February 2000
TRADERS' TIPS

Here is this month's selection of Traders' Tips, contributed by various developers of technical analysis software to help readers more easily implement some of the strategies presented in this issue.

You can copy these formulas and programs for easy use in your spreadsheet or analysis software. Simply "select" the desired text by highlighting as you would in any word processing program, then use your standard key command for copy or choose "copy" from the browser menu. The copied text can then be "pasted" into any open spreadsheet or other software by selecting an insertion point and executing a paste command. By toggling back and forth between an application window and the open Web page, data can be transferred with ease.
 

This month's tips include formulas and programs for:
 
 
METASTOCK
TRADESTATION / SUPERCHARTS
NEUROSHELL TRADER
TECHNIFILTER PLUS
SMARTRADER
WAVEWI$E MARKET SPREADSHEET

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METASTOCK

In the November 1999 issue of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, Benjamin Cotton introduced the target price indicator in "Triggering Your Trading Signal." To recreate this indicator in MetaStock 6.52 or higher, select "Indicator builder" from the Tools menu, click New, and enter the following formula:

For the BogiePX enter:
  



x:=Input("length of 1st moving average",2,200,5);
y:=Input("length of 2nd moving average",2,200,10);

((y* Sum(C,x-1))-(x*Sum(C,y-1)))/ (x-y)


For the percent change, enter the following formula:
 
  



x:=Input("length of 1st moving average",2,200,5);
y:=Input("length of 2nd moving average",2,200,10);


((((y* (Sum(C,x-1))-(x*Sum(C,y-1)))/(x-y))/Close)-1)*100
-- Cheryl Elton, Equis International

https://www.equis.com

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TRADESTATION/SUPERCHARTS

For Traders' Tips this month, I have taken the seasonal soybean strategy presented by John Momsen in "Seasonal Trades And The Channel Breakout System" and recreated an accompanying indicator that displays the different levels that are defined in the strategy. Specifically, the indicator uses plots to display the entry stop, profit stop, and protective stop levels. This indicator is designed to be applied to a chart in combination with the seasonal soybean strategy, since it references the current market position when plotting the values on the chart.

The indicator, called "seasonal SB -- short," is only active during the timeframe specified in the original seasonal soybean strategy. When entering the timeframe, the entry stop level will be displayed on the chart. Once a position is entered, the entry stop is no longer displayed and the indicator instead displays the profit stop and the protective stop levels. When the position is closed out, the indicator again begins to display the entry stop value until the end of the timeframe. By displaying the important strategy entry/exit levels, this indicator provides seasonal traders with a visual point of reference of their open position status.

Below is the EasyLanguage that is used to develop the "seasonal SB -- short" indicator in the PowerEditor. I have given some style and scaling recommendations immediately following the EasyLanguage.
  



Name:  Seasonal SB - Short
Type:  Indicator

Inputs: EntryStop(16), ProtectStop(5), ProfitStop(11);
Variables: EntryStp(0), ProtectStp(0), ProfitStp(0);

Condition1 = Month(Date) = 5 AND DayOfMonth(Date) > 14;
Condition2 = Month(Date) = 6;
Condition3 = Month(Date) = 7;
Condition4 = Condition1 OR Condition2 OR Condition3;
Condition5 = I_MarketPosition = -1;

EntryStp = Lowest(Low, EntryStop) - 6 Points;
ProfitStp = Highest(High, ProfitStop) + 1 Point;
If Condition5 <> Condition5[1] Then
        ProtectStp = Highest(High, ProtectStop) + 1 Point;

If Condition4 AND Condition5 = False Then Begin
        Plot1(EntryStp, "EntryStop");
        Plot2(EntryStp, "EntryStop");
End;

If (Condition4 AND Condition5) OR Condition5 Then Begin
        Plot3(ProtectStp, "ProtectStop");
        Plot4(ProfitStp, "ProfitStop");
End;
The style and scaling for the above indicator should be set as displayed below: 


Style:
      Plot   Name          Type         Color           Weight
      Plot1   EntryStop       Left Tic       Red               medium
       Plot2   EntryStop       Right Tic      Red               medium
       Plot3   ProtectStop     Right Tic      Drk magenta       medium
       Plot4   ProfitStop      Right Tic      Magenta           medium
Scaling:
        Same as Price Data
The design of this indicator is not exclusive to just this seasonal soybean strategy. The same idea can also be applied to other seasonal strategies as well by simply adjusting the dates and/or the entry and exit parameters.

The EasyLanguage for the "seasonal SB - short" indicator and strategy described in the article are available for downloading from www.omegaresearch.com. The name of the file is "Seasonal.ELS."

-- Gaston Sanchez, Omega Research Inc.

800 422-8587, 305 270-1095
https://www.omegaresearch.com

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NEUROSHELL TRADER

To implement in NeuroShell Trader the megaseasonal system described by John Momsen in "Seasonal Trades And The Channel Breakout System," you must create a trading strategy in NeuroShell. Select "New trading strategyÉ" from the Insert menu and enter the following entry conditions, trailing stop prices, and exit conditions in the appropriate locations of the Trading Strategy Wizard (Figures 1-4).

Generate a sell-short stop order if one of the following are true:
  



And2(May Flag(Date),A>B(Day of Month(Date),14))
June Flag(Date)
July Flag(Date)

STOP PRICE: Sub(Min(Low,16),1.5)


Generate a short trailing stop at the following price levels:
  



ValueEntryAct(Trading Strategy,Add2(Max(High,5),0.25),1)
IfThenElse(A>B(EntryPrice(Trading Strategy,0),Max(High,11)),Add2(Max(High,11),0.25),20000)
Generate a cover-short Mkt Close order if both of the following are true:
  


August Flag(Date)
A>B(Day of Month(Date),12)
If you have the NeuroShell Trader Professional, you can also choose whether the system parameters should be optimized. After backtesting the trading strategy, use the "Detailed analysis" button to view the backtest and trade-by-trade statistics for this system.
 
 
 

FIGURE 1: NEUROSHELL TRADER. This shows the short entry tab in NeuroShell Trader's Trading Strategy Wizard. 

FIGURE 2: NEUROSHELL TRADER. Here is the short trailing stop tab in NeuroShell Trader's Trading Strategy Wizard.

 

FIGURE 3: NEUROSHELL TRADER. This shows the short exit tab in NeuroShell Trader's Trading Strategy Wizard. 

FIGURE 4: NEUROSHELL TRADER. Here's a NeuroShell Trader chart that graphically displays the trailing stop prices for the megaseasonal system. 
 
--Marge Sherald, Ward Systems Group, Inc.

301 662 7950, E-mail sales@wardsystems.com
https://www.neuroshell.com

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TECHNIFILTER PLUS

Below is the TechniFilter Plus code for implementing the soybean seasonal trading strategy suggested by John Momsen in "Seasonal Trades And The Channel Breakout System." To retrieve a month from a date within a TechniFilter Plus formula, you use integer division and the modulus operation in conjunction with the U15 modifier, which returns the date in the form of YYMMDD. For example, CU15 might return 991225. Then, CU15 \\ 10000 would be 1225. The \\ operator returns the remainder after performing the division. Then, to get the integer month, divide (CU15\\10000) \ 100, which results in 12, the month. The \ is integer division. To get the day of month, you would use CU15\\100.
  


NAME: SoySeasons

FORMULAS----------------------------------
[1] Date
[2] month
        (CU15 \\ 10000) \ 100
[3] dayofmonth
        CU15 \\ 100
[4] EntryPrice(16)
        LN&1Y1 - 6
[5] ExitPrice(5)
        HM&1Y1 + 1
[6] ProfitPrice(11)
        HM&1Y1 + 1
[7] High
        H
[8] Low
        L

RULES----------------------------------
r1: SellShort
        open short 1 on [4]
        at signal: TargetHit    [7]>=[4] & [8]<=[4] & ( ([2]=5  & [3]>14) ^ 
                [2]=6 ^[2]=7  )
r2: ExitShort
        cover short 1 on [5]
        at signal: ProtectiveStop       [8]<[5] & EntryIndex<CurrentIndex
r3: ExitShort1
        cover short 1 on [5]
        at signal: Stop EntryPrice>[5]
r4: Exit2
        cover short 1 on Close
        at signal: FinalExit    [2] = 8 & [3]>12
These formulas and program updates can be downloaded from RTR's Website. Release 8.3 of TechniFilter Plus is now available.
-- Clay Burch, RTR Software Inc.

919 510-0608, E-mail: rtrsoft@aol.com
https://www.rtrsoftware.com

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SMARTTRADER

Recreating in SmarTrader a seasonal trading system as described by John Momsen elsewhere in this issue makes good use of SmarTrader's date functions, which include day and month.


 
FIGURE 5: SMARTTRADER. This SmarTrader specsheet implements a seasonal trading system as described by John Momsen. It makes easy use of the date functions in SmarTrader.


Begin by adding the day and month functions. Then, using the formula builder, define Condition1, month is May, and the day is greater than 14. Note the use of parentheses in the definition of Condition1. Condition2 and Condition3 are month equal to June and July, respectively.

Use the highest and lowest functions to create HH5, HH11, and LL16. Again, use the formula builder to define the ShortEntry conditional statement and the highest five-day breakout stop.

Sell when Condition1 or Condition2 or Condition3 is true and ShortEntry is true. ExitShort when a five-day breakout occurs or the date is past August 12.

This SmarTrader specsheet is shown in Figure 5.

-- Jim Ritter, Stratagem Software International

504 885-7353, E-mail: Stratagem1@aol.com
https://www.stratagem1.com

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WAVE WI$E MARKET SPREADSHEET

In this issue, Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan gives the basics of pivot points in "Pivot Points." The following Wave Wi$e formulas show how to find swing pivot points for a given period. The Swing procedure asks for a period (the default is 7) and then begins to determine the highs and lows for the period. The chart in Figure 6 shows the results of the swing pivots.


 
FIGURE 6: WAVE WI$E. You can use Wave Wi$e to help find swing pivot points for a given period. This chart shows sample results.


A: DATE @TC2000(C:\TC2000\DATA,SP-500,STANDARD & POORS 500,DB)
B: HIGH 
C: LOW          
D: CLOSE        
E: OPEN         
F: VOL  
G: proc         PROCEDURE(SWING)
H: Pivots       
I: PivotID      
J: chart        @CHART(1)
K: 

ÔSWING - DETERMINE HIGH AND LOW SWING PIVOTS
Ô============================================
#NAME PERIOD    X$5
#NAME ROWLO     X$1
#NAME ROWHI     X$2
#NAME PVLOW     X$3
#NAME PVHIGH    X$4
PERIOD=@INPUT(ENTER THE PERIOD OF PIVOT,7,1)
@IF @ROW() = 1 THEN     ÔINITIALIZE
        ROWLO=1         ÔROW OF LAST LOW
        ROWHI=1         ÔROW OF LAST HIGH
ENDIF
@CELLPUT(@COLUMN()+1,@ROW(),@BLANK())   ÔCLEAR PREVIOUS VALUES
@CELLPUT(@COLUMN()+2,@ROW(),0)  ÔCLEAR PREVIOUS VALUES
@IF LOW < @MIN(LOW[-1],PERIOD) THEN     ÔTEST FOR NEW LOW
        PVHIGH=@MAX(HIGH,@ROW()-ROWLO)  ÔLOCK IN THE HIGH
        ROWHI=@ROWOF(@MAX(HIGH,@ROW()-ROWLO))
        @CELLPUT(@COLUMN()+1,ROWHI,PVHIGH)
        @CELLPUT(@COLUMN()+2,ROWHI,1)   ÔSAVE HIGH ID
        @RETURN(1)      ÔSHOW FOUND HIGH
ENDIF
@IF HIGH > @MAX(HIGH[-1],PERIOD) THEN   ÔTEST FOR NEW HIGH
        PVLOW=@MIN(LOW,@ROW()-ROWHI)    ÔLOCK IN THE LOW
        ROWLO=@ROWOF(@MIN(LOW,@ROW()-ROWHI))
        @CELLPUT(@COLUMN()+1,ROWLO,PVLOW)
        @CELLPUT(@COLUMN()+2,ROWLO,-1)  ÔSAVE LOW ID
        @RETURN(-1)     ÔSHOW FOUND LOW
ENDIF
@RETURN(0)      ÔSHOW FOUND NEITHER

==========End Formulas
-- Peter Di Girolamo, Jerome Technology

908-369-7503, E-mail: jtiware@aol.com
https://members.aol.com/jtiware

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