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Contents
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i. Files that you should have.
ii. System requirements.
iii. Warranty Disclaimer.
1 Getting Started
1.1 What is Technical Stock Analyst?
1.2 How to get Started.
1.3 How to Register and What you'll receive.
2 Entering Stocks
2.1 Entering stocks.
2.2 Editing stocks.
2.3 Deleting stocks.
2.4 Graphing a stock.
3 Portfolios
3.1 What is a Portfolio?
3.2 Creating, Opening and Closing Portfolios.
3.3 Adding and Editing Portfolios.
3.4 Deleting Portfolio entries.
3.5 Viewing Stocks in a Portfolio.
3.6 Graphing a Portfolio.
4 Graphing
4.1 Graphs, and what's represented on screen.
4.2 Short Term and Long Term Graphs.
4.3 Technical Indicators Explained.
4.4 Statistics option in Graph Mode.
4.5 Legend option in Graph Mode.
5 Miscellanous
5.1 Address for Questions or Comments.
5.2 Suggested Books to read.
5.3 Sample stocks ready to be graphed.
i. Files that you should have.
The following seven files should have come together:
stock.exe stock.std prices.std register.txt
readme.txt stoc.ntx pric.ntx
If you are missing any of the above files try running the program,
because some can be created by the program itself. If you are
still missing the files you may write to the address listed under
the 'INFO' option on the main screen of the program. Don't worry
if you have more files than the seven listed above.
ii. System requirements.
An IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or compatible computer with at least
360K RAM. A VGA monitor with a resolution of 640 x 480 or greater
is also needed. You may run the program from a floppy drive;
although a hard drive is recommended for speed.
iii. Warranty Disclaimer.
This software is provided as-is. There are no warranties,
expressed or implied.
TechSoft inc. will not be liable to you for any damages,
including lost savings or other incidental or consequential damages
arising out of the use or inability of use of the program.
Technical Stock Analyst is intended only as a computation aid and
not a professional advisor. TechSoft inc. does not represent itself
as a security investment, or legal advisor and cannot be held
responsible for decisions made on the basis of the data produced by
the program. Technical Stock Analyst is sold "as is" without any
additional warranty, either expressed or implied, as to its
performance, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose.
Should the program prove defective, you, and not TechSoft inc.,
assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair or
correction. TechSoft inc. does not warrant that the operation of
the program will meet your requirements or that the operation of
the program will be uninterupted and error free. The person using
the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of
the software.
This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State
of Virginia and shall inure to the benefit of TechSoft inc.. Any
action or proceeding brought by either party against the other
arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only
in a STATE or FEDERAL COURT of competent jurisdiction located in
Fairfax County, Virginia. The parties hereby consent to in personam
jurisdiction of said courts.
TechSoft inc. does not endorse or recommend any products or
investments. You may wish to consult your accountant, attorney, or
other financial advisor before you invest.
CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED
1.1 What is Technical Stock Analyst?
Technical Stock Analyst will allow you to graph stocks, other
securities, market indexes and market averages. All you need
to supply is the High Price, Low Price, Close Price and Volume
for that particular day. An Open Price can also be entered but is
not needed because its rarely listed in newspapers. It's just there
for completeness. The prices can be found in most newspapers.
You may also enter the prices on a weekly, or monthly basis. This
program allows you to use Graphs or Charts, as they are commonly
refered to, in your stock or market decisions.
Technical analysis of stocks and markets is growing in
popularity. This program also computes several technical indicators
for you, which are explained more fully in chapter 4. If you own
or are contemplating purchasing stocks these indicators will allow
you to see the stocks prices in a more comprehensive way than
staring at one days price in the paper. Read on for further
clarification of Technical Stock Analysts powerful features.
If you find this program useful, remember that it's shareware and
if it's used for over 30 days you need to buy a license. Section
1.3 will explain how to register, or read the file REGISTER.TXT.
By registering you will also be eligible for future enhancements
and editions to this version of Technical Stock Analyst at a
fraction of the price. You will also receive an added function with
the registered version. See section 1.3.
1.2 How to get Started.
First make sure you have these seven files in your directory:
stock.exe prices.std stoc.ntx | register.txt
stock.std pric.ntx | readme.txt
The program will generate the needed files if they are
missing. All you need to do is run the program by typing 'STOCK'
and the files will be created. If you were missing the above
files and would like to graph the sample stocks listed in 5.3 you
may write to the address listed under the 'INFO' option on the
main screen of the program. Please check to be sure that the
sample stocks are missing before writing, and enclose $ 5.00
American for shipping. An evaluation copy with the sample stocks
will be sent, it is not a licensed copy, read the next section for
registering.
If you need to make a directory for this program read
on otherwise skip to the next paragraph. To make a directory in
dos called 'stock' type 'MD STOCK' at the prompt. Then type
'CD STOCK'. Now you are in the stock directory. Copy the seven
above listed files into this directory.
Type 'STOCK' to start the program, it's that easy. Five
stocks have been provided for you as examples of how the charts
look and how easy the indicators are to use. Read section 5.3
to graph any or all of the sample stocks.
1.3 How to Register and What you'll receive.
After evaluating this program, Technical Stock Analyst, if
you decide you like it and want to continue using it you must buy
a license. This program represents alot of time and hard work;
please support my efforts.
By registering you will also have my telephone number for a
months worth of free technical phone support to answer questions you may have.
You will also be
informed of new versions with more features and more indicators as
they come about. They will be completely compatable with the data
you have entered and will only be a fraction of the cost of the
origional copy since you will have registered. The registered
version will also have an adjustable moving average that you can
change from 2 days to 150 days.
Please read and print out the REGISTER.TXT file for the cost
and address.
CHAPTER 2 ENTERING STOCKS
2.1 Entering Stocks.
You can find the needed data in the business section of a
newspaper. You need the companies name and their ticker symbol or
an abbreviated name of 7 characters or less to be used in place of
the ticker symbol.
1. Choose the 'Add Stock' option under 'Update Stocks' on
the first menu. Enter the Ticker Symbol and Stock Name.
You only need to use the 'Add Stock' option once for
each stock. To see a list of the stocks you've added
choose the 'List Stocks' option under 'Graph' on the
first menu. After you enter the information press return
to move onto the next item.
2. Now you need to enter the High Price, Low Price, Close
Price and the volume for each day. This information is
also in the paper. Choose the 'Update Prices' option
under 'Update Stocks' on the first menu. Enter all the
data that's asked for. If you don't know the Open Price
just enter 0 or push return. Again, the Open Price can
be used but is not needed. Enter the volume in 100's,
which is how most papers list it.
(ie. 10,000 would be 10).
3. If you make a mistake in entering the data read 2.2,
Editing Stocks. If you need to delete one entry or a
stock and all its entries read 2.3. Skip to 2.4 if you
want to graph what you have. The charts don't really
start taking shape until you have aquired a reasonable
amount of data. So read 5.3 to graph sample stocks that
were provided for you.
A conversion chart is listed for your convenience on the
bottom of the screen. Stock prices are usually listed in fractions
in newspapers. Some commonly seen fractions and their decimal
equivalents are listed along the bottom of the screen.
2.2 Editing Stocks.
Editing the stocks you have entered is quite simple. Choose
the 'Edit Stock' option under 'Update Stocks' on the main menu.
Enter the Ticker Symbol of the stock you need to edit. All the
prices related to that stock will be listed. On the far left of
the listing will be a number under the # column. You will need
to enter the number of the particular day after it is done listing.
If you decide not to edit a price after all just enter 0 to abort.
For editing purposes the stock price that is being edited will
be listed on the bottom of the screen. Procede to re-enter the
data with any changes you may have.
2.3 Deleting Stocks.
Deleting one days stock prices or a stock and all of its
related entries is much like editing a stock. Choose the
'Delete Stock' option under 'Update Stocks' on the main menu.
You will first have to press '1' to delete one days price or 'e'
to delete a stock along with all its related entries. Next enter
the Ticker Symbol of the stock you need to delete. All the prices
related to that stock will be listed. On the far left of the
listing will be a number under the # column. You will need to enter
the number of the particular day after it is done listing. If you
decide not to delete a price after all just enter 0 to abort. That
stock price or the stock and all its related entries will be deleted.
2.4 Graphing a Stock.
To graph a stock choose the 'Single Stock' option under
'Graph' on the first menu. The stock will then be graphed. Each
time you enter a days price the chart will have more information.
Read chapter 4 to understand the graphing screen. Once you are in
the graphing screen you have a new menu, choose exit to return
to the main menu. Also read 5.3 to graph some of the sample stocks
provided for you.
CHAPTER 3 PORTFOLIOS
3.1 What is a Portfolio.
A portfolio is an organized way to keep track of all the
stocks you own. The portfolio will keep track of each stocks
ticker symbol, date of purchase, price per share, number of shares
purchased and commission paid on the purchase. Once you sell the
stock you can edit the particular stock in the portfolio that was
sold and also enter the date of sale, price per share and commision
paid on the sale of the stock. All of the above information comes
in handy when tax time comes around. You may have as many
portfolios as you like. For example, If you want to keep a
dependants portfolio separate from your own just create a new one.
Read the next section on creating portfolios.
3.2 Creating, Opening and Closing Portfolios.
Choose the 'Create' option under 'Portfolio' on the first
menu. You will be prompted for a name for the portfolio. Use
something that you can remember such as your first name, then press
enter. If for example you entered JOHN then a file will be
created named JOHN.PRT in you directory. You only need to create
the portfolio once. To open the portfolio choose the 'Open' option
under 'Portfolio' on the first screen. For this example you would
enter JOHN not JOHN.PRT to open the portfolio. You will need to
open the portfolio before you can add, edit or delete from it. You
also choose the 'Close' option to close your portfolio before you
are allowed to exit the program.
3.3 Adding and Editing Portfolios.
The portfolio you want to add or edit needs to be opened
first. Then choose the 'Add One' option under 'Portfolio' on the
first menu to add a stock. You will then be asked for the ticker
symbol, date of purchase, price per share, number of shares and
commission paid for the purchase of stock. After you hit return
on the commission entry it will ask you if the stock has been sold
or not. Enter 'No' if you have not yet sold the stock, or 'Yes'
if you have. If you enter yes it will allow you to procede and
enter the date of sale, price per share and commission paid on the
sale of the stock.
If you want to edit a portfolio choose the 'Edit One' option
under 'Portfolio'. Editing a stock in a portfolio is done if you
need to make a correction or have sold a stock in the portfolio.
The stocks in the portfolio will be listed along with a number much
like editing stocks in section 2.2. Enter the number of the stock
to edit or 0 to abort. For editing purposes the stock price that
is being edited will be listed on the bottom of the screen. Proceed
to reenter the data with any changes you may have.
It is worth mentioning again that a conversion chart is listed
for your convenience on the bottom of the screen. Stock prices are
usually listed in fractions in newspapers. Some commonly seen
fractions and their decimal equivalents are listed along the bottom
of the screen.
3.4 Deleting Portfolio Entries.
To delete a stock in a portfolio choose the 'Delete' option
under 'Portfolio' in the first menu. Much like deleting single
stock entries the stocks in the portfolio will be listed. You then
choose the number of the stock to be deleted. After it is deleted
the portfolio will again be re-listed so you can verify that it's
gone.
3.5 Viewing Stocks in a Portfolio.
To view stocks in a particular portfolio you first need to
open the portfolio (See section 3.2). Then choose the
'List Portfolio' option under 'Portfolio' on the first menu. The
entire portfolio will be re-listed. Each portfolio is listed once
when you first open the portfolio.
3.6 Graphing a Portfolio.
To graph a portfolio you first must close any currently
opened portfolio. Then choose the 'Portfolio' option under 'Graph'
on the first menu. Each stock in the portfolio that has not been
sold will be graphed in the order they appear in your portfolio.
Choose 'Exit' to move on to the next stock once you are done
viewing the currently graphed stock. To understand the graphs or
charts read chapter 4. Especially read 4.4 if you're graphing a
portfolio.
CHAPTER 4 GRAPHING
4.1 Graphs, and what's represented on screen.
If you are entering stock prices for your stocks daily each
chart will graph the High Price, Low Price, Close Price, Volume
and open price if provided. Each days price is shown as an
individual line on the chart.
A vertical line is graphed from the Low Price of the stock
to the High Price of the stock for that particular day. A
horizontal line on the right side of the bar represents the Close
Price.
ie. | <-- The top of the bar is the High Price.
|- <-- The horizontal line is the Close Price.
| <-- The bottom of the line is the Close Price.
If an Open Price is also provided it is represented as a horizontal
line on the left side of the bar.
ie. |
|-
|
The Close Price --> -|
The bars may differ in length depending on the trading range of
the stock. The Close and Open may also be anywhere along the bar
depending on that days price action.
Volume is also graphed on the bottom of the screen. So you
can see the amount of shares bought and sold each day. You will
also see when volume is picking up in the stock or decreasing.
Read 4.3 to understand the other technical indicators. To graph
a stock refer to 2.4. To graph a portfolio refer to 3.6.
4.2 Short Term and Long Term Graphs.
Under 'Graph' on the second menu are two options, 'Short Term'
and 'Long Term'. A Short Term graph can fit a little over 6-months
of daily price data. Using a six month graph you can also only
show one of the three indicators (Volume, Rsi, Obv) along the bottom
of the screen at one time.
A Long Term graph can fit a little over 12-months worth of
daily data. And you can also show the Volume, Rsi and Obv at the
same time to compare them. These indicators are explained in 4.3.
4.3 Technical Indicators Explained.
Choose the 'Technical' option on the second screen to see
the list of Indicators. These indicators are simply chosen by
moving the bar up and down and pressing enter to turn them on
or off. Remember on the Short Term graph you may only graph one of
the three (Volume, Rsi, Obv) while on the Long Term graph you may
see all of them on screen at once.
RSI
The first Indicator is Rsi, which stands for Relative
Strength Indicator. This particular RSI is a 14-Day calculated RSI,
they can be calculated in different time frames. This indicator was
developed by Wells Wilder. It measures the relative strength of a
stock in relation to itself. The value of the indicator can range
from 0 to 100. A common interpretation of the RSI is that if a
stock has a value of roughly 30 or lower it is considered to be
oversold. Conversely if a stock has a value of roughly 70 or higher
it is considered to be over-bought. The 30 and 70 lines are shown
along with the indicator itself. The line changes from white to
red whenever it goes below 30 or above 70 so you're conscious of it.
This is to draw your attention to it but its up to you to interpret
it's significance along with other indicators.
VOLUME
The second Indicator is Volume. This represents the amount
of shares bought and sold for each particular day. The days volume
is shown on the bottom of the screen as bars. You can see when
volume is increasing or decreasing in a particular stock. All of
the volume marks on the screen are scaled according to the largest
volume.
OBV
The third Indicator is OBV, which stands for Off-Balance
Volume. It works like this: The OBV is a total of the volume
for every day with one requirement. If the stock Close Price
is higher than the previous days Close than it is added to the
running total of volume. Although if the stock Close Price is
lower than the previous days than it is subtracted from the
running total of volume. Now if their is no price change, then
the volume is neither added nor subtracted. A line on the screen
shows 0 volume. The idea behind this indicator is to try and
represent when there is increasing demand for a stock increasing
in price or decreasing demand for a stock decreasing in price.
For example you would think that a stock increasing in
price would have an increasing volume total, meaning that demand
is pushing the price higher. And vice versa for a decreasing
stock. Again it is up to you to interpret its significance. One
thing to remember is that the OBV starts from the first day you
enter data, so if the first day is high volume than it will start
biased to volume on the up-side (above 0). Although over time
with more data you will see that the OBV will even, or average out
correctly.
LINE GRAPH
The line graph is explained in 4.1. This option will
turn on or off the bar lines on the graph so you can better see
other indicators such as the different Moving Averages (MA's).
2 WEEK | 10 DAY MA
10 WEEK | 50 DAY MA
30 WEEK | 150 DAY MA
These are all Moving Averages (MA's). They are based on daily
stock price updates. For example the first listed Moving Average
is a 2 - Week (which is equivalent to 10 Days). A Moving Average
is simply an average of the stock Closing Prices to smooth out the
sometimes sporadic price changes in stocks. A 2-Week or 10-Day MA
would take the current days Close Price and average it along with
the previous 9-Days prices to come up with a 10-Day moving average.
The other two averages are computed in a similiar fashion. Moving
Averages are interpreted differently by different people and some
put more confidence in them than others. Moving averages have been
known to signal buy or sell signals much like RSI's and OBV's. By
registering you will also receive the function that allows the 150
day Moving Average to be changed by you to average anywhere from 2
to 150 days. As you read or hear about different moving averages
you can try them out immediately. Read section 5.2 for books that
I have found helpful in reading and interpreting technical
indicators.
4.4 Statistics option in Graph Mode.
This option will show you the Ticker Symbol and Name of the
current stock. It also shows the beginning and ending date of the
stock prices graphed. If you are graphing a Portfolio it will also
show the Share Price the stock was bought at and number of shares
purchased. The percentage change either Up or Down between the
purchase price and the last Close price is shown. Also shown is
the Gain or Loss in dollars, not counting the commission.
4.5 Legend option in Graph Mode.
This shows a small picture of each Technical Indicator,
what color they are and what they will look like on screen. This
allows you to distinguish most indicators by color. For instance
it will help distinguish the different MA's from one another.
CHAPTER 5 MISCELLANOUS
5.1 Address for Questions or Comments.
TechSoft inc.
768 Walker Rd.
Suite 294
Great Falls, Va. 22066
My name is Brian Longest, please feel free to write with
comments, questions or suggestions.
5.2 Suggested Books to read.
I have found the following two books useful in my under-
standing of Technical Analysis of stocks.
1. STAN WEINSTEIN'S SECRETS FOR PROFITING IN BULL AND BEAR MARKETS
Author : Stan Weinstein
2. TECHNICAL ANALYSIS EXPLAINED 3rd Edition
Author : Martin J. Pring
5.3 Sample Stocks Ready to be Graphed.
These five stocks have a significant amount of data already
there so you can see how each indicator can work. As you will see,
the indicators can vary from stock to stock. Each stock is
different but these indicators along with the MA's can help in your
decision making. Read section 2.4 if you haven't already to graph
a single stock.
Stock Ticker Stock Name
------------ ----------
BCC Boise Cascade Corp.
GP Georgia Pac Corp.
LUV Southwest Airls Co.
ECH Echlin Inc.
GTE GTE Corp.
BCC - The RSI gave an oversold condition (below 30) at around $20
which is sometimes interpreted as a buy. It also gave an
overbought (over 70) condition from $24 to $26.
The OBV was steadily increasing as the price pushed upward.
Both indicators worked quite well on this stock.
GP - The RSI gave an oversold around $55.5 and overbought around
$66. The OBV started out with increasing volume but did
not give much help after the initial buying.
LUV - The RSI gave an oversold around $28 and overbought around
$36. As you can see the overbought signal by the RSI was
a little premature if you used it as a sell signal. It did
signal before the short decline but the stock kept rising.
Although the OBV was increasing steadily throughout the whole
move to the upside regardless of the RSI.
ECH - The RSI did not give any help either way on this particular
chart. The OBV did show a reversal from the down volume
(below 0) to the up volume (above 0) at a turning point
in the stock price.
GTE - This stock was included because it contains enough data to
use all the indicators as well as the 30 Week | 150 Day MA.
You can see quite clearly how the RSI and OBV did on this
stock.
Try graphing the above stocks on the Long Term graph as well as the
Short Term graph (section 4.2) to view all the Indicators at once.
Turn on each indicator on the technical menu, one by one to view
them all. You can see by example that on just the five stocks
listed above, they all reacted slightly different. That is where
you come in, you judge the significance of the indicators on each
stock. Look at section 5.2 on suggested readings, these books are
excellent. Although some Technical Indicators have worked well on
the above stocks past performance is no guarantee of future
performance.
Remember: I hope you enjoy analyzing your stocks using Technical
Stock Analyst. Write, or call if your registered, if
you have any questions, comments or suggestions. I'd
enjoy hearing from you.
****************************************************************************
By registering you will also receive a new function that allows you
to change the current 150 Day Moving Average to any average that you
want. You can use an average from 2 Days to 150 Days and plot it in
seconds. Read the REGISTER.TXT file for ordering information.
****************************************************************************
