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Changes for IB and EOD Users, VPOCs, Candlestick Coloring, Tab Use, Lock Studies, Z #F-LIFFE, Information Overload Hurricane |
February 8 , 2006
16:31 @Ensign-Howard: Welcome to today's training class.
16:32 @Ensign-Howard: I spent a couple hours recently showing a potential customer the capabilities of Ensign when he visited my office. It was invigorating to see his enthusiam grow as the guide tour progressed. He needed a break, enough was enough, to go home and digest what he was introduced to and I did not even show some of the advanced tools like Pyrapoint, Alan Sq., or any of the Alerts and DYO features.
16:34 CB: yes - just a half hour of Ensign is a mouthful
16:34 Quartz: that be too much for someone new H :)
Changes in Ensign for IB and EOD users
16:34 @Ensign-Howard: This past week there were a couple program fixes of note....
16:35 @Ensign-Howard: For IB users the IB folks have upgraded their TWS to build 856.5 and this build requires different path parameter strings to be passed, so that forced one of the upgrades of Ensign to be posted. If you upgrade TWS or Ensign, you need to upgrade the other so they work as a matched pair.
16:36 @Ensign-Howard: Also, for our End of Day users who download daily stock data, there was a change in the source format and that forced Ensign to change to continue to get a daily stock data bar for the current day. So customers with IB or using End of Day should upgrade to 02-07 version.
16:37 @Ensign-Howard: Upgrading IB is not difficult..... you need to use the process that installed with TWS. The way to do it is begin with the Windows Start button on the task bar, and search for menu Check for TWS Upgrade
16:39 @Ensign-Howard: Click on that menu and it will discover you are not current and begin the upgrade process for TWS. You do not have to try to find the upgrade on the IB web site..... use the menu on your computer instead as shown.
16:39 zingo: I have no menu in the window after a START click
16:40 @Ensign-Howard: Move over the All Programs arrow in the start menu to get the side menus as shown.
16:41 CB: @Ensign-Howard, also when you start tws - it will ask you if you want to upgrade if you set that question in config - very simple way, also
16:43 @Ensign-Howard: that is correct CB - thanks for that added information
16:41 @Ensign-Howard: We will open the class for general Q&A.... and I like for format of users changing the background color of their nickname if they have a question and wait for me to call for their question.
Virgin POCs not extending
16:43 @Ensign-Howard: ok virt, your turn
16:43 virt: price histogram - virgin POCs do not extend - only the visible area (time) of the chart are shown
16:44 @Ensign-Howard: virt, show me chart and show me Histogram property form, please
16:47 virt: see the one between 88.5 and 90?
16:47 virt: it only shows up if that "day" is shown on the chart
16:47 @Ensign-Howard: trying to follow...
16:49 virt: maybe an "extend vPOCs" button? If you use Extend POCs they show up even if not in the visible area of the chart - the extend bands makes sense (only one day) - I do not want to see all the POCs extended...just the Virgin POCs
16:50 @Ensign-Howard: 1 moment, need to look at code for the exact answer
16:53 virt: thanks
16:53 @Ensign-Howard: The ANSWER is on the tool property form you need to check the box SHOW ALL POCs and then the calculation will for ALL, from beginning of chart file and not just from a point a bit to the left of the first visible bar on charts. So problem solved..... go check the box Show All POCs and then you will get the one to show you expect to see
Log Scale
16:58 @Ensign-Howard: ok Red your turn
16:58 Red: for fib retrace tool shown on chart - why is 0.5 retrace showing 1170, which is correct yet scale showing 1098?
16:59 @Ensign-Howard: is your scale on Log scale?
17:00 Red: that fixed it, yes - tks
17:00 @Ensign-Howard: ok welcome
Candestick Coloring Problem
17:00 Kubes: I just upgraded and can't get my color bars alert to make the whole candle one color anymore...each time I go into properties chart repaints open/close
17:00 @Ensign-Howard: Kubes, you have to use Ensign Rockets - Candlesticks selection will be hollow/solid and Solid Candles will be the color bar coloring of Close Vs Open only. So tell me what color bar selection you want, and it it is other than Close vs Open and you want solids, then you MUST use Ensign Rockets to see that. So Kubes, show chart, and show property form CTRL-P 1st tab
This is coloring my bars:
This is what I get:
Here is chart properties window:
17:03 Randy2: use normal
Still not what I want
This is what I want and have on one chart:
17:05 @Ensign-Howard: change the Bar Style to Candlesticks and the color bars to Normal
Possible for Ensign?
17:07 @Ensign-Howard: Rice, your turn
17:07 Rice: TOC and amg just gave me an idea, though they don't know it. In the context of the Price histogram discussion earlier, how hard would it be to display, in the Price Histogram, volume going off at the bid vs ask--a la amg's volume sum idea? Anyone think this would be useful? My thinking is that this might give an idea as to whether a high volume area is one of supply or demand...
17:07 @Ensign-Howard: if you don't have a pending question, please change your nickname color back to white
17:08 @Ensign-Howard: Rice, we do not have the detail available for the volume at the bid and vol at the ask in this chart's back data. The chart bars we have to crunch on are the 4 prices, and the volume for the bar, but not volume split into part for what was vol at the ask or vol at the bid. So the histogram idea cannot be calculated as you suggest.
Tab Use
17:10 @Ensign-Howard: CB, your turn
17:10 CB: I HAVE TWO - HERE IS FIRST Hi Howard - buffy showed me today how to take a dyo study and copy it to a tab 14 then open another template and copy it into that template - this seems like a very powerful capability - can you say a little more about how tabs can be used and some of the benefits of them? thanks
17:11 @Ensign-Howard: The primary purpose of the tabs is to preset different property combinations for quick selection with a study or draw tool.
7:12 @Ensign-Howard: For example, on an RSI you might have tab 1 with 5,9 parameters, and tab 2 might be 7,13 parameters, etc. Then when the RSI is applied to the chart, one can change the tab selection to change to the preset properties quickly without having to remember and enter the desired values.
17:12 @Ensign-Howard: On a draw tool, such as Fib lines, one tab might show 5 lines, and tab 2 might show 7 lines, and tab 3 show 3 lines, or possibly the lines are different colors or thicknesses.
17:13 @Ensign-Howard: When the tool is selected, you can use the mouse wheel so spin through the tab selections, thus quickly picking a different combination of parameters. (The numeric key pad can also be used for those tabs under ten)
7:14 @Ensign-Howard: Some tools have check box options on them such as the Formations tool, and one tab might be for Fib Extensions, and another tab for Gartley and another tab for Butterfly
17:14 @Ensign-Howard: I have suggested to Larry Pesavento that different tabs be used for the different Butterfly color fills he likes to use and that way he can quickly put on a red butterfly or a green butterfly by spinning the mouse wheel while the tool is selected. That way he can quickly put on a red butterfly or a green butterfly by spinning the mouse wheel while the tool is selected.
17:14 CB: very good - so how can one template access another templates tab 14, I wonder?
17:15 @Ensign-Howard: templates are collections of studies and do not of themselves have tabs. Once a template is applied, you can select a study in that collection and go to its property form to select tab 14
17:16 @Ensign-Howard: Now for the DYO, the 14 tabs might serve a different purpose. You might use tab 1 to hold the Hull Average implementation, and tab 2 might be configured to hold the VolSum implementation. Thus the 14 tabs could be quick ways when putting a DYO on the chart to pick one of 14 favorite DYOs.
7:17 @Ensign-Howard: However I find it easier to just have the DYO and anything else needed saved as a named template and just apply the template
17:18 CB: good - this is useful - I will play with tabs more now - let me know when I can ask my second question
Keyboard Shortcuts, Lock Studies
17:18 @Ensign-Howard: ok Mano, your turn
17:18 mano: when using KB shortcuts to view diff timeframes of same stock charts, do the studies remain same or do they come up with studies already saved for those timeframes . . it seems like the former
:19 @Ensign-Howard: mano, if you have the Lock Studies button depressed (checked) then the study set is retained as you change the time frame. Makes no difference whether the time frame is changed via the keyboard keys, or one clicks a time button on the times panel. If the Lock Studies is enabled, then the studies remain.
17:20 @Ensign-Howard: if the Lock is not enabled, then the chart you are going to will have its private study set file which is loaded to dress the chart with what studies were on that chart when it was last closed. So if the 1-min has Stochatic and the 5-min chart has RSI, the time frame switch from 1 to 5 will remove Sto and show RSI
17:20 mano: Ok thanks
Z #F-LIFFE
17:21 @Ensign-Howard: ok, midnight, your turn
17:21 MidKnight: Hello Howard, symbol props again. I'm have a lot of problems trying to chart the FTSE 100 both intraday and on daily/weekly charts. My charts are unable to get any backfill (could this be similar to how you had to change a mapping for SMI?) and my intraday 60 minute chart only gives 5 bars per day when the market is open for 9.5 hours per day according to the contract spec at euronext.
7:22 MidKnight: Z #F-LIFFE
17:22 @Ensign-Howard: ok, midnight, pick one symbol and we will investigate this with you. Now, open chart for Z#F such as 60 min
17:22 MidKnight: FTSE100 is - Z #F-LIFFE
17:23 @Ensign-Howard: and does this chart have too few bars?
17:23 MidKnight: once I added symbol props - backfill no longer worked
7:24 @Ensign-Howard: thx, now show me Symbol Property tab on the chart properties
17:24 MidKnight: prior to making that chart there was no symbol props for Z - funny daily price lines :)
17:24 MidKnight: those are the correct times from euronext
17:26 @Ensign-Howard: 1 moment, let me try the same
17:26 MidKnight: ok, well that is what I want.....
7:27 @Ensign-Howard: I get 10 bars per day
17:27 MidKnight: yes that is right - 9.5 hour day
17:27 @Ensign-Howard: using your hours - please show me Data tab
17:28 @Ensign-Howard: Think I see the problem
17:28 MidKnight: mapping?
7:30 @Ensign-Howard: for DTN symbol field clear out your entry and put in just LF and close form - then refresh the DTN symbol I refreshed with is LF, not Z and you can change the bullet selection to the Continuation symbol from DTN. Then your DTN symbol field will show LF#
17:30 MidKnight: that works now Howard, thank you
17:30 @Ensign-Howard: welcome
17:31 @Ensign-Howard: Without looking it up I do not know what the Z symbol from DTN would have been
17:32 @Ensign-Howard: show me your refreshed chart now
17:32 MidKnight: the FTSE is a pretty active market so maybe good to have a list that you guys maintain for active markets - would save user grief - thanks H
17:33 @Ensign-Howard: well I already knew that the DTN symbol was LF,.... .it is what the Z was you tried to use I did not know
17:33 MidKnight: that is the IB symbol
17:33 @Ensign-Howard: that I understand
Data Use - Hurricane example
17:35 @Ensign-Howard: ok CB your turn
7:37 CB: 17:34 CB: from my understanding - ib provides a "red" number of contracts (taken at the sellers price) and a "green" number of contracts (taken at the bidders price) - Howard, could this not be used for rice's great idea by ensign?
17:38 CB: that is my question :-)
17:38 @Ensign-Howard: Whether a vendor has volume split like that is not the issue (by the way I am not familiar with IB having a split volume value). The issue is the chart bars in Ensign store one value for volume per bar, so historically as we crunch the chart data file to create the study results, we do not know how the total volume across a bar would be split into bid or ask voluem
17:40 CB: I use an ib interface which shows time and sales - with number of contracts either red or green - I talked to the programmer and that is what he told me
17:40 @Ensign-Howard: Also for the histogram, which is distributing volume across the prices spanned by the bar's range, say 7 prices are spanned, we have no idea of the 7 bid volumes at each of the 7 prices, nor the 7 ask volumes as these 7 prices. It is detail that is not stored for the chart bars.
17:41 CB: so the real issue is that it is not a characteristic of bar data?
17:41 @Ensign-Howard: CB, when we look at a daily chart, or a 5-min chart, or a 60-min chart, the detail is stored as 4 prices and 1 volume per bar the detail of which ticks and tick volumes that made up the bar is lost
7:42 @Ensign-Howard: correct, it is a summary bar and in it being a summary, the tick detail has been lost
17:42 CB: I see - ok - well that clears that up - but - rice's idea is a very good one that I and others have pondered
17:42 @Ensign-Howard: well let me add one comment on the idea. More detail does not increase your ability to trade successfully. For example, let me use the hurricane example
17:43 CB: yes - so true
17:43 @Ensign-Howard: The wind is blowing at 100 miles per hour and a flood is coming. Having the detail broken down to individual drops of water speed and direction is too much information and using the packet size of a drop is in itself arbitrary. We could have tried to chunk the data in gallon chunks, or in barrel chunks, or in square mile chunks. You can summarize to what ever level you want, or get bogged down in greater detail to what ever you want
17:44 CB: yes - you are correct - thanks you - btw - are you considering having transparency in Ensign - transparency of objects or charts
7:45 @Ensign-Howard: The basic issue of being right or being wrong is the key issue, and how you arrived at that decision is up to you.
17:45 @Ensign-Howard: Let me swing the example back to trading. I watched Larry Pesavento trade and his small resolution is a 2-min chart and often prefers 30-min and daily. He is looking for different size moves. The tick bar trades and detail many of you have latched on to would drive him crazy. And vice versa, the courseness of a 30 min bar would drive all of you crazy. Yet each group find value is the detail level they like to look at. And each has a way to pull money from the market. I am not convinced that knowing bid and ask volume internally on intra-day bars is added detail that helps....
17:48 @Ensign-Howard: Lets just call it added detail... .and users are then at additional risk of information overload. You can be swamped with too much detail and not be able to process it. Many successful traders totally ignore the detail of volume and many swear it is key to the success of what they do.
17:49 @Ensign-Howard: Well my time is spent.... I have to run
17:49 CB: thanks Howard - very much
17:49 fibs: Howard, just wanted to thankyou for your the fix that corrected the refresh problems on the forex cash markets -- Thanks !!
:50 @Ensign-Howard: welcome fibs
17:49 @Ensign-Howard: If there are pending questions still, I will get Kimball to come continue the class. So if you have a question still, please type in 'I have One'
17:50 @Ensign-Howard: Guess there are no more questions, so class is over.... have a good evening....bye
17:50 CB: have a good night all :-)
17:50: @Buffy: Night Howard and thanks
17:50 tt2: for Rice and CB re split volume
