Shareware Overload

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Shareware Overload / ShartewareOverload.cdr / busi / tas2091.zip / TAS.TXT < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1991-02-26 | 91KB | 2,087 lines

1 Introduction "Technical Analysis Scanner(tm)" (TAS) is a software program that gives you control of your MetaStock (or ChartPro) data base using Technical Analysis Indicators and conditional relationships to "scan" all, or a portion, of your data files. TAS also contains an optional Profit Testing Facility (referred to as TAS/PT). TAS is a generalized Technical Analysis scanning tool. It is not a "black box" system. You have complete control over the indicators chosen, their interpretation, and the output format for your reports. With TAS, you can combine many Technical Indicators, compare their values against other indicators or values, make decisions based on the result of those comparisons, and ultimately, create a report which shows you what you want to see. TAS is designed to enable you to go beyond the MetaStock Pro "Custom Formulas" by applying similar analysis to all or any part of the data in your Metastock (or ChartPro) Data Base. If you have a profit formula you believe is appropriate, but you do not have the time to chart all of your stocks everyday, then TAS is the tool you need. It runs your customized formula on selected groups of your stocks, and can be used to notify if your buy or sell trigger is "crossed". TAS can also be used to create custom reports on your stocks. For example, you can use it to notify you when a particular stock has reached a certain price, volume or Technical Indicator value. When the optional Profit Tester feature (TAS/PT) is enabled, you can confirm the profitability of your system using TAS/PT. 2 Taking Care of Business 2.1 Registration TAS is distributed as a TRIAL version. The TRIAL version of TAS has the following restrictions: 1) Only 20 TICKER symbols will be accessed from a "TICKER LIST" 2) TAS cannot be run from a batch file as a DOS command 3) You cannot redirect the output from the TAS reports into a file or to the printer. 4) Only one TICKER will be allowed to be used with the Profit Test feature (TAS/PT). 5) The functions listed below may not be available in the TRIAL version. Directional Movement - PDI, MDI, DX, ADX, ADXR Linear Regression - LINREG, CORRCOEF, ANGLE, SLOPE Intersection - OVER, ISECT Profit Tester - BUY, SELL, STOP, TOTAL Miscellaneous - MACD, MACDTRIGGER, CCI, VOL(atility) PEAK, TROUGH When you register TAS, you will receive a "REGISTRATION CODE" that will enable the full set of TAS features. If you register TAS/PT, there is no limit on the number of TICKERs on which you can run the Profit Test feature. You will find that running TAS from a batch file and placing the reports into a file for inspection is more convenient on a day-to-day basis than running the program interactively. This particular feature, as well as the ability to scan up to 2000 stocks in one run, should encourage you to register your version of TAS. Your registration entitles you to continuous updates for new TAS features, support for TAS problems, questions and requests for new indicators. 2.1.1 How to Register In order to become a registered user of TAS or TAS/PT, please send a check (made out to FlexSoft) for the amount of the registration fee to: FlexSoft 7172 Regional St, #276 Dublin, CA 94568 2.1.2 Registration Fee If you register TAS alone, the registration cost is $45. If you want TAS to include the Profit Testing support, the cost is $75. If you have registered PML (another product of the author's) directly through the author (rather than in a co-sponsored package), your TAS registration cost is $35 and the cost for TAS/PT is $60. If you wish to register PML and TAS together, the cost for both is $60. Finally, the cost for PML and TAS/PT is $85. TAS/PT is the TAS program with the Profit Test feature enabled. There is no separate program for TAS/PT. I could have created a separate program for the Profit tester feature, in which case, there would have been a separate registration required for it. For the convenience of everyone, I chose to include the Profit Tester in TAS with a different Registration Code to enable it. This means you don't have to download multiple files to get both features. Also, you can upgrade your TAS to TAS/PT by just sending me the difference in the Registration Cost. If you do not want the Profit Tester feature, then the price for TAS is the same as it always has been. The following table summarizes the registration pricing for TAS and TAS/PT according to the discussion above. TAS TAS/PT (profit tester) ----- ------ Non-PML User $45 $75 PML User $35 $60 plus PML $60 $85 2.2 Support You can get support for TAS problems or questions by contacting me at my mailing address (above) or by Email on the following services: GEnie : M.MOORE41 Prodigy : JBMD65A Compuserve : 76447,2367 MCI : M.MOORE If you need a new version of TAS, it will be available on the FlexSoft BBS at 415-829-2293 (HOURS 4-7 a.m. and 3:30-7 p.m. Pacific Time or by special arrangement). You are entitled to free updates to TAS from this BBS or by U.S. Mail (not including shipping and handling). If you need an update by U.S. Mail, please send $5 for shipping and handling. 2.3 Redistribution of TAS You may (and are encouraged to) re-distribute TAS to other BBS systems as long as you redistribute the entire unmodified package as you received it. You may not redistribute your registration code along with the package, nor may you give it away as long as you are currently using it. 2.4 Credits MetaStock Professional is a stock charting program from Equis Inc. ChartPro is a stock charting program written by David Rettger. 2.5 Disclaimers The author claims no responsibility for any damages caused by the use or misuse of this product. This product is distributed "as is" with no warranty expressed or implied. The author will not be responsible for any losses incurred, either directly or indirectly, by the use of this product. The author reserves the right to make modifications at any time. Prices are subject to change without notice. 3 Installation TAS is distributed as a .ZIP format collection of files. The name of the .ZIP file will be based on the version and release level of TAS. For version 1, release 1, the name will be 'TAS101.ZIP', and in general, the name will be 'TASvrr.ZIP' where 'v' is the Version and 'r' is the Release. 3.1 Quick Start Installation The following "quick start" documentation shows how to get TAS up and running on your system initially. The file name for the TAS ZIP file is referred to as "TASvrr.ZIP". In order to install TAS, you should perform the following steps 1) Create a directory to contain TAS software. It can be any name you choose. The following instructions assume the subdirectory name is "\TAS". 2) PKUNZIP TASvrr.ZIP into directory \TAS 3) CD \TAS 4) Type TAS 5) You will be presented with a menu. 6) Select "Configure TAS" Fill in the MSP directory names you want to scan. You can enter up to 5 subdirectories Hit F3 7) Go to the "Define Ticker List" Menu Select "Create New Ticker List" Give the name "MYTICKS" Move the cursor to each ticker symbol you want to run a script against. Hit the SPACE bar on the symbol. It should highlight (indicating it is selected). Hit F3 when all desired symbols are selected. 8) At the Main Menu, select Build or Run Selection by typing "B" 9) Reply to the New/Old prompt by typing "O" (for 'old'). Pick the selection MSURANK.SEL (by typing "M" or moving the cursor to it) and hitting ENTER. Pick the ticker list you just created "MYTICKS.TCK" 10) You will see the MSURANK selection values. This particular selection will create a report like the one Metastock Utility (MSU) creates when you select "Rank" using a 26 day Rate of Change and a 10 day Moving Average. 11) Hit the F4 Key to run the selection. As each ticker is processed, you will see a line in the "run" window. Once all tickers are processed, the report will be presented on the screen, sorted by ticker. 12) Hit F1 now to see the choices you have. By hitting F1, you can read the help and see what you can do from here. You can sort your tickers on the value of any column shown, either ascending or descending order. To sort on the values in the second column, press the key sequence "Alt-2" (hold the ALT key and hit the number 2). 13) To exit from the report screen, hit the ESC key. The documentation for the system is currently in the online help file available by hitting the F1 key at any time. 4 TAS Invocation You can start TAS in "MENU MODE" by simply typing "TAS" by itself. TAS has switches available which you can specify on the command line. They are: -c Eliminate CGA "snow" -b Use BIOS to write to video screen. This may be necessary on some systems which are not 100% compatible. -m Use Monochrome color scheme If you are a registered user of TAS, you can also start TAS in "batch mode" by specifying the name of a SCRIPT and the Ticker file on the command line. So, if you had a TAS script named "SELECT.TAS" and a Ticker List named "MYSTOCK.TCK", you could run the SELECT script against the stocks in the list MYSTOCK by typing: TAS SELECT MYSTOCK If you wanted TAS to process all of the stock symbols (Tickers) in your data base, you can omit the Ticker List name. If you need to use the video flags mentioned above, they should be specified prior to the name of the script file. 5 TAS Menu Functions The TAS Main Menu contains a screen which has all the options you can choose when you work with TAS. The Main Menu looks like the figure below. The following sections will describe each of the options accessible from the Main Menu. ╔════════Technical Analysis Scanner (TAS 2.5) Copyright 1990, FlexSoft══════╗ ║ TRIAL VERSION ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ┌───────────────Main Menu───────────────┐ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ Configure TAS │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ Define Ticker List │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ Build or Run Selection │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ Edit A TAS Script │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ Run TAS Script │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ Quit │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ └───────────────────────────────────────┘ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ░[F1]=Help░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░Select Choice░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░[ESC]=Quit░░░ 5.1 Special Keys within TAS The F1 key is the HELP KEY and the ESC key QUITS whatever you are doing (without saving or processing your last request). These keys have the same meaning throughout TAS. There is one other key that is always available with TAS and that is the ALT-X key. The ALT-X key will exit from TAS to DOS. This will allow you to do a few things outside of TAS. Because TAS is a large program, you won't have a a great deal of storage left when you exit to DOS. To return to TAS from DOS, type "EXIT". 5.2 CONFIGURE TAS - Configuration and Setup The Configuration Menu is the place where you tell TAS the location of your Metastock or ChartPro Data Directory(ies). Up to five directories can be processed at one time. The configuration menu looks like this: TAS Configuration and Setup | | | 1st Data DIRECTORY \MSPTEST\DATA | 2nd Data DIRECTORY | 3rd Data DIRECTORY | 4th Data DIRECTORY | 5th Data DIRECTORY | | Symbol Table Size 9000 Quotes per Symbol 150 | | Your Name Martin Moore | Registration Code xxxxx You should fill in the names of your Metastock or ChartPro Directories, one per line above. Be sure to include the full path name, including the first backslash character. If you have more than one directory of data files, you can enter the other directory names on the second thru fifth lines. Note that you cannot intermix directories across products. In other words, all your directories must be either Metastock format or ChartPro format. TAS determines the type of directory by first looking for a file named "MASTER". If found, it assumes the directory is Metastock format. If not found, it looks for files ending with ".PRO". If these are found, it assumes that the directory is ChartPro data. If neither search is satisfied, TAS issues an error message and requests that you change the directory name. The SYMBOL TABLE SIZE parameter is a "tuning" value which determines the size of the internal tables for TAS. You may need to increase the value if you write a particularly long or complex selection script. The QUOTES PER SYMBOL parameter specifies how many quotes you want TAS to read into memory when performing the selection. The higher this number, the longer the selection will take. NOTE : This parameter has a very significant impact on the processing time that TAS uses for each symbol. It should be set to as low a value as possible (based on the time periods you use in your indicators) so that the TAS processing is minimized. When you register TAS or TAS/PT, you will receive a REGISTRATION CODE based on your Name. Whatever name you include in the file REGISTER.DOC will be used to form an encryption code. Use the same form of your name as sent to me in your REGISTER.DOC file. Place the REGISTRATION CODE sent to you in the appropriate field. 5.3 DEFINE TICKER LIST You can create "ticker lists" with TAS. A "ticker list" is a list of stock or ticker symbols which you can name as a group. This allows you to create individualized lists of symbols against which you can run your TAS scripts. As an example, you could create a ticker list containing the Dow Jones 30 Industrials, or a list containing only stocks you hold. When you choose the TICKER LIST menu, you are asked if you want to create an new list or modify an existing one. When you select this menu item, you will be asked if you want to create a New Ticker List or Modify an Old Ticker List. If you request a new Ticker List, you will be prompted for the Ticker List name. Enter only the filename portion, not the .TCK extension. The file will be created in the \TAS directory. If you want to modify an old Ticker List, a File Name Selection Screen will appear which contains the names of all the files in the current directory ending with ".TCK". Move the cursor or mouse over to the correct file name and press Enter (or double-click). The Ticker List screen will then appear with all the ticker symbols contained in the MSP directories you have configured. Each symbol that is highlighted in YELLOW has been "selected" for inclusion in the ticker list. To select or unselect a symbol, move the cursor to the symbol and hit the SPACE Bar. If the symbol is selected, it becomes unselected or vice versa. If you want to SELECT ALL TICKERS, hit the F9 (SELECT ALL) Key. To UNSELECT ALL TICKERS, hit the F8 (UnSELECT ALL) Key. Once you have created the ticker list, hit the F3 (Save) Key to save it. If you do not want to save the list, hit the ESC (Abort) Key. If you want to run a TAS script against all of your data, create a new Ticker List called "ALL". Hit the F9 Key to select all symbols. Then hit the F3 Key to save the list. 5.4 BUILD OR RUN SELECTION Using the BUILD SELECTION screen of TAS, you can create your own report containing up to 7 columns of calculated formulas or data values. In addition, you can use the Condition entry areas (below the Formulas) to specify which conditions must be satisfied for a ticker to be included in the report output. The figure below shows the equivalent of the MetaStock Utility "Rank" option where the first formula is the Current Price ("C" is the Closing Price), the second formula is the 26 day Rate of Change (ROC). The third formula is the 10 day Simple Moving Average of the price. The fourth is the 10 day Simple Moving Average of "F2", where "F2" is the 26 day ROC. Finally, the last formula F5 is the percentage by which the Price is above or below the moving average contained in F3. ┌──────────────────────────TAS Selection Creation──────────────────────────┐ │ Column │ │ Enter Formulas Below, e.g. CCI(14) Title │ │ Formula F1 C CURR PRC │ │ Formula F2 ROC(C,26,'%') %ROC/PRC │ │ Formula F3 MOV(C,10,'S') MOV AVG │ │ Formula F4 MOV(F2,10,'S') MA %ROC │ │ Formula F5 (F1/F3-1)*100 %PRC MA │ │ Formula F6 │ │ Formula F7 │ │ │ │ Enter Conditions Below, e.g. F1 > F2 │ │ Condition 1 │ │ Condition 2 │ │ Condition 3 │ │ Condition 4 │ │ Condition 5 │ │ Condition 6 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ F1]=Help░░░[F3]=Save░░░[F4]=Run Selection░░[F7]=Formula Builder░░[ESC]=Quit░ You can place any formulas or data value in each of the Formula areas. If you hit the "F7" key, a list of functions included in TAS will be shown on the screen and you will be prompted for the parameters of the function. The CONDITION entries are used to "select" only those tickers that match the condition. The conditions are specified in terms of the formulas given above. In the example above, if you only wanted to see tickers whose ROC (Formula 'F2') was greater than 50, then you could set CONDITION 1 F2 > 50 Also, if you had another condition, for example the current price of the ticker is greater than $5, you could place that condition as follows CONDITION 2 C > 5 and that would now select only tickers whose ROC is greater than 50 and whose price is greater than $5. 5.5 EDIT TAS SCRIPT - Editing TAS Scripts TAS has a built-in text editor which can be used to create and modify TAS script files. All TAS script files end with the suffix ".TAS". When you select this menu item, you will be asked if you want to create a New Script or Modify an Old Script. If you request a new script, you will be prompted for the script name. Enter only the filename portion, not the .TAS extension. The file will be created in the \TAS directory. If you want to modify an old script, a File Name Selection Screen will appear which contains the names of all the files in the current directory ending with ".TAS". Move the cursor or mouse over to the correct file name and press Enter (or double-click). The editor screen will then appear with the contents of the file displayed. NOTE: The TAS editor cannot handle lines larger than 76 characters long. If the line is longer than that, it will be broken at column 76 and continued onto the next line. If the total length of the line is more than 256 characters, the last part of the line will be lost if the file is saved. 5.5.1 Editor Function Keys 5.5.1.1 Help Key - (F1) If you need help with the editor, hit the F1 (Help) Key. You will see a list of editor commands. 5.5.1.2 Save Script File Key - (F3) When you are done with your editing, you can save the file by hitting the F3 (Save) Key. If you do not want to save the file, hit the ESC (Abort) Key. 5.5.1.3 CHECK SCRIPT Key - (F4) If you wish to check your script file for errors in syntax, press the F4 (CHECK SCRIPT) key. If there are errors in the script which can be detected by the Check Script function, an error message showing the type of error encountered and the line and column number on which the error occurred will appear in a window at the bottom of the screen. This window will disappear after a few seconds or when you hit a key. Then the script file will be positioned so that the cursor is on the line WHERE THE ERROR WAS DETECTED. It is usually the case that the error is somewhere either on that line or on the previous line. Use the column number to determine which. 5.5.1.4 FORMULA BUILDER Key - (F7) One key available in the editor is the F7 (Formula Builder) Key. This key will bring up a list of Technical Indicator functions and Pre-defined Data Arrays. If you select one of the functions or arrays, the subsequent parameters of the function (e.g. MOV "Moving Average" requires 3 additional parameters) will be prompted. Enter each parameter. When you are done, the formula and parameters will be placed into your script file at the location of the cursor when you hit F7. 5.6 RUN TAS SCRIPT - Running TAS Scripts If you have created a script (or are using one of the example scripts) and you want to run it against a specific Ticker List, you should choose the "RUN TAS Scripts" option from the Main Menu. (You must have created at least one Ticker List before you can run TAS) When this option is chosen, you will be asked for the TAS script name and the Ticker List name. Each choice will be from a list of filenames ending with the appropriate extension (".TAS" or ".TCK"). Move the cursor to the correct file name for each choice and hit ENTER. 5.7 QUIT This option will exit from TAS. If you want to go to DOS and return to what you were doing within TAS, use the ALT-X key. 6 TAS Selection Scripts - Description TAS Selection reads each ticker in the TICKER LIST from the MSP data file. It reads the quotes for the file into the pre-defined data arrays up to the lower of either (1) the number specified in the QUOTES PER SYMBOL (in the Configure TAS Menu) (2) the number specified in #MAX_QUOTES in the script file itself, or (3) all the quotes in the file. Once all the price history has been read into the data arrays, TAS "executes" the statements in the TAS script file. Once all statements in the file have been executed, TAS moves on to the next ticker symbol in the TICKER LIST. This process continues until all the symbols in the TICKER LIST have been read or until an error is encountered in the script file. 7 TAS Script Language The TAS package contains numerous examples of TAS Scripts. You should print them and look at them while reading the next section. The sample scripts contain "comments" which explain what the script is doing at each point of the script. 7.1 Syntax TAS Script Language (TASSL) syntax is similar to the programming language "PASCAL". If you are fortunate enough to already know PASCAL, then the language should be familiar to you. However, if you don't, the following topics will give an explanation of the language. In the subsequent discussion, the word "statement" is used. A "statement" is like a sentence in English. Like a sentence, it is composed of "words" ("tokens" in computereze). There are only two kinds of statement in TASSL, the "assignment statement" and the "IF statement". A semi-colon (;) is used to tell TAS that the statement you just entered is done. EVERY STATEMENT MUST BE TERMINATED WITH A SEMI-COLON. Also, in the syntax descriptions below, words you must use are in UPPER CASE, and parts of the statement that are up to you are in lower case. 7.1.1 Building Blocks The "Building Blocks" of TASSL are the following types of items: 1) "VARIABLES". Variables are where you put values or, in the case of "pre-defined" variables, where you get them. The names are anything you choose, but they have to start with a letter of the alphabet. 2) "ASSIGNMENT STATEMENT". The ASSIGNMENT statement (":=") is how you can move a value from one place to another. 3) "ARITHMETIC Operators". These are the usual ADD(+), SUBTRACT (-), MULTIPLY(*) and DIVIDE(/). 4) "FUNCTIONS". A "function" is a built-in Technical Indicator or "output" function which usually returns a value. 5) IF statements. An "IF" statement is used to test a condition or value. Once the condition is tested, you can perform certain actions "if" it is TRUE or "if" it is false. 6) "BEGIN-END Blocks". A "BEGIN-END" block is a way to "group" several statements into one. For example, the IF statement only allows you to execute the following "statement". However, if you use a BEGIN followed by multiple statements, followed by an END, the whole series of statements from the BEGIN through the END is considered to be ONE statement. It is similar to putting parentheses around an arithmetic expression. 7) "Logical AND". The AND word takes a left-hand side and a right-hand side. If both are TRUE, the whole is TRUE. 8) "Logical OR". The OR word also has a left and right side. If either is TRUE, the whole is TRUE. 9) "RELATION Operator". These are how you test the "relation" between two values. The operators are: EQUAL = GREATER THAN > GREATER THAN OR EQUAL >= LESS THAN < LESS THAN OR EQUAL <= NOT EQUAL <> 10) Comments. These are used to "document" the TASSL script. They perform no function, but only help to understand what is going on in the general area of the script. They are good to use and should be included in the script to make it easier to understand. 7.1.2 Variables The concept of a "variable" is difficult to communicate to anyone who hasn't programmed before. Loosely speaking, it is a name given to a "place" to put a "value". Think of it as a "name for a value". Except for "pre-defined" variables (see below) you can make up the names for the variables in your script. A variable name must start with an alphabetic letter, contain only letters, numbers and underscores ("_"). Some valid names are: my_stuff, my_122999, my999, m9, M32_togo, Beethoven, etc Generally, you first use variables in "assignment statements", that is, you first "put" something into them. Subsequently, you can use them as values passed to functions or in an IF statement. 7.1.3 TAS Variable Types 7.1.3.1 "String" Variables - These are variables to hold text information, like "IBM", or "THIS IS A STICK-UP". 7.1.3.2 "Numeric" Variables These are variables that hold numbers, like 32, or -75.69, or 10000034. There are two types of numeric variables, INTEGERS and REAL numbers. An INTEGER is a number which has no decimal point. An INTEGER can be NO LARGER THAN 32,767 in value. If you need to use a number larger than 32,767 then you must include a decimal point followed by at least one zero in the number. For example, if you want to use the number 1 million in your script, you cannot say 10000000 because the number is larger than 32,767 and it does not contain a decimal point. In this case, you must say 1000000.0 to tell TAS that the number is a REAL number. 7.1.3.3 "Numeric Array" Variables These are variables that hold many numbers in an "array". All of the numbers in the array have the same variable name; however, you cannot "look" at them all at once. You must pick out one of the numbers of the array by specifying its location in the array. The pre-defined data arrays, like H, L, C, V (for High Price, Low Price, Closing Price and Volume) are examples of arrays. If you want to refer to a closing price 10 days ago, you need to say C[-10]. Each time you refer to an "element" of an array, you must provide the "subscript" in square brackets, e.g. [-10], which means "subscript minus ten". You can define your own variable array by "declaring" it (prior to first using it) as follows: variable_name : ARRAY; where 'variable_name' is the name by which you want to refer to the array. 7.1.4 Assignment Statement The Assignment Statement is used to set the contents of a variable to the result of an "expression". An "expression" is another of those computereze terms, but it means sequence of mathematical operations and/or the result of a "function". It might help to give some examples of assignment operations: a := b + 3 / 4; The ":=" (colon-equal) is the operator that says "assign to". So, reading the above assignment, in English, it says "add the contents of variable 'b' to the result of dividing 3 by 4. Place this result in variable 'a'". If variable 'b' contained 6 when this statement was encountered, then variable 'a' would contain 6.75 (6 + 3/4). Another example is: a := (c[-1] + c[0]) / 2; In this example, the array 'c' is pre-defined as the "closing price array". So, the statement is adding the closing price yesterday (c[-1]) to the closing price today (c[0]). It is then dividing the total of this addition by 2 and placing the result in variable 'a'. Note the use of the parentheses to "group" the addition so that it would be done before the division by 2. If there were no parentheses, the result would have been considerably different. Instead, it would have divided today's closing price by 2, added it to yesterday's closing price, and placed the result in 'a'. Another example of an assignment is the result of a "function" call. All Technical Indicators available in TAS are created by making a "function" call. In other words, the Technical Indicator is referred to by its name (the "function"). So, for example, a := mov(c,21,'E'); calculates the 21 day exponential moving average ("mov" function) of the closing price array. If variable 'a' has been declared to be an ARRAY prior to this point, then 'a' contains all the moving average "points". If 'a' has not been declared as an ARRAY, then 'a' will contain the value of the moving average AT THE LAST POINT of the range, i.e., today's value. 7.1.5 Arithmetic Operators Arithmetic Operators are addition (plus sign '+'), subtraction (minus sign '-'), multiplication (asterisk '*') and division (slash '/'). When you write an arithmetic expression, you should use parentheses to guarantee the order in which the operations are performed. In general, division and multiplication are performed first, then addition and subtraction. 7.1.6 Functions A "function" is a reference to a "built-in" Technical Indicator function (like "MOV(...)"), an output function (like WRITE or WRITELN), or an array manipulation function (like DIVBY). See the individual descriptions of each function in the MSP User's Guide for a more complete definition of the meaning of the various Technical Indicators. 7.1.7 IF Statements The IF statement is the most powerful scanning feature of TAS. It enables you to create complex relationships between indicators based on their relationship with other indicators and values. An IF statement is written as follows: IF expression THEN statement to execute if the 'expression' is true ELSE statement to execute if the 'expression' is false; The ELSE part of the IF statement is optional, but sometimes it is convenient to make a two way decision about something. You could alternatively say: IF expression THEN statement to execute if the 'expression' is true; The TAS language does not require you to include the word THEN after the IF part of the statement. You must terminate each IF statement with a semi-colon. Note, however, that IF statements containing an ELSE part are terminated __after__ the ELSE part. For example, IF a > b THEN WRITELN('a is greater than b, hurray!') ELSE WRITELN('a is not greater than b, sorry.'); Note how there is a semi-colon on the last line, but not after the first WRITELN. However, if you wanted to print a message only if "a" is greater than "b", then you would say IF a > b THEN WRITELN('a is greater than b, hurray!'); Note the semi-colon after the last line. 7.1.8 BEGIN..END Statement Suppose you want to do more than one thing if the condition "a is greater than b" is true. In that case, you would need to use a BEGIN .. END block. A "BEGIN..END" block "groups" all statements between the BEGIN and the END so that the entire "group" is treated as if it were one statement. This is useful in the case of the IF statement, because the action to be taken following the THEN or ELSE part of the IF can only be one statement. But if you use the BEGIN..END block to group several statements, the entire block is treated as a "single" statement. Think of BEGIN..END blocks in the same way you would think of parenthesized arithmetic expressions. You use parentheses to "group" some operations so that they are treated as a group. An example of the use of the BEGIN..END block in an IF statement is shown below: IF a > b THEN BEGIN a := a - 1; b := mov(c,21,'E'); WRITELN('New values for a and b are: ',a,' ',b); END; All three statements following the BEGIN will be executed (acted upon) if the value of "a" is greater than the value of "b". If you had left out the BEGIN..END section, only the first statement ("a := a - 1") would have been done if "a > b" was true. The following two statements would have ALWAYS been done, since they were not part of the IF. 7.1.9 Profit Test Statements Profit Test Statements are used to: 1) Define which Technical Indicators are to be computed. 2) Define BUY conditions 3) Define SELL conditions 4) Define STOP conditions The statments used to describe the situations above are described in the next 4 sections. 7.1.9.1 PLOT statement: Define Technical Indicators The PLOT statement is used to create the formulas or indicators which will be used in the subsequent profit test. The PLOT statement is executed once per ticker symbol, and must be placed prior to any of the BUY/SELL/STOP WHEN conditions. The format of the PLOT statment is: PLOT stmt; where 'stmt' can be a single statement or a BEGIN..END block. For example, if your profit test is to test the Commodity Channel Index (CCI) for 14 days, you could say: CCI_ARRAY : ARRAY; { Define the cci array} PLOT CCI_ARRAY := CCI(14); In the example, only one indicator is computed, so there was no need to use the BEGIN..END block. Suppose, however, that we want to incorporate Wilder's RSI in the profit test as well. Then we would say: CCI_ARRAY : ARRAY; { Define the cci array} RSI_ARRAY : ARRAY; { Define the rsi array} PLOT BEGIN CCI_ARRAY := CCI(14); RSI_ARRAY := RSI(14); END; { of PLOT statement} 7.1.9.2 BUY WHEN - Define BUY Conditions The BUY WHEN condition causes the profit tester to 'buy' the stock if the condition is true. BUY WHEN expression; where 'expression' can be any combination of logical or relational operators. For example, using the last PLOT statement in the previous example, we will issue a BUY signal when the CCI rises above -100 and the RSI is less than 40: BUY WHEN cci_array[-1] < -100 AND cci_array[0] > -100 AND rsi_array < 40; 7.1.9.3 SELL WHEN - Define SELL Conditions The SELL WHEN condition causes the profit tester to 'sell' the stock if the condition is true. SELL WHEN expression; where 'expression' can be any combination of logical or relational operators. For example, using the last PLOT statement in the previous example, we will issue a SELL signal when the CCI drops below 100 and the RSI is greater than 60: SELL WHEN cci_array[-1] > 100 AND cci_array[0] < 100 AND rsi_array > 60; 7.1.9.4 STOP (LONG or SHORT) Condition The STOP LONG and STOP SHORT statements close a "long" position or a "short" position, respectively, but either selling or buying to cover an open position. To close out a long position (by selling), the statement is: STOP LONG WHEN expression; where 'expression' can be any combination of logical or relational operators. To close out a short position (by buying), the statement is: STOP SHORT WHEN expression; where 'expression' can be any combination of logical or relational operators. Adding a long stop to the example built in the prior sections, we could say that we want to issue a stop if, after having gone long, the CCI drops below -100 again. In that case, we could say: STOP LONG WHEN cci_array < -100; 7.1.10 Logical Operators You can combine relations by using the words "AND" and "OR". They have the same sense as in English. Whenever you use AND and OR, you can use parentheses to group your relations to be sure they are computed the way you want them to be understood. For example: IF a > b AND b = 1 THEN WRITELN('a is greater than b and b is equal to 1'); This example compares "a" to "b". If "a" is greater than "b", then it compares "b" to the number 1. If "b" is equal to 1, then the message a is greater than b and b is equal to 1 will be printed. If either of the "relations" (a in "relation" to b AND b in "relation" to 1) is not true, then the WRITELN will not be done. On the other hand, suppose we want to print the message if either of the conditions is true. Then we would say: IF a > b OR b = 1 THEN WRITELN('a is greater than b OR b is equal to 1'); In this case, it would print the message if "a" were greater than "b" or if "b" were equal to 1. 7.1.11 Relational Operators Relational Operators describe a "relationship" between the expression on the left of the operator and the expression on the right of the operator. For example, "a > b". 'a' is on the left side, 'b' is on the right side, and the operator is '>' which means "greater than". The operators you can use in your TASSL script are shown on the right below: EQUAL = GREATER THAN > GREATER THAN OR EQUAL >= LESS THAN < LESS THAN OR EQUAL <= NOT EQUAL <> 7.1.12 Comments Comments are surrounded on both sides by "curly braces". These are the characters at the right of your keyboard. They look like this: { - Left "curly brace" } - Right "curly brace" You can place these "curly braces" around any thing in your script file that you do not want TAS see. It is only for your eyes and the eyes of other humans. 7.2 Pre-Defined Variables Predefined Variables are variables that are "filled in" when each MSP TICKER is processed or at specific times during the processing of ticker files. TICKER The 'ticker' symbol, e.g., AXP FULLNAME The 'full name', e.g., AMERICAN EXPRESS QUOTE_COUNT The number of quotes in the file FIRST_TICKER Variable, which, if equal to 1 (one), indicates this ticker is the first to be processed. LAST_TICKER Variable, which, if equal to 1 (one), indicates this ticker is the last to be processed. DATE The date of the latest quote in the file in the format YYMMDD. O The OPEN "data array" H The HIGH "data array" L The LOW "data array" C The CLOSE "data array" V The VOLUME "data array" OI The OPEN INTEREST "data array" P The "last computed" array. For example, X := MOV(C,30,'E') places the last day's 30day EMA in 'X' and the entire EMA array is in 'P' until another function is called. PLOT_PHASE Variable which is set to 1 when the Profit Test Script is entered for the first time for a ticker. (TAS/PT only). TEST_PHASE Variable which is set to 1 when the Profit Test Script is entered for the EACH quote for a ticker. (TAS/PT only). END_PHASE Variable which is set to 1 when the Profit Test Script is entered for the last quote for a ticker. (TAS/PT only). 7.3 Pre-defined Functions TAS functions which are also available in MetaStock have the same names and (nearly the same) parameters as those documented in the MSP Custom Formulas Section of the MSP "User's Manual". Functions which are unique to TAS (not shared by MetaStock) are described in detail in this document. The MetaStock functions are only summarized. Please refer to the Metastock documentation for a complete description of the functions and their parameters. In some instances, the parameter to an MetaStock named function has to have single quotes around it. This is the case with any function that passes a single character as a parameter, such as the last parameter in the "mov" (Moving Average) function. 7.3.1 MSP Technical Indicators ad() Accumulation/Distribution Array adx(p) Average Directional Movement adxr(p) Average Directional Movement Rating add(a,b) Add each element of array "a" to the corresponding element of array "b". cci(p) Commodity Channel Index Array p = number of periods co() Chaikin's Oscillator Array cum(a) Cumulative Sum of Array "a" div(a,b) Divide each element of array "a" by an element of array "b". dx(p) Directional Movement Index hhv(a,p) Returns Highest High Value in the array 'a' for the period 'p' llv(a,p) Returns Lowest Low Value in the array 'a' for the period 'p' macd() Moving Average Convergence/ Divergence mdi(p) Minus Directional Movement Indicator mo(p) Momentum Array p = number of periods mov(d,p,t) Moving Average Array d = Data Array p = number of periods t = Moving Average Type 'E' - Exponential 'S' - Simple 'W' - Weighted mul(a,b) Multiply each element of array "a" by the corresponding element of array "b". neg(a) Negative of Array "a" nvi() Negative Volume Indicator obv() On Balance Volume pdi(p) Positive Directional Movement Indicator pvi() Positive Volume Indicator rsi(p) Wilder's Relative Strength Indicator p = number of periods roc(d,p,r) Rate Of Change Array d = Data Array p = number of periods r = ROC Type '%' - percentage ROC '$' - Unit ROC sar(i,m) Wilder's Parabolic Stop and Reverse (SAR) indicator. Create a parabolic stop line either over or under the price graph. where 'i' = increment value and initial 'm' = maximum acceleration factor Wilder's explanation uses the values of i=0.02 and m= 0.20 Note : In ChartPro, this indicator is referred to as Technical Study 'PTP' stoch(p,s) Stochastic Oscillator p = number of periods s = k slowing periods sub(a,b) Subtract each element of array "b" from the corresponding element of array "a". vol(pm,pr) Volatility Indicator. This is the 'pr' day Rate Of Change Oscillator of a 'pm' day exponential Moving Average of the difference between each day's high and low price. 7.3.2 TAS Functions angle(a) returns the angle in degrees of the line described by the array 'a'. corrcoef() returns the "correlation coefficient" of the last linear regression performed. This value ranges from -100 to +100. If the data points match the points in the linear regression approximation, the correlation coefficient will be 100. If the points show no correlation with the approximation, the correlation coefficient will be zero. divby(a,x) Divide each element of array "a" by the value of "x". In this case, "x" is a single number. int(x) Turns the number "x" into the nearest "integer". An integer is a number without a fractional part (the part after the decimal). The maximum number that you can turn into an integer is 32,767. isect(a,b) Find the latest intersecting point of the two arrays "a" and "b". Returns the number of days since the two arrays intersected or -1 (negative one) if they have never intersected. NOTE: Since the graph of the two arrays actually crosses BETWEEN two days, the value returned will be the later day AFTER the crossing. For example, if the arrays crossed between yesterday and today, the value returned will be zero. If they crossed between two days ago and yesterday, the value returned will be 1, and so forth. linreg(a,s,e) Create a linear regression line using "least-squares" method to find the mathematical average of the values in the array "a" starting at entry "s" and ending at entry "e". If "s" is zero, it refers to the first value in the array. If "e" is zero, it refers to the last value in the array. Positive values for "s" or "e" refer to the appropriate array entries (counting from 0). A negative number in the "s" or "e" index is subtracted from the total number of entries in the array to get the appropriate positive array index. For example, x : array; x := linreg(c,-50,-10); will find the line passing most closely through the closing prices from 50 days before the last day in the file to 10 days before the last day in the file. mulby(a,x) - Multiply each element of array "a" by the value of "x". In this case, "x" is a single number. over(a,b) If array "a" is "over" array "b", this function returns the number of days since array "a" crossed above array "b". See the note under the "isect" function. peak(a,n) returns the index of the 'n'-th peak value in array 'a'. A 'peak' is defined as a high value surrounded by lower values. The value returned from this function is the array index to the peak value. -------------------- Plot of price array -------------------- 1 2 /\ /\/ \ / / In the figure above, the peak(H,2) call would return the index of the point marked '2'. If you consider the joining of each of the /\ lines a day, then the value returned in this example would be '-5', or 5 days prior to the last day. slope(a) will return the mathematical "slope" of the line whose points are contained in array "a". This array must have been created with the "linreg" function. trough(a,n) returns the index of the 'n'-th "trough" value in array 'a'. A 'trough' is defined as a low value surrounded by higher values. The value returned from this function is the array index to the trough value. -------------------- Plot of price array -------------------- \ \ /\ / \/ \/ 2 1 In the figure above, the trough(L,2) call would return the index of the point marked '2'. If you consider the joining of each of the /\ lines a day, then the value returned in this example would be '-6', or 6 days prior to the last day. 7.3.3 TAS Profit Tester Functions The Profit Tester feature of TAS uses the following functions to indicate the buy/sell transactions controlled by a Profit Testing script. Refer to the script 'RSIPT.TAS' for an example of the use of the Profit Test functions. pt_buy() Profit Tester - Buy the stock at the current closing price if not already held. If testing Short positions, buy to 'cover' the short sale. pt_sell() Profit Tester - Sell the stock at the current closing price if it has been bought. If testing Short positions, sell the stock short. pt_stop(t) Profit Tester - Issue either a Long Stop or a Short Stop. The parameter 't' is either 'L' for a Long Stop, or 'S' for a Short Stop. pt_price() Profit Tester - Returns the share price at which the last transaction was executed. The function is useful if you want to set a STOP based on the change in price. 7.3.4 Output Functions 7.3.4.1 WRITE and WRITELN Output Functions There are two direct output functions, WRITE and WRITELN. The WRITELN function is identical to the WRITE function, except that WRITELN causes a NEW LINE to be added at the end of the last field. The parameters to WRITE (and WRITELN) are either text strings, like 'this is a text string', surrounded by single quotes ('), or "variable values". A variable value is a value that you have assigned to a name by use of a formula or constant setting. There are "pre-defined" variables, such as H, L, C, V, O, TICKER, FULLNAME. These pre-defined variables are "filled in" when TAS reads the data values for each symbol. You can control the formatting of your output to some extent by using the characters sequence "\t" (backslash tee) in your text string. This will place a "tab" character in the output. TAS places "tab stops" every 4 columns of the output line. In addition, the sizes of the two types of "numbers", are constant. If you are printing an INTEGER value, it is five characters wide, left-justified. If you are printing a number with a decimal point, it is eight characters wide (99999.999). This will allow you to line up the output with column headings. 7.3.5 SORT Functions TAS contains functions which can be used to sort your report output. Rather than doing WRITE and WRITELN, you can call the SORTOUT function to place the report data in a "sort buffer". Once all the tickers have been processed (when LAST_TICKER is 1), you can then sort the data using the SORTON function. Finally, the SORTPRINT function gives a "format" string which describes how you want the sorted fields to be displayed. If you want to experiment with the SORT commands, you should start out simply and then work toward more complex combinations. These are VERY ADVANCED functions and are not necessarily appropriate for the person who doesn't want to plan their requirements. 7.3.5.1 SORTOUT The SORTOUT function takes up to 40 parameters which are fields to be placed in the 'sort buffer'. As each ticker is processed, you can place the computed results in the 'sort buffer'. For example, suppose you wanted to create a report of tickers in order by their volume. You wanted the report to contain the TICKER, the High, Low and Closing prices as well. For each ticker you would say SORTOUT(TICKER,H,L,C,V); 7.3.5.2 SORTON Once all tickers have been processed, and their data has been placed in the sort buffer using the SORTOUT function, you can sort the data with the SORTON function. The SORTON function requires two parameters as follows: SORTON(column_number, direction) where: 'column_number' is the parameter position of the data field in the SORTOUT command 'direction' is either 'a' for ASCENDING or 'd' for DESCENDING sort. Using the example given in the SORTOUT description above, since the report was to be sorted by VOLUME, that is the 5th parameter position ("column") in the SORTOUT function shown. 7.3.5.3 SORTPRINT The trickiest part of using the SORT feature is the specification of the 'format string' used by the SORTPRINT function. If you have access to a C Programming book, you will find the format specifications under the PRINTF() function description. Short of that, a summary of the types of format specifiers follows: A format specifier is formed as follows: % [width] [.prec] [type] The [width] is the minimum number of characters to print. The [.prec] is the maximum number of characters to print or the minimum number of digits to print. [type] is one of three values: 'ld' for INTEGER values (result of INT() function) 'f' for REAL numbers (most results) 's' for a STRING CONSTANT (like TICKER or DATE) So, to print the results of the SORTOUT request given above, there must be five format specifiers (since there are five parameters to SORTOUT). The first parameter is the TICKER (which is a 'string') so its format specifier would simply be '%s'. The next three fields are all 'real' numbers (that is, they have decimal points), so their format could be '%7.3f' which would say, make the field 7 characters wide, and include three decimal places, like this '999.999', so this will work fine unless the price is greater than 1000. If it were, you could make the field '%8.3f' to add more room at the left. Finally, the last field, V (VOLUME) does not contain any portion beyond the decimal point. That is, shares are reported in whole numbers. But, because Volume is typically larger than the maximum value of an "integer" field (32,767) , it is also a 'REAL' number. To make the volume field report in whole units, without a decimal point, you would say '%8.0f' which would place volume in an eight character field with no decimal. So, the format string for the SORTPRINT would be: SORTPRINT('%s %7.2f %7.2f %7.2f %8.0f\n'); The '\n' at the end of the SORTPRINT format string is to start a NEW LINE after printing this line. 7.3.6 Column Headings For an example of controlling the printing of 'headings' in your TAS output, go to the section describing the pre-defined variable FIRST_TICKER. Using this variable, you can determine when to print a heading initially in your report. In addition, since all variables are initially set to zero before the first TICKER file is processed, you can use a variable to accumulate a "line count". You can test this variable and generate a new heading each time it is greater than the number of lines on your page (e.g. 66). An example of how to place a heading on each page of the report follows: IF FIRST_TICKER OR (LINE_COUNT > 65) THEN BEGIN LINE_COUNT := 0; WRITELN('YOUR REPORT HEADING WOULD GO HERE'); END; Then, each time you wrote a line in your script you would execute the statement: LINE_COUNT := LINE_COUNT + 1; 7.4 Putting Them Together If the script has the statements: todays_ma := mov(c,21,'E'); diff := c[0] - todays_ma; if diff > 0 then writeln(TICKER, ' IS ABOVE 21 DAY EMA BY ',diff); else writeln(TICKER, ' IS BELOW 21 DAY EMA BY ',diff); The script will print out the ticker name followed by the message indicating whether the latest close is above or below the 21 day EMA, and by how much. In this particular example, let's take a closer look at what is going on. In the first line, todays_ma := mov(c,21,'E'); we are computing the 21 day Exponential Moving Average of the Closing Price Array. Once computed, we are assigning the latest value of this moving average to the "variable" named 'todays_ma'. You could call it anything you want, but giving it a name that reminds you of what it contains is useful. If you wanted to keep the 21-day EMA in its own array. You could declare the variable as follows (before using it the first time): big_ma_array : ARRAY; This tells TAS that "big_ma_array" is an array of values, not just one value. So, if you now said: big_ma_array := mov(c,21,'E'); the contents of big_ma_array would be ALL of the Moving Average values up to the latest day. To refer to the value of the 21 day EMA yesterday, we would write "big_ma_array[-1]" where the "[-1]" refers to the contents of the array "-1" days from now (in other words, one day ago). If you wanted to refer to the 21 day EMA 10 days ago, it would be "big_ma_array[-10]". If you wanted to refer to the latest day's 21 day EMA, it would be "big_ma_array[0]" (zero days ago). The next statement in the example is: diff := c[0] - todays_ma; which assigns to the variable "diff" the value of the latest closing price, "c[0]", minus the latest 21 day EMA as computed and assigned to the variable "todays_ma" in the previous statement. 7.5 Pre-defined Data Arrays The Data Array field is one of the fields within the quote for a symbol. The names of the fields are: Name Description H High Price L Low Price C Closing Price V Volume OI Open Interest O Open 7.6 Pre-defined Values 7.6.1 TICKER This is the TICKER name, left justified and padded with blanks to be 8 characters long. 7.6.2 FULLNAME This is the long name of the symbol, left justified and padded with blanks to be 16 characters long. 7.6.3 QUOTE_COUNT This is a pre-defined value which contains the total number of quotes in the current data file. 7.6.4 DATE The DATE variable is set to the date of the LAST quote in the file. It is a 'string' variable in the format YYMMDD. For example, if the last quote in the MSP ticker file is for Jan 4, 1991, the value of DATE will be '910104'. 7.6.5 FIRST_TICKER This variable is set by TAS. It has a value of 1 (one) if the current ticker being processed is the first ticker for this script. This variable can be used to control the printing of headings for your script output. See the example below: if first_ticker then {write a heading line next } writeln('TICKER\t\tHIGH\tLOW\tCLOSE\tVOLUME\tDATE'); { now, for all tickers, write the high,low,close,volume and date } vol := int(v[0]); { get volume in integer format } writeln(ticker,'\t',h[0],'\t',l[0],'\t',c[0],'\t',vol,'\t',date); The above example will create a report that looks like the following: TICKER HIGH LOW CLOSE VOLUME DATE ABX 21.625 21.125 21.625 2315 910103 AAPL 44.250 43.000 43.000 13409 910103 ARIX 0.625 0.531 0.562 33 910103 CMNT 2.500 2.375 2.500 191 910103 GR 38.500 37.750 38.000 517 910103 SWZ 12.000 11.875 11.875 57 910103 LA 13.875 13.375 13.750 2696 910103 PCG 25.125 24.750 24.875 5592 910103 TX 59.375 58.250 58.625 3899 910103 UAL 113.125 111.250 112.000 2354 910103 MXTR 5.250 5.000 5.062 2783 910103 BP% 8.000 7.625 7.625 658 910103 7.7 TAS "POUND" (#) Commands TAS "POUND" commands are used to control special script processing. They must begin with a "pound sign" ('#') in the first column of the line, and they must be completed on the same line. 7.7.1 OUTPUT_FILE command You can direct the output of a script to a file by placing an #OUTPUT_FILE command in the script file. The #OUTPUT_FILE command must start in the first column of the line. It should be followed by the output file name surrounded by single quotes. For example, #OUTPUT_FILE 'select.lst' would place the output text of the script into the file 'select.lst'. 7.7.2 MAX_QUOTES Command You can use the #MAX_QUOTES command to limit the number of quotes read into a script. This value will "override" the MAXIMUM QUOTES you specified in the TAS Configuration Menu, for the script in which it is contained only. The format of the #MAX_QUOTES command is: #MAX_QUOTES nnn where "nnn" is the number of quotes to read into TAS when this script is processed. 7.7.3 SCAN_DATE Command You can use the #SCAN_DATE command to force TAS to not process quotes after the date given in the command. This enables you to go back to a prior date and look at what the TAS script would have done on that date. The format of the #SCAN_DATE command is: #SCAN_DATE 'yymmdd' where yymmdd is the year, month, and day of the last quote to be read into TAS before the script is run. Note that you must use single quotes around the date given. 7.7.4 PROFIT_TEST Command The #PROFIT_TEST command informs TAS of the type of profit test you want to run, whether you want to test "LONG" or "SHORT" positions, and the amount of "money" you want your position to start with. This command must be placed in the front of the TAS script, prior to any statements which do not begin with a # sign. TAS runs the profit test in two phases. The first phase, called 'PLOT PHASE' is when the script should compute the arrays to be tested during the next phase. This next phase is the 'TEST PHASE'. This phase is entered for the data points of the ticker file. After all data points have been processed, the 'END PHASE' indicator is set. Each 'phase' of the Profit Test process is indicated by a variable being equal to 1. The two phases are analogous to the steps you might run in Metastock to do the Profitability Test. First, you would plot an indicator, moving average, or custom formula. This is similar to the 'PLOT PHASE' in TAS. Next, you would run the Profit Tester specifying your Buy/Sell conditions. Metastock then applies your Buy/Sell signals to each plotted point on the graph, proceeding left to right until it reaches the last day loaded. This is the 'TEST PHASE' in TAS. When the TEST PHASE is entered with the last day of the ticker file, a variable, called 'END_PHASE' is set to 1. Testing this variable will allow you to print out the results for the Profit Test. For each ticker, the script is entered once for the PLOT Phase, and then as many times as there are data points for the TEST Phase. The format of the #PROFIT_TEST command is: #PROFIT_TEST type money where 'type' is either LONG or SHORT (for a "long" position test or a "short" position test) and "money" is the amount of money with which to start the test for each symbol. NOTE: If you use the PT_BUY, PT_SELL, PT_STOP, PT_PRICE functions, you will need to understand the different phases for the Profit Tester. However, if you use the BUY WHEN, SELL WHEN, STOP ... WHEN and PLOT forms of the Profit Test, you do not need to be concerned about the different Profit Tester phases, since the script generates the appropriate phase testing automatically. 8 TAS Script Examples Included with the TAS package are several sample .TAS script files. Check your directory after you install TAS to see the samples included. 8.1 New High/New Low Example The following script is contained in file "NHNL.TAS". 8.1.1 Script Contents { NHNL.TAS- This script example will show the 52 week high and low for each ticker. If the current day's high is equal to the highest high or the current low is equal to the lowest low, then we have a probable new high or new low. It might also be the case that today's high or low is just equal to the previous high or low. Just to make the script slightly more interesting, we will also compute the "percentage off from high", a frequently used metric seen in financial tables. } if first_ticker then begin writeln(' - CURRENT - - 52 WEEK - OFF'); writeln('TICKER HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH'); end; high_value := HHV(h,52*5); { compute high over 52 weeks } low_value := LLV(L,52*5); { compute low over 52 weeks } off_high_value := ((high_value - c) / high_value) * 100; write(TICKER,' ',h,' ',l,' ',high_value,' ',low_value, '\t',INT(off_high_value),'%'); if (high_value <= h) then { today's high is new high } write(' New High '); if (low_value >= l) then { today's low is new low } write(' New Low '); write('\n'); { end the line with a 'newline'} 8.1.2 Script Output - CURRENT - - 52 WEEK - OFF TICKER HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH ABX 21.875 21.375 24.750 15.875 13% AAPL 28.000 26.000 50.375 26.000 47% New Low ARIX 1.062 0.938 5.625 0.875 81% BP% 12.500 11.125 14.500 6.000 17% CMNT 2.312 2.188 3.500 2.063 33% GR 32.125 31.875 57.500 29.500 44% SWZ 12.125 11.750 17.500 10.875 32% LA 11.625 10.375 50.375 9.750 77% MXTR 5.625 5.250 16.500 5.250 66% New Low PCG 22.375 22.000 23.500 18.750 4% TX 61.625 60.125 68.500 49.875 12% UAL 110.000 99.000 286.750 87.250 64% 8.2 TICKER Symbol Processing The following example shows how you could create a special script to notify you when certain stocks had reached prices you had set. This script is in "LIMIT.TAS". 8.2.1 Script Contents { limit.tas This is an example of using a TAS script to watch your stocks. It checks the ticker symbol against one of several which you might (and I do) own. If the current close (shown as 'c[0]' is greater than the limit for profit or less than the stop loss, a message is generated. } stop_loss := 0; sell_profit := 0; if ticker = 'aapl' then if c > 47 then sell_profit := 1; else if c < 41 then stop_loss := 1; if ticker = 'gr' then if c > 43 then sell_profit := 1; else if c < 38 then stop_loss := 1; if ticker = 'la' then if c > 27 then sell_profit := 1; else if c < 10 then stop_loss := 1; if stop_loss = 1 then writeln(ticker, ' has reached your STOP LOSS limit. SELL'); if sell_profit = 1 then writeln(ticker, ' has reached your Profit target. SELL'); 8.3 Directional Movement Example The following script is contained in file "DM.TAS". NOTE : This script will only work with the REGISTERED VERSION of TAS. 8.3.1 Script Contents #output_file 'dm.lst' { DM.TAS Wilder's Directional Movement Trading Example This script will indicate a BUY signal if the +DI(14) crosses above -DI(14) and ADXR > 25 a SELL signal if the -DI(14) crosses above +DI(14) and ADXR > 25 } pdi_array : array;{ declare the +DI (Positive Directional Movement array} mdi_array : array;{ declare the -DI (Negative Directional Movement array} pdi_array := pdi(14); { calculate +DI} mdi_array := mdi(14); { calculate -DI} adxr_14 := adxr(14); adx_14 = adx(14); dx_14 = dx(14); if first_ticker then begin writeln('TICKER ADXR DX ADX +DI -DI ACTION'); end; write(ticker,' ',int(adxr_14), int(dx_14), int(adx_14), int(pdi_array[0]), int(mdi_array[0])); action = ''; if (adxr_14 > 25) then { AVG DX Rate of Change > 25 } begin if (over(pdi_array,mdi_array) = 0) then action = '** BUY SIGNAL'; else if (over(mdi_array,pdi_array) = 0) then action = '** SELL SIGNAL'; end; writeln(action); 8.3.2 Script Output TICKER ADXR DX ADX +DI -DI ACTION AA 33 28 33 25 14 ALD 22 15 22 30 22 AXP 34 59 34 39 10 T 30 41 30 29 12 BS 26 42 26 32 13 BA 22 8 22 27 23 CHV 17 4 17 27 29 KO 27 49 27 32 11 DD 21 23 21 29 18 8.4 Modified "Binary Wave" The file "SELECT.TAS" contains a rather lengthy script which contains the logic for computing a 6 point "binary wave". The first 4 "points" of the wave are those described in the "MetaStock User's Manual" in Chapter 7, section 7.7.2 "Example Binary Waves". The final 2 points of the "binary wave" are included to show how you can extend the original example to compute additional indicators (Chaikin's Oscillator and Commodity Channel Index) which are used to further refine the selection. Since the file is large, it is not included in this documentation, but the file is included in the TAS package. NOTE : This script may only work with the REGISTERED VERSION of TAS. 8.5 Profit Test Example Using RSI(14) The TAS Script file 'RSIPT.TAS' shows a Profit Test using the 14-day RSI. It serves as an example of the kind of profit testing available with TAS/PT. NOTE : This script may only work with the REGISTERED VERSION of TAS/PT. 8.5.1 Script Contents (RSIPT.TAS) { RSIPT.TAS RSI PROFIT TEST SCRIPT EXAMPLE This script will signal a SELL when the RSI(14) crosses under 'rsi_upper' and a BUY when RSI(14) crosses above 'rsi_lower'. } #PROFIT_TEST LONG 1000 { long positions with $1000} #MAX_QUOTES 300 { only read in 300 quotes } #OUTPUT_FILE 'RSIPT.LST' { assign output listing to rsipt.lst} RSI_VALUES : ARRAY; { array containing plotted points } RSI_UPPER := 75; { Upper range of RSI - point to SELL Change this if you want to test different value} RSI_LOWER := 50; { Lower range of RSI - point to BUY Change this if you want to test different value} PLOT BEGIN { This begins the "plot" of the RSI } RSI_VALUES := RSI(14); { COMPUTE THE RSI(14) PLOT } END; BUY WHEN RSI_VALUES[-1] < RSI_LOWER AND RSI_VALUES > RSI_LOWER; SELL WHEN RSI_VALUES[-1] > RSI_UPPER AND RSI_VALUES < RSI_UPPER; 8.5.2 Script Output Technical Analysis Scanner (TAS) Profit Test Wed Jan 23 16:04:23 1991 3COM (COMS) From 02/21/90 To 01/22/91 Initial Cash $ 1000.00. (Long Positions Only) Trade Total Date Action Shrs Price Points Cash Profit Profit ------- -------- ---- -------- ------ ------- ------- ------- 04/06/90 Buy 75 13.250 0.000 6.25 0.00 0.00 06/18/90 Sell 75 16.375 3.125 1234.38 234.38 234.38 11/02/90 Buy 170 7.250 0.000 1.88 0.00 234.38 Summary for COMS Long Short Total --------------------------------------------------------------- Trades 2 0 2 Profitable 1 ( 50.00%) 0 ( 0.00%) 1 ( 50.00%) Stops 0 0 0 Profit $ 234.38 0.00 234.38 There is a Long Position which is still open. If it were liquidated at today's price of 6.375, the profit would be $ 85.62 Technical Analysis Scanner (TAS) Profit Test Wed Jan 23 16:04:30 1991 APPLE (AAPL) From 01/18/90 To 01/22/91 Initial Cash $ 1000.00. (Long Positions Only) Trade Total Date Action Shrs Price Points Cash Profit Profit ------- -------- ---- -------- ------ ------- ------- ------- 03/01/90 Buy 29 34.250 0.000 6.75 0.00 0.00 03/20/90 Sell 29 41.375 7.125 1206.62 206.62 206.62 05/07/90 Buy 29 41.500 0.000 3.12 0.00 206.62 12/10/90 Sell 29 41.750 0.250 1213.88 7.25 213.88 Summary for AAPL Long Short Total --------------------------------------------------------------- Trades 2 0 2 Profitable 2 (100.00%) 0 ( 0.00%) 2 (100.00%) Stops 0 0 0 Profit $ 213.88 0.00 213.88 Summary for ALL SYMBOLS Long Short Total --------------------------------------------------------------- Trades 4 0 4 Profitable 3 ( 75.00%) 0 ( 0.00%) 3 ( 75.00%) Stops 0 0 0 Profit $ 448.25 0.00 448.25 Profit (Including Open Positions) $ 299.50 9 TAS Change History 9.1 Version 1.4 - Set size of INTEGER output to 5 characters, left-justified - Set size of REAL numbers to 8 characters, left-justified - Fixed problems with complex function nesting - Round values of Directional Movement Indicator suite to integer values - Fixed problem with declared arrays being reused for intermediate temporary arrays. 9.2 Version 1.5 - Jan 11, 1991 - Added OBV(), PVI(), NVI(), NEG(), CUM() functions - Fixed problem which occurred if a WRITE was called with a parameter which is a function returning an array. Always printed the address of the array rather than the last entry of the array. - Fixed zero divide problem which occurred sometimes in ROC() function. 9.3 Version 1.6 - Jan 14, 1991 - Added #OUTPUT_FILE command to allow writing script output to a file. - Added #MAX_QUOTES command so that the Maximum Number of Quotes specified in the Configuration Menu can be over-ridden for individual scripts. - Fixed inconsistencies in some of the 'tab' formatting between the trial version and registered version. 9.4 Version 1.7 - Jan 17, 1991 - Added #SCAN_DATE command to stop loading data after a specific date. - Added LINREG() 'Linear Regression' function, SLOPE() function and CORRCOEF() function. 9.5 Version 2.0 - Jan 19, 1991 - Added #PROFIT_TEST command. This included variables PLOT_PHASE, TEST_PHASE, END_PHASE and LAST_TICKER. Added Profit Test functions PT_INIT(), PT_BUY(), PT_SELL(), PT_STOP(), and PT_TOTAL(). - Corrected errors in beginning of Exponential Moving Average and MACD array calculation. - Added Functions ANGLE() and VOL() 9.6 Version 2.1 - Jan 26, 1991 - Fixed several problems with the TAS Script Editor. Added the ability to 'split' a line by hitting ENTER when in INSERT mode. 9.7 Version 2.2 - Feb 2, 1991 - Reworked PROFIT TEST features for ease of use. Added BUY/SELL WHEN, PLOT BEGIN...END; Removed requirement for directly calling the PT_xxxx functions. - Simplified expression syntax by making AND and OR operators lower precedence than Relational Operators. This removes nearly all requirement for parentheses in statements. - Allow '=' (equal sign) to be used for Assignment. - Remove requirement to follow IF statement with THEN. - Added CHARTPRO support. 9.8 Version 2.3 - Feb 6, 1991 - Fixed bug in Profit Test which miscomputed the last day's closing price if the position was "open" at the end of the run. - Made change to Wilder's RSI calculation to bring it closer to the Metastock calculation. - Removed "beep" at end of TAS Run. Changed message to show successful run. 9.9 Version 2.4 - Feb 12, 1991 - Added "Build or Run Selection" screen. - Modified expression analyzer to allow mixing arrays and real values in an expression. 9.10 Version 2.5 - Feb 15, 1991 - Added ability to include the heading in the PRINT function of the SELECTION RUN screen. Also added option to append to the file or replace it when printing. - TICKER LIST menu now shows tickers sorted in alphabetical order. 9.11 Version 2.6 - Feb 17, 1991 - Added RUN WINDOW which shows status of scanning operation. SCAN/RANK output goes to upper window, status output goes to lower window. - Added PAUSE during run. If you type any keystroke while TAS is scanning a ticker, it will stop at the next ticker and wait for you to type another key. 9.12 Version 2.7 - Feb 18, 1991 - Found bug in ADXR calculation. Previous versions are incorrect with this indicator. Optimized Directional Movement indicator computation so that they run at twice the previous speed. - Added SORTOUT, SORTON, and SORTPRINT functions to allow sorting report output. - Added PEAK and TROUGH functions to locate price peaks and troughs. - Added "CHECK SCRIPT" key (F4) to EDITOR. This key will check the script for syntactical errors. 9.13 Version 2.8 - Feb 21, 1991 - Fix problem in RSI where there are nothing but 'inside days' in the period. - Place floating point error message in run window - Remove requirement to have leading zeros in front of decimal numbers (like .02, .20, etc instead of 0.02, 0.20). 9.14 Version 2.9 - Feb 23, 1991 - Added ALT-X Key to EXIT TO DOS. This key can be used whenever TAS is expecting keyboard input. - Added Wilder's Parabolic Time/Price System (sometimes known as 'Parabolic SAR'. 9.15 Version 2.91 - Feb 27, 1991 - Found bug in memory free routine which was eating memory each time a script was run. This caused about 26K to be "lost" each time the script was run. Eventually led to "out of memory" condition. Problem fixed. Memory stays constant from script to script. - Fixed bug in PROFIT_TEST SHORT where both long and short positions were being entered when the test should only have been short positions.Added Wilder's Parabolic Time/Price System (sometimes known as 'Parabolic SAR'. - Changed screen colors in the TICKER LIST SELECTION screen so that the selected tickers show up on a monochrome display.