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Personal Stock Technician
Version 1.01
( Copyright (c) 1991, 1992 by RazorLogic Systems )
A Stock Market Technical Analysis and Tracking Program.
USER'S GUIDE
Document Revision : 1.00 November 1, 1991
1.01 April 30, 1992
March 17, 1993
Preface
This document is Copyright (C) 1991, 1992 by RazorLogic Systems,
An Operating Division of Lynn-Western. All rights reserved.
The Personal Stock Technician (PST) package is protected by
both United States copyright law and international treaty provisions.
Personal Stock Technician is provided as is, without warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied. We only guarantee that it will
occupy disk space.
In no event shall RazorLogic or any of its personnel or associate
be liable for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings
or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use or inability to use this program.
All RazorLogic products and product names are trademarks or
registered trademarks of RazorLogic Systems. Other brand and product
names mentioned throughout this document are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders. The owners of
theses trademarks have never expressed any approval or disapproval
of RazorLogic products. The compression software used is LHA2.11,
copyright (c) 1991 by Yoshi.
This is version 1.01 of Personal Stock Technician. If you do not
have a registered copy, some features are not available. See
Appendix C for complete ordering, pricing
and support information.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Users are strictly cautioned not to construe the use of this
program or any accompanying material as constituting investment
advise. The author and RazorLogic Systems do not warrant,
represent or guarantee the accuracy, sufficiency, suitability
or merchantability of the raw information presented, or any
indicator, trend or theory in this program or supplemental
material.
---------------------------------------------------------------
- ii -
License
Personal Stock Technician (PST) is not a Public Domain program
and is not free. Personal Stock Technician is copyright (C) 1991,
1992 by RazorLogic Systems.
PST may not be modified in any respect, for any reason, including
but not limited to, de-compiling, disassembling, or reverse
engineering of the program. The opening title screen, help screens,
and all other proprietary program output must never be altered,
removed, bypassed or modified by any means.
You are free to distribute the publicly available distribution
(demonstration) version of PST to others subject to the above
restrictions and also the following:
1. No fee is charged for its use.
2. No remuneration may be accepted for PST. This does not
apply to computer access charges the system operators
(Sysops) of (or organizations owning) bulletin board
systems, online services, etc., may charge subscribers.
3. PST must be copied in unaltered form, complete with all
license information, the full documentation and all
accompanying files. The distribution package distributed
by RazorLogic Systems must not be altered in any way.
4. All shareware houses and/or distribution firms must make
explicitly clear that the diskette purchase containing
any shareware program has not registered the shareware
with RazorLogic Systems.
System Operators may make distribution copy of PST Technician
available for download only if the above conditions are met.
The distribution package distributed by RazorLogic Logic or
an equivalent archive may be made available only in complete
form. Refer to Section 2.3 (Files) to verify complete package
contents. If the contents appear altered or incomplete,
you may obtain the latest release of the distribution copy of
PST directly from RazorLogic Systems at the address listed in
Appendix C. Please use the order form and include $15 for
handling.
Commercial distributors of "Public Domain", "Shareware", and/or
User Supported software may distribute the distribution copy of
PST subject to the above conditions only after obtaining written
permission from RazorLogic Systems. This condition statement
supersedes all previous agreements.
- iii -
Please refer to the Appendix C for additional information on
registration, site-licensing and related topics.
***
The above license statement does not apply to the registered version
of PST. The registered software of RazorLogic Systems is protected
under United States Copyright and Trademark Laws. It must be
treated just like a book with certain exceptions as follows:
1. RazorLogic Systems authorizes the making of archival copies
of the registered version of PST for the sole purpose of
backing-up your software and protecting your investment
from possible loss.
2. The medium on which the registered software is recorded is
transferred to the customer, but not the title to the software.
3. The customer may resell or distribute unmodified copies of the
registered software provided the customer has purchased from
RazorLogic one copy of the registered software for each
one sold or distributed. The provisions of this software
license shall also be applicable to third parties receiving
copies of the registered software from the customer.
4. By saying, "just like a book", RazorLogic means that
the registered software may be used by any number of people
and may be freely moved from one computer location to another
so long as there is absolutely no possibility of it being used
at one location while being used at another. Just like a book
that cannot be read by two different people in two different
locations at the same time.
- iv -
Contents
Preface ii
License iii
Contents v
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 Input Data Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 2 Installation 4
2.1 Hard Drive Installation . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3 Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Chapter 3 Setup and Getting Started 6
3.1 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2 Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3 Help Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.4 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Chapter 4 The Main Menu 8
4.1 Plot A File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2 Update A File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.3 Create A File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.4 Print A File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.5 File Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.6 Configure Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.7 Multi-Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.8 Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.9 Reserved for Future Use . . . . . . . . . . 10
Chapter 5 File Plotting and Technical Analysis . . 11
5.1 Description of Plot a File Menu Items . . . 11
5.2 Notes on File Plotting . . . . . . . . . . 18
Appendix A Support Systems 19
Appendix B Collected References 20
- v -
Appendix C Registration Information 21
C.1 Pricing and Order Form . . . . . . . . . . 21
C.2 Purchase Order Terms and Requirements . . . 23
C.3 Site License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
C.4 Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Appendix D Downloading Data 25
D.1 HQCON.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
D.2 UPKEEP.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
D.3 SPLIT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
D.4 STKCHECK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
D.5 Notes on "Screen Dumps" . . . . . . . . . 28
Appendix E Acknowledgements 30
- vi -
Chapter 1
Introduction
Welcome to Personal Stock Technician (PST), the complete stock
market tracking and analysis program from RazorLogic Systems.
This manual contains a complete description of all the features
of PST, including the mathematics and a description of the
technical indicators used in the program.
1.1 Hardware Requirements
PST has been tested at one time or another on the following
systems:
IBM PC-1
IBM PC-XT
IBM PS/2 Model 60
HP Vectra
DELL System 310
Heinz 57 turbo XT
Strange 80386 based PC
The graphics are written to EGA specifications, but will also
accommodate CGA and Hercules mono-graphics cards.
PST will run under MS or PC DOS versions 3.3 and above,
however, it is unlikely that we will test future versions
below DOS version 4.01.
Although PST will run on most machines, there are a few
restrictions and requirements:
o IBM PC, AT or 100% BIOS compatible
o Hard disk with at least one megabyte available
(Floppy diskette operation not recommended)
o Graphics monitor, preferably EGA or VGA
o At least 512 KB of system memory
1.2 Software Requirements
o MS or PC-DOS 3.30 or above
- 1 -
1.3 Input Data Files
All financial data used by PST are kept in ASCII text files
and must have the filetype ".STK". PST has standard manual
data file creation and update capabilities, but the ASCII text
format allows for editing by any text editor.
PST does not yet support automatic data acquisition from any
financial database. However, this distribution package comes
with several utilities that will import data from "screen
capture" files generated during a Dow Jones News/Retrieval,
Compuserve, or Prodigy session. Data import utilities will be
added continuously; consequently, the newest one may not be
covered in this revision of the User's Guide. Please see Appendix
D (Downloading Data) for details. In addition, several data files
are available for download by registered PST owners from RazorLogic's
affiliated Bulletin Board System, the Lynn-Western Newswires BBS.
Daily or weekly updates of data from your usual data sources (Wall
Street Journal, etc.) can be entered from the keyboard. (Personal
Stock Technician registration DOES NOT include Dow Jones
News/Retrieval, Compuserve or Prodigy services - nor do we intend
to imply otherwise.)
PST's data file format allows for any time base you prefer
(daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) but each file should have all
its entries dated the same way. Mixing daily data with
monthly data will create confusing plots. Also, just like
apples and apples, you can only compare two files that have the
same date increments. PST won't let you try to match a file with
weekly entries against a file with monthly entries. PST will
position one file relative to the other so that the dates match
up vertically, however, and will even do so if one file is larger
or smaller than the other as long as the date spans overlap.
For simplicity, we'll often use the word "period"' when describing
a file's records, rather than saying "day", "week", or "month."
Finally, each file has a header of five lines. Of these first
five lines, PST currently only uses the first two, the remaining
three lines are left blank. The data commences on the sixth
line. The first line is the filename (without the ".STK"), and
can be in upper, lower or mixed case. The second line, which
must be in all capitals, tells PST if the data is to be plotted
as High-Low-Close-Volume data (HILOCLOS), closing-only data (SING),
or closing-only with volume (CLOS). Each data record has the
format:
mm dd yy high low close volume.
A typical file looks like:
- 2 -
ibm
HILOCLOS
01 01 90 101.25 100.0 101.25 111543
01 02 90 102.00 101.25 101.5 214569
01 03 90 104.5 101.25 103.0 135444
.
.
.
.
(NOTE: PST stores it's data as decimals, NOT fractions.)
If you decide to change a file's name remember to also change
the name in the header, e.g. use the DOS Ren (Rename) command
to change the filename and also use the text editor to change the
first line in the file header to the same name.
1.4 Registration
The un-registered version of Personal Stock Technician will do
nearly everything that the Registered version can do except that
a few features are not active and the data file size is limited
to 50 entries.
Registering PST will activate all features and allow data files
as large as 600 entries, which is nearly 3 years worth of daily
market data, 11.5 years of weekly data or 50 years of monthly
data. Registration will also give you full privileges on the
Lynn-Western Newswires BBS, where you can download market data
and ask questions about PST.
You may distribute the un-registered version, in the original
compressed form, to anyone as long as the original compressed
package is not altered in any way. You may NOT share or
distribute the registered version!
To register PST, please follow the instructions in Appendix C.
- 3 -
Chapter 2
Installation
2.1 Hard Drive Installation
PST will run from any directory on any hard drive. We suggest
creating a directory called PST on your C drive simply for
consistency with the examples used in this manual.
From the Root directory of your C drive create a directory
called PST:
e.g., C:> MD PST
Copy all files on the distribution diskette (or the files
extracted from the compressed distribution package) into
the PST directory you created in section 2.1 above:
e.g., C:> COPY A:*.* C:\PST.
That's it. The program files are now installed. You must be
in the PST subdirectory to run PST. Once you're there just
type "PST" to run the program.
2.2 Floppy Drive
We do not recommend running PST from a floppy but it can be done.
Since storage space on a diskette would be the main difficulty,
large amounts of data stored on secondary diskettes, would not
be accessible by PST. PST will not request a floppy diskette
if it can not find a data file, so you will have to anticipate
which data you'll need on the program diskette.
2.3 Files
The following files are in the distribution package:
PST.EXE,
PST.OVR --- The Executable file and its overlay.
PSTCFG.EXE --- The Configuration program, executable
from the Main Menu of PST or by itself.
PSTCFG.HLP,
PSTHELP.HLP --- Help Menus for PST and PSTCFG.
- 4 -
PST_101.DOC --- This file.
PST.KEY --- Registration Key - Registered users only.
FILES.LST --- List of files in the distribution package.
KONPHIG.DEF --- Default Configuration file, only here as
a back up.
KONPHIG.SYS --- PSTCFG's configuration file. Do not edit
this text file unless you know what each
entry is for. Let PSTCFG do it for you.
NYSE.STK,
OEX. STK,
SGI.STK --- Sample data files.
TED.COM --- Freebie full screen editor by PC Magazine.
Replace this with your own, if you prefer.
READ.ME --- The usual Read.Me file
4X6.FON --- Font file needed for program execution.
HQCON.EXE,
UPKEEP.EXE --- Utility programs for converting Dow Jones
or Compuserve "screen capture" files to
PST data format.
HQSTOCK.ASP,
UPDATE.ASP --- Sample Procomm Plus (ver 2.0) Aspect Script
Language procedures for automatically
downloading stock market data from Dow Jones
Information Services.
STKCHECK.EXE --- Utility for comparing dates between two STK
data files. Helpful in locating errors that
cause plotting problems.
SPLIT.EXE --- Utility for adjusting stock data for splits.
- 5 -
Chapter 3
Setup and Getting Started
3.1 Configuration
The Configuration routine is run from PST's Main Menu and is
self-explanatory. (Pressing F1 will produce a help screen,
however.) A text editor is provided in the distribution package,
but you can use your own. Be sure to use the entire file
name for the editor you choose, i.e. "EDITOR.EXE", NOT "Editor".
You will be able to alter the plotting colors by going to the
Custom Color Menu. We suggest using the default colors until
you've done some plotting, then return to the Configuration
routine and experiment.
Remember: After saving your configuration changes you must
start the program over to activate them.
3.2 Menus
There are only three menus in PST technician: the Main
Menu, from which you go everywhere else, the
Configuration Menu, and the File Plotting Menus.
At the Main Menu simply move the highlight bar to your
selection using the up/down arrow keys and press enter.
The File Plotting menu is in the lower right hand corner
of your graphics screen. There are over 20 different
actions to choose from, lettered A through Z, spread over
four separate menu pages. You select the pages you wish to
view with the PgUp/PgDn keys and select the menu item by
pressing the enter key. A full discussion of the File
Plotting menu items will be found in Chapter 5, File
Plotting and Technical Analysis.
3.3 Help Screens
PST is equipped with context sensitive help screens which
are activated by pressing the F1 key.
3.4 Getting started
The distribution package comes with two data files which you
can use to try out PST. All you have to do to get started is
go to the Main Menu, select Plot a File and enter the filename
(either OEX or NYSE).
- 6 -
If you are using an un-registered copy, you'll have to edit the
files so that there are no more than 50 data entries. (The
Registered version will let you plot up to 600 entries.)
Registered users receive a PST.KEY file which must be in the same
directory as the PST program. (The PST.KEY file is unique
to each individual registered user and accompanies the registered
copy of PST.)
- 7 -
Chapter 4
The Main Menu
4.1 Plot A File
After pressing the enter key, PST will ask
you to enter the filename of the data you
want to plot. Enter the name of a file which
is stored on the disk and press enter. Enter
only the filename, i.e type "OEX", not
"OEX.STK."
PST will then clear the screen and plot your
choice. You will not need to return to the
Main Menu to plot another file.
4.2 Update A File
This feature allows you to quickly update a
data file from the keyboard. As you did in
Plot a File, press enter, type the file name,
and press enter again. At the top of the
ensuing screen you'll find the name of the
file, its plot type (HILOCLOS, etc.), and the
number of records currently in the file.
You'll also find the values for the last
record in the file, arranged below the
column headings "Date" and so on. This is
to aid you in keeping your place as well as
remind you of the data format.
Begin entering new data by entering the date
first. You must use two digits for each field
in the date, e.g. "01/02/90" not "1/2/90".
The backspace key lets you correct an error
until you move on to the next entry in the
record. F5 lets you start the entire record
entry over again.
After entering all of each record press enter.
When you are done, press F7 to record the
updated file to disk.
- 8 -
4.3 Create A File
The only difference between "Create A File" and
"Update A File" is the first screen you see after
you have entered a new file name. The first
screen asks you to choose what plot type you'll
be using for the new file. Press the number next
to the plot type you decide upon; the next screen
will be an input screen identical to the one you
found in Update a File. You can add as much data
here as you want, but be sure to enter at least
the first record. After saving to disk, any
subsequent data is added using "Update A File."
Caution: Do not use a filename which you have
already used or "Create A File" will overwrite
it!
4.4 Print A File
This feature is supplied for quick browsing
and printing purposes in the event that you
do not have a text editor. Press enter, type
the filename and press enter again. PST
will then ask if you want the file to print
to the screen or the printer. Press "S" if
you want to scroll the file's data on the
screen; "P" if you want to print it.
4.5 File Directory
Pressing Enter produces a display of all the
data files you have available on disk.
4.6 Configure Program
You can run the Configure Program by pressing
enter or by running it separately as PSTCFG. In
either event, you will be able to decide to
have PST beep at you or not beep at you, what
plotting colors to use, and the text editor
you want to use (among other things). We have
supplied a text editor, but you can use any
editor of your choice. Be sure to use the
editor's full filename, i.e. "EDITOR.EXE"
not EDITOR."
Note: The actual text editor program must be
either in the same directory as PST or in
your path.
If you are using the Configure Program from
PST's main menu, you'll have to rerun PST to
activate your changes.
- 9 -
4.7 Multi-Plot
Multi-Plot enables you to print all the data
that you saved while you were in "Plot A File."
When you were in "Plot A File", you selected
Multi-Plot (U) from the Plot a File Menu and
stored several screen images on disk. Now at
the Main Menu, you select Multi-Plot and each
of the screen images you saved will be plotted
out one at a time. You can save up to ten
screens for plotting.
Be sure the printer is on and operating properly,
then, while Multi-Plot is doing it's job, you can
take a break. (Plotting EGA screens takes
a little time.)
For more information on Multi-Plot see
section 5.1 U.
4.8 Editor
Press "Enter" and enter the name of the file you
want to edit, and press "Enter" again. PST will
run the editor you chose in the Configuration.
4.9 Reserved for Future Use
The last two menu items in PST's Main
Menu are reserved for future features.
- 10 -
Chapter 5
File Plotting and Technical Analysis
All technical analysis functions are performed by
pressing any key from A-Z. Use the PgUp and PgDn keys
to see each of the four small menus in the lower right
portion of the screen. All keys are active, you do
not have to select the menu first.
5.1 Description of Plot A File Menu Items.
A - Get New File
Enter the filename of the new file you
want to plot. If you are in Split Screen
mode, you will load the new file into the
lower screen and it will be in exact date
registry with the file in the upper screen.
B - Change Plot Limits
Enter new starting and final dates and new
high and low Y values. To leave the entry
the same just press enter. Invalid dates
will not be accepted (Saturdays, Sundays, and
Holidays, for example) so just try the next
date until you hit a valid one. While in
Split Screen mode the date range cannot be
changed. The new file will be plotted in the time
frame of the upper file, aligned with the
proper dates.
C - Clear Active Plot
Clears the active plotting screen.
D - Split Screen
Splits the screen into an upper and lower
half and plots the current data in the upper
half. If a moving average has been calculated
it will be plotted also. The lower screen will
- 11 -
now be the active screen. This is useful for
comparing calculated results with the original
file, or for uploading another file for
comparison with the first. The upper file can be
restored to active status by using option E,
Unsplit/Reset Screen.
E - Unsplit/Reset Screen
Unsplits the screen and returns the upper
screen's data to the full screen. This will
also plot the original data ("refresh")
regardless of whether you are in split screen
mode or not. After a few technical indicators
have been plotted the screen tends to get crowded.
Use this instead of reloading the data.
F - Auto-Scale Y
Rescales and replots the active data so that
it is on scale. Use this if a calculation
is off-scale, invisible, or if you want it
to fill the entire plotting screen. This does
not affect the date span. This may be one of
the most frequently used options.
G - Oscillator
Calculates an oscillator by taking the difference
between two moving averages. The longer average
is subtracted from the shorter average. PST asks
for the number of periods for the short term
average and then the long term average. If you
were charting the daily advance-decline line, for
example, you could calculate the McClellan
Oscillator by entering 20 and 40 for the short
and long term moving averages, respectively.
H - Moving Average
Sometimes referred to as a smoothing device
with a time lag, we will occasionally use the
word "smooth" to describe the same calculation.
A moving average is the average of the previous
X periods plotted for each period. For
example, if a ten day moving average of the
- 12 -
closing prices of a stock is desired, the prices
for the last ten days are added up and divided
by ten. It is a "moving" average, because only
the last ten days are used in the calculation.
I - Momentum
Momentum measures the rate of change of prices
as opposed to the actual prices themselves.
PST requests a time interval over which the
price momentum (or velocity) will be calculated.
Then, in the event that you want a smoother
looking result, PST also requests the number of
periods you want to use in the smooth (moving
average) of the momentum. Choose "0" for this
input if you do not want to smooth the calculated
momentum.
J - Cursor Toggle
Turns the cursor on and off. The cursor is
moved from its initial position at the left
by using the left and right arrow keys. To
move faster use shift-left(right) arrow.
The value of the curve you are plotting at
the position of the cursor is presented
in the bottom center window on your screen.
If you perform a calculation, reactivate
the cursor, and it will now follow along the
calculated curve.
K - Cumulative
Plots a running cumulative total of all
previous values. This option is especially
useful for calculating Cumulative Breadth from
the advance-decline line.
L - General Calculator (Registered Version Only)
Allows you to: Add two files; take the
difference between two files; ratio two
files; multiply one file by another.
- 13 -
PST first asks you for the name of the
second file. The first file is the one
you have just plotted. It then asks you what
action to take (add, etc.). In the subtract
(difference) case, the second file is sub-
tracted from the first. In the Ratio (division)
case, the second file is divided into the first.
PST also asks if you want to smooth the result.
(Enter "0" if you do not want to smooth.)
The weighted ratio option is useful for
calculating relative strengths.
M - Support/Resistance (Registered Version Only)
This calculates the volume density as a
function of stock price and plots the result as
cumulative volume per price interval (in the
negative Y direction) vs price ( along the
positive X direction). A vertical marker indicates
location of last close. Use the cursor to
obtain the values for support and resistance
prices.
In most instances a stock will produce a
support/resistance chart with very well
defined trading ranges, indicated by deep
volume "wells"; the support and resistance
prices (values) can be estimated from the
location of low volume intervals between the
trading ranges.
N - On Balance Volume
This is the original OBV developed and popularized
by Joseph Granville in 1963. The curve produced
here is used to either confirm the quality of
a price trend or demonstrate divergence from the
present trend.
The total volume for each period (day) is assigned
a plus or minus value depending on whether that
period's (day's) close was higher or lower than
the previous period (day). A running cumulative
total of these positive and negative volumes is
then calculated and plotted.
- 14 -
O - Stochastic
Determines where the most recent closing price
is in relation to the price range for a particular
(chosen) period of time. For example, for a ten
day period of time the formula is:
Stochastic = 100{(close - low10)/(high10-low10)},
where "close" is the latest close, "low10"
is the lowest low for the previous ten days,
"high10" is the highest high for the previous
ten days. Multiplying by 100 forms the
percentage.
This formula measures, on a percentage basis
(from 0 to 100), where the closing price is
in relation to the total price range for the
previous ten days.
PST lets you choose the number of periods over
which you wish to measure this stochastic process.
The data must be of the HILOCLOS plot type, of
course.
P - Ticker
Keeps a running cumulative total of the number
of "ups" versus "downs", i.e. if the close today
is above yesterday's close, then the number one
is added to the sum; the number one is subtracted
if today closes below yesterday.
Q - Moving RMS (Registered Version Only)
Similar to a moving average only instead, the
deviation from the mean for the last X periods
is charted in units of standard deviation (sigma).
Use this as an indication of "overbought" or "over-
sold" where a deviation of 3 sigma is really
"over!"
R - Logarithm
Plots the logarithm (base 10) of the Y value.
Useful when the data spans orders of magnitude,
like historical monthly Dow Jones Industrial
Average data.
- 15 -
S - Wilder - RSI (Relative Strength Indicator)
J. Welles Wilder, Jr. presented the RSI, Relative
Strength Indicator in 1978. It doesn't really
measure the relative strength between two different
issues or things; rather, it attempts to remove
erratic fluctuations found in momentum lines due to
large changes being dropped off the "front end"
of the time interval used. RSI removes the large
effect that a sharp change in price "X" days ago
can give to today's momentum, even though today's
price change was small.
PST uses your input, "X", for the number of periods
in the following expression:
RSI = 100 -[100/(1+N)],
(Average of X period's up closes)
where N = -----------------------------------
(Average of X period's down closes).
(You do not need a HILOCLOS plot type to use this
feature.)
T - Save To Disk
Use this option to create your own indicators!
Saves the calculation to a disk file. PST asks
you to name the file you want to create. This
is especially useful if you want to do several
subsequent operations on a data file. After each
operation, save the result to disk. Then plot it
again, using A (Get New File), and perform
another calculation.
CAUTION: Do not use the name of a file you
already have on the disk or it will be
overwritten.
U - Multi-Plot
Pressing "U" will store the current screen image
to disk. You may store up to ten images, which
can then be plotted later using the Multi-Plot
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feature in PST's Main Menu. Use this option
instead of X (Hardcopy) to avoid long interruptions
in your graphics session.
V - Forecast Estimator (Registered Version Only)
CAUTION: Interpretation of the results of this
tool is not obvious. Do not use the Forecast
Estimator unless you understand its limitations
as well as its strengths!
The Forecast Estimator fits the last X data points
of the data to a polynomial. You choose the
number of data points, X (0 to 99) and the number
of terms in the polynomial (up to 8). A Least
Squares Fit is then performed and the result
overlaid on the original data.
You can save the result and extrapolate the fit
into the future by entering the number of periods
for extrapolation at the query. You must replot
your extrapolated fit to compare it to the original
data (using Split Screen).
Using the Forecast Estimator involves some
understanding of how polynomial fits behave. The
polynomial that is used is of the form:
Y = A(1) + A(2)*X + A(3)*X*X + A(4)*X*X*X + etc
Your choice of the number of terms to use governs
the degree of the polynomial that will be used in
the fit, i.e. choosing two terms will give a fit
to a straight line. (This is generally the best
choice to make because the extrapolated data is
a straight "trend line" into the future.)
If you choose higher order polynomial fits, the
extrapolations are generally less useful because
they tend to continue in the direction the last
portion of the curve was going in. Use higher
order polynomials with caution - perhaps only
to verify trading ranges or price channels.
Experiment with this feature before considering
adding it to your trading arsenal!
Note: For PC/XT machines, the forecast estimator
takes several minutes to compute.
W - Reserved for Future Use
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X - Hardcopy, EGA
Plots the current screen to your graphics printer.
5.2 Notes on File Plotting
For a detailed explanation of how to interpret each of the
technical indicators described above, please refer to the
reference list found in Appendix B.
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Appendix A
Support Systems
Lynn-Western Newswires BBS is available for PST technical
support. If you have a problem you can also write and describe
the situation. The following systems and persons can
be contacted if you have problems or questions regarding PST.
Registered users, please include the serial number found on
your diskette or at PST's opening screen.
1. The System Operator (Sysop)
Lynn-Western Newswires BBS
707-668-4028
(1:125/43@fidonet.org)
1200/2400/9600 bps 8N1 24 hours per day
2. PST Technical Support
RazorLogic Systems
P.O. Box 112
Kneeland, CA 95549
Voice: 707-668-4054
Fax: 707-668-4055
- 19 -
Appendix B
Collected References
1. Martin J. Pring, Technical Analysis Explained, 2nd Edition,
McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, NY, 1985.
2. William F. Eng, The Technical Analysis of Stocks, Options &
Futures, Probus Publishing, Chicago, Illinois, 1988.
3. Curtis M. Arnold & Dan Rahfeldt, Timing the Market, (ed.
Martin D. Weiss), Probus Publishing, Chicago, Illinois, 1986.
4. Edward S. Jensen, Stock Market Blueprints, Strother & Co., Portland,
Oregon, 1967.
5. Jeffrey B. Little & Lucien Rhodes, Understanding Wallstreet,
Liberty Publishing Co., Cockeysville, Maryland, 1986.
6. Lawrence G. McMillan, Options as a Strategic Investment, 2nd
Edition, New York Institute of Finance, NY, 1986.
7. Robert D. Edwards & John Magee, Technical Analysis of Stock
Trends, 4th Edition, John Magee, Springfield, Massachusetts,
1966.
8. Frank J. Fabozzi & Gregory M. Kipnis, Eds., Stock Index Futures,
Dow Jones-Irwin, 1984.
9. John J. Murphy, Technical Analysis of the Futures Markets, New
York Institute of Finance, NY, 1986.
10. Howard Ruff, Making Money, Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, NY,
1984.
11. David Dreman, The New Contrarian Investment Strategy, Random
House, NY, 1982.
12. Joseph E. Granville, A Strategy of Daily Stock Market Timing
for Maximum Profit, Prentice Hall, Inc., Engelwood Cliffs,
New Jersey, 1960.
13. Edward N. Dubois, Essential Statistical Methods for Business,
McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, NY, 1979.
14. John Downes & Jordon Elliot Goodman, Eds., Barron's Finance &
Investment Handbook, 2nd Edition, Barron's, New York, NY, 1987.
- 20 -
Appendix C
Registration Information
USA RazorLogic Systems
P.O. Box 112
Kneeland, CA 95549
USA
C.1 Pricing and Order Form
Please use the form below when placing an order.
Non-U.S. Residents: Please send checks drawn on U.S. funds
and add $7 overseas shipping/handling.
(All prices as of April 30, 1992. Prices subject to change without
notification.)
Personal Stock Technician:
Suggested retail price (single copy): USD $99.50
NOTE!!!!
Limited time offer:
30% DISCOUNT off
Regular Price of $99.50..............USD $69.00
Registered owners of Personal Stock Technician will be notified
by mail when significant enhancements have been made to the
program. Once registered, all minor upgrades are available for
a $15 upgrade fee (please include registration number in your order).
You can receive the latest distribution copy (un-registered) version
of Personal Stock Technician for evaluation by writing, enclosing
$15 for handling.
- 21 -
Please Remit To: RazorLogic Systems
P.O.Box 112
Kneeland, CA 95549
Qty. Description Each Total
____ Personal Stock Technician Demonstration
Diskette, (Applied to Purchase Price of
Registered Version) $15.00 ________
____ Personal Stock Technician, Registered
Version. (30% DISCOUNT Off Regular
Price of $99.50 = $69.00!) $69.00 ________
Specify Disk Size: ____ 5 1/4 _____ 3 1/2
Subtotal ________
(Site License Discount - see below) Discount [-________]
(U.S. orders add $4 shipping & handling) Shipping ________
(Foreign orders add $7 shipping)
(CA residents please add 8.25% sales tax) Tax ________
TOTAL $________
Name: ________________________________________________________
Company: ________________________________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Telephone: _________________________ FAX:__________________________
CHECK MADE PAYABLE TO RAZORLOGIC SYSTEMS FOR: $________________
OR,
CREDIT CARD ORDERS:
Charge to my Credit Card: ___ MasterCard ___ VISA
Expiration Date: ____/____
Card Number: ______________________________________________
All checks must be drawn on U.S. Funds in U.S. Dollars.
Sorry, no C.O.D. orders will be accepted. All prices and
discounts subject to change without notice.
- 22 -
C.2 Purchase Order Terms and Requirements
Purchase Orders less than $100 must be pre-paid.
Terms are net 30 days.
Freight is prepaid by RazorLogic.
Lead time: Stock items.
C.3 Site License
If you plan on using Personal Stock Technician in a corporate
or government office, or in any business environment whatsoever,
registration of the commercial version is mandatory. For such
users, quantity discounts are available under a Site License
agreement.
One Master Copy of Personal Stock Technician (with documentation)
will be provided on diskette. The site is responsible for printing
the documentation and copying the diskettes for distribution.
Backups of the Master disks do not count towards the total copies
of the license.
With all site licenses, the site will supply one contact person
with whom all correspondence will be made. If a problem should
arise, the contact person will interact with RazorLogic during
problem resolution. Updates to Personal Stock Technician will be
forwarded to the contact person. When filling out the order form,
use the contact persons name to avoid confusion at a later date.
The following table lists the current site license discount rates:
TOTAL COPIES DISCOUNT
1 - 4 none
5 - 10 10%
11 - 20 20%
21 - 30 30%
31+ 40%
NOTE: All prices and discounts are subject to change without notice.
Also note that discounts are not cumulative and apply to
separate orders only.
- 23 -
C.4 Warranty
Personal Stock Technician is provided as is without any warranty,
expressed or implied. This includes without limitation the
fitfulness to a particular purpose or application and any
warranties of merchantability.
While RazorLogic attempted to be as through as possible while
debugging Personal Stock Technician, RazorLogic shall not be
liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect, special,
or consequential arising from a failure of this program or
accompanying files to operate in a manner desired by the user.
RazorLogic shall not be liable for any damage to data or property
which may be caused directly or indirectly by use of this program.
In no event will RazorLogic Systems be liable to you for any
damages, including any lost profits, lost savings or other
incidental or consequential damages arising out of your use or
inability to use the program, or for any claim by any other party.
To those people who have registered with diskette, the physical
diskette is warranted against defects in materials and workmanship
for a period of 30 days from date of shipment by RazorLogic.
Any returned disks found damaged or bad will be replaced at no
charge.
- 24 -
Appendix D
Downloading Data
Personal Stock Technician currently comes with two utilities
that are useful for converting data obtained from Dow Jones
News/Retrieval or Compuserve to PST data format. The data can
be obtained with Procomm Plus by Datastorm Technologies, but
any communications software capable of capturing the data to
file on disk will work. ( Dow Jones News/Retrieval, Compuserve
and Procomm Plus are NOT part of the Personal Stock Technician
package and we do not intend to imply that they are.)
You should be familiar with the use of the Dow Jones News/
Retrieval Service, Compuserve, Procomm Plus and the Aspect
Script Language before attempting to use the utilities described
here. There is a fee associated with obtaining data from
Dow Jones and Compuserve.
D.1 HQCON.EXE
This utility is used to parse Historical Quotes data obtained
using the Procomm Aspect file HQSTOCK.ASP (supplied for the
Dow Jones News/Retrieval logon format only). After logging on
to the Dow Jones News/Retrieval Service using Procomm Plus,
invoking HQSTOCK.ASP will download Historical Quotes data on the
stock you choose. The disk file you produce will then be parsed
and sorted by HQCON.EXE into PST format data. You can design a
similar Aspect file for downloading Historical Quotes from
Compuserve via Compuserves "Go Prices" command.
Step by Step:
1. Log onto Dow Jones and execute HQSTOCK.ASP to produce a
data file, let's call it "data.txt."
"Data.txt" should look something like this:
;1xyz P1
DOW JONES HISTORICAL
STOCK QUOTE REPORTER SERVICE
STOCK 1xyz
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DATE HIGH LOW CLOSE VOL(100/S)
04/11/91 39 3/8 38 5/8 39 1/8 3170
04/12/91 39 1/4 38 3/8 38 3/4 2029
04/15/91 39 37 1/4 38 1/8 1232
04/16/91 38 3/4 37 3/4 38 3/4 1261
04/17/91 39 3/4 39 1/8 39 1/2 2758
04/18/91 40 5/8 39 1/4 39 1/4 2015
04/19/91 39 5/8 38 3/4 39 3/8 3085
etc........
The comparable result obtained from Compuserve should look
like:
go prices
One moment please...
ISSUE PRICING HISTORY PRICES
Enter ticker symbols (i.e. HRB,SP 500), an asterisk followed by
beginning of a company name (i.e. *BLOCK), /H for HELP or EXIT.
Issue: IBM
(D)aily, (W)eekly, (M)onthly? : d
Starting date or number of
periods from last pricing date? 20
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHS
COM
Cusip: 45920010 EXCHANGE: N Ticker: IBM
Date Volume High/Ask Low/Bid Close/Avg
--------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------
8/21/91 2,828,000 96 3/8 94 95 5/8
8/22/91 2,166,000 96 3/8 94 1/8 94 3/8
8/23/91 1,701,000 96 1/8 94 3/8 94 7/8
8/26/91 895,000 95 5/8 94 3/4 95 1/8
8/27/91 1,259,000 95 5/8 94 5/8 95 1/4
8/28/91 1.617,000 95 1/4 94 1/4 94 1/2
Press <CR> for more !
etc.............
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2. Now, from the DOS prompt type:
HQCON data.txt data /d
and press "Enter". That's it! You have just created a PST
file called "data" from an input file obtained from Dow Jones
News/Retrieval named "data.txt." For Compuserve data, just
replace the "/d" with "/c." Now you can chart the data
with PST. (Typing HQCON alone and pressing enter will supply
a help screen.)
D.2 UPKEEP.EXE
This utility is used to update a selection of stocks you
wish to track on a regular basis. By editing the Aspect
Script file called UPDATE.ASP you can download the latest
12 days of trading information on any number of stocks you
wish (from Dow Jones News/Retrieval). From this screen dump
you update your PST portfolio with UPKEEP.EXE. The procedure
is similar to that in D.1:
1. Execute UPDATE.ASP to produce a file, which we'll call
"Port.txt" .
2. Run UPKEEP.EXE by typing:
UPKEEP Port.txt /d
and pressing "Enter". (Typing UPKEEP alone followed by
"Enter" will supply help.)
Note: The stock files must already exist!
(For Compuserve, simply adapt the Update.asp file to fit
Compuserve's protocols and run UPKEEP with the /c switch
rather than the /d.)
D.3 SPLIT.EXE
Use this utility to adjust the data in a stock file for stock
splits. The format is
SPLIT oldfile newfile mm dd yy x y
where
"oldfile" is the STK file with the "unsplit" and split
prices,
- 27 -
"newfile" is the STK file that will be created,
"mm dd yy" is the date the split took effect ( be sure to
use two characters for each part of the date; e.g. "02"
NOT just "2",
"x y" is the split ratio, for example, a two for one split
is "2 1" and a three for two split is "3 2".
The PST package comes with an STK file for Silicon Graphics (SGI)
which split two for one on February 24, 1992 that you can use for
practice. To adjust the data in this file to the new split values
type the following at the DOS prompt:
SPLIT sgi sginew 02 24 92 2 1
This will create a new data file called SGINEW which will have all
prices adjusted for the split. As with all PST's utilities, typing
just the utility name without any input parameters will print
help instructions to the screen.
D.4 STKCHECK.EXE
This utility is used to compare the dates in two STK files for
discrepancies. The usage is:
STKCHECK FileA FileB,
where FileA and FileB are the two STK files that you wish to
compare.
D.5 Notes on "Screen Dumps"
Most communication software will let you save the screen
data you see during a Dow Jones News/Retrieval or Compuserve
session to a file on disk. Procomm Plus calls this "logging"
while other names are "screen capture", "screen dump" etc.
Be aware that if the utilities supplied here do not work, the
first thing to suspect is the integrity of the screen capture
file. Often, line noise and other minor mishaps, will add
random characters to the file as it is being recorded. Since
HQCON and UPKEEP are strict parsing programs, any displacement
in characters from the positions they normally occupy will
- 28 -
cause unpredictable results. Also, there is no guarantee that
Dow Jones News/Retrieval or Compuserve will not change their
data format at any time.
In any event, check the screen capture file carefully before
running HQCON or UPKEEP and repair any discrepancies with your
text editor.
- 29 -
Appendix E
Acknowledgements
The following individuals, organizations and entities have
contributed significantly to the creation and development of
Personal Stock Technician:
Barron's
Borland International
The Chicago Board of Exchange
Dow Jones Information Services
Wendy C. Golden
Stuart James
Norman Lynn
Shirley Lynn
Michael Pine
The New York Stock Exchange
The Wall Street Journal
Five Years of Trading
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