading System Smartlist Trade Data Cost Basis Sales Value Days Owned P amp L Cs Heading Annualized RO Display You can limit the display to a particular trade status All Trades To display and total ROI for all rows with trade data Open Trades To display and total current ROI for all rows with purchase trade data but no sales data Closed Trades To display and total ROI for all rows that have both purchase and sales trade data Period Choose the period to calculate the ROI See the Range section for a description of the options available in this menu Choose Since Purchase to calculate ROI for the entire trade period Include Sale Commission and Fees Check this box to include the purchase and sales commission and fees in the ROI calculation increases the cost basis and reduces the sales value Annualized ROI Check thi
238. the first vertical Cycle Line is drawn and the Pane Heading displays the Basis Start Date Position the first Cycle Line appropriately then release the mouse e With the mouse button up move the mouse left or right to define the cycle period As you move the mouse Cycle Lines are drawn and the Pane Heading displays the anchor date and Period of the Cycle Lines Position the mouse appropriately then click the mouse 127 Cycle Lines Inspector Qu Cycle Lines Basis Start Date 1 5 15 Period 11 Anchors Always On Security prices often oscillate up and down within the primary trend in a cyclical fashion Cycle Lines are used to help identify and highlight a cyclical pattern in the data Draw the study such that each cycle line coincides as closely as possible with a recent peak or trough in the data Tip If you configure the chart to display a number of blank dates padded at the end of the data the Cycle Lines study can point out the next anticipated cycle date Fibonacci Retracements Fibonacci Retracements are a series of horizontal lines based on the Fibonacci ratio that highlight potential support and resistance levels Fibonacci Retracements require two anchor points to define the study e From the Line Studies menu or tool item choose Fibonacci Retracements e Press the mouse in the appropriate Pane While the mouse is held down the first horizontal line is drawn and the Pane Heading displays the Basis Price 1 Position
239. the first moving average value It is impossible to get a buy or sell signal before the 50th day In this case ProTA skips to the 50th date in the quote file Another example If the Trading System utilizes a 10 day moving average of a 50 period indicator such as MA 10 S RSI 50 In this case it takes 50 dates to get the first RSI value then 10 more dates to get the first average of the RSI ProTA would skip to the 60th date in the quote file The number of records that are ineligible for trading Skipped is reported in the Test Summary report 158 After advancing past the ineligible dates ProTA begins with the When Flat logic below When Flat ProTA evaluates the EnterLong and EnterShort rules day by day until either evaluates to a TRUE condition at which point a Buy or Sell order is triggered If both EnterLong and EnterShort rules are triggered on the same day the Enter Long rule takes precedence and the Enter Short trigger is ignored When Long ProTA evaluates the Trading System s Stops then the ExitLong criteria day by day until a Stop is hit or the Exit Long criteria evaluates to a TRUE condition At that point a Sell order is triggered which will take the Trading System back to a Flat position When Short ProTA evaluates the Trading System s Stops then the ExitShort criteria day by day until a Stop is hit or the Exit Short criteria evaluates to a TRUE condition At that point a Buy order is triggered which will t
240. the period for the longer EMA Normally 10 Short Period Enter the period for the shorter EMA Normally 3 Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two 88 Closes Closes is a simple line plot of the Closing values in the quote file Closes Plot Inspector Q O Bars Candlesticks Line Style 9 Line Style See the end of this chapter for a description of Line Style options Commodity Channel Index The Commodity Channel Index CCI is an oscillator that relates the Typical Price of a security to the mean Typical Price over a period of time Typical Price High Low Close 3 TP MA Simple Moving Average of Typical Prices Mean Deviation Sum of ABS Typical Price TP MA Period CCI Typical Price TP MA 0 015 x Mean Deviation The CCI usually falls within a range of 100 Values beyond that range often flag overbought oversold conditions A trading approach is to go long at the 100 level then cover during the retracement back down to 100 conversely go short at the 100 level then cover during the retracement back up to 100 Commodity Channel Index Plot Inspector Q OD Period 14 Pz w Display Indicator Period Enter the period for Simple Moving Average and Mean Deviation calculations Commonly 14 89 Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Custom Indicator D
241. thetic design Often a security will rally or decline by a certain amount the Range then retrace the move back to one of the Fibonacci levels before reversing and continuing the major trend Fibonacci Retracements can be used to point out potential reversal levels Horizontal Line A Horizontal Line is a simple line extending endlessly forward and backward in time A Horizontal Line requires one anchor point to define the study e From the Line Studies menu or tool item choose Horizontal Line e Press the mouse in the appropriate Pane While the mouse is held down the Horizontal Line is drawn and the Pane Heading displays the Price Level for the Line Position the line appropriately then release the mouse Horizontal Line Inspector Q U Horizontal Line Price Level 30 775 w Use Horizontal Lines to mark significant peaks and troughs in the data Previous tops and bottoms often provide support or resistance in the future You can also use Horizontal Lines to mark the entry or exit price levels of your trades 129 Linear Regression Range Ruler A Linear Regression line is calculated using the statistical least squares regression method A statistical regression line line of best fit minimizes the distance between the data points and the line The Linear Regression study draws a line of best fit between two anchor points e From the Line Studies menu or tool item choose Linear Regression e Press the mouse in
242. tick patterns e GravestoneDoji returns TRUE when a Gravestone Doji pattern is detected Hammer Hammer Hammer Type Type A TYPE WORD specifying the type of candle patterns to identify 183 Any Both Bullish and Bearish Hammer candles Bull Bullish Hammer candles Bear Bearish Hammer candles Returns TRUE when a Hammer formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e Hammer Bear returns TRUE when a Bearish Hammer pattern is detected e Hammer returns TRUE when any Hammer pattern is detected Harami Harami Harami Type Type A TYPE WORD specifying the type of candle patterns to identify Any Both Bullish and Bearish Harami candles Bull Bullish Harami candles Bear Bearish Harami candles Returns TRUE when a Harami formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e Harami Bull returns TRUE when a Bullish Harami pattern is detected e Harami returns TRUE when any Harami pattern is detected HaramiCross HaramiCross HaramiCross Type Type A TYPE WORD specifying the type of candle patterns to identify Any Both Bullish and Bearish Harami Cross candles Bull Bullish Harami Cross candles Bear Bearish Harami Cross candles Returns TRUE when a Harami Cross formation is detected otherwise FALSE See the Indicators chapter for a description of Candlestick patterns e HaramiC
243. ticker symbol is 5 characters ending with an X In all other cases it assumes Stock Security Name optional The security name must be 80 characters or less else it will be truncated If this field is omitted ProTA uses the ticker symbol The fields can be separated by tabs or commas When you save a document in a spreadsheet program as Text the columns are automatically separated by tabs An example file using all three fields AAPL S Apple Computer FMAGxX M Fidelity Magellan An example using just one field the importer will assume these are all Stocks AAPL MSFT IBM e Save the document as a text file 16 Tip f you are using Apple s TextEdit application you can make a plain text document by choosing Make Plain Text from the Format menu Then save the document Tip If you are using Microsoft Excel you can place the three fields in columns A through C then choose Save As In the Save As window use the Format popup menu to select either Text Tab delimited or CSV Comma delimited From the Quotes menu choose Universal Text Importer Press the button then select the Text file from the Open dialog box Please see the Universal Text Importer chapter for more complete instructions regarding text imports Editing a Quote File Spec When a security changes ticker or name you can reflect that change in your TickerPicker database In the TickerPicker window Double click the ticker or security name
244. ting via Dial Data paid account required e From the Tools menu select Dial Data See the Dial Data appendix for complete instructions Adjust a Quote File for a Split Distribution A company will split its stock to decrease the price and improve liquidity A stock split will create a large gap in the pricing and volume data in your quote file Frequently a mutual fund will pay a return of capital distribution which affects subsequent pricing of the fund There are two approaches to dealing with splits and distributions Reacquire split adjusted data or Manually adjust the existing historical data yourself Require Adjusted Data lf your data source provides split adjusted data information it is usually easiest to simply remove all of the data from your quote file then reacquire the split adjusted data ProTA s Data Downloader performs this type of automatic adjusting for historical data downloads e Inthe TickerPicker select the ticker s row e Click the Gear widget at the bottom and choose Clear and Re Download Quotes Data Manually Adjusting For Stock Split Distribution e Inthe TickerPicker select the ticker s row e Click the Gear widget at the bottom and choose Stock Split Distribution Adjustment Type Stock Split J Adjustment Date 5 21 15 Adjustment Amount 2 A 2 1 stock split All quotes prior to 5 21 15 will be adjusted for the split Adjustment Type Choose Stock Split Adjustment Date Enter the d
245. tionship between the various Charts as they are viewed The two synchronization modes are administered in the Charts menu in the menubar they are also listed in the Multi Chart Grids button s popup menu Sync Content and Sync Time Scales When a sync mode is enabled on you ll see a checkmark next to its name in the menu V Sync Content V Sync Time Scales To toggle a sync mode s enabled disabled state on off select it in the menu Sync Content V Sync Time Scales 59 Sync Content Enabled When Sync Content is enabled all chart views are computed and rendered with identical settings This mode provides the ability to view all of the charts in the suite with the same analyses What to expect when Sync Content is enabled e As you select various charts in the Content Table each new chart coming into view is initialized with the settings from the previous chart e If the chart suite has multiple chart views displayed in a grid each view is synchronized with the same settings e When you add edit or remove an Indicator change colors resize a pane apply a Template etc each visible chart view is synchronized with the same edits Tip Another way to think about the Sync Content enabled mode is as a template mode Each chart view has the same template applied to it Disabled When Sync Contents is disabled all chart views in the suite operate independently with no relation to one another This mode treat
246. u are a previous owner of ProTA 3 or ProTA Gold 3 you can upgrade the files from the older program for use with ProTA 4 Click Begin Upgrade you will be asked to locate your older ProTA 3 data folder Normally that folder was simply named ProTA and was located at Library Application Support For most users the ProTA will find your old ProTA 3 folder automatically Please note the upgrading process may take several minutes depending upon the size of your previous database and this process cannot be cancelled once started e To perform the upgrade at a later time check the remind box then click No Thanks You will be asked to upgrade the next time you run ProTA e If you are not upgrading from ProTA 3 or if you are not interested in using your older files with ProTA 4 simply click No Thanks Tip You can always get back to this window by holding down the option key while clicking the File menu to reveal the command Upgrade a ProTA 3 Data Folder Once the upgrading process has completed and you have reviewed the upgraded files in ProTA 4 to your satisfaction it is safe to delete the older ProTA 3 data folder from your hard drive ProTA Files The entire ProTA installation consists of 3 items 1 ProTA application The application can reside anywhere though your Applications folder is probably the best location com beesoft prota4 plist file This is the Preferences file located at Library Preferences com beesoft prota4 pl
247. ur digit years 1 2 15 would be displayed as 1 2 2015 if enabled Lead with year Displays the year to the left of the month day 1 2 2015 would be displayed as 2015 1 2 if enabled Numbers Specify how Numbers should be displayed in ProTA windows Format Choose a decimal and thousands marker to match your locale s number formatting Currency Choose a character or short string and the placement Note These setting are not the same as the Universal Text Importer s Date and Number settings The settings here control how ProTA displays dates to you in its windows whereas the settings in the UTI are used to help describe the dates that will be encountered when importing a text data file This distinction is mostly important in non USA markets where it is more common to display view your data in one numerical format yet receive data files from a vendor with numbers in another format eo 6 Preferences 0 0 0 00 Suites Dates amp Numbers Quotes General Decimal Display Stocks 0 000 Mutual Funds 0 00 Indexes 0 00 ad Futures 0 0000 aa Options 0 000 ad Misc 0 0000 Market Data 0 Mixed Lists 0 000 Specify display settings for Quotes throughout the program These settings affect both new and existing windows documents Any open windows will refresh as you make changes Decimal Display Choose a default decimal places for each security type 206 Mixed Lists This setting refers to tables or lists that could inclu
248. ur imagination The ProTAscript chapter covers the formula language in great detail and there are a number of commented sample Smartlists that ship with ProTA Smartlists 1 2 3 1 Define criteria in the Smartlists authoring window using ProTAscript See the next two sections 2 Create or Open any Chart Suite window 3 Display the Smartlists File Browser in the upper right of the Chart Suite and double click any Smartlist to apply it to the Chart Suite Administering Smartlists The creation and organization of Smartlists is administered in the Smartlists authoring window e Choose Smartlists from the Tools menu 137 Show Hide Next Previous Show Hide Function File Current File Files Table Library eoe Smartlists Smartlists Q lt Year To Date Performance Up or Down gt 10 YTD Ll All Name Modified Full Name Short Name ie Security Types 4 26 15 Scan Securities Entire Database RoundDown RoundDown Signals 3 10 15 RoundUp RoundUp 9 Evaluate Date s Latest Date a 3 Sine SIN JE Bottoming Out 6 3 15 Sena Slope Slope E Bullish Engulfing Line 6 3 15 Criteria Custom Formula Securit lt be included in this Smartlist when this f la ances ee curities wi ine in is Sm ist when is Tormu me barge Gap pat Ope ae evaluates to true or non zero Summation SUM Up 3 Days In A Row 6 3 15 BarsSince BarsSince ABS Performance 12 31 14 gt 10 v Today s Performance 3 10 15 Cross Cross 52 Week High To
249. ustom criteria as defined in a Smartlist file As such it is not possible to manually add or remove rows when in Smartlist Mode Please see the Smartlists chapter to create and spec your own custom Smartlists criteria Some examples when you will use Smartlist Mode e Alist of All Stocks Up gt 2 Today e A table showing all tickers triggering a Buy for one of your Trading Systems e Any table with a ticker listing that is based on automatically computed criteria When in Smartlist Mode the Content Table Toolbar looks like this 33 Up or Down gt 10 YTD tt 12 items 35 a A olumns This section is unique to Smartlist Mode aie The section unique to Smartlists displays the following information Smartlist Name Number of tickers that have met the Smartlist criteria and are displayed in the table Percentage of the total items that have met the criteria and are displayed in the table Tip Hover your mouse over the Smartlist text for additional information in a tool tip Switching Between Content Table Modes It is possible to switch Content Tables modes from Smartlist to Custom Custom to Smartlist or from one Smartlist to another In all cases ProTA will attempt to save as many associated charts as possible For example if ticker AAPL was in the table before the switch and is also in the table after the switch ProTA will retain the associated chart for AAPL However if MSFT was in the list but after the mode
250. ving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Relative Performance Relative Performance compares the price performance of the base security to that of another security in your database Relative Performance Base Security Price Compare Security Price Relative Performance is normally plotted in its own Pane A reading of 100 indicates the Base Security Price Compare Security Price An increasing Relative Performance line indicates the base security is outperforming the comparison security A decreasing Relative Performance line indicates the base security is under performing the comparison security You can optionally normalize the Relative Performance plot such that the Relative Performance is adjusted to equal 100 as of a specified date This can aid in viewing relative performance of the two securities from the specified date forward in time 112 Relative Performance Plot Inspector QU Ticker GSPC Index EJ Normalization Ratio 12 31 13 Basis Closes ad Line Style EE Ticker Type Enter the Ticker Symbol and Type of security to compare with Normalization You can adjust the comparison data such that the Relative Performance reading equals 100 as of a specified date Line Basis Choose the price field as the basis for the comparisons usually Closes Line Style See the end of this chapter for a description of Line Style options Relative Strength Index The Relative Strength Index
251. will run Run Test Formula Re Use ProTAscript includes several functions that allow you to call into any other Custom Indicator or Trading System that you have already written and saved to disk If those saved formulas include Parameters you can pass in values to those formulas For example if we had already saved My First Indicator to disk we could write a second formula that calls into My First Indicator as follows 164 FN My First Indicator 15 30 In this case our formula would evaluate My First Indicator by substituting 15 and 30 for the shortPeriod and longPeriod Parameters See the ProTAscript chapter for more information about the Custlnd or FN function used above Parameter and Variable Names Parameter and Reference Variable names can be any series of letters and numbers you choose with the following exceptions e The name must be 25 letters or less e The first character must be a letter e Aname cannot be the same as any reserved function name in the ProTAscript language e Names cannot be assigned a value more than once in the formula Whitespace is Ignored Spaces Tabs and Returns are ignored You can add spaces tabs and line breaks throughout your formula to improve readability The only time spacing is required is for the logical operators AND and OR Both of these keywords must be preceded and followed by a space character The following two formulas are identical Close gt 20 AND Close lt 40 Cl
252. y calculation Please see the Trading Systems chapter for a description of the various accounting options Exchange Up Down Volume General Market Up Down Volume compares the volume of advancing issues to the volume of declining issues On an exchange U Up Volume the volume of stocks that Closed higher D Down Volume the volume of stocks that Closed lower T Total Volume the volume of all stocks on the exchange ProTA will plot three variations of the Up Down Volume comparison U D Plots the Up Volume minus the Down Volume providing a plot similar to the Advance Decline Line but based on Volume U D T Divides the net U D Volume by the Total Volume This has a normalizing affect over time E G 30 years ago there was much lower overall exchange Volume Dividing by a relative value such as Total Volume makes the indicator values of 30 years ago comparable to current values 94 Force Index U D U D Divides the net U D Volume by the total of Up and Down Volume This has a normalizing affect over time see above Each is best viewed as a cumulative summation plotted in its own Pane Up Down Volume is most commonly viewed as a confirmation divergence indicator when compared to the price plot of the overall market averages See Accumulation Distribution for interpretation of a confirmation divergence indicator Note This plot requires that you maintain a special VOL formatted Market Data file in your database
253. zero indicates the security s price is the same as the Close on the Basis Date A reading of 50 indicates the security has increased by 50 Pts or A reading of 50 indicates the security has decreased in value by 50 Pts or Performance Plot Inspector QU Basis Date 12 31 14 my y Change In Display Indicator ad Basis Date Enter the comparison date for the Performance calculation ProTA will use the first date in the security s quote file that is greater than or equal to the specified date 106 Tip Enter a date such as 1 1 50 to use the first date in the quote file Change in Choose the type of Performance to display Lines You can plot the indicator a moving average of the indicator or the difference between the two Point amp Figure Point amp Figure P amp F charting plots the rising and falling price trends of a security while filtering out minor reversals and completely ignoring the element of time P amp F charts mark rallies with a rising column of X s and declines with a falling column of O s As prices rally a new X is drawn when a new Box price level is reached We stay with the same column of X s until a price reversal occurs Typically three Boxes are defined as the reversal criteria If the price reverses three Boxes from the highest X Box we move one column to the right and begin plotting O s to track the price movement downward ABK 9 13 05 8 16 06 87 000 6 000 Point

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