Across timeframes:-))

["Yarroll" <komin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello List,

Guided by Dave's good example {:-))} I thought I'd share a Metastock trick I
came across...

You may be aware of the difficulty (impossiblity) of testing a system
simultaneously on different timeframes. Like, you want to go long when C
crosses Mov(C,5,S) on daily chart only if C is above Mov(C,5,S) on weekly.
Not anymore! (Well... sort of:-((}

First, if you test a system on one security but using different timeframes
(daily and weekly), you'll have to copy your security and convert it into
weekly data; next, reference your weekly data using the
ity(   
function. But then, Metastock will give you a message to the effect "Please choose a security with compatible periodicity" etc. 
Here's the trick. In the ASCII format, replace "W" letter (for Weekly) with "D":-))

So:

- the data you're testing the system on is daily; the system references weekly data (from another folder) using  the "Security" function; 
- and your weekly data from another folder are converted from ASCII file with lines like this: 
My_weekly_security,D,20010625,100,101,99,100,1000000

{Note that "W" for weekly data has been replaced with "D" for daily}

This way Metastock is fooled into "thinking" it's all daily data :-))

This is not as optimistic as it looks though. If you treat weekly data as in this example, the system would reference them statically - that is, as if you've looked at weekly chart once a week, and not every day. And weekly charts seen every day can and will change dynamically (and, with hindsight, just like ZigZag function:-((}. 

All the best, 
Yarroll