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The Stock Analyst Version 2.00 Release date: January 1, 1994 Users Manual ============ _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER COPYRIGHT NOTICES ----------------- Copyright (c) 1994 by Visionary Software, all rights reserved. Self-extracting compression - LHA version 2.13. Copyright (c) Haruyasu Yoshizaki, 1988-91. This manual and the computer program for which it is written is copyrighted. You may not modify, translate, convert to another programming language, decompile, or disassemble the software for any purpose. DISCLAIMER ---------- VISIONARY SOFTWARE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. NEITHER VISIONARY SOFTWARE NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE EVEN IF VISIONARY SOFTWARE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL VISIONARY SOFTWARE'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENCE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- 1. ABOUT SHAREWARE .................................................. 1 1.1 Distributing the program ................................... 1 1.2 Why should I register? ..................................... 1 1.3 How to register ............................................ 2 1.4 Technical assistance ....................................... 3 1.5 Ombudsman statement ........................................ 3 2. INTRODUCTION ..................................................... 4 2.1 Caution .................................................... 4 3. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS .............................................. 5 3.1 What files you should have ................................. 5 3.2 Files that will be created ................................. 6 4. RUNNING THE PROGRAM .............................................. 7 4.1 Hard disk or single floppy drive ........................... 7 4.2 Two floppy disk drives ..................................... 8 5. NAVIGATING AROUND THE PROGRAM .................................... 9 5.1 Menu Bar and Menus ......................................... 9 5.2 Shortcuts .................................................. 10 5.3 Dialog Boxes ............................................... 10 5.3.1 Check Boxes ........................................ 10 5.3.2 Radio Buttons ...................................... 11 5.3.3 Input Boxes ........................................ 11 5.3.4 List Boxes ......................................... 11 5.4 Help ....................................................... 12 6. ≡ MENU (SYSTEM MENU) ............................................. 13 6.1 About ...................................................... 13 6.2 Colours (or Colors, depending on the country selected) ..... 13 6.3 System Date ................................................ 14 6.4 Sort Order ................................................. 14 6.5 Register ................................................... 14 6.6 Calculator ................................................. 14 6.7 Calendar ................................................... 15 6.6 DOS Shell .................................................. 15 6.7 Exit ....................................................... 15 7. STOCKS MENU ...................................................... 16 7.1 Add Stock .................................................. 16 7.2 Delete Stock ............................................... 16 7.3 Add New Stock Prices ....................................... 16 7.4 Delete Stock Prices ........................................ 17 7.5 Update Market Index ........................................ 17 8. REPORTS MENU ..................................................... 18 8.1 Stock History .............................................. 18 8.2 Buy/Sell Analysis .......................................... 18 9. CHARTS MENU ...................................................... 20 9.1 Line Chart ................................................. 20 9.2 Bar Chart .................................................. 20 9.3 Point and Figure Chart ..................................... 21 10. AUTO-ENTRY MENU .................................................. 22 10.1 CompuServe ................................................ 22 10.2 User defined .............................................. 23 11. PROGRAM AND DATA FILE MANAGEMENT ................................. 25 11.1 Where should it all be kept ................................ 25 11.1.1 Using a hard disk or single floppy ................. 25 11.1.2 Using two floppy disks ............................. 25 11.2 How much disk space you will need .......................... 25 11.3 Warning on file deletion ................................... 26 12. GETTING THE BEST PERFORMANCE ..................................... 27 12.1 Memory management .......................................... 27 12.2 Disk management ............................................ 27 12.2.1 Hard disk vs floppy disk(s) ........................ 27 12.2.2 Disk cache ......................................... 28 13. GUARANTEE ........................................................ 29 APPENDIX A Error Messages ................................................... 30 APPENDIX B Glossary of Sharemarket Terms .................................... 36 1 ABOUT SHAREWARE ------------------- This program is distributed as Shareware, and as such, you have been granted a limited licence to copy and use the software for a period of 30 days for evaluation purposes only. Shareware is NOT free software, it is simply a "try before you buy" method of distribution. This program is copyrighted and if you do continue to use this program after the evaluation period, you must register. Persons that continue to use this program after the evaluation period has expired are committing an offence and are open to prosecution. Shareware is not inferior software, it is simply a marketing method that is used to reduce costs for both author and user alike. By eliminating the requirement for fancy packaging, costly advertising campaigns and expensive distribution methods, we are able to bring this package to you at a fraction of the cost of its commercial counterpart. All legal mumbo-jumbo aside - we have distributed this program in full working order to you and we have faith in the fact that there ARE in fact many honest people in this world (like yourself). Therefore, we trust that you will do the right thing and pay the registration fee if you continue to use this program. But if you decide not to continue using the program, thankyou anyway for taking the time to evaluate this product. 1.1 DISTRIBUTING THE PROGRAM You are encouraged to pass a copy of The Stock Analyst along to friends, relatives, or upload it to your favourite bulletin board for evaluation by others. Please encourage them to support the shareware concept by registering their copy if they do find it useful. 1.2 WHY SHOULD I REGISTER? Some people take the attitude that they now have a full working version of the program, so why bother to pay for something that they already have? The reasons are as follows : o All registered users receive : - a copy of the latest version of The Stock Analyst - a printed and bound manual - free technical assistance o You will also be notified of any future releases of The Stock Analyst and any new products released by Visionary Software - 1 - o Registered users have the option to purchase any updated/upgraded versions of The Stock Analyst at around 1/3 of the normal purchase price. o The registered version of the program does not have any annoying notices telling you to register. o Registered users are issued a unique registration number and all registered users are given a 10% discount on any future software registrations of Shareware products from Visionary Software. o When you register this program, a large portion of the profit will be put into research and development to develop bigger and better programs in the future. So, by registering this program, you are really helping yourself as well. 1.3 HOW TO REGISTER If you wish to register The Stock Analyst, you may do so by printing the registration form from the 'Register' sub-menu (within the '≡' menu). Please see the appropriate section in this manual for further details on the use of this option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY - "You can order with MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover from Public (software) Library by calling 800-2424-PsL or 713-524-6394 or by FAX to 713-524-6398 or by CIS Email to 71355,470. You can also mail credit card orders to PsL at P.O.Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705. "THE ABOVE NUMBERS ARE FOR ORDERS ONLY. "Any questions about the status of the shipment of the order, refunds, registration options, product details, technical support, volume discounts, dealer pricing, site licenses, etc, must be directed to Survey Design Associates Limited (SDA) at the address below. "To insure that you get the latest version, PsL will notify us the day of your order and we will ship the product directly to you." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All other orders by Cheque, Money Order, Visa or Access may be directed to: SURVEY DESIGN ASSOCIATES LIMITED (SDA) 5A Waldegrave Gardens Twickenham, Middx. TW1 4PQ UK Phone : 081-744 2002 Fax : 081-891 0866 - 2 - 1.4 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Technical assistance is provided by Survey Design Associates (SDA) internationally through the UK on 081-744 2002 (Voice) or 081-891 0866 (FAX). You may also write to the addresses as listed on the registration form. SDA also provides support on CompuServe in the SDA/Zephyr area in the UKSHARE forum (GO UKSHARE). SDA's CompuServe ID is 71333,3122 (Internet address is 71333,3122@compuserve.com). If you have any queries, comments, problems or suggestions, please let us know as we would love to hear from you. Unregistered users may receive technical assistance for the evaluation period (30 days) of the program, at which point they must either register the program or discontinue use of the product. Registered users have access to technical assistance for as long as they own the product. There is no limit to the amount of calls you may make for technical assistance. When calling for technical support, we will require the following details: o Your name o Your registration number (if applicable) o The name and version number of the software Technical assistance is provided free of charge to all users, both registered and unregistered. 1.5 OMBUDSMAN STATEMENT This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. - 3 - 2 INTRODUCTION ---------------- The Stock Analyst is a powerful, yet easy to use stock analysis program. The Stock Analyst is entirely menu driven, making it easy for the novice and experienced user alike to enter and view stock information. The features of the program are many, and these include: - A buy/sell analysis of stocks, whereby the program will assess each stock and give you advice on what action should be taken with each stock. - There are several different charts that may be displayed within the program. These charts include a Line chart, Bar chart and Point and Figure Chart. These charts can be an invaluable help when finding and assessing trends and other price movements of your stocks. - The program allows you to display a the complete history of any selected stock. This includes the high, low and closing prices and the volume traded on each day. You may also export this data to disk as a comma- delimited ASCII file for importation into a spreadsheet or other stock program. - Functions to allow you to import stock prices from an ASCII text file, an ASCII, comma-delimited file, or CompuServe's CIM portfolio prices. - The program can hold up to 1,500 different stocks and each stock can have up to 32,000 prices (this means that if you recorded prices every single day, the program could keep storing prices for about 87 years before filling up!). - Context-sensitive help is available throughout the program, so help is never more than a keystroke away. - Full mouse support is provided for ease of use. 2.1 CAUTION The Stock Analyst can be a valuable computing aid in the analysis of stock data and can be of great assistance in making buy/sell decisions, but is NOT a substitute for common sense and/or sound financial advice. It can simply provide assistance to the user by making recommendations or graphically representing stock information based on the data entered by the user. It is the users responsibility to decide on the soundness of any investment before making any decisions on the buying or selling of securities. - 4 - 3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ----------------------- The Stock Analyst will run on almost any IBM compatible computer. The program requires at least 352K of RAM (although the more you have, the better it will work). The program can also be run from one or two floppy drives or a hard disk. Use of a hard disk is highly recommended as the program often reads and writes to the disk and a hard disk is MUCH faster than a floppy disk. Another reason for recommending the use of a hard disk is that the data files for this program can take up a large amount of disk space as you input more information into the database. Because of this fact, even a high-density 3.5" disk may fill up very rapidly, thus causing problems as you may not be able to store as many stock details as you might like to. There is no minimum graphics/screen requirement as this program will work on any type of monitor from a Monochrome display up to a Super VGA and beyond. Although, if you do wish to use the graphing functions of the program, you require either an EGA or VGA monitor. This program does require that you be using the equivalent of MS-DOS 2.10 or better. For detailed information on memory and disk matters, please see Chapter 10 - Program and Data File Management and Chapter 11 - Getting the best performance. 3.1 WHAT FILES YOU SHOULD HAVE After you have installed the program onto your disk, you should change to the disk drive where you installed the program onto (eg. type C: if the program was installed to C drive. Then type CD \STOCK (assuming that you installed the program to a directory called STOCK) and press ENTER. To view a list of the files, simply type DIR (then press ENTER). The list of files displayed should be as follows (not necessarily in this order). FILENAME EXT -------- --- STOCK COM ( Main program file ) SANALYST EXE ( Secondary program file ) RESRCE01 EXE ( Resource file ) RESRCE02 EXE ( Resource file ) STOCK HLP ( Help file ) SW_STOCK HLP ( Secondary help file ) STOCK DOC ( This users manual ) ! ( Installation notice ) If the files on your disk do not match this list, you have probably been given an incomplete set of files. - 5 - If your listing does not match the one above, please contact us for a free replacement disk with a current version of the program on it. Alternatively, you should be able to obtain a copy from a reputable disk distributor or if you have access to a modem, you could download it from one of many BBS's around the country. 3.2 FILES THAT WILL BE CREATED Once you have started stocks into the database, many new files will be created. Their size will change constantly as new stock prices are entered. These files will be: STARTUP.DAT <- This is the file that holds all of the information about your program settings and file location. This file MUST be kept in the same directory as STOCK.COM and the other program files. The size of this file never changes. STOCK.IDX <- This is the programs index of all stocks on the database. This file will be held in the default directory (the directory that you specify when you first start the program). This file is VITAL to the operation of the program. XXXXXX.PCE <- Your default directory will contain many of these files as the number of stocks being tracked increases. Each stock will have a .PCE file. The X's in the name represent the individual ticker codes for each stock. These files contain ALL of the price details for the stock. USER.DEF <- This file stores the values that you use in the user defined function to read in stock data from a file. This saves you from re-typing the values each time you enter the function. - 6 - 4. RUNNING THE PROGRAM ----------------------- 4.1 HARD DISK OR SINGLE FLOPPY DRIVE Once the program has been installed onto your hard disk or single floppy disk, all that you need to do to run the program is to complete the following steps: - Change to the drive where the program is by typing the drive letter followed by a colon. For example, type C: (then press ENTER) to change to C drive - Type CD \STOCK (then press ENTER). This assumes that you have installed the program into the directory called STOCK (if not, you may substitute the path that you used) - Type STOCK (then press ENTER) to start the program. Once the program has started, the program will tell you that it cannot find the startup file "STARTUP.DAT". It will ask if you wish to create it. To start with a brand new database (which is what you will be doing), you should answer YES to this question. You will then be warned that this will destroy any previous database and you will be asked if you wish to continue anyway. Again, you should answer YES to this question. You are then required to enter the path for the data files. If you wish to store the data files in a certain directory, simply enter the path (including the drive letter) to that directory. If not, you can accept the default path of <current path>\DATA. Finally, you are required to enter your country, ie. the country that you are now in. If your country does not match any of those to select from, you should select "Other". Once selected, press or click on OK to start the program. NB. Please avoid using the root directory for the path (ie. C:\ or A:\) as this can only hold a limited number of files, whereas a sub-directory can hold an unlimited amount of files. - 7 - 4.2 TWO FLOPPY DISK DRIVES Once the program has been installed onto your first floppy disk, the steps to run the program are much the same as that with a hard disk or single floppy disk system. The only difference is that the data files are stored on the second disk drive instead of the same drive. The steps required to complete this action are as listed below: - Change to the drive where the program is by typing the drive letter followed by a colon. For example, type A: (then press ENTER) to change to A drive - Type CD \STOCK (then press ENTER). This assumes that you have installed the program into the directory called STOCK (if not, you may substitute the path that you used) - Type STOCK (then press ENTER) to start the program. Once the program has started, the program will tell you that it cannot find the startup file "STARTUP.DAT". It will ask if you wish to create it. To start with a brand new database (which is what you will be doing), you should answer YES to this question. You will then be warned that this will destroy any previous database and you will be asked if you wish to continue anyway. Again, you should answer YES to this question. You are then required to enter the path for the data files. This will usually be the path to the second (high density if possible) floppy disk drive. For example, if you wanted to use 'B' drive as the drive for your data disk, you could enter the path as: B:\STK_DATA. Finally, you are required to enter your country, ie. the country that you are now in. If your country does not match any of those to select from, you should select "Other". Once selected, press or click on OK to start the program. NB. Please avoid using the root directory for the path (ie. B:\) as this can only hold a limited number of files, whereas a sub-directory can hold an unlimited amount of files. - 8 - 5. NAVIGATING AROUND THE PROGRAM ---------------------------------- The Stock Analyst essentially contains three visible components: the Menu bar at the top, the desktop, and the status line at the bottom. The Menu bar is your primary access to all the menu commands. When the Menu bar is active, you will see a highlighted menu title; this is the currently selected menu. The status line displays the most commonly used keys within the program. This is useful to refresh your memory on the keys to use. The desktop is the portion of the screen between the Menu bar and the status line. This is where all dialog boxes and other information is displayed for you. The desktop is often referred to as the 'workspace'. 5.1 MENU BAR AND MENUS All commands that may be used in The Stock Analyst may be selected with either the keyboard or the mouse. To choose commands using the keyboard: 1. Press F10. This activates the menu bar. 2. Use the arrow keys to select the menu that you wish to display. Then press the ENTER key. As a shortcut for this step, you can press the highlighted letter of the menu title. For example, from the Menu bar, press S to quickly display the Stock menu. 3. Use the arrow keys again to choose the menu command you want. Then press the ENTER key. Again, as a shortcut, you can just press the highlighted letter of a command to choose it once the menu is displayed. At this point, The Stock Analyst will perform the action that you selected. To choose commands with a mouse, do this: 1. Click the desired menu title to display the menu. 2. Click the desired command. You can also drag straight from the menu title down to the menu command. Release the mouse button on the command you want. If you change your mind, just drag off the menu; no command will be chosen. - 9 - 5.2 SHORTCUTS From the keyboard, you can use a number of shortcuts (also called HOT KEYS) to access the Menu bar and choose commands. By the use of a hot key, you can select a particular item without having to display a menu first. To use a hot key, simply press the key or combination of keys as displayed next to the option you require (displayed on the drop-down menu). The status line also contains hot keys. Press the hot key or click on the actual hot key representation on the status line to choose the associated command. 5.3 DIALOG BOXES Dialog boxes are the pop-up windows that allow you to make selections and enter data into the program. These dialog boxes are displayed on the desktop (main portion of the screen). The dialog box has two standard action buttons: OK and Cancel. - If you choose OK, the choices in the dialog box are accepted, the action will be performed, and the dialog box is put away. - If you choose Cancel, nothing changes and no action is taken, but the dialog box is put away; the same thing happens if you click on the Close box, which is a small, filled rectangle in the top left-hand corner of the dialog box. ESC is always a keyboard shortcut for Cancel even if no Cancel button appears. If you're using a mouse, you can click the button you want. When you're using the keyboard, you can press the highlighted letter of an item to activate it. For example, pressing O selects the OK button. If you are in a field where you are entering text, you may select OK by pressing ALT + O. Press TAB or SHIFT + TAB to move forward or backward respectively from one group to another in a dialog box, then use the up and down arrow keys to select an item within the group. Each element is highlighted when it becomes active. When the button is selected, press ENTER to choose it. Any dialog box or window may be closed by holding the ALT key and pressing the F3 key. 5.3.1 CHECK BOXES You can have any number of check boxes checked at any time. When you select a check box, an X appears in it to show you that it is on. An empty box indicates that it is off. - 10 - There are three ways to check a check box (set it to on): - Click it or its text - Press TAB (and then the arrow keys if necessary) until the required check box is highlighted, then press the SPACE BAR. - Type the highlighted letter in its text 5.3.2 RADIO BUTTONS Radio buttons are used in dialog boxes to give you a selection of two or more choices from which you may pick one. Radio buttons are distinguished by being in groups within a highlighed box. Each radio button will have its button displayed, followed by the action that it would take. Radio buttons are displayed with two brackets eg. ( ) <- Unselected button; (o) <- Selected Button. To select a button, you may either click on the button required, or move to the buttons position and press the SPACE bar to select it. Radio buttons act like the old-style station-selection buttons on a car radio. There is always one -and only one- button pushed in at a time. Push one in, and the one that was in pops out. 5.3.3 INPUT BOXES An input box is where you enter text into the application. Most basic text-editing keys such as arrow keys, HOME, END and INS work in the input box. If you continue to type once you reach the end of the box, the contents automatically scroll. If there's more text than what shows in the box, arrowheads appear at the end. You can click the arrowheads to scroll the text. 5.3.4 LIST BOXES A final component of many dialog boxes is a list box. A list box lets you scroll through and select from variable-length lists without leaving a dialog box. You make a list box active by clicking on it or by choosing the highlighted letter of the list title. You can also press TAB or the arrow keys until it is highlighted. Once a list box is displayed, you can use the scroll bar (the long vertical bar on the right hand side of the list box) with a mouse: - To scroll one line at a time, click the arrow at either end. - To scroll continuously, keep the mouse button pressed. - To scroll one page at a time, click the shaded area to either side of the scroll box (small rectangular box within the scroll bar). - 11 - - To quickly move to a spot in the window relative to the position of the scroll box, drag the scroll box to any spot on the scroll bar. For example, if you wished to move to the end of the list box, you would drag the scroll box down to the bottom of the scroll bar. To move around in a list box with the keyboard: - To scroll one line at a time, depress the up or down arrow key. - To scroll continuously, keep the desired arrow key depressed. - To scroll one page at a time, depress the Page Up or Page Down key. - To scroll continuously by pages, keep the desired Page Up or Page Down key depressed. - To move to the start or end of the list box, press the CTRL and Page Up or the CTRL and Page Down keys respectively. Once you have located the item that you wish to select, highlight the item and click on the OK button, or if using the keyboard, you may highlight the item and press ENTER, or highlight the item and TAB across and select the OK button. 5.4 HELP If you do not know what a certain option does, The Stock Analyst has built in context-sensitive help. This means that you will be given help that relates to the task that you are currently performing. For example, if you are at the Stock menu, the help will tell you what the stock menu does. To access help at any time within the program, you may press the F1 key, or click on the text that says 'F1 Help' that is displayed on the status line. - 12 - 6. ≡ MENU (SYSTEM MENU) ------------------------- The system menu is the first menu on the menu bar and contains all commands that relate to the system as a whole. 6.1 ABOUT The About command displays general information about The Stock Analyst including program name, version number and copyright information. This is purely for your information. 6.2 COLOURS (or COLORS, depending on the country selected) When this option is selected, a dialog box will be displayed from which you may select the colour scheme that you would like. The colours are as follows: - Palette 1, Standard : This is the default colour scheme that is used in The Stock Analyst. The scheme contains light colours with the main colours being light gray and light green with black text. - Palette 2, Extra : This colour scheme is the alternate selection for colour monitors. The scheme consists mainly of dark blue and light gray with blue text. - Gray Scales : This colour scheme has light green and light gray with magenta text. - Monochrome : This colour scheme is specially designed for monochrome monitors, with black, white and light gray being used. - Laptop (two fonts) : This colour scheme is specially designed for laptop computers with LCD screens. This scheme also uses the colours black, white and light gray. Probably the simplest method of colour selection is to try all colours and select the one that suits you. Another option that may be selected is that of 'Use symbols'. By clicking or otherwise selecting this item (ie. pressing the SPACE bar whilst this option is highlighted), you will enable or disable this option. By enabling this option, instead of simply higlighting any selected options, each selected option will have indicators to the sides to each to make the selection more visible. - 13 - 6.3 SYSTEM DATE When entering stock data, the date as stored by the system is used as the default. Today's date is displayed in the top right-hand corner of the screen. If this date is incorrect, you may change the date from within this option. To change the date, simply type in the date in the format DD-MM-YYYY (or MM-DD-YYYY, depending on the country selected). Once you have entered the new date, selecting OK will accept the new date. 6.4 SORT ORDER When any stocks are displayed, by default they are sorted alphabetically by the name of the stock. Through this option, you may change the order in which the stocks are sorted. There are two different orders by which you may sort the stocks - by the default of name, or by ticker code. Once you have selected the order that you require, the stocks will be re-sorted to match the selected criteria. 6.5 REGISTER Through this option you may print the registration form to the screen, your printer, or to a file. Simply select the output device that you wish and press or click OK once the dialog box has been completed. If your country has been saved as OTHER, another dialog box will be displayed. In this box, you should enter the country that is CLOSEST to you. If none of these are even remotely close to where you are, you may select Australia. Finally, the registration form will be printed to the selected device. 6.6 CALCULATOR This option causes a calculator window to pop-up onto the desktop. This is a multi-function business calculator. To operate the calculator you can either use the keyboard or press the buttons on the calculator with the mouse. The 'C' key clears the calculator, the <backspace> key erases the last character typed, and the '±' key toggles the value from positive to negative (the keyboard equivalent of '±' is '_'. - 14 - 6.7 CALENDAR The calendar displays the current month, highlighting today's date. The next and previous months can be viewed using the '+' or '-' keys respectively. The mouse can also be used to change the month by pressing the up or down icons in the top right-hand corner of the window. 6.8 DOS SHELL By selecting this item, you may temporarily exit to DOS. You may then execute DOS commands, run another program (if you have enough memory), or whatever you like. Once you are ready to return to the program, simply type EXIT (then press ENTER) to return to The Stock Analyst. 6.9 EXIT By selecting this option, you will exit (quit) the program and be returned to the operating system. - 15 - 7. STOCKS MENU ---------------- The stocks menu contains all options that are required to manipulate stocks and their prices. 7.1 ADD STOCK Through this option, you may add a new stock to the database. There are two fields in which to enter data for the stock. These are: Stock Name - The name of the stock to be added (company name). This name may be a maximum of 30 characters in length. Ticker Code - The code given to the stock by the stock exchange. This code may be a maximum of 6 characters in length. 7.2 DELETE STOCK By selecting this option, you may delete a stock from the database. Once you enter this option, you may select the required stock from the list box that is displayed. This list box will contain all of the stocks currently stored on disk. Once a stock has been deleted from the database, all of it's prices and details will be deleted along with it. Once deleted, the stock will be unrecoverable. 7.3 ADD NEW STOCK PRICES Through this option, you may add new prices to any stocks that currently exist in the database. There are several steps that you must go through to enter new prices. Firstly, you must select the stock to add the prices for - this is selected through a list box. Once you have selected a stock, you must then enter the trading date. This is to be entered in the format DD-MM-YYYY (or MM-DD-YYYY, depending on the country selected). Finally, you must enter the following: Day's High - The highest price that the shares reached during the day Day's Low - The lowest price that the shares reached during the day Day's Close - The price of the shares when the market closed for the day Volume - The number of shares traded during the day - 16 - All of the above information may be found in any financial newspaper or the financial section of your local or national newspaper. If you only wish to enter the closing price, and no others, simply leave the other fields blank and they will be filled in for you (ie. the high and low will be made the same as the closing price and the volume will be set to zero). If you have entered any invalid characters, the program will make you re-enter the incorrect values. The fields that were already entered correctly will still contain the data that you inserted, but the invalid fields will be blank. 7.4 DELETE STOCK PRICES By selecting this option, you may delete prices for a particular stock from the database. Once you enter this option, you may select the required stock from the list box that is displayed. This list box will contain all of the stocks currently stored on disk. Once the stock has been selected, another list box will be displayed. This list box will contain all of the dates on which prices were entered. To delete prices, simply select the date on which the prices were entered for. Once prices have been deleted from the database, the prices will be unrecoverable. 7.5 UPDATE MARKET INDEX This option is used to update the market index (eg. Dow Jones, FTSE 100, All Ordinaries) for the day. All that is required is for you to enter the index value once the market has ceased trading each day (or whenever you can). When the value is entered, it will be added to the database under the current date (ie. today's date). This date is always displayed in the top right-hand corner of the screen for your reference. If you wish to enter an index value for a different day, all that you are required to do is temporarily change the system date, update the index, then return the date to it's correct setting. - 17 - 8. REPORTS MENU ----------------- The reports menu contains the options that report on the stocks in your database. This is mainly useful for analysing and assessing a stocks past and future performance. 8.1 STOCK HISTORY The stock history option allows you to display a listing of a particular stock. This will include the high, low and closing prices and the volume traded on each day. This list may contain every entry ever made for the stock if you so desire. Upon selecting this option, a listbox will be displayed with all the stocks contained therein. To view the history of a stock, simply select the stock that you wish to view and press or click on OK. You will then be required to enter the date on which to start displaying FROM and then the date to display TO. If you wish to view all of the stock prices, you may accept the default values given. The history of the stock as selected will then be displayed in a listbox. Once you have finished with the listbox, you may press or click OK to continue. At this point, you will be asked if you wish to send the output to the screen, a file, or the printer. If you select 'screen' the history will be output to screen. If you select 'file', the history will be output to a file with a .HST extension and will be in a comma-delimited format which will allow easy importation into a spreadsheet or other stock program. If you select 'printer', the history will be sent directly to LPT1. Please ensure that your printer has paper and is on-line before pressing OK. 8.2 BUY/SELL ANALYSIS Once you have selected this option, the program will analyse every stock in the database in turn and will give you advice as to what it believes you should do with that stock. The analysis of the stock will then be displayed in a listbox. Once you have finished with the listbox, you may press or click OK to continue. At this point, you will be asked if you wish to send the output to the printer. If you answer YES to this question, the buy/sell analysis will be sent to your printer. Please ensure that your printer has paper and is on-line before replying YES to this question. - 18 - The advice given will be one of the following: HOLD - This may be generated for one of two reasons. Firstly, the HOLD signal may be generated if the stock is not showing any particular signs in any direction, meaning that you should probably wait to see what happens. Secondly, this signal may also be generated if the program does not yet have enough information on the stock to make a decision yet. Usually, the program requires from thirty to sixty price entries before it can make a decision (although it depends on the price movements of the stock). BUY - The BUY signal is generated when the stock shows signs that the price is on the rise. SELL - The SELL signal is generated when the stock shows signs that the price is declining. CONS BUY - The CONS BUY (Consider buy) is generated when some factors show that you should be buying, but other factors say that you should continue to hold. CONS SELL - The CONS SELL (Consider sell) is generated when some factors show that you should be selling, but other factors say that you should continue to hold. Please note that these signals are intended to be used only as a guide for you. There is still no substitute for common sense (and/or a good broker or investment advisor). - 19 - 9. CHARTS MENU ---------------- Through this option, you may get a graphical representation of your stocks performance. This can often be an invaluable aid in assessing trends and all associated price movements. Please note that these charts may only be displayed if you have an EGA or VGA (or better) monitor. 9.1 LINE CHART A line chart is built on the closing prices of the stock for each trading day. The vertical or 'y' axis on the left of the chart represents the prices of the stock. The horizontal or 'x' axis along the bottom of the chart represents the dates on which the stock was traded. The line is created by plotting points for each day of trading and then joining each point together to form the line. At the bottom of the chart, there is another mini-chart that is created also. These are red, three-dimensional bars extending upward. These bars represent the volume of stocks traded on that day. The bars are displayed in relation to the largest volume traded on the chart. Before the chart is displayed, a listbox will be displayed with all the stocks contained therein. From this listbox, you must select the stock that you wish to view and press or click on the OK button. You will then be required to enter the date on which to start displaying FROM and then the date to display TO. If you wish to chart all of the stock prices, you may accept the default values given. 9.2 BAR CHART The bar chart created is unlike the normal bar chart that you may expect to see displayed by the program. Instead of drawing rectangular bars, the bars drawn are simply a line. Although, in this case, it is no normal line. When a bar is drawn, the top of the bar represents the highest point that the stock reached on that day and the bottom of the bar represents the lowest point that the stock dropped to on that day. Additionally, the bar will have a small horizontal line extending to the right of the bar. This line marks the closing price of the stock for that day. This is very useful to see how much the price has fluctuated during the day of trading, among other things. - 20 - As with the line chart, the vertical or 'y' axis on the left of the chart represents the prices of the stock. The horizontal or 'x' axis along the bottom of the chart represents the dates on which the stock was traded. Before the chart is displayed, a listbox will be displayed with all the stocks contained therein. From this listbox, you must select the stock that you wish to view and press or click on the OK button. You will then be required to enter the date on which to start displaying FROM and then the date to display TO. If you wish to chart all of the stock prices, you may accept the default values given. 9.3 POINT AND FIGURE CHART The point and figure chart is very different from any other chart. The main features of this type of charting are that: - It is compiled with no time dimension - It disregards small changes in share price - It requires a share's price to reverse a number of points before a directional change is recorded In this type of charting, the movements are recorded by crosses and circles. The crosses indicate upward movements and the circles downward movements in share price. Each time that the share price changes direction, the point of charting moves across one space on the 'x' axis. This will often show the shares moving in some sort of pattern. From this pattern, you can often gain a valuable insight into how the share's price is going to move in the future. Before the chart is displayed, a listbox will be displayed with all the stocks contained therein. From this listbox, you must select the stock that you wish to view and press or click on the OK button. - 21 - 10. AUTO-ENTRY ---------------- 10.1 COMPUSERVE This function will read stock information from a 'log' file that you have made of CompuServe's stock prices. This MUST be saved from the information retrieved by the CompuServe Information Manager (Windows or DOS) - in the Stock Quotes (portfolio) option. To create the file, simply create a portfolio of stocks in the Stock Quotes option. These stocks must have already been added to the The Stock Analyst's database if you wish to update the prices. Also, in order to successfully add the stocks, you MUST have entered the correct ticker symbols in both The Stock Analyst and in the CompuServe portfolio (ie. both must be identical). Once this is done, you can then collect all the stock prices by clicking on the 'GET ALL' button in the Quotes dialog (within the Services menu). The Information Manager will log onto CompuServe and collect the stock prices for you. Once collected, you simply save the figures (File|Save As...) under whatever name you wish and then disconnect from CompuServe. Once you have saved the prices, you may then start The Stock Analyst. To enter the prices, you select CompuServe from the Auto-Entry menu and this will bring up a dialog box showing all files in the current directory. Through this, you may then select the file that you previously saved from CompuServe by either double-clicking on that file or by typing the path and filename in the text box at the top of the dialog box. Once selected, the program will read the stock prices from the file and insert them into the database ready for analysis. NB. Do not modify the information that you receive from CompuServe in any way after you have saved it as the program relies the information being in the correct format. Also, this automatic entry works only for the Stock Quotes option of CompuServe Information Manager. This will not work with the standard CompuServe Basic Quotes as this is in a different format. - 22 - 10.2 USER DEFINED This function will read information from an ASCII text file that contains stock prices. You can read either standard ASCII text files with fields separated by spaces, or comma-delimited files. The text file may not contain any extra lines of information, and each piece of stock data MUST be on a single line, although each file may contain any number of lines. When using a comma-delimited file, the POSITION's relate to the field number, whereas with a spaced file the position number must be the exact physical starting position of each field. Each line of the file MUST contain the following fields: Date, Ticker Symbol and Closing Price. It is also advisable for the file to contain the High Price, Low Price and Volume Traded (if you are looking for accuracy). When you select this function, a dialog box will be displayed for you to define where the individual fields are. The fields that you must complete are as follows: Date Format - In this field, you are required to enter the format in which the date is written. For example, if the date is in the format Month, Day, Year (ie. 11-27-1993), you would enter the format of MM-DD-YYYY. If the date was saved as 27-11-93, you would enter DD-MM-YY. This field is mandatory. Date Position - This is the position at which the date is stored in the file (the starting position). If you have checked the 'comma-delimited' check box (ie. you are using a comma- delimited file), the position is the field number that the date is in. For example, if your file is arranged like this: 'TRB,11-29-1993,12.50', the date's position would be 2 because it is the second field. If the file is not comma-delimited, for example: 'TRB 11-29-1993 12.50', the date's position is it's physical position on the line (ie. where it starts). In this case, the ticker position is 1, the date position is 8 and the close position is 22. This is a mandatory field. - 23 - Ticker Position - This is the position at which the stock ticker code is located. Essentially, the entry of this field follows the same rules as the Date Position field. This is a mandatory field. High Position - This is the position at which the high price of the day is located. Essentially, the entry of this field follows the same rules as the Date Position field. This is not a mandatory field. If you do not have this field in your file, simply leave this field blank. Low Position - This is the position at which the low price of the day is located. Essentially, the entry of this field follows the same rules as the Date Position field. This is not a mandatory field. If you do not have this field in your file, simply leave this field blank. Close Position - This is the position at which the closing price is located. Essentially, the entry of this field follows the same rules as the Date Position field. This is a mandatory field. Volume Position - This is the position at which the daily volume traded is located. Essentially, the entry of this field follows the same rules as the Date Position field. This is not a mandatory field. If you do not have this field in your file, simply leave this field blank. Once you are finished and have clicked OK, a dialog box showing all files in the current directory will be displayed. Through this, you may then select the file that you previously saved your stock data in by either double-clicking on that file or by typing the path and filename in the text box at the top of the dialog box. Once selected, the program will read the stock prices from the file and insert them into the database ready for analysis. NB. Make sure that the text file contains only the required lines of prices for stocks and no superflous information whatsoever. - 24 - 11. PROGRAM AND DATA FILE MANAGEMENT -------------------------------------- 11.1 WHERE SHOULD IT ALL BE KEPT In this program, it is important that all of the files be stored in their correct locations so that The Stock Analyst knows where to find the program and data files. 11.1.1 USING A HARD DISK OR SINGLE FLOPPY If you will be running the program from a hard drive or a single floppy drive, the only requirement is that the program files are all in the same directory and that the data files are all in the directory as specified when you began the program. Please remember that you should not store the data files in the root directory of your disk as the root directory can only hold a limited number of files. You should instead store the data files in a sub-directory as a sub-directory may store an unlimited number of files. 11.1.2 USING TWO FLOPPY DISKS If you are using two floppy disk drives, the best way to set up the program is to have the program files on one disk and the data files on the other. If one disk drive has a higher capacity than the other, you should use the lower capacity drive for the program files and the higher capacity drive for to store the data files. As with a hard disk or single floppy, you should not store the data files in the root directory of your disk as the root directory can only hold a limited number of files. You should instead store the data files in a sub-directory as a sub-directory may store an unlimited number of files. 11.2 HOW MUCH DISK SPACE YOU WILL NEED The question of how much disk space is required for the program and its data files is almost impossible to answer, but we can give you some general guidelines. The program files are a set size, so that is one question that is easy to answer. The total disk space taken by the program files is around 203 Kb. The size of the data files will change constantly as stocks are added and deleted throughout the use of the program. - 25 - Individually, each entry will take up the following amount of disk space: Index Entry (adding a stock) 38 bytes Price Entry 39 bytes Often you will be able to fit all of the data files on one high-density floppy diskette (or maybe even a low-density diskette). Although, this is dependant on how many stocks are being analysed. 11.3 WARNING ON FILE DELETION Often you will want to delete stocks or prices from the database. When you do so, please delete the stocks or prices through the program's delete options. If you delete the files directly through DOS, you may cause errors in the program's data files and as such, the program may not run as it should. Additionally, if you have to clean up your floppy disk (or hard drive) to make extra room at any stage, please ensure that you do not delete any of the program or data files (that is if you still want the program to work). More importantly than anything else, if you delete the files STARTUP.DAT or STOCK.IDX, the program will no longer be able to find the files that are stored on the database, thus rendering the database useless. - 26 - 12. GETTING THE BEST PERFORMANCE ---------------------------------- 12.1 MEMORY MANAGEMENT This program requires a computer with at least 352K of available memory to run. The available memory is the amount of conventional memory left after all of the memory-resident programs have been loaded (including DOS). If you receive an OUT OF MEMORY error whilst running the program, or a PROGRAM TO BIG TO FIT IN MEMORY error when you try to start the program, you should remove any memory-resident programs that are not essential (ie. TSR's, network drivers, device drivers). Additionally, if you are running the program through a DOS shell (eg. MS-DOS(R) Dosshell, MS-Windows(tm) DOS) you will increase memory by leaving the shell program altogether and running this program from the command line. If you are using MS-DOS version 5.00 or later, you can increase the size of conventional memory by loading your memory-resident programs high. Please consult your MS-DOS manual for details on how to do this. If you are still having memory problems, you can get more memory by starting your computer from a floppy disk containing the system files with very little (if anything) in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. This will ensure that your system will be starting with the largest amount of memory possible. 12.2 DISK MANAGEMENT 12.2.1 HARD DISK VS FLOPPY DISK(S) It is often asked whether a program should be run from a hard disk or from floppy disk(s). The simple answer is - run the program from a hard disk whenever possible. The advantages of the hard disk over the floppy disks are great, with the two major pluses being: * Hard disks are many times faster than floppy disks * Hard disks can store vast amounts of information We do recommend that you use a hard disk whenever possible, as the program does make regular disk accesses and as such, would be MUCH slower when running from a floppy disk. Another reason to use a hard disk is that the data files can get very large and may not fit on a single floppy disk. - 27 - 12.2.2 DISK CACHE A disk cache is a program written for computers with expanded or extended memory. A disk cache is designed to reduce the amount of time your computer spends reading data from your hard disk. Examples of this are - Microsoft's SMARTDRV and Norton's NCACHE. By using a disk cache, you should be able to speed up the use of The Stock Analyst. Simply include the caching program in your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file to create a cache. Setting the cache up to use 1024K of memory should be more than sufficient for use with The Stock Analyst. - 28 - 13. GUARANTEE We are certain that this program is without peer in stock market analysis and we believe that you will also be impressed by the programs ease of use, speed, and accuracy. Although, if you are not completely satisfied by the performance of this program, you may return the product to us within 30 days from the date of purchase for a full refund. If you do wish to receive a refund, please call, FAX, or email us first to receive a return authorisation number. You may then return the program plus documentation to us, clearly marked with this authorisation number. NB. Obviously, this guarantee is only available to registered users of this product. - 29 - APPENDIX A ---------- ERROR MESSAGES Below is a list of all messages that may be displayed by the program if an error occurs. If you receive any error that terminates the program and/or you are unsure of how to rectify the error, please write down what is displayed on the screen and what you were doing when the error occurred. After you have these details, please feel free to contact us for help in solving the problem. Details on technical assistance are listed in chapter 1.1. Errors are listed in alphabetical order with the error message printed in CAPITALS with the error number in brackets. Following the error message is the description of the error with any possible solutions. Often, an error may be fixed by simply restarting the program or attempting to perform the process again. The errors are as follows: BAD DRIVE REQUEST STRUCT LENGTH (151) The DOS device driver reported an internal error. Solution: Restart the program and try the operation again. If the error persists, there could be a problem with your computers hardware. CANNOT READ FROM DEVICE (161) DOS has reported that it cannot read anything from the disk drive. This is often caused by a hardware fault. Solution: Check the integrity of your disk drive and computer system functions in general. CANNOT WRITE TO DEVICE (160) DOS has reported that it cannot write anything to the disk drive or printer. This is often caused by a hardware fault. Solution: Check the integrity of your disk drive or printer and computer system functions in general. DATA ON DISK IS CORRUPTED (154) The data on the default or program disk has been corrupted and cannot be read by the program. Solution: If the problem continues and you cannot locate the defective files, contact technical assistance. - 30 - DIRECTORY IS FULL (241) The default directory is unable to hold any more files as it has reached its limit. This error occurs when you have been using the root directory to store data files. Solution: The only solution is to start a new database by deleting the data files and the file FLAGS.DAT. Ensure that the new default path is a sub-directory. DISK FULL (101) The disk with the data files has run out of space so the program cannot write any data to it. Solution: Delete any non-essential data from the disk, purchase a disk- compression program (eg. Stacker, SuperStor, MS-DOS 6) or get a larger disk. DISK IS WRITE PROTECTED (150) The program was attempting to write data to a disk, but was unable to because the disk was write-protected. Solution: If you are using a 3.5" disk, move the write-protect tab DOWN to cover the hole in the disk. If you are using a 5.25" disk, remove the write-protect tab that is covering the notch in the right-hand side of the disk. DISK READ ERROR (100) The program is having trouble reading data from the disk. Solution: This error will usually disappear if you restart the program or even ignore the error completely. DISK SECTOR NOT FOUND (158) DOS reported an error while attempting to find data on your disk. The disk or data may be corrupted. Solution: Ensure that all of the data and program files are in the correct place on your disk(s) and that they seem to be intact. If the problem persists, please contact technical assistance. DISK WRITE ERROR (240) DOS has reported that your disk is full. Solution: Delete any non-essential data from the disk or get a larger disk. - 31 - DRIVE NOT READY (152) - There is no disk in the drive, or - The drive door is open, or - The drive is not ready to be accessed. Solution: Insert a disk into the drive, or Close the drive door, or Return to the main menu and try again If the problem persists, please contact technical assistance. ERROR IN NUMERIC FORMAT (16) The program is trying to read a number from a file, but the data does not contain the correct numbers. Solution: This error should never occur, but if it does, restart the program and the error should correct itself. FATAL ERROR - Number XX at XXXX:XXXX (Number as displayed) An error has occurred that cannot be recovered from. The program will halt at this point. Solution: There is no solution other than restarting the program. Please record these numbers and contact technical assistance if the error continues. FILE ACCESS DENIED (5) - A data file has attributes of read-only, or - The working (default) directory is full, or - A data file cannot be opened Solution: Change the file attributes so that they are no longer read only, or See solution for DIRECTORY FULL ERROR, or Check to ensure that all data files are present in the default directory and correct. If the error persists, please contact technical assistance for help. FILE DOES NOT EXIST (1) The program cannot find the program that it was looking for. Please ensure that no data or program files have been accidentally erased from your disk. Solution: There is no solution other than finding the missing file(s). - 32 - FILE NOT FOUND (2) The program cannot find the program that it was looking for. Please ensure that no data or program files have been accidentally erased from your disk. Solution: There is no solution other than finding the missing file(s). HARDWARE FAILURE (156 or 162) DOS encountered a hardware failure on an I/O device. This error can be reported as a result of sharing violations and other network errors. Solution: Check all of your I/O devices (eg. disk drive, printer) to ensure that they are reliable. If you are working on a network, check the access mode and users on the system. If all seems correct, try to restart the program. If the error persists, please contact technical assistance. HEAP OVERFLOW ERROR (203) There is not enough free space in the heap to allocate the required block of memory for the programs use (ie. The computer has run out of memory). Solution: Read the chapter on memory management to increase your computers available memory INVALID FILE HANDLE (6) This error is reported if an invalid file handle is passed to a DOS system call. This error should never occur; if it does, you know that something in the program has been trashed. Solution: Try restarting the program, if the error continues, notify technical assistance. INVALID POINTER OPERATION (204) There is a problem with the pointers within the program pointing outside of the correct memory space. Solution: Restart the program, the error should not occur again. - 33 - OBJECT NOT INITIALISED (210) A call to an object within the program was unsuccessful, this could indicate a software fault. Solution: Restart the program. If error continues, call technical assistance. OUT OF MEMORY - HEAP OVERFLOW AT XXXX:XXXX (No number) There is not enough free space in the heap to allocate the required block of memory for the programs use (ie. The computer has run out of memory). This error is fatal, which means that the program cannot continue and as such, the program will halt. Solution: Read the chapter on memory management to increase your computers available memory OUT OF MEMORY - STACK OVERFLOW AT XXXX:XXXX (No number) The program reports this error when there is not enough stack space to allocate the sub program's local variables (ie. not enough memory). This error is fatal, which means that the program cannot continue and as such, the program will halt. Solution: Read the chapter on memory management to increase your computers available memory PATH NOT FOUND (3) The program cannot locate the directory specified by you as the default directory. Solution: Ensure that the default directory specified by you actually exists where it should. PRINTER OUT OF PAPER (159) Your printer is signalling that it is out of paper. Solution: Replenish your printer's paper supply. RECORD LENGTH MISMATCH (144) The length of the data records is not as it should be. This usually indicates that the file(s) may be corrupted or tampered with in some way. Solution: Attempt to locate the bad data file and rectify the problem, or restart the program to see if the error persists. If it does persist, please contact technical assistance. - 34 - SEEK BEYOND END OF FILE (145) DOS reported an error while attempting to find data on your disk. Solution: Ensure that all data files are in the correct directory on the disk and that no files have been erased or tampered with in any way. STACK OVERFLOW ERROR (202) The program reports this error when there is not enough stack space to allocate the sub program's local variables (ie. not enough memory). This error is fatal, which means that the program cannot continue and as such, the program will halt. Solution: Read the chapter on memory management to increase your computers available memory TOO MANY OPEN FILES (4 or 243) The program will report this error if the program has too many open files for DOS to handle. Solution: Usually, this error means that your FILES=xx entry in your CONFIG.SYS file specifies too few files. Increase the number xx to some suitable value, such as 20. You should also have a statement of BUFFERS=20 to ensure correct program operation. UNABLE TO LOCATE STOCK.IDX IN DEFAULT PATH (No number) DOS has reported that the file STOCK.IDX (the index file) does not exist in the path specified as the default path. Solution: Check the default path for this file. Usually this error will only occur if the file has been erased. If the file no longer exists, the database will be rendered useless. The only solution in this case is to delete all of the data files from your disk, delete the file STARTUP.DAT and start a brand new database. UNKNOWN MEDIA TYPE (157) DOS can't recognise the type of disk in your drive. Solution: Check the disk in your disk drive to ensure that it is formatted and is the correct disk. UNKNOWN CAUSE (Number as displayed) An unknown error has occurred during program execution. Solution: If the error persists, take note of the error number and contact technical assistance. - 35 - APPENDIX B ---------- GLOSSARY OF SHAREMARKET TERMS Below is a glossary of terms that are usually used in the sharemarket. ACID TEST RATIO A measure of financial solvency (also known as quick asset ratio), which is calculated by dividing cash and other assets readily convertible into cash by current liabilities. ANNUAL REPORT The formal financial and financially related statements required by law and issued once a year by a company. Included in this report are four mandatory statements: the balance sheet, the profit-and-loss statement, the directors' or presidents' report, and the auditors' report. ASSETS Those resources owned or at the disposal of a company or individual. AUDITORS' REPORT A statement attesting to veracity of information contained in the annual report. AUTHORISED CAPITAL This is the amount of funds represented by shares that a company is permitted to issue according to its memorandum of association. BALANCE DATE The date, usually 30 June, to which the annual accounts are officially drawn up. BALANCE SHEET Comprising part of the annual report, this statement details the assets owned by an entity, and the ownership interest in these assets of two groups. Firstly, those who hold shares in the entity, and, secondly, those other than shareholders who provide capital or credit to the entity. BEAR MARKET A market in which share prices are declining. BID The price at which an investor is willing to buy shares. BLUE CHIP INVESTMENT A term used to designate a company known for the quality and wide acceptance of its product or services, and for its ability to make money and pay dividends. - 36 - BOND A document upon which the details of a loan made to a government or semi- government body are recorded. It usually involves a fixed rate of interest and a fixed price period. BONUS DIVIDEND An additional dividend paid to shareholders over and above what they would normally expect to receive. It is normally given by a company to commemorate some event such as a centenary or the making of an exceptionally large profit. BONUS INCREMENT The margin between the take-up price of a new issue as against the price of the same company's shares on the market. BONUS ISSUE The issue of shares free of charge to existing shareholders, usually in a predetermined ratio, eg. one bonus share for every three already held. BOOKS CLOSING DATE The date on which a company closes its books to determine those shareholders entitled to a dividend, new issue, etc. BROKER One who handles orders to buy and sell shares, fixed term and other securities for a commission. BROKERAGE The commission a broker receives for handling orders to buy and sell shares, fixed term and other securities. BULL MARKET A market in which share prices are rising. CALL The amount that remains to be paid on a particular share before it becomes fully paid. See Contributing Shares. CAPITAL The amount of funds a company has in the form of shares. CAPITAL GAIN A gain that accrues to an investor when his/her securities increase in value over and above what was paid for them. CASH ISSUE The issue of shares for a cash consideration. CLOSING PRICE The price quoted on shares at the close of a day's trading on the stock exchange. - 37 - CONTRACT NOTE Document sent by a broker to a client, recording information in respect of a purchase or sale, eg. price of shares and brokerage. CONTRIBUTING SHARES Shares that are not fully paid. CONVERTIBLE NOTE A loan made to a company at a fixed rate of interest, which will either be redeemed for cash by the company or converted into ordinary shares on or within specified dates. CUM Meaning 'with', hence 'cum dividend', 'cum rights'. Following the announcement of a dividend or rights issue, shares will be traded for a period, entitling the buyer to the dividend (when it is paid) or rights for new shares when the new issue occurs. Shares traded during this time will tend to rise somewhat in price. After the specified period the shares will become 'ex dividend' and 'ex rights'. CURRENT ASSETS Cash and items that are expected to be turned into cash (inventories, accounts receivable) within twelve months of a balance sheet date. CURRENT LIABILITIES Debts of a company payable within one year of a balance sheet date. CURRENT RATIO An accounting term used to describe a means of comparison between current assets and current liabilities. DEBENTURE A loan (secured by a charge over a company's assets) made to a company for a fixed rate of interest over a fixed period of time. Part of a group of securities known as fixed-term securities. DEFERRED (DD) Shares quoted (DD) are associated with companies undergoing capital reconstruction where shareholders having surrendered old scrip (share certificates) are awaiting new scrip. (DEL) Shares quoted (DEL) refer to a new issue for which scrip has not yet been issued. DIRECTOR A person elected by shareholders to establish company policies. One such policy relates to the amount, if any, of dividends that will be paid. - 38 - DIRECTORS' REPORT A statement, comprising part of the company's annual report, that describes past and likely future performance from the directors' viewpoint. It appears in narrative form. DISCOUNT The amount by which a security is traded below its par value. DIVERSIFICATION The spreading of investment funds between investments to minimise the effects of risk and uncertainty. A company may also diversify its products. DIVIDEND Amount paid to shareholders as interest on their investment. It is based on a company's profitability, and usually expressed on a per share basis. DIVIDEND COVER The number of times dividend payout is covered by the profit available to ordinary shareholders. DIVIDEND RATE The dividend paid to shareholders shown as a percentage of the par value of a share. DIVIDEND YIELD The dividend paid per share (DPS) shown as a percentage of the latest sale price of a share. EARNINGS PER SHARE (EPS) The net profit of a company less the interest commitment to preference shareholders divided by the total number of ordinary shares issued. EARNINGS YIELD Earnings per share as a percentage of the latest sale price of a share. Often rearranged as the price/earnings (P/E) ratio. EFFICIENT MARKET Term used to describe a market in which all information is fully reflected in the price of a share on the market. ENTITLEMENT ISSUE A method of raising capital where existing shareholders may buy new shares at below market prices. The entitlement cannot be sold or transferred. Frequently used by mining and oil companies to raise funds. EQUITY Ownership interest. - 39 - EX Meaning 'without', hence 'ex dividend' and 'ex entitlement'. The use of the term indicates that shares are being traded without the current dividend or the current entitlement. The opposite of 'cum'. EX DATE The date on which shares change from being 'cum' to 'ex', usually the fifth business day prior to and including the book closing date. EX POSTE Relating to the past, that which has gone before. FACE VALUE The nominal or par value of a share. Indicates the standard unit in cents of a company's share. Bears no relation to market price. FLOAT (FLOTATION) Describes the raising of initial capital by public subscription to securities. FIXED ASSETS Assets that are expected to contribute to the income earned by a business during more than one year. FULLY PAID SHARES Shares upon which the full amount of the initial contract price has been received. FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS Analysis of a company based on the calculation of ratios, themselves based on past information in respect to a company's profitability and solvency. GILT-EDGED Securities noted for their stability. GROWTH STOCK Shares that provide the opportunity for a capital gain that is above average. INTANGIBLE ASSETS Assets that have little or no physical existence, eg. patents, goodwill. INTERIM DIVIDEND A dividend paid during a year representing a return based on the previous six months' financial performance and the outlook for the future. ISSUED CAPITAL That part of authorised capital that has been taken up by the public. - 40 - LIMIT ORDER An order of shares in which the buyer places a limit on the price he or she is prepared to pay for a share. MARKET CAPITALISATION A technique used to rank the size of firms. Calculated by multiplying the number of issued shares of a company by the latest sale price of its shares. MARKET ORDER Term applying to an order of shares to be executed at the best possible price, usually at the broker's discretion. MARKET PRICE The prevailing price around which a security is bought and sold. MARKETABLE PARCEL The minimum number of shares at a certain price that can be traded. MINORITY INTEREST Describes the interests of those shareholders in a company who do not have the majority of the voting rights. NET ASSETS Total assets less total liabilities. NET TANGIBLE ASSET BACKING (NTAB) A frequently quoted company statistic describing the net assets owned by shareholders. NET TANGIBLE ASSETS Total assets less intangible assets. NO LIABILITY Term used to describe a company in which the shareholders are not obliged to pay calls on their shares. Usually applies to mining companies. NOMINAL CAPITAL The authorised capital of a company. NON-RENOUNCEABLE ISSUE Describes an issue of shares that cannot be sold or transferred. An entitlement issue is always non-renounceable. ODD LOT Shares in numbers that do not constitute marketable parcels. OFFER The price at which an investor is willing to sell shares. - 41 - OFFICIAL LIST A list of companies granted quotation on the stock exchange. OPENING PRICES The prices quoted on shares at the official opening of a day's trading on the stock exchange. OPTION Describes the right attached to a share issue that permits the purchaser to take up further shares at some future date at a fixed price. Options may be traded on the market. PAR VALUE The nominal or face value of a security, determined by a company, and displayed on the share certificate. PLACEMENT The investment of funds, usually in large amounts, in particular securities. POINTS A measure used to indicate changes in the stock exchange indices. PORTFOLIO Comprises the total selection of companies that an investor has placed funds in. PREFERENCE SHARE Unit of capital with prior rights to dividends and sometimes capital repayment over ordinary shareholders. PREMIUM The margin between the par value of a share and the market value. PRICE/EARNINGS RATIO (P/E RATIO) Describes the relationship between the market price of a share and earnings per share. PROSPECTUS A document prepared by a company setting out the terms and conditions associated with a new issue of its securities. PROXY Authority, in writing, to vote on behalf of another shareholder at a company meeting. QUOTATION Describes the exercise of listing the current buying and selling prices of a share or sales. - 42 - RALLY Describes a period when shares rise after a period of declining prices. RIGHTS ISSUE An issue of capital in which shares are offered to existing shareholders, in predetermines ratios, below their market price. Rights are tradeable on the market. SCRIP Another term for a share certificate. SECURITIES Types of investments offered by companies or government authorities, for example, shares, debentures, bonds, notes. SHARE CERTIFICATE An official record of the equity of a particular shareholder in a company. Must be relinquished when shares are sold. SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS Describes the sum of all shareholder equity in a company. SHARE SPLIT An action whereby, in a effort to make its shares more tradeable, companies divide their capital into smaller units. For example, change from $1 to 50 cent shares. STAGS Persons who buy shares with the intention of immediately reselling them and making a quick profit. STOCKS Term used interchangeably with 'shares'. STOCKBROKER Term used interchangeably with 'sharebroker'. STOCKMARKET Term used interchangeably with 'sharemarket'. TAKEOVER An action in which one company buys sufficient shares of another company in order to take over the management of its operations. UNDERWRITER Organisation or person who, for a commission, guarantees full subscription to a new issue of shares. Part of the agreement entails the underwriter buying any unsold shares. - 43 - UNSECURED NOTE A fixed-interest security of the same nature as a debenture, except for the fact that it is not secured by a charge over company assets. YIELD Earnings, dividends, or interest paid by a company expressed as a percentage of the current market price of a share. - 44 -