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FXCM, #1573 TillsonT2, Jumping Chart, Toolbars |
Mar 28, 2007
16:30 Ensign Howard: Welcome to today's training class... This is Howard and I will be the trainer today.
16:30 Mike and I have finished our work on the FXCM forex feed implementation and are pleased with where we are at. The changes we have made over the past month have resulted in the following improvements:
16:32 Ensign Howard: 1) There are more symbols now for a total of 54 currency pairs.
16:33 Ensign Howard: 2) For the 12 currency pairs added this month, we now have daily history for them in our refresh database going back at least 900 bars, which is about 4.5 years. Most symbols have much more than that, around 14 years of data for daily.
16:34 Ensign Howard: 3) The quote table has a clean reset at 17:00 Eastern time, which is midnight GMT time, and the charts step sideways and begin plotting tomorrow's daily bar at that time.
16:35 Ensign Howard: 4) We have added a volume for the daily and intra-day bars, which is a count of the number of bid changes. This is an invented volume or simulated volume because the feed does not have any tick volume. Yet it does an excellent job of showing periods of high activity, as shown in this example chart.
16:38 Ensign Howard: 5) Another important improvement was to find a feed source that did not have any delay or lag, and that was accomplished as well. The feed seems to be living up to our expectations in this area as we have not seen any lag for the past few weeks.
16:40 Ensign Howard: 6) We have resolved the forced weekend disconnect and have our servers auto reconnect on Sunday.
16:40 Ensign Howard: 7) the FXCM feed timestamps can be used by our IB users to auto set their computer system clock. Regarding this last item, you will need the current version of the program which is 03-28 version.
16:42 Ensign Howard: For the IB users who have the FXCM feed enabled, they will have an option showing on the Setup | Computer form they can check to Set Time from Data Feed. The feed that will set the time is the FXCM feed since we do not have any timestamp on the IB feed. I strongly encourage our IB audience to enable the FXCM feed and enable this option to set the computer clock from the feed and that way we will increase the likelihood that IB users build the same bars and are in time sync with the refresh data when they refresh their charts.
16:45 Ensign Howard: One way to guarantee your collected charts will look different than others or change when they refresh is to have a computer system clock that is set with incorrect time, by being minutes ahead or behind actual time. That is because the IB feed does not time stamp their ticks, and thus we have to rely on the computer system clock to timestamp them when they are received.
16:46 Ensign Howard: In summary, we have made improvements to the FXCM feed, and are very pleased with it now, and invite you to use it and take a 2nd look if you tried it before.
16:47 Ensign Howard: This screen image of the FXCM quote page shows the volume values accumulated for today so far. You can see that the AUD/NZD has a tick count of 11,183 which is twice the activity of the AUD/USD symbol with its 5,215 count (volume).
16:48 Ensign Howard: Any questions about the FXCM feed, or the new option for IB users to have the feed set their computer clock?
16:50 rlroyce: So I could drop my eSignal feed and use the free FXCM data?
16:51 Ensign Howard: If your sole purpose in having eSignal was to have a forex feed, then the FXCM feed would be a substitute for it. Give the FXCM feed in Ensign a try for a couple weeks and decide for yourself if it can be a replacement.
16:51 rlroyce: Yes that is all I trade - for the last 6 years. ty
#1573 TillsonT3 Template
16:52 Ensign Howard: We posted a new template to our site. Template: 1573-TillsonT3 which implements the Tillson T3 average, and I will explain it in greater detail.
http://www.ensignsupport.com/email/1573.mhtml
16:53 Ensign Howard: This Q&A article, #1573, shows the formulas for the Tillson T3 average.
16:54 Ensign Howard: Basically, 6 exponential averages are calculated, where each average is an average of the prior average. Then the last 4 of these averages are weighted to make a final T3 average. The weighting of each average contribution to the final answer
16:55 bg: Howard sorry to interrupt, but don't we have the T3 already in internet services or its different ? I used it already its a great tool thank you
16:57 Ensign Howard: Yes, bg, there is a Tillson3 template, and then the new one I uploaded today which is 1573-TillsonT3. My new template uses 2 DYOs to implement instead of the 4 in the earlier template. And in my mind it is easier to understand because we have the accompanying article in the Knowledgebase with the formulas.
16:58 bg: Thank you Howard
16:59 Ensign Howard: The constants c1, c2, c3, and c4 can be multiplied out to arrive at their values, using the final value is much faster than having the DYO do the multiplication over and over again with each tick. So if you scroll down to the 2nd DYO property form image, you will see I have the value for the constant in the Number field.
7:01 Ensign Howard: The C1 constant for 0.618 cubed is 0.23603 and it has a negative sign with it.
17:01 Ensign Howard: Now let me show a chart with the Tillson T3 study on it.
17:03 Flag: Wow, that is one smooth hugger!
17:03 Ensign Howard: This average is VERY similar to a 3 period Exponential moving average, so let me put on a 3-EXPAVE study to compare.
17:04 bg: Flag its great -- smoother than Hull -- imo of course
17:05 Ensign Howard: Now, the average is in the category of what I call an adaptive or corrective average where some of the momentum of the average is used as a correction to the average.
17:06 Ensign Howard: This is also the basic principle of the Howard's Average which I will show next, and you will see that the Howard's average is a very good equivalent to the Tillson T3 average, and I will be using a parameter of 3 for my average example as well.
17:08 Flag: T3 looks a tad closer to the core!
17:08 Ensign Howard: So, seeing how well the Howard's average equates to the Tillson average, I do not see any need for the Tillson average at all and the Howard's average gives you all the flexibility of the Study Modes, easily changed parameters,and multiple Howard's averages on the chart.
17:09 bg: wow, never realized that before
17:10 Ensign Howard: The Hull Average suffers from a bit more of an overshoot when it has momentum and I can illustrate that by putting on a Hull average, and I will set the Hull parameter on Line A Number field to a value of 9 because the Hull uses the square root of the parameter, and sq.root of 9 is back to a 3
17:12 jim-rainman: Which selection is the command for sq root please
17:13 Ensign Howard: Line D of the Hull DYO
17:13 jim-rainman: very good , thank you
17:13 Ensign Howard: The example shows the Hull with a bit more overshoot in the steep decline at the left side of the chart.
17:14 Ensign Howard: Anyway, the DYO has been posted to the Library of DYO Examples and you can look that the template to learn form it. It shows how the DYO can easily accomplish an average on an average, weight the parts, and sum them for the final answer. But, I do not think it needs to find a place in your toolkit because the Howard's average, though different, it's equivalent if you want that kind of a smoothed momentum weighted average.
17:16 bg: So Howard's average is equal to the Tilson? But better choice because you can change study correct?
17:16 Ensign Howard: By observation I see that it is though my invented formula is totally different Yes, bg, Howard's average would be a better choice and much faster to calculate
17:17 bg: yes Howard how would you change the numbers on Tilson
17:18 Ensign Howard: bg, you could change the exponential average properties on each of the Number fields of the first DYO starting with Line B
http://www.dacharts.com/faq/Howards-moving-average.htm
17:17 mikeynh: What is the conceptual reason to prefer a Howard's average over a simple, or exponential, etc. In other words, what trading benefit arises?
17:18 Ensign Howard: Lets do that as an example, lets jump up to a 10 average .
17:20 Ensign Howard: Here I have reworked the 1st DYO to be a bit more general where the parameter for the moving averages is entered on Line A in the number field. This is saved in GV[7] and now each of the averages use the contents of [7] for their parameter. So now you will have just one place to edit to change the study parameter, and that is Line A number field instead of each average's number field.
17:22 Ensign Howard: ok, now let me show the chart with the 10 Tillson, and a 10 Howard's and a Hull too, 1 moment.
17:26 Ensign Howard: Interesting, I had to double the Howard's parameter to get near the Tillson average, so my parameter is a 20 to match the Tillson 10. By trial and error, I found that a parameter of 50 for the Hull was a similar curve. Again, you see a greater effect of momentum of the Hull average carrying it a bit lower following the steeper decline on the left side of the chart.
17:28 Ensign Howard: Are there more questions about this Tillson average, or have we discussed it enough? Any questions about the DYO and possibly the change I showed to have Line A be the property for all the averages?
Training/Help
17:30 Ensign Howard: In case you are new to Ensign and new to these training classes, we have a web page of great DYO examples on our web site.
http://www.ensignsoftware.com/help/dyo-cross.htm
17:31 Ensign Howard: The TIllson is listed as an example. The entries are alphabetically organized. There are over 100 examples on this page. Most have a Template you can download, and the template would be identified at the end of the article.
17:32 Ensign Howard: We also have a fabulous Q&A Knowledgebase with nearly 1200 articles. This database of information is accessed by clicking menu Help | Q&A Knowledgebase. You can enter a keyword in the Find box to narrow down the directory to a listing of possible articles on the topic of interest.
17:34 Ensign Howard: Here is an example of using the word average as the search keyword, and, there are 65 articles containing this keyword in their title.
17:35 Ensign Howard: Ok, lets be done with the formal training and start the general Q&A portion.... press CTRL+Q keys to show a ? icon by your nickname and I will call on you for your question.
Jumping Around on Chart
17:36 Ensign Howard: dana, your question please
17:36 dana berliner: How can I jump fast to a historical date on my chart instead of dragging it horizontally ?
17:37 Ensign Howard: There are a couple ways to jump. On the chart's toolbar is a button labeled Reset and has a small white diamond. If you hold down one of the Shift keys when you click this button the chart will jump to show the beginning of the chart. Clicking on this button without holding down shift will jump back to show the end of the chart (ie current bar).
17:38 Ensign Howard: Now you are already aware of dragging the chart background to reposition the chart.
17:39 Ensign Howard: Another way to jump the chart is to use the Shift comma and Shift period keys together. This will move the chart a fixed number of bars in the jump repositioning. The size of the jump is a user parameter which you set on the Setup | Charts form
17:41 Ensign Howard: In this example, I have a parameter of 78 bars for the jump distance, so the chart will shift a distance of 78 bars each time I press the keys
17:42 Ensign Howard: I frequently will set this parameter to the number of bars in one day, such as 187 or so when working with 2-min bars so each key press moves me one day back on the chart. I do not have a way for you to enter the date to jump to. But jumping in big steps is a pretty quick way to navigate back in time, or jump to the beginning and then step forward in big steps.
17:43 dana berliner: 187 for 2-min.. great.. that is exactly my chart timeframe. ok... that solution is good enough. Great , thanks a bunch! :) another question , if I may....
17:44 Flag: And dana could open Edit Data Set to get to a known time or date.
Toolbars
17:47 mikeynh: Howard, you referred to the "chart toolbar" as a way to scroll. Where is this toolbar?
17:48 Ensign Howard: This is the chart's toolbar I was referring to
17:49 mikeynh: But how could one say, place this toolbar on their chart, or any toolbar for that matter?
17:50 Ensign Howard: Mikeynh, you can right mouse click on the chart and select Controls Toolbar and the toolbar will jump to where you are. It will be pulled off of the docking station at the top of the Ensign workspace
17:50 mikeynh: Thanks.
17:52 mikeynh: Howard, I clicked on the x in the Control toolbar, expecting it to redock, but it disappeared.
17:53 Ensign Howard: Mike, redock is done by dragging the caption line of the toolbar back over the top of the docking area. To reshow, click menu View and check the Controls Toolbar. To redock, using the menu use menu View | Dock All Toolbars
17:54 mikeynh: Yes, I see now. thanks.
17:54 Ensign Howard: While on the topic, a toolbar that is undocked can be resized by dragging one of its borders.
17:55 Ensign Howard: So in this image I resized the toolbar to be more square by dragging the bottom edge of the toolbar downward.
18:57 Ensign Howard: Ok, thanks for attending class. Have a good week. If you have an issue to report, please try to upgrade first and verify issue persists, and then give as much detail as possible so I can try to reproduce the issue.