Market Monks Musings

Symbols, Symbols, and more Symbols

2011-09-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Before we discuss the why and how to create your own database we need to have a discussion about Symbols.

There are well over a 1,00,000 symbols available to us to use in trading. That number will surely surprise a lot of folks. There are symbols for Stocks (Equities), ETFs, CEFs, MLPs, Mutual Funds, Forex, Options, Futures, and Indices.

Just in the category of Stocks we have (per www.freestockcharts.com as of 9/5/11):
5,928 Common Stocks (unfortunately also includes an est. 573 CEFs and the MLPs)
158 Preferred Stocks
43 Warrants
3,193 OTC BB Stocks
24,083 OTC Pink Sheet Stocks
So that's 33,405 tradable equity symbols.

The majority of the retail traders/investors are quite familiar with stock symbols. Here is an excellent write up at Wikipedia on the history of symbols used for equities.

There are over 1,200 Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and the number is growing as they offer significant advantages over Mutual Funds. Speaking of Mutual Funds there are 23,332 (per www.eoddata.com).

Now if we look at Options on Equities and ETFs, I quite conservatively calculate 750,000+ symbols. There are over 3,000 equity symbols that have options trading on them per CBOE. For each underlying
- there are Calls and Puts.
- at least 25 strike prices.
- at least 5 expiration months or dates.
So here is my math - 3,000 x 2 x 25 x 5 = 750,000 options. There could easily be twice that # in reality. IMHO AmiBroker is not well suited for Options.

Forex is a global, worldwide decentralized financial market for trading currencies. There are over 900 Forex pairs (per www.eoddata.com). AmiBroker is very well suited to trading Forex.

Per Wikipedia, a futures contract is a standardized contract between two parties to exchange a specified asset of standardized quantity and quality for a price agreed today (the futures price or the strike price) with delivery occurring at a specified future date, the delivery date. There are hundreds of futures related symbols and many times that of Options on Futures. AmiBroker is very well suited to trading Futures.

While not a tradable symbol, there are 1,000s of symbols of Indexes. One of the most famous index is that of the Dow Jones Industrials (^DJI at Yahoo). Indexes are created to track many aspects of the stock market. This is a major topic in and of itself that I will cover in a future post.

Successful investing/trading for the retail investor starts with a plan or methodology that identifies the markets (symbols) that are to be used.

I will discuss "why" to create your own database (versus paying for a service) in the next post.

Regards,
Monk

AmiBroker and ICB

2011-08-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

[Note: To go to the first post in this series about Industry Classification systems click here.]

In the previous post I introduced the Industry Classification System (ICB) and showed how Yahoo has the associated Indexes for each segment or classification. In this post I want to discuss how to assign the actual company symbols to their respective index.

Not too long ago AmiBroker added the capabilities to categorize symbols by the Global Industry Classification System (GICS). You can read more about GICS here.

The GICS categories and descriptions are provided by a simple "gics.txt" file located in the root directory of AmiBroker. Here is a partial listing:
10; Energy
1010; Energy
101010; Energy Equipment & Services
10101010; Oil & Gas Drilling; Drilling contractors or owners of drilling rigs that contract their services for drilling wells
10101020; Oil & Gas Equipment & Services; Manufacturers of equipment, including drilling rigs and equipment, and providers of supplies and services to companies involved in the drilling, evaluation and completion of oil and gas wells.
101020; Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels
10102010; Integrated Oil & Gas; Integrated oil companies engaged in the exploration & production of oil and gas, as well as at least one other significant activity in either refining, marketing and transportation, or chemicals.
10102020; Oil & Gas Exploration & Production; Companies engaged in the exploration and production of oil and gas not classified elsewhere.
10102030; Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing; Companies engaged in the refining and marketing of oil, gas and/or refined products not classified in the Integrated Oil & Gas or Independent Power Producers & Energy Traders Sub-Industries.
10102040; Oil & Gas Storage & Transportation; Companies engaged in the storage and/or transportation of oil, gas and/or refined products. Includes diversified midstream natural gas companies facing competitive markets, oil and refined product pipelines, coal slurry pipelines and oil & gas shipping companies.
10102050; Coal & Consumable Fuels; Companies primarily involved in the production and mining of coal, related products and other consumable fuels related to the generation of energy. Excludes companies primarily producing gases classified in the Industrial Gases Sub-Industry.
15; Materials
1510; Materials
151010; Chemicals
[It looks better in text file with no line wrap].

To make AmiBroker ICB compliant we have to do a few things.
1) GICS uses 2 numbers per level (so by the 4th level it has 8 numbers - i.e. 10102050 Coal). ICB uses 1 digit per level. So we have to make up a number scheme to trick AmiBroker into accepting ICB as GICS.
2) Then we have to copy this scheme into the original GICS.TXT file.

Here is a partial listing of the ICB information mapped into a GICS format:
10; [1000] Basic Materials
1013; [1300] Chemicals
101350; [1350] Chemicals
10135030; [1353] Commodity Chemicals
10135070; [1357] Specialty Chemicals
1017; [1700] Basic Resources
101730; [1730] Forestry & Paper
10173030; [1733] Forestry
10173070; [1737] Paper
101750; [1750] Indus. Metals & Mining
10175030; [1753] Aluminum
10175050; [1755] Nonferrous Metals
10175070; [1757] Iron & Steel
101770; [1770] Mining
10177010; [1771] Coal
10177030; [1773] Diamonds & Gemstones
10177050; [1775] General Mining
10177070; [1777] Gold Mining
10177090; [1779] Platinum & Prec. Metals
As you can see, the first number is a GICS compatible number scheme. But the actual ICB index number is embedded into the description field and enclosed with the [ and ].

Below is a screenshot of the top level ICB categories as well as a chart of Agilent Technologies. Notice how just below the title it shows that A is assigned to the ICB Sub Sector 2737 Electronic Equipment.

To manually assign each symbol to their respective ICB category, you open up the Information window as shown below.

Then in the GICS field you click on it to bring up a drop down box that will now list all of the ICB categories (not GICS) and you scroll down to the one you want and click on it.

There is an automated way to do this as well.

Currently there is no paid data provider that I am aware of that offers a US Stocks Database with these symbols fully categorized according to ICB.

At least not yet ;-)

Trade well,
Monk

Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB)

2011-08-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

[Note: To go to the first post in this series about Industry Classification systems click here.]

The Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB) is an industry classification system developed by FTSE. It is used to segregate markets into sectors within the macroeconomy. The ICB uses a system of 10 industries, partitioned into 19 supersectors, which are further divided into 41 sectors, which then contain 114 subsectors.

You can download a well written PDF that details the structure here.

What I like about this system is that Yahoo has the associated Index symbols for each segment of the ICB and the historical data which allows us to plot it.

Symbols begin with ^DJUS and then have two additional letters to identify each of the indexes.

Above is a chart of the Basic Materials Index (ICB-1000 Industry Level).

This system not only provide much better granularity but also the historical price data which allows us to chart it and perform various relative strength analysis routines on it.

And it has been licensed to various ETF providers so we can invest in the various levels.

All of these ICB Index symbols have been loaded into a number of watchlists in my MM US Stocks Database.

Which allows us quick access to the indices by Industry.

[note: I have created custom Full Names for each of the indexes, and have turned off the retrieval of the Full Name (Company/ETF/Index description) that Yahoo provides because it's typically inadequate and Yahoo truncates it down to 16 characters]

The next post will be about setting up AmiBroker for ICB and getting symbols assigned to their respective categories, please click here.

To go to the first post in this series about Industry Classification systems click here.

To learn how about the various ways of categorizing symbols within AmiBroker click here.

Trade well,
Monk

Thomson Reuters Business Classification (TRBC)

2011-08-21T11:02:00.000-07:00

The Thomson Reuters Business Classification (TRBC) is an industry classification of global companies; it is owned and operated by Thomson Reuters and is also the basis for their Indices.

It is a 4 level system consisting of:

L1 Economic Sectors (10)
L2 Business Sectors (25)
L3 Industry Groups (52)
L4 Sub Industries (124)

Unfortunately, TRBC data is not available to the retail investor/trader. They sell this data to Financial Services industry (hedge funds, mutual funds, etc.)

I may be wrong on the above statement in that Thomson/Reuters is a data provider to another well known software package called MetaStock. The End of Day (EOD) services costs $240/yr on an annual contract (plus another $100/yr for Indices). This service most likely is using the TRBC system.

[Update: No Industry Classification provided in EOD service per a representative]

Next post ---> Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB)

Monk

Global Industry Classification System (GICS)

2011-08-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

The Global Industry Classification System (GICS) was developed by Standard and Poors (SP) along with Morgan Stanley Capital Int'l (MSCI) for use by the global financial community.

It is a 4 level system consisting of:

L1 Sectors (10)
L2 Industry Groups (24)
L3 Industries (68)
L4 Sub Industries (154)

Unfortunately, GICS data is not available to the retail investor/trader. They sell this data to Financial Services industry (hedge funds, mutual funds, etc.)

AmiBroker does support the Global Industry Classification System as seen below in this screen capture.

Look in the column on the left. Each Sector breaks down to the next level (Industry Groups) which break down into Industries and then Sub Industries.

GICS has two numbers assigned to each level, so the Sub Industries (level 4) has 8 numbers.

Unfortunately, there are currently no data providers that offer all US Stock symbols categorized by GICS.

Next post ---> Thomson Reuters Business Classification (TRBC)

Monk

Morningstar Industrial Classification System (New - 4 level)

2011-08-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

Morningstar created a new Industry Classification System recently (2010).

Per this press release:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under the new global equity classification structure, Morningstar first maps companies into one of 148 Industries, based on their largest sources of revenue and income. The Industries roll up into 69 Industry Groups based on their market characteristics. Industry Groups fold into one of 11 Sectors, including Basic Materials, Communication Services, Consumer Cyclical, Consumer Defensive, Energy, Financial Services, Health Care, Industrials, Real Estate, Technology, and Utilities. The Sectors finally roll up to one of three major economic spheres, or Super Sectors, which are Cyclical, Defensive, and Sensitive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looking at it this way from the top down:
L1 Super Sectors (3)
L2 Sectors (11)
L3 Industry Groups (69)
L4 Industries (148)

Unfortunately, Morningstar is not making this data available to the retail investor/trader. They sell this data to Financial Services industry (hedge funds, mutual funds, etc.)

I do believe that a 4 level system is better than the current 2 level systems that are shown by Yahoo or Telechart.

Next post ---> Global Industry Classification System (GICS)

Monk

Morningstar Industrial Classification System (Old - Hemscott)

2011-08-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

Yahoo is using a part of the old Morningstar Industrial Classification system. This is the Hemscott system (Morningstar acquired that division of Hemscott in January 2008).

The old Morningstar system consists of 3 levels:
215 Industry Groups (L3)
31 Industry Categories (L2)
9 Sectors (L1)

I say that Yahoo is using a part of the system because they are using L1 and L3 only, and not L2.

You can perform a top down analysis by starting at the sector page
http://biz.yahoo.com/p/s_conameu.html
The 9 Sectors are:
Basic Materials
Conglomerates
Consumer Goods
Financial
Health Care
Industrial Goods
Services
Technology
Utilities

Clicking on Basic Materials brings up a list of all of the Industry's associated
with that sector. You can click on the "more info" link off to the right hand
side, doing so for Silver brings you to
http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/135.html
The dedicated page for this industry.

Notice that there is a chart with the symbol ^YHOH715. Clicking on that will
bring up a chart showing that industries performance up to the last 5 days.
Unfortunately there is no historical data for this which would allow us to plot
it.

Or you can jump right to the main Industries page at http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/

Here is a small list of the symbols associated with some industries:
^YHOh769 Accident & Health Insurance
^YHOh825 Advertising Agencies
^YHOh799 Aerospace/Defense - Major Diversified
^YHOh800 Aerospace/Defense Products & Services
^YHOh702 Agricultural Chemicals
^YHOh874 Air Delivery & Freight Services
^YHOh873 Air Services, Other
^YHOh712 Aluminum
^YHOh835 Apparel Stores
^YHOh718 Appliances
^YHOh885 Application Software
^YHOh762 Asset Management
^YHOh849 Auto Dealerships
^YHOh735 Auto Manufacturers - Major
^YHOh738 Auto Parts
^YHOh843 Auto Parts Stores
^YHOh851 Auto Parts Wholesale
remember there are 215 of these symbols, 1 for each industry. Keep in mind I think these symbols are next to useless since there is no historical price data for them that would allow us to bring them into AmiBroker to chart them as well as perform relative strength analysis.

Exchange Traded Funds are not included in this classification system. They have
their own and I will create a post discussing that some time in the near future.

As for Closed End Funds, they fall into the Financial Sector and are put in one
of three industries:
^YHOh765 Closed-End Fund - Debt
^YHOh766 Closed-End Fund - Equity
^YHOh767 Closed-End Fund - Foreign

The Telechart software and data service from Worden's use this old Morningstar system as well with the exception that they use L2 (Industry Categories) and L3(Industry Groups), and not L1 (Sectors).

Worden's use MG as the identifier for these Morningstar Industry Groups and
Categories. Each one has a 3 digit number assigned to it.

The higher level categories end with a zero and the name starts and ends with a
"-" so as to clearly denote it's status.
MG110 -Chemicals- is an example.
beneath each of these are spots for 9 industry groups.
MG111 Chemicals - Major Diversified
MG112 Synthetics
MG113 Agricultural Chemicals
MG114 Specialty Chemicals

But a few of the MIC categories have more than 9 groups so Worden's had to
combine and or move 6 of these groups.

They:
moved Basic Materials Wholesale into Wholesale - Other
moved Foreign Money Center Banks into Money Center Banks
merged Management Services with Business Services and called it
Business/Management Services
moved Newspapers into Publishing-Periodicals
merged Real Estate Development in with Property Management to call it Property
Management/Development
merged REIT - Industrial in with REIT - Diversified to call it REIT -
Diversified/Industrial
also
moved Apparel Stores from Retail to Specialty Retail

It is interesting to note also that TC2000 and FreeStockcharts.com are using L2
(Industry Categories) and L3 (Industry Groups).
MG110 -Chemicals-
MG120 -Energy-
MG130 -Metals & Mining-
MG210 -Conglomerates-
MG310 -Consumer Durables-
MG320 -Consumer Non-Durables-
MG330 -Automotive-
MG340 -Food & Beverage-
MG350 -Tobacco-
MG410 -Banking-
MG420 -Financial Services-
MG430 -Insurance-
MG440 -Real Estate-
MG510 -Drugs-
MG520 -Health Services-
MG610 -Aerospace/Defense-
MG620 -Manufacturing-
MG630 -Materials & Construction-
MG710 -Leisure-
MG720 -Media-
MG730 -Retail-
MG740 -Specialty Retail-
MG750 -Wholesale-
MG760 -Diversified Services-
MG770 -Transportation-
MG810 -Computer Hardware-
MG820 -Computer Software & Services-
MG830 -Electronics-
MG840 -Telecommunications-
MG850 -Internet-
MG910 -Utilities-

This is one area in which Yahoo certainly needs to improve.

Fortunately, Finviz also uses this old Morningstar Industry classification. They are using L1 and L3 just like Yahoo but have some really nice tools for tracking performance and for charting. Start by going to the Groups page. You can switch between the Sectors and Industries and view this data in all sorts of ways.

Next post ---> Morningstar Industrial Classification System (New - 4 level)

Trade well,
Monk

Industry Classification Systems

2011-08-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

It has been said that 60% of the stocks movement can be contributed to the overall market (up during bull markets and down during bear markets), and that 30% is due to how well a group of related stocks (by industry for example) is doing, and the last 10% or so is due to the company itself.

While some will argue about the percentages, almost everyone agrees with the basic premise.

This has been observed since the early days and one of the reasons why Charles Dow created the Dow Jones Industrial Index (and DJ Transportation Index).

The goal of Industry classification systems is to organize companies into industrial groupings based on similar production processes, similar products, or similar behavior in financial markets.

There are basically 5 major competing systems:
Morningstar Industrial Classification System (Old - Hemscott)
Morningstar Industrial Classification System (MICS, new 4 level)
Global Industry Classification Systems (GICS)
Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB)
Thomson Reuters Business Classification (TRBC)

Why bother with all of this? Well there are a number of reasons why.

One reason that comes to mind can be illustrated via two competing sayings -

"Don't put all of your eggs in the same basket" - Many strongly believe that in order to survive the ups and downs of the market you need to spread out your portfolio amongst different asset classes and within stocks (equities) different industries.

The reverse of the above is "Put all of your eggs into one basket - but watch them like a hawk". Okay that may not be the exact phrase but it's close enough. If you look at stocks that have had 1000% + gains, they have a lot of common traits. It is these types of stocks that some folks advocate that you invest in (versus buying a utility company for it's dividend).

Industry classification systems can help identify one or more aspects of those types of stocks.

Another reason to understand what industry a stock belongs to is to help determine when to invest ie market timing using the economic cycle.

This graphic from www.ritholtz.com shows the relationship of the ecomomic cycle and that of the stock market. It also shows which sectors of the market do better during certain phases.

Over a series of posts I will go into greater detail of various classification systems and present my opinions as to the advantages and disadvantages of them.

Next post --> Morningstar Industrial Classification System (Old - Hemscott)

Trade well,
Monk

Quantitative Tradings Systems - Book

2011-08-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

One of the major reasons why folks purchase AmiBroker is for it's ability to design and test Trading Systems. AmiBroker by far offers outstanding value in this area as all competitive products cost at least 10X and up to 100X of what AmiBroker sells for.

If you are interested in learning how to develop your own systems then I highly suggest purchasing the book - "Quantitative Trading Systems" by Dr. Howard Bandy.

and

You can order it from here.

Trade well,
MM

Web Research

2011-08-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

One of the features I have loved about AmiBroker for years now is their Web Research page. AmiBroker was one of the first Technical Analysis software packages that offered such a feature.

It is an integrated web page that will pass the symbol to the web site you are visiting such that it will bring up the related information.

For example, here is a screen shot of the Yahoo Summary page for BIDU

It is a web page that is opened up from within AmiBroker. As you click on symbols from the list on the left, it will make a new request at Yahoo to bring up that symbol specific page.

To open up a new Web Research page you can choose the option from the main menu or click on the Internet Explorer icon on the toolbar (see red circle).

You can have any number of Web Research windows open.

To set up a list of web pages available to AmiBroker you have to go to the customize window.

From the main menu bar, click on Tools, then Customize, then click on the Web Pages tab in the window to arrive at the screen shot above.

This is the place where you will add or remove web page links.

As you visit various web pages you will see a specific URL address. For example the web address for the Yahoo Summary page while viewing BIDU is:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=BIDU
s= stands for "use the symbol" of. In this case it is BIDU.

AmiBroker will take the current "Ticker Symbol" and append it to this URL address prior to sending the request to the web site. It does so by using a variable notation of {t}
That is why you see http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s={t} in the field URL above.
Then the description of Yahoo - Summary page below that.

Some of my favorite sites are:
Finviz
http://www.finviz.com/quote.ashx?t={t}
BIDU

Chartly
http://chart.ly/symbols/{t}
BIDU

Stocktwits
http://stocktwits.com/symbol/{t}
BIDU

TickerSpy
http://www.tickerspy.com/stock_quote/{t}
BIDU

Morningstar
http://quote.morningstar.com/stock/s.aspx?t={t}
BIDU

Wall Street Journal - Online
http://quotes.wsj.com/{t}
BIDU

Web Research pages are a fast way to get to specific web sites and the information you need.

Trade well,
Monk

Introduction to AmiBroker - Book

2011-08-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

If you are new to using AmiBroker I would highly suggest buying this book.

This book covers
- how to download and install the software
- setting up free databases
- setting up subscription databases
- setting up real-time databases
- navigating AmiBrokers menus and options
- customizing the layout of charts and indicators
- learning AmiBroker Formula Language (AFL)
- creating your own indicators
- creating and running explorations
- listing of and definitions for AFL functions
- writing trading systems
- testing trading systems
- optimizing trading systems
- validating trading systems
and much more.

You can get more information and purchase the book from here.

Trade well,
Monk

Categorizing Symbols

2011-07-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

AmiBroker has the ability to assign symbols to different categories allowing you (when properly set up) to narrow your analysis searches to the symbols meeting certain selection criteria.

The first way is to assign symbols to a Market. Think of where a stock is traded, like NYSE, Amex, Nasdaq (GM), Nasdaq OTC, Nasdaq Pink Sheets. Or an asset class that trades on many venues like Mutual Funds, Forex, Options.

AmiBroker allows up to 255 Markets that can be renamed according to your needs.

Below is a screen shot of the Markets folder in my database. Symbols have been assigned as to where they are listed to trade (i.e. NYSE) or the type of asset they are (i.e. Mutual Fund).

Key Rule: A symbol can only belong to 1 and only 1 Market.

The next way symbols can be categorized is by the type of asset class or security it is. We have Common Stocks, Preferred Stocks, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Closed Ended Funds (CEFs), Mutual Funds (MFs), Foreign Exchange (FOREX), as well as non traded Market Indices such as the Dow Jones Industrials (^DJI as used in Yahoo).

AmiBroker provides 255 Groups for you to assign as you see fit.

Below is a screen shot on how I have my groups named.

I love to monitor Indices as they provide a wide range of views on the market. I will do a post on Indices in the future.

Key Rule: A symbol can only belong to 1 and only 1 Group.

The next way that symbols can be categorized is by assigning them to the Industry they operate in. There are a number of Industry Classification Systems in use today. The main ones have been developed by Hemscott, Morningstar, Dow Jones with FTSE, and Standard & Poors with Morgan Stanley. I plan to create a post describing each of the above.

Yahoo is using the old Morningstar Industry Classification System. I say old as it was a system they picked up when they acquired Hemscott. It is a 3 Level system consisting of:
215 Industry Groups (L3)
31 Industry Categories (L2)
9 Sectors (L1)
Yahoo is using the Sectors (L1) and Industries (L3) as can be seen at their home page
http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/

Finviz is also using the same system as can be explored here:
http://www.finviz.com/groups.ashx
Click on the Group box to change between Sector and Industry. And then you can also change the view from an Overview to Charts on the menu below the box.

AmiBroker provide for 2 levels (Sectors and their related Industries). Here is a screen shot of how I have them laid out:

Undefined Sector/Industry is used when a symbol is new and has not yet been assigned.
The N/A Sector/Industry is used when the symbol can not be assigned to any one particular Sector or Industry. Like Indices, Mutual Funds, Forex, etc.

Under each of the main Sectors are the listed Industries (only the Industries for the Utilities Sector are shown in this screen shot). When a symbol is assigned to an Industry it is automatically assigned to a Sector (as all Industries are sub groups of a Sector).

Key Rule: A symbol can only belong to 1 and only 1 Industry (and therefore Sector).

Categorizing stocks by Market (i.e. NYSE), Group (i.e. Stocks - Common), or by Industry (i.e. Gas Utilities) are ways to view large and broad groups of symbols.

The next way symbols can be grouped together is by using a customer defined group called Watchlists.

AmiBroker allows you the ability to create an unlimited number of watchlists and have an unlimited number of symbols in each. Plus symbols can be assigned to any number of watchlists.

This provides you the ability to have much more narrower and focused views into the market. You can have watchlists for:
Your stocks at a particular brokerage account
Symbols that make up the Dow Jones Industrials (30)
Symbols that make up the S&P 500
Symbols that are related to providing Solar Power
ETFs (a smaller group) that are for trading overseas markets or foreign countries.
Bond related CEFs (a smaller group) for income generation
Mutual Funds that you follow (out of 23,000+ that are available)
A list of symbols that are the results of an exploration (like find all stocks that are up 10%+ today)
and so on.

AmiBroker provides 64 blank watchlists. The first 10 are shown below.

You can add, delete, and rename watchlists. And for each watchlist you can add and remove symbols at will.

Key Rule: A symbol can belong to any number of watchlists.

Ideas for watchlists can come from anywhere. One good source is from TickerSpy.com

Categorizing symbols allows us to view the market from a broad perspective or a more focused way.

Trade well,
Monk

AmiBroker Trial Copy

2011-07-20T23:38:00.001-07:00

AmiBroker is an amazing technical analysis software package is so many ways. You can try it for free by downloading it here. This will be the full functional version but with some limitations.

The main limitation is that it does not save any price data. You can download historical quotes to bring it up to date but you will have to do it again once you close the program. The good news that any symbols you add to the database will be saved.

Also the following actions will be saved
- can change name/order of the sheets
- can add/delete indicators
- can change the parameters of indicators
- can add/delete panes
- can load/save chart templates
- can add/delete notes to symbols
- can add/delete/rename watchlists
- can add/delete layouts
- can add/delete websites for research windows
- can change # of spaces to the right
- can change color of up candle to grn, down to red
- can change width of selector line (prefs,colors)
as well as other things.

but:
- Explorations limited to first 5 symbols looked at (not results found!)
- Scans limited to first 5 symbols looked at (not results found!)
- Systems (there is a limitation but I don't remember what it is, will modify post when I do)
The above can be frustrating when trying to evaluate the software.

One thing that I find disappointing is that the installed product is quite generic and bland. I understand that it has to be that way since the software can be customized to the Nth degree by each individual according to their preferences.

The fresh install will only have the Dow Jones Industrials 30 symbols plus Index (^DJI) loaded into the database. All you have to do is use AmiQuote (a downloader) to retrieve the historical quotes for all symbols. More on this later or simple watch this video but leave/change the choice to Historical.

Here is a screenshot of a fresh install:

Now here is a screenshot of one of my layouts:

Please recognize that I in no way believe that I am doing anything special or that my way is the best or correct way to do things. I plan to simply share how to use it.

Now that the software is downloaded, installed, and updated you will be asking a ton of questions. There are a number of places in which you can get support for which I will dedicate a post to. I would start with the support page at AmiBroker here. And take time to watch the various videos that links are provided for.

Trade well,
MM

PS the first post about AmiBroker is here.

AmiBroker

2011-07-20T23:03:00.000-07:00

Over the years I have traded just about every asset class available to us (stocks, ETFs, ETNs, options, futures, forex). In doing so I have used a number of technical analysis products.

One that remains with me today is AmiBroker. Over a number of posts I will explain why I use it as well as provide suggestions how to get the most out of it.

One of the first questions that folks ask is "How much is it going to cost me?"
Here is the good news .... $199 for the Standard Version and $279 for the Professional Version.
I have been using the Standard version for years, but here is the link that describes what features are in each: Versions

You can either use free data like I do (Yahoo End of Day) or subscribe to a paid service for either EOD or RT data.

The next question I get is "Is that price per year?" and to that the answer is no. The prices above are for a one time fee. Once you purchase the license you own it for life. You also get free upgrades for a full year past your purchase date. AmiBroker is constantly being improved and has beta releases coming out monthly (or sooner).

After one year from your purchase date you can buy the latest version for 50% of the current full price. That means for $99.50 you can buy the Standard version even if you purchased AmiBroker 10 years ago and have been happy with it since then but want some of the new features.

Price shouldn't be the main consideration but it often is and that's why I discussed it first.

I struggle with putting down on paper all of the features that AmiBroker offers because it is so powerful and flexible. All of us are different in the way we approach the markets, what's important to us, etc. So my approach will be to share with you my view points on what some of the key features are and how to use them over a large number of posts.

Index of posts related to AmiBroker: [will expand as I make more posts]
AmiBroker Trial Copy Explains what can be done with the evaluation version.
Categorizing Symbols Explains how you can categorize symbols using AmiBroker.
Web Research Explains what web research is and how to use it.

Trade well,
MM

2 Demons (Being Right - Being Perfect)

2011-07-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Over the years I have come to realize that I have 2 major demons that I have when it comes to trading.

1) The need to be "right". I hate being wrong and as such I have held onto my losers far too long.

2) The need to be "perfect". Pinching for pennies. Either wanting to get in on a pull back to support (i.e. 50 day moving average) at an exact level or trying to squeak out a little bit more profit when the stock has clearly stopped moving higher.

The second one also applies to blogging as I want all of my posts to be perfect.

Fortunately, I am making good progress on both.

Monk

I am back

2011-05-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to announce I am back to blogging. I have a new venture that I will be starting up and am not sure if my blogging will be here at MMM or at a new web site with integrated blog.

More on this later,

Trade well

Monk