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From: "Michel Amelinckx" <Michel.Amelinckx@*******.**>
At 01:37 PM 10/12/2001 +0200, you wrote:
I think exactly the same way as you but I got a VERY strong feeling that
the things you are hoping is just a dream, Because don't forget that Equis
is now from Reuters and what does Reuters sell ? Correct data ! So it is
very logical they will and are already taking that pad. Last upgrade what
were the new features apart the useless systems which are password
protected, yes Data on demand.
So I believe he can only dream of the MS what is used to be. And a very
bummer is that Supercharts seem to be of the market, is that correct ?
Other ways we don't have no where to go. What would be a good alternative ?
Greetings
M.
Michel,
Depends on what you are looking for. Other suggestions to your question
suggested substitute charting software. My approach has been a bit
different, though. I was looking for some added power that I could use to
do things I couldn't get done with the MetaStock EOD and Fibonacci Trader
RT programs that I use. I first saw some favorable remarks about Wave Wi$e
Market Spreadsheet on the QCharts list on groups.yahoo.com. Then I checked
it out in a review of Wave Wise in TASC way back in 1993.
You can do a lot of custom analysis with an Excel spreadsheet and even do
charting, but I found that Excel has one supreme disability with real time
data: processing time.
Suppose your Excel spreadsheet takes just one second to recalculate its
values during normal trading hours when other programs are busy running.
However, it can get multiple ticks each and every second from a real time
data feed. So, it just can't keep up because it wants to recalculate the
whole spreadsheet on every tick. Excel can eat up a lot of processing time
with a real time data feed.
WaveWise isn't a "real time" processor like Excel. And it doesn't collect
any data from data feeds. But, it follows the spreadsheet model. What it
does in one of its "cycles" is to swoop out and read the data files on your
drive; perform all of the spreadsheet-type calculations you tell it to do
(like you would in Excel); hold the results in memory (in a smaller
footprint than Excel); and then graph the results. It will "cycle" on
command or on timed intervals. If you set it to restart every 10 or 15
seconds, it becomes a virtual real time charting program using updated real
time data files (written to your disk by your real time data feed), but
without the enormous processing overhead of Excel.
You can do all sorts of interesting things with a spreadsheet-based
charting package. Say I was trading the QQQ's. Well, if they took off, then
the big names in the Nasdaq 100 are moving hard. Now if I wanted to watch
or trade the big moving stocks in the index along with the Q's, I could
perhaps chart the 10 or 15 largest names with my real time charting program
and then watch each one of the charts.
Or, instead, I could collect the intraday data on those same 15 stocks from
my real time data feed and write them to disk in either ASCII or MetaStock
format. Then I could tell WaveWise to read all 15 files in one pass from my
hard drive, calculate a smoothed ROC for each stock, select the fastest
mover (say MSFT at 9:45), transfer the bars for just that stock into my
designated charting columns, and paint the chart. Then at 9:50, if INTC
moved ahead, WW could recycle automatically, reread the updated files on
the drive, recalculate the new ROC, see INTC ahead, transfer INTC data to
the charting columns and paint INTC on the chart instead of MSFT.
So, I would always have the fastest mover and probably the main driver of
the Q's in my WaveWise chart while I focused on the Q's with my main real
time charting program.
That's a poor man's version of real time stock screening if WW is
automatically cycling every 10 or 15 seconds. And a spreadsheet based
charting package can do that kind of intelligent charting without any
programming language. (I'm not sure that even TradeStation could do that
kind of stock selection and intelligent chart substitution. And if you
could, it wouldn't be as easy as plugging a few formulas into some
spreadsheet cells.)
WaveWise reads intraday data in ASCII or MetaStock format along with
several EOD formats. It costs $80 for a one year license. (Web site is
http://members.aol.com/jtiware/) And, you can actually talk to the developer.
If you are comfortable with spreadsheets and want some muscle to supplement
your main charting package on ideas or indicators that the big developers
would never even consider, this might work as a do-it-yourself alternative.
If you want lots of canned indicators or need to be spoon fed, WaveWise
isn't for you because you start out with a blank spreadsheet and build what
you need.
By the way, I have no affiliation with WaveWi$e. I am just a happy user who
has found a new toy.
Terry Minke
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