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- Personal Stock Technician
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- Beta Release -- Version 0.9
-
- ( Copyright (c) 1991 by RazorLogic Systems )
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- A Stock Market Technical Analysis and Tracking Program.
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- USER'S GUIDE
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- Preface
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- This document, 33 pages long, is Copyright (C) 1991 by
- RazorLogic Systems, An Operating Division of Lynn-Western,
- Inc. All rights reserved.
-
- The Personal Stock Technician (PST) package is protected by
- both United States copyright law and international treaty provisions.
-
- Personal Stock Technician is provided as is, without warranty of any
- kind, either expressed or implied. We only guarantee that it will
- occupy disk space.
-
- In no event shall RazorLogic or any of its personnel be liable
- for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings or
- other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
- use or inability to use this program.
-
- All RazorLogic products and product names are trademarks or
- registered trademarks of RazorLogic Systems. Other brand and product
- names mentioned throughout this document are trademarks or
- registered trademarks of their respective holders. The owners of
- theses trademarks have never expressed any approval or disapproval
- of RazorLogic products.
-
- This version of Personal Stock Technician is a beta release
- version. If you do not have a registered copy, some features are
- not available. See Appendix C for complete ordering, pricing
- and support information.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
- Users are strictly cautioned not to construe the use of this
- program or any accompanying material as constituting investment
- advise. The author and RazorLogic Systems do not warrent,
- represent or guarantee the accuracy, sufficiency, suitability
- or merchantability of the raw information presented, or any
- indicator, trend or theory in this program or supplemental
- material.
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- License
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- Personal Stock Technician (PST) is not a Public Domain program
- and is not free. Personal Stock Technician is copyright (C) 1991
- by RazorLogic Systems.
-
- PST may not be modified in any respect, for any reason, including
- but not limited to, de-compiling, disassembling, or reverse
- engineering of the program. The opening title screen, help screens,
- and all other proprietary program output must never be altered,
- removed, bypassed or modified by any means.
-
- You are free to distribute the publicly available distribution
- version of PST to others subject to the above restrictions and
- also the following:
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- 1. No fee is charged for its use.
- 2. No renumeration may be accepted for PST Technician.
- This does not apply to computer access charges the
- system operators (Sysops) of or organizations owning
- bulletin board systems, online services, etc., may charge
- subscribers.
- 3. PST must be copied in unaltered form, complete with all
- license information, the full documentation and all
- accompanying files. The distribution package distributed
- by RazorLogic Systems must not be altered in any way.
- 4. All shareware houses and/or distribution firms must make
- explicitly clear that the diskette purchase containing
- any shareware program has not registered the shareware
- with RazorLogic Systems.
-
- System Operators may make distribution copy of PST Technician
- available for download only if the above conditions are met.
- The distribution package distributed by RazorLogic Logic or
- an equivilant archive may be made available only in complete
- form. Refer to Section 2.3 (Files) to verify complete package
- contents. If the contents appear altered or incomplete,
- you may obtain the latest release of the distribution copy of
- PST directly from RazorLogic Systems at the address listed in
- Appendix C. Please use the order form and include $6 for handling.
-
- Commercial distributors of "Public Domain", "Shareware", and/or
- User Supported software may distribute the distribution copy of
- PST subject to the above conditions only after obtaining written
- permission from RazorLogic Systems. This condition statement
- supersedes all previous agreements.
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- Please refer to the Appendix C for additional information on
- registration, site-licensing and related topics.
-
-
- ***
-
-
- The above license statement does not apply to the registerd version
- of PST. The registered software of RazorLogic Systems is protected
- under United States Copyright and Trademark Laws. It must be
- treated just like a book with certain exceptions as follows:
-
- 1. RazorLogic Systems authorizes the making of archival copies
- of the registered version of PST for the sole purpose of
- backing-up your software and protecting your investment
- from possible loss.
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- 2. The medium on which the registered software is recorded is
- transferred to the customer, but not the title to the software.
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- 3. The customer may resell or distribute unmodified copies of the
- registered software provided the customer has purchased from
- RazorLogic one copy of the registered software for each
- one sold or distributed. The provisions of this software
- license shall also be applicable to third parties receiving
- copies of the registered software from the customer.
-
- 4. By saying, "just like a book", RazorLogic means that
- the registered software may be used by any number of people
- and may be freely moved from one computer location to another
- so long as there is absoluteley no possibility of it being used
- at one location while being used at another. Just like a book
- that cannot be read by two different people in two different
- locations at the same time.
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- Contents
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- Preface ii
- License iii
- Contents v
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- Chapter 1 Introduction 1
- 1.1 Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
- 1.2 Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
- 1.3 Input Data Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
- 1.4 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
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- Chapter 2 Installation 4
- 2.1 Hard Drive Installation . . . . . . . . . . . 4
- 2.2 Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
- 2.3 Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
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- Chapter 3 Setup and Getting Started 6
- 3.1 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
- 3.2 Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
- 3.3 Help Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
- 3.4 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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- Chapter 4 The Main Menu 8
- 4.1 Plot A File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
- 4.2 Update A File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
- 4.3 Create A File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
- 4.4 Print A File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
- 4.5 File Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
- 4.6 Configure Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
- 4.7 Multi-Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
- 4.8 Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
- 4.9 Reserved for Future Use . . . . . . . . . . 10
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- Chapter 5 File Plotting and Technical Analysis . . 11
- 5.1 Description of Plot a File Menu Items . . . 11
- 5.2 Notes on File Plotting . . . . . . . . . . 16
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- Chapter 6 Miscellaneous Information . . . . . . . 17
- 6.1 What's New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
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- Appendix A Support Systems 18
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- Appendix B Collected References 19
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- Appendix C Registration Instructions 20
- C.1 Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
- C.2 Purchase Order Terms and Requirements . . . 22
- C.3 Site License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
- C.4 Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
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- Appendix D Downloading Data 24
- D.1 HQCON.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
- D.2 UPKEEP.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
- D.3 Notes on "Screen Dumps" . . . . . . . . . 25
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- Appendix E Acknowledgements 27
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- Chapter 1
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- Introduction
-
-
- Welcome to Personal Stock Technician (PST), the complete stock
- market tracking and analysis program from RazorLogic Systems.
- This manual contains a complete description of all the features
- of PST, including the mathematics and a description of the
- technical indicators used in the program.
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- 1.1 Hardware Requirements
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- PST has been tested at one time or another on the following
- systems:
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- IBM PC-1
- IBM PC-XT
- IBM PS/2 Model 60
- HP Vectra
- DELL System 310
- Heinz 57 turbo XT
- Strange 80386 based PC
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- The graphics are written to EGA specifications, but will also
- accommodate CGA and Hercules mono-graphics cards.
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- PST will run under MS or PC DOS versions 3.3 and above,
- however, it is unlikely that we will test future versions
- below DOS version 4.01.
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- Although PST will run on most machines, there are a few
- restrictions and requirements:
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- o IBM PC, AT or 100% BIOS compatible
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- o Hard disk with at least one megabyte available
- (Floppy diskette operation not recommended)
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- o Graphics monitor, preferably EGA or VGA
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- o At least 512 KB of system memory
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- 1.2 Software Requirements
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- o MS or PC-DOS 3.30 or above
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- 1.3 Input Data Files
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- All financial data used by PST are kept in ASCII text files
- and must have the filetype ".STK". PST has standard manual
- data file creation and update capabilities, but the ASCII text
- format allows for editing by any text editor.
-
- PST does not yet support automatic data acquisition from any
- financial database. However, this distribution package comes
- with several utilities that will import data from "screen
- capture" files generated during a Dow Jones News/Retrieval
- session. Please see Appendix D (Downloading Data) for details.
- In addition, several data files are available for download
- by registered PST owners from RazorLogic's affiliated Bulletin
- Board System, the Lynn-Western Newswires BBS. These files are
- kept up to date by RazorLogic Systems staff. Daily or weekly
- updates of data from your usual data sources (Wall Street
- Journal, etc.) can be entered from the keyboard. (Personal Stock
- Technician registration DOES NOT include Dow Jones News/Retrieval
- services - nor do we intend to imply otherwise.)
-
- PST's data file format allows for any time base you prefer
- (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) but each file should have all
- its entries dated the same way. Mixing daily data with
- monthly data will create confusing plots. Also, just like
- apples and apples, you can only compare two files that have the
- same date increments. PST won't let you try to match a file with
- weekly entries against a file with monthly entries. PST will
- postion one file relative to the other so that the dates match
- up vertically, however, and will even do so if one file is larger
- or smaller than the other as long as the date spans overlap.
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- For simplicity, we'll often use the word "period"' when describing
- a file's records, rather than saying "day", "week", or "month."
-
- Finally, each file has a header of five lines. Of these first
- five lines, PST currently only uses the first two, the remaining
- three lines are left blank. The data commences on the sixth
- line. The first line is the filename (without the ".STK"), and
- can be in upper, lower or mixed case. The second line, which
- must be in all capitals, tells PST if the data is to be plotted
- as High-Low-Close-Volume data (HILOCLOS), closing-only data (SING),
- or closing-only with volume (CLOS). Each data record has the
- format:
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- mm dd yy high low close volume.
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- A typical file looks like:
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- ibm
- HILOCLOS
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- 01 01 90 101.25 100.0 101.25 111543
- 01 02 90 102.00 101.25 101.5 214569
- 01 03 90 104.5 101.25 103.0 135444
- .
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- (NOTE: PST stores it's data as decimals, NOT fractions.)
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- If you decide to change a file's name remember to also change
- the name in the header, e.g. use the DOS Ren (Rename) command
- to change the filename and also use the text editor to change the
- first line in the file header to the same name.
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- 1.4 Registration
-
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- The un-registered version of Personal Stock Technician will do
- nearly everything that the Registered version can do except that
- a few features are not active and the data file size is limited
- to 100 entries.
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- Registering PST will activate all features and allow data files
- as large as 600 entries, which is nearly 3 years worth of daily
- market data, 11.5 years of weekly data or 50 years of monthly
- data. Registration will also give you full privileges on the
- Lynn-Western Newswires BBS, where you can download market data
- and ask questions about PST.
-
- You may distribute the un-registered version, in the original
- compressed form, to anyone as long as the original compressed
- package is not altered in any way. You may NOT share or
- distribute the registered version!
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- To register PST, please follow the instructions in Appendix C.
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- Chapter 2
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- Installation
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- 2.1 Hard Drive Installation
-
- PST will run from any directory on any hard drive. We suggest
- creating a directory called PST on your C drive simply for
- consistency with the examples used in this manual.
-
- From the Root directory of your C drive create a directory
- called PST:
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- e.g., C:> MD PST
-
- Copy all files on the distribution diskette (or the files
- extracted from the compressed distribution package) into
- the PST directory you created in section 2.1 above:
-
- e.g., C:> COPY A:*.* C:\PST.
-
- That's it. The program files are now installed. You must be
- in the PST subdirectory to run PST. Once you're there just
- type "PST" to run the program.
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- 2.2 Floppy Drive
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- We do not recommend running PST from a floppy but it can be done.
- Since storage space on a diskette would be the main difficulty,
- large amounts of data stored on secondary diskettes, would not
- be accessible by PST. PST will not request a floppy diskette
- if it can not find a data file, so you will have to anticipate
- which data you'll need on the program diskette.
-
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- 2.3 Files
-
- The following files are in the distribution package:
-
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- PST.EXE,
- PST.OVR --- The Executable file and its overlay.
-
- PSTCFG.EXE --- The Configuration program, executable
- from the Main Menu of PST or by itself.
- PSTCFG.HLP,
- PSTHELP.HLP --- Help Menus for PST and PSTCFG.
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- PST.DOC --- This file.
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- PST.KEY --- Registration Key - Registered users only.
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- FILES.LST --- List of files in the distribution package.
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- KONPHIG.DEF --- Default Configuration file, only here as
- a back up.
-
- KONPHIG.SYS --- PSTCFG's configuration file. Do not edit
- this text file unless you know what each
- entry is for. Let PSTCFG do it for you.
-
- NYSE.STK,
- OEX. STK --- Sample data files.
-
- TED.COM --- Freebie full screen editor by PC Magazine.
- Replace this with your own, if you prefer.
-
- READ.ME --- The usual Read.Me file
-
- 4X6.FON --- Font file needed for program execution.
-
- HQCON.EXE,
- UPKEEP.EXE --- Utility programs for converting Dow Jones
- "screen capture" files to PST data format.
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- HQSTOCK.ASP,
- UPDATE.ASP --- Sample Procomm Plus (ver 2.0) Aspect Script
- Language procedures for automatically
- downloading stock market data from Dow Jones
- Information Services.
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- Chapter 3
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- Setup and Getting Started
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- 3.1 Configuration
-
- The Configuration routine is run from PST's Main Menu and is
- self-explanatory. (Pressing F1 will produce a help screen,
- however.) A text editor is provided in the distribution package,
- but you can use your own. Be sure to use the entire file
- name for the editor you choose, i.e. "EDITOR.EXE", NOT "Editor".
-
- You will be able to alter the plotting colors by going to the
- Custom Color Menu. We suggest using the default colors until
- you've done some plotting, then return to the Configuration
- routine and experiment.
-
- Remember: After saving your configuration changes you must
- start the program over to activate them.
-
- 3.2 Menus
-
- There are only three menus in PST technician: the Main
- Menu, from which you go everywhere else, the
- Configuration Menu, and the File Plotting Menus.
-
- At the Main Menu simply move the highlight bar to your
- selection using the up/down arrow keys and press enter.
-
- The File Plotting menu is in the lower right hand corner
- of your graphics screen. There are over 20 different
- actions to choose from, lettered A through Z, spread over
- four separate menu pages. You select the pages you wish to
- view with the PgUp/PgDn keys and select the menu item by
- pressing the enter key. A full discussion of the File
- Plotting menu items will be found in Chapter 5, File
- Plotting and Technical Analysis.
-
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- 3.3 Help Screens
-
- PST is equipped with context sensitive help screens which
- are activated by pressing the F1 key.
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- 3.4 Getting started
-
- The distribution package comes with two data files which you
- can use to try out PST. All you have to do to get started is
- go to the Main Menu, select Plot a File and enter the filename
- (either OEX or NYSE).
-
- If you are using an un-registered copy, you'll have to edit the
- files so that there are no more than 100 data entries. (The
- Registered version will let you plot up to 600 entries.)
-
- Regisered users receive a PST.KEY file which must be in the same
- directory as the PST program. (The PST.KEY file is unique
- to each individual registered user and accompanies the registered
- copy of PST.)
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- Chapter 4
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- The Main Menu
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- 4.1 Plot A File
- After pressing the enter key, PST will ask
- you to enter the filename of the data you
- want to plot. Enter the name of a file which
- is stored on the disk and press enter. Enter
- only the filename, i.e type "OEX", not
- "OEX.STK."
-
- PST will then clear the screen and plot your
- choice. You will not need to return to the
- Main Menu to plot another file.
-
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- 4.2 Update A File
- This feature allows you to quickly update a
- data file from the keyboard. As you did in
- Plot a File, press enter, type the file name,
- and press enter again. At the top of the
- ensuing screen you'll find the name of the
- file, its plot type (HILOCLOS, etc.), and the
- number of records currently in the file.
-
- You'll also find the values for the last
- record in the file, arranged below the
- column headings "Date" and so on. This is
- to aid you in keeping your place as well as
- remind you of the data format.
-
- Begin entering new data by entering the date
- first. You must use two digits for each field
- in the date, e.g. "01/02/90" not "1/2/90".
- The backspace key lets you correct an error
- until you move on to the next entry in the
- record. F5 lets you start the entire record
- entry over again.
-
- After entering all of each record press enter.
- When you are done, press F7 to record the
- updated file to disk.
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- 4.3 Create A File
- The only difference between "Create A File" and
- "Update A File" is the first screen you see after
- you have entered a new file name. The first
- screen asks you to choose what plot type you'll
- be using for the new file. Press the number next
- to the plot type you decide upon; the next screen
- will be an input screen identical to the one you
- found in Update a File. You can add as much data
- here as you want, but be sure to enter at least
- the first record. After saving to disk, any
- subsequent data is added using "Update A File."
-
- Caution: Do not use a filename which you have
- already used or "Create A File" will overwrite
- it!
-
- 4.4 Print A File
- This feature is supplied for quick browsing
- and printing purposes in the event that you
- do not have a text editor. Press enter, type
- the filename and press enter again. PST
- will then ask if you want the file to print
- to the screen or the printer. Press "S" if
- you want to scroll the file's data on the
- screen; "P" if you want to print it.
-
-
- 4.5 File Directory
- Pressing Enter produces a display of all the
- data files you have available on disk.
-
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- 4.6 Configure Program
- You can run the Configure Program by pressing
- enter or by running it separately as PSTCFG. In
- either event, you will be able to decide to
- have PST beep at you or not beep at you, what
- plotting colors to use, and the text editor
- you want to use (among other things). We have
- supplied a text editor, but you can use any
- editor of your choice. Be sure to use the
- editor's full filename, i.e. "EDITOR.EXE"
- not EDITOR."
-
- Note: The actual text editor program must be
- either in the same directory as PST or in
- your path.
-
- If you are using the Configure Program from
- PST's main menu, you'll have to rerun PST to
- activate your changes.
-
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- - 9 -
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- 4.7 Multi-Plot
- Multi-Plot enables you to print all the data
- that you saved while you were in "Plot A File."
- When you were in "Plot A File", you selected
- Multi-Plot (U) from the Plot a File Menu and
- stored several screen images on disk. Now at
- the Main Menu, you select Multi-Plot and each
- of the screen images you saved will be plotted
- out one at a time. You can save up to ten
- screens for plotting.
-
- Be sure the printer is on and operating properly,
- then, while Multi-Plot is doing it's job, you can
- take a break. (Plotting EGA screens takes
- a little time.)
-
- For more information on Multi-Plot see
- section 5.1 U.
-
-
- 4.8 Editor
- Press "Enter" and enter the name of the file you
- want to edit, and press "Enter" again. PST will
- run the editor you chose in the Configuration.
-
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- 4.9 Reserved for Future Use
-
- The last two menu items in PST's Main
- Menu are reserved for future features.
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- - 10 -
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- Chapter 5
-
- File Plotting and Technical Analysis
-
-
-
-
- All technical analysis functions are performed by
- pressing any key from A-Z. Use the PgUp and PgDn keys
- to see each of the four small menus in the lower right
- portion of the screen. All keys are active, you do
- not have to select the menu first.
-
-
- 5.1 Description of Plot A File Menu Items.
-
-
-
- A - Get New File
-
- Enter the filename of the new file you
- want to plot.
-
-
- B - Change Plot Limits
-
- Enter new starting and final dates and new
- high and low Y values. To leave the entry
- the same just press enter. Invalid dates
- will not be accepted so just try the next
- date until you hit a valid one. While in
- split screen mode the dates cannot be changed.
- The new file will be plotted in the time
- frame of the upper file, aligned with the
- proper dates.
-
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- C - Clear Active Plot
-
- Clears the active plotting screen.
-
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- D - Split Screen
-
- Splits the screen into an upper and lower
- half and plots the current data in the upper
- half. If a moving average has been calculated
- it will be plotted also. The lower screen will
- now be the active screen. This is useful for
- comparing calculated results with the original
- file, or for uploading another file for
- comparison with the first.
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- - 11 -
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-
-
- E - Unsplit/Reset Screen
-
- Unsplits the screen and returns the upper
- screen's data to the full screen. This will
- also plot the original data ("refresh")
- regardless of whether you are in split screen
- mode or not. After a few technical indicators
- have been plotted the screen tends to get crowded.
- Use this instead of reloading the data.
-
-
- F - Auto-Scale Y
-
- Rescales and replots the active data so that
- it is on scale. Use this if a calculation
- is off-scale, invisible, or if you want it
- to fill the entire plotting screen. This does
- not affect the date span.
-
- G - Oscillator
-
- Calculates an oscillator by taking the difference
- between two moving averages. The longer average
- is subtracted from the shorter average. PST asks
- for the number of periods for the short term
- average and then the long term average. If you
- were charting the daily advance-decline line, for
- example, you could calculate the McClellan
- Oscillator by entering 20 and 40 for the short
- and long term moving averages, respectively.
-
- H - Moving Average
-
- Sometimes referred to as a smoothing device
- with a time lag, we will occasionally use the
- word "smooth" to describe the same calculation.
-
- A moving average is the average of the previous
- X periods plotted for each period. For
- example, if a ten day moving average of the
- closing prices of a stock is desired, the prices
- for the last ten days are added up and divided
- by ten. It is a "moving" average, because only
- the last ten days are used in the calculation.
-
-
- I - Momentum
-
- Momentum measures the rate of change of prices
- as opposed to the actual prices themselves.
- PST requests a time interval over which the
-
-
-
-
- - 12 -
-
-
-
- price momentum (or velocity) will be calculated.
- Then, in the event that you want a smoother
- looking result, PST also requests the number of
- periods you want to use in the smooth (moving
- average) of the momentum. Choose "0" for this
- input if you do not want to smooth the calculated
- momentum.
-
-
- J - Cursor Toggle
-
- Turns the cursor on and off. The cursor is
- moved from its initial position at the left
- by using the left and right arrow keys. To
- move faster use shift-left(right) arrow.
- The value of the curve you are plotting at
- the position of the cursor is presented
- in the bottom center window on your screen.
- If you perform a calculation, reactivate
- the cursor, and it will now follow along the
- calculated curve.
-
-
- K - Cumulative
-
- Plots a running cumulative total of all
- previous values. This option is especially
- useful for calculating Cumulative Breadth from
- the advance-decline line.
-
-
- L - General Calculator (Registered Version Only)
-
- Allows you to: Add two files; take the
- difference between two files; ratio two
- files; multiply one file by another.
-
- PST first asks you for the name of the
- second file. The first file is the one
- you have just plotted. It then asks you what
- action to take (add, etc.). In the subtract
- (difference) case, the second file is sub-
- tracted from the first. In the Ratio (division)
- case, the second file is divided into the first.
- PST also asks if you want to smooth the result.
- (Enter "0" if you do not want to smooth.)
-
- The weighted ratio option is useful for
- calculating relative strengths.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- - 13 -
-
-
-
-
-
- M - Support/Resistance (Registered Version Only)
-
- This calculates the volume density as a
- function of stock price and plots the result as
- cumulative volume per price interval (in the
- negative Y direction) vs price ( along the
- positive X direction). A vertical marker indicates
- location of last close. Use the cursor to
- obtain the values for support and resistance
- prices.
-
- In most instances a stock will produce a
- support/resistance chart with very well
- defined trading ranges, indicated by deep
- volume "wells"; the support and resistance
- prices (values) can be estimated from the
- location of low volume intervals between the
- trading ranges.
-
-
-
- N - On Balance Volume
-
- This is the original OBV developed and popularized
- by Joseph Granville in 1963. The curve produced
- here is used to either confirm the quality of
- a price trend or demonstrate divergence from the
- present trend.
-
- The total volume for each period (day) is assigned
- a plus or minus value depending on whether that
- period's (day's) close was higher or lower than
- the previous period (day). A running cumulative
- total of these positive and negative volumes is
- then calculated and plotted.
-
-
- O - Stochastic
-
- Determines where the most recent closing price
- is in relation to the price range for a particular
- (chosen) period of time. For example, for a ten
- day period of time the formula is:
-
- Stochastic = 100{(close - low10)/(high10-Low10)},
-
- where "close" is the latest close, "low10"
- is the lowest low for the previous ten days,
- "high10" is the highest high for the previous
-
-
-
-
-
- - 14 -
-
-
-
-
- ten days. Multiplying by 100 forms the
- percentage.
-
- This formula measures, on a percentage basis
- (from 0 to 100), where the closing price is
- in relation to the total price range for the
- previous ten days.
-
- PST lets you choose the number of periods over
- which you wish to measure this stochastic process.
- The data must be of the HILOCLOS plot type, of
- course.
-
-
- P - Ticker
-
- Keeps a running cumulative total of the number
- of "ups" versus "downs", i.e. if the close today
- is above yesterday's close, then the number one
- is added to the sum; the number one is subtracted
- if today closes below yesterday.
-
-
- Q - Reserved for Future Use
-
-
- R - Logarithm
-
- Plots the logarithm (base 10).
-
-
- S - Wilder - RSI (Relative Strength Indicator)
-
- J. Welles Wilder, Jr. presented the RSI, Relative
- Strength Indicator in 1978. It doesn't really
- measure the relative strength between two different
- issues or things; rather, it attempts to remove
- erratic fluctuations found in momentum lines due to
- large changes being dropped off the "front end"
- of the time interval used. RSI removes the large
- effect that a sharp change in price "X" days ago
- can give to today's momentum, even though today's
- price change was small.
-
- PST uses your input, "X", for the number of periods
- in the following expression:
-
- RSI = 100 -[100/(1+N)],
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- - 15 -
-
-
-
-
-
- (Average of X period's up closes)
- where N = -----------------------------------
- (Average of X period's down closes).
-
-
- (You do not need a HILOCLOS plot type to use this
- feature.)
-
-
- T - Save To Disk
-
- Saves the calculation to a disk file. PST asks
- you to name the file you want to create. This
- is especially useful if you want to do several
- subsequent operations on a data file. After each
- operation, save the result to disk. Then plot it
- again, using A (Get New File), and perform
- another calculation.
-
- CAUTION: Do not use the name of a file you
- already have on the disk or it will be
- overwritten.
-
-
- U - Multi-Plot
-
- Pressing "U" will store the current screen image
- to disk. You may store up to ten images, which
- can then be plotted later using the Multi-Plot
- feature in PST's Main Menu. Use this option
- instead of X (Hardcopy) to avoid long interruptions
- in your graphics session.
-
-
-
- V,W - Reserved for Future Use
-
-
- X - Hardcopy, EGA
-
- Plots the current screen to your graphics printer.
-
-
- 5.2 Notes on File Plotting
-
- For a detailed interpretation of how to interpret each of the
- technical indicators described above, please refer to the
- reference list found in Appendix B.
-
-
-
-
-
-
- - 16 -
-
-
-
-
- Chapter 6
-
- Miscellaneous Information
-
-
-
-
- 6.1 What's New
-
-
- May 1991: The first public beta release of Personal Stock
- Technician, version 0.09a. All those who register
- this version will receive subsequent beta releases
- and, ultimately, the 1.00 release, free of charge.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- - 17 -
-
-
-
-
- Appendix A
-
-
-
- Support Systems
-
- If you have a problem with PST please feel free to write and
- describe the situation. The following systems and persons can
- be contacted if you have problems or questions regarding PST.
- Registered users, please include the serial number found on
- your diskette or at the opening screen.
-
-
-
- 1. The System Operator (Sysop)
- Lynn-Western Newswires BBS
- 408-778-5994 and 408-778-9656
- (1:143/304@fidonet)
- 1200/2400 bps 8N1 24 hours per day
-
-
-
- 2. PST Technical Support
- RazorLogic Systems
- P.O. Box 335
- Morgan Hill, CA 95037
-
- Voice: 408-778-0889
- Fax: 408-778-6395
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- - 18 -
-
-
-
-
- Appendix B
-
-
- Collected References
-
-
-
- 1. Martin J. Pring, Technical Analysis Explained, 2nd Edition,
- McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, NY, 1985.
-
- 2. William F. Eng, The Technical Analysis of Stocks, Options &
- Futures, Probus Publishing, Chicago, Illinois, 1988.
-
- 3. Curtis M. Arnold & Dan Rahfeldt, Timing the Market, (ed.
- Martin D. Weiss), Probus Publishing, Chicago, Illinois, 1986.
-
- 4. Edward S. Jensen, Stock Market Blueprints, Strother & Co., Portland,
- Oregon, 1967.
-
- 5. Jeffrey B. Little & Lucien Rhodes, Understanding Wallstreet,
- Liberty Publishing Co., Cockeysville, Maryland, 1986.
-
- 6. Lawrence G. McMillan, Options as a Strategic Investment, 2nd
- Edition, New York Institute of Finance, NY, 1986.
-
- 7. Robert D. Edwards & John Magee, Technical Analysis of Stock
- Trends, 4th Edition, John Magee, Springfield, Massachusetts,
- 1966.
-
- 8. Frank J. Fabozzi & Gregory M. Kipnis, Eds., Stock Index Futures,
- Dow Jones-Irwin, 1984.
-
- 9. John J. Murphy, Technical Analysis of the Futures Markets, New
- York Institute of Finance, NY, 1986.
-
- 10. Howard Ruff, Making Money, Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, NY,
- 1984.
-
- 11. David Dreman, The New Contrarian Investment Strategy, Random
- House, NY, 1982.
-
- 12. Joseph E. Granville, A Strategy of Daily Stock Market Timing
- for Maximum Profit, Prentice Hall, Inc., Engelwood Cliffs,
- New Jersey, 1960.
-
- 13. Edward N. Dubois, Essential Statistical Methods for Business,
- McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, NY, 1979.
-
- 14. John Downes & Jordon Elliot Goodman, Eds., Barron's Finance &
- Investment Handbook, 2nd Edition, Barron's, New York, NY, 1987.
-
-
-
-
-
- - 19 -
-
-
-
-
- Appendix C
-
-
-
- Registration Information
-
-
- USA RazorLogic Systems
- POB 335
- 975 Alkire Ave.
- Morgan Hill, CA 95037
- USA
-
-
-
- C.1 Pricing and Order Form
-
- Please use the form below when placing an order.
-
- Non-U.S. Residents: Please send checks drawn on U.S. funds
- and add $7 overseas shipping/handling.
-
- (All prices as of May 1, 1991. Prices subject to change without
- notification.)
-
- Personal Stock Technician for non-commercial use:
-
- Suggested retail price (single copy): USD $49.00
-
-
- Personal Stock Technician for commercial use:
-
- Suggested retail price (single copy): USD $109.00
-
-
- Registered owners of Personal Stock Technician will be notified
- by mail when significant enhancements have been made to the
- program. Once registered, all minor upgrades are available for
- a $6 upgrade fee (please include registration number in your order).
-
- If you want to receive PST on a 3.5 inch diskette (720k
- format), add an additional $3 for each diskette ordered.
-
- You can receive the latest distribution copy (un-registered) version
- of Personal Stock Technician for evaluation by writing, enclosing
- $6 for handling.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- - 20 -
-
-
-
- Please Remit To: RazorLogic Systems
- POB 335
- 975 Alkire Ave.
- Morgan Hill, CA 95037
-
-
-
- Qty. Description Each Total
-
- ____ Personal Stock Technician Minor Upgrade
- (On 5.25" diskette)
- (Registration Number: __________________) $6.00 ________
-
- ____ Personal Stock Technician Distribution Copy
- (No Registration) $6.00 ________
-
- ____ Personal Stock Technician Registration,
- Non-Commercial Version (On 5.25" diskette) $49.00 ________
-
- ____ Personal Stock Technician Registration,
- Commercial Version (On 5.25" diskette) $109.00 ________
-
- ____ Any product on 3.5" diskette, add
- $3.00 each $3.00 ________
-
- Subtotal ________
-
- (Site License discount - see below) Discount [-________]
-
- (U.S. orders add $3 shipping & handling) Shipping ________
- (Foreign orders add $7 shipping)
-
- (CA residents please add 7.25% sales tax) Tax ________
-
- TOTAL $________
-
- Name: ________________________________________________________
-
- Company: ________________________________________________________
-
- Address: ________________________________________________________
-
- ________________________________________________________
-
- ________________________________________________________
-
-
- Telephone: _________________________ FAX:__________________________
-
-
- All checks must be drawn on U.S. Funds in U.S. Dollars.
- Sorry, no C.O.D. orders will be accepted.
-
-
-
-
- - 21 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
- C.2 Purchase Order Terms and Requirements
-
- Purchase Orders less than $100 must be pre-paid.
-
- Terms are net 30 days.
- Freight is prepaid by RazorLogic.
- Lead time: Stock items.
-
-
-
-
- C.3 Site License
-
- If you plan on using Personal Stock Technician in a corporate
- or government office, or in any business environment whatsoever,
- registration of the commercial version is mandatory. For such
- users, quantity discounts are available under a Site License
- agreement.
-
- One Master Copy of Personal Stock Technician (with documentation)
- will be provided on diskette. The site is responsible for printing
- the documentation and copying the diskettes for distribution.
- Backups of the Master disks do not count towards the total copies
- of the license.
-
- With all site licenses, the site will supply one contact person
- with whom all correspondence will be made. If a problem should
- arise, the contact person will interact with RazorLogic during
- problem resolution. Updates to Personal Stock Technician will be
- forwarded to the contact person. When filling out the order form,
- use the contact persons name to avoid confusion at a later date.
-
- The following table lists the current site license discount rates:
-
-
- TOTAL COPIES DISCOUNT
-
- 1 - 4 none
- 5 - 10 10%
- 11 - 20 20%
- 21 - 30 30%
- 31+ 40%
-
-
- NOTE: All prices and discounts are subject to change without notice.
- Also note that discounts are not cumulative and apply to
- separate orders only.
-
-
-
-
-
-
- - 22 -
-
-
-
-
- C.4 Warranty
-
- Personal Stock Technician is provided as is without any warranty,
- expressed or implied. This includes without limitation the
- fitfulness to a particular purpose or application and any
- warranties of merchantability.
-
- While RazorLogic attempted to be as through as possible while
- debugging Personal Stock Technician, RazorLogic shall not be
- liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect, special,
- or consequential arising from a failure of this program or
- accompanying files to operate in a manner desired by the user.
- RazorLogic shall not be liable for any damage to data or property
- which may be caused directly or indirectly by use of this program.
-
- In no event will RazorLogic Systems be liable to you for any
- damages, including any lost profits, lost savings or other
- incidental or consequential damages arising out of your use or
- inability to use the program, or for any claim by any other party.
-
- To those people who have registered with diskette, the physical
- diskette is warranted against defects in materials and workmanship
- for a period of 60 days from date of shipment by RazorLogic.
- Any returned disks found damaged or bad will be replaced at no
- charge.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- - 23 -
-
-
-
-
- Appendix D
-
- Downloading Data
-
-
- Personal Stock Technician currently comes with two utilities
- that are useful for converting data obtained from Dow Jones
- News/Retrieval to PST data format. The data is obtained with
- Procomm Plus by Datastorm Technologies, but any communications
- software capable of capturing the data to file on disk will
- work. ( Dow Jones News/Retrieval and Procomm Plus are NOT part
- of the Personal Stock Technician package and we do not intend
- to imply that they are.)
-
-
- You should be familiar with the use of the Dow Jones News/
- Retrieval Service, Procomm Plus and the Aspect Script
- Language before attempting to use the utilities described
- here. There is a fee associated with obtaining data from
- Dow Jones.
-
-
- D.1 HQCON.EXE
-
-
- This utility is used to parse Historical Quotes data obtained
- using the Procomm Aspect file HQSTOCK.ASP. After logging on
- to the Dow Jones News/Retrieval Service using Procomm Plus,
- invoking HQSTOCK.ASP will download Historical Quotes data on the
- stock you choose. The disk file you produce will then be parsed
- and sorted by HQCON.EXE into PST format data.
-
-
-
- Step by Step:
-
- 1. Log onto Dow Jones and execute HQSTOCK.ASP to produce a
- data file, let's call it "data.txt."
-
- "Data.txt" should look something like this:
-
-
- ;1xyz P1
-
-
- DOW JONES HISTORICAL
- STOCK QUOTE REPORTER SERVICE
-
-
- STOCK 1xyz
-
-
-
-
-
- - 24 -
-
-
-
-
- DATE HIGH LOW CLOSE VOL(100/S)
- 04/11/91 39 3/8 38 5/8 39 1/8 3170
- 04/12/91 39 1/4 38 3/8 38 3/4 2029
- 04/15/91 39 37 1/4 38 1/8 1232
- 04/16/91 38 3/4 37 3/4 38 3/4 1261
- 04/17/91 39 3/4 39 1/8 39 1/2 2758
- 04/18/91 40 5/8 39 1/4 39 1/4 2015
- 04/19/91 39 5/8 38 3/4 39 3/8 3085
- etc........
-
-
-
- 2. Now, from the DOS prompt type:
-
- HQCON data.txt data
-
- and press "Enter". That's it! You have just created a PST
- file called "data" from an input file named "data.txt."
- Now you can chart it with PST. (Typing HQCON alone and
- pressing enter will supply help.)
-
-
-
- D.2 UPKEEP.EXE
-
- This utility is used to update a selection of stocks you
- wish to track on a regular basis. By editing the Aspect
- Script file called UPDATE.ASP you can download the latest
- 12 days of trading information on any number of stocks you
- wish. From this screen dump you update your PST portfolio
- with UPKEEP.EXE. The procedure is similar to that in D.1:
-
- 1. Execute UPDATE.ASP to produce a file, which we'll call
- "Port.txt" .
-
-
- 2. Run UPKEEP.EXE by typing:
-
- UPKEEP Port.txt
-
- and pressing "Enter". (Typing UPKEEP alone followed by
- "Enter" will supply help.)
- Note: The stock files must already exist!
-
-
- D.3 Notes on "Screen Dumps"
-
- Most communication software will let you save the screen
- data you see during a Dow Jones News/Retrieval session to a
- file on disk. Procomm Plus calls this "logging" while other
- names are "screen capture", "screen dump" etc.
-
-
-
-
- - 25 -
-
-
-
-
- Be aware that if the utilities supplied here do not work, the
- first thing to suspect is the integrity of the screen capture
- file. Often, line noise and other minor mishaps, will add
- random characters to the file as it is being recorded. Since
- HQCON and UPKEEP are strict parsing programs, any displacement
- in characters from the positions they normally occupy will
- cause unpredictable results. Also, there is no guarantee that
- Dow Jones News/Retrieval will not change it's data format at
- any time.
-
- In any event, check the screen capture file carefully before
- running HQCON or UPKEEP and repair any discrepancies with your
- text editor.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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-
-
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-
-
-
-
-
-
- - 26 -
-
-
-
-
- Appendix E
-
- Acknowledgements
-
-
- The following individuals and organizations have contributed
- significantly to the creation and development of Personal
- Stock Technician:
-
-
- Barron's
- Borland International
- The Chicago Board of Exchange
- Dow Jones Information Services
- Wendy C. Golden
- Stuart James
- Norman Lynn
- Shirley Lynn
- Michael Pine
- The New York Stock Exchange
- The Wall Street Journal
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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- - eof -
- - 27 -