Enclosed in the Techtools folder are two data files and the TechTools program. “S&P500 closing prices” contains the S&P500 closes from January 1930 to August 1994. “S&P100 prices” contains the OEX High/Low/Close from January 1993 to August 1994. Double click on “Techtools” to open the program. Techtools requires Microsoft Excel 2.0 or higher to run. Once in Excel, open the “S&P500” or “S&P100” files included with Techtools, or your own data files to analyze. The Techtools menu will appear on the control bar at the top of the screen. Choose a cell in any empty column to the right of the data. Be sure to choose a cell enough rows down to accomodate the indicator. For example, if you want to view a 9 day moving average, the program needs to look at the last 9 days, therefore the cell must be placed on row 10 or greater. After selecting the cell, simply choose the desired indicator from the Techtools menu.
Techtools consists of the following indicators:
1) Simple moving averages
2)Linear weighted moving average:
Data is weighted with the most recent days given the most significance and the oldest days given the least.
3)Exponentially smoothed moving average
4)Triangularly weighted moving average:
Data is weighted in a triangular fashion with the middle days weighted the largest while the oldest and the most recent days are weighted the smallest.
5)Moving Average Convergence/Divergence:
MACD measures the difference between two exponentially smoothed moving averages. Check for divergences with price.
6)Accumulation/Distribution Index:
A/D measures the accumulation and distribution of the market. Check for divergences.
7)Momentum / Rate of Change:
Momentum and ROC measure the momentum of the market. Leading indicators.
8)Relative Strength Index:
RSI measures the strength or weakness of the market. Readings over 80 are considered overbought, under 20 are considered oversold.
9)Stochastics
Stochastics uses a fast line crossing above and below a slow line to indicate changes in market behavior. Check for divergences.
10)%R
%R measures the strength and weakness of the market. Readings over 90 are considered overbought, under 10 oversold.
11)Commodity Channel Index
CCI measures overbought and oversold conditions in the market. Tends to lead prices.
12)Detrend
Detrend filters out any trend in the market.
13)Bollinger Bands
Bands statistically create an upper and a lower band with a moving average in between which is charted with prices to determine where the market is and what is likely to happen. Look for price breaking the extreme bands. Standard Deviation of 2 is recommended.
14)Up-Down Volatility
Measures the volatility of the market.
We’ve also included basic charting features in TechTools to analyze the data a bit quicker. Select an amount of High/Low/Close data and choose HLC Chart from the Techtools menu to see the chart. Select the same HLC data and choose HLC w/ Ind to see the High/Low/Close data on the top of the chart with an indicator below (providing you’ve created one). Be sure to choose the same time period for the indicator that was chosen for the HLC data. Select either Split or No Split, depending on whether the indicator should be charted below prices or overlayed on top of the price chart. Moving averages and Bollinger Bands are the only indicators included that should be charted with No Split. All other indicators should be charted with Split. The 2 Line charts (with and without Split) work exactly the same except with closing prices substituting HLC data.
We are actively involved in market research and the study of cycles and other phenomena concerning the market. We’ve accumulated a vast library of stock and commodity data as well as other cyclical information. If you are interested in obtaining more data or if you have questions or comments about TechTools or anything related to the market, please E-Mail us on AOL (Screen name: RC Yang). Lastly, any contribution would be greatly appreciated to pay for the enormous amount of time and energy put into compiling the S&P data and TechTools. Make checks payable to:
