*I  Configure TAS   Edit TAS Script   Build TAS Selection Report  Define a Ticker List  Run TAS Selection  Quit  Build TAS Profit Test X Create New Ticker List  Modify Old Ticker List  Create a New Script  Modify Old Script >  Script Selection   Ticker List Selection   Ticker Symbol Selection v  Selection Choice   Profit Test Choice f  Quote Number 9  Symbol Table Size "  DATA Directory(ies)   Your Name s  Registration Code 5  Include Ticker Period !  Data Array "  Number of Periods # Moving Average Type $ ! ROC Type % " Slowing Period J& # Days in Past & $ MULTIPLY/DIVIDE SCALAR [' ( Editing Keys ' ) Formula Entry - * Selection Condition W3 + Formula Title -8 , Running a Selection 9 2 Formulas and Data Arrays t; < Selection Run Window QF d TAS Script Syntax I e Formula Builder Q n What is a TAS Script? T o Ticker List U New User Welcome PV Trial User Welcome Y ,Buy When _] -Sell When ^ .Long Stop ^ /Short Stop M_ 0Profit Test Type _ 1Initial Cash ` 2Commission Schedule a 3Share Purchase Rule a 4Output File Name cb 5Slippage b 6Detail Level c JProfit Test Formula d KProfit Test Condition g TAS Profit Tests h TAS Profit Tests *B 2,Configure TAS Configure TAS ------------- Choose this option to tell TAS where your MSP data directories are, who you are, and what options you want to use when you run TAS. *E *B 3,Edit TAS Script Edit TAS Script ---------------- Choose this option to Edit an existing TAS Selection Script or to create a new one. See ^What is a TAS Script?^ *E *B 4,Build TAS Selection Report This option gives you the opportunity to create a report of most of the Technical Indicators in TAS by choosing which formulas you want to include in the report. Once your formulas are chosen, you can ask TAS to compute them for selected groups (TICKER LISTS). When the computation of the formulas is complete for all the Tickers in the list you choose, you will get a chance to sort your tickers by the value of any formula in either *P ascending or descending order. *E *B 5,Define a Ticker List Define a Ticker List -------------------- Choose this option if you want to create a list of ticker symbols which will be used for a selection. See ^Ticker List^ *E *B 6,Run TAS Selection Run TAS Selection ------------------ Once you have created a ticker list and and a selection script, you can run a selection. Use this option to prepare to run your selection. See ^Define a Ticker List^ ^Edit TAS Script^ *E *B 7,Quit Quit ----- When you are done with TAS, choose this option or hit the ESC key from the top menu. *E *B 8,Build TAS Profit Test This option gives you the opportunity to create a Profit Test using the Technical Indicators in TAS. You choose the formulas or equations you want to evaluate. You also define the conditions for BUY, SELL, and STOP. Once your formulas and conditions are chosen, you can have TAS run a Profit Test for selected groups of symbols (TICKER LISTS). *E *B 10,Create New Ticker List Create New Ticker List ---------------------- If you want to create a new TICKER List, choose this option. You will be asked for the name of the ticker list (it will be given a file extension of ".TCK") automatically. *E *B 11,Modify Old Ticker List Modify Old Ticker List ---------------------- If you wish to modify an existing ticker list, choose this option. You will be presented with a file selection menu which will allow you to choose the ticker list you want to modify. *E *B 12,Create a New Script Create a New Script/Selection/Profit Test ------------------------------------------ If you want to create a new Script, Selection or Profit Test, choose this option. You will be asked for the name of the new file (it will be given a file extension of ".TAS", ".SEL" or ".PTS") automatically depending on the type of file it is. If the file exists, you will not be allowed to edit it as a "new" file. You must use the Modify Old choice. See ^What is a TAS Script?^ ^TAS Profit Tests^ *E *B 13,Modify Old Script Modify an Old Script/Selection/Profit Test ------------------------------------------- If you wish to modify an existing Script,Selection or Profit Test, choose this option. You will be presented with a file selection menu which will allow you to choose the file you want to modify. See ^What is a TAS Script?^ ^TAS Profit Tests^ *E *B 14,Script Selection Script Selection ----------------- Move the cursor (or mouse) over to the file name you wish to choose and hit ENTER or double click the left button. *E *B 15,Ticker List Selection Ticker List Selection ---------------------- Move the cursor (or mouse) over to the file name you wish to choose and hit ENTER or double click the left button. *E *B 16,Ticker Symbol Selection Ticker Symbol Selection ----------------------- To "select" a ticker symbol, move the cursor to that symbol and hit the "SPACE" bar. If the symbol is already selected, it will be "un-Selected". If it is not currently selected, it will then be selected. *P Key Summary ------------- ESC - ABORT (Do Not Save) SPACE - TOGGLE Ticker Symbol F3 - SAVE Ticker List F8 - UNSELECT ALL ticker symbols F9 - SELECT ALL ticker symbols *E *B 17,Selection Choice Selection Choice ----------------- Move the cursor (or mouse) over to one of the the file names shown and hit ENTER or double click the left button. *E *B 18,Profit Test Choice Profit Test Choice ----------------- Move the cursor (or mouse) over to one of the the file names shown and hit ENTER or double click the left button. *E *B 20,Quote Number Quote Number ------------ This is the number of quotes TAS can load for each symbol. If you make this value too large, then you might not be able to run TAS for all types of scripts. *E *B 21,Symbol Table Size Symbol Table Size ----------------- The Symbol Table Size controls how 'big' your selection script can be. If this value is 'too large', you give up some storage for the number of quotes TAS can handle. If the value is 'too small', your selection script might *P be too big for it. Start at 6000 and work your way up, if you encounter problems. *E *B 22,DATA Directory(ies) Data Directory(ies) ------------------ Enter the full DOS path to the directory containing your Metastock or ChartPro data files. This directory must either contain a file called 'MASTER' (for Metastock) or files ending with ".PRO" for ChartPro. You cannot intermix the two different types. That is, *P all of your directories must be the same file format (MetaStock or Chartpro). *E *B 23,Your Name Your Name --------- Please enter your first and last name, since it is used in building your Registration Code. See ^Registration Code^ *E *B 24,Registration Code Registration Code ------------------ As a registered user of TAS, you will receive a unique registration code which will enable all features of TAS. *E *B 26,Include Ticker Period Include Ticker Period ------------------ If you want the TICKER LIST display to show you the period (D=Daily, W=Weekly, M=Monthly) contained in your Metastock Data File, place a "Y" in this field. Otherwise, place a "N" in this field. *E *B 30,Data Array Data Array ------------ 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 See also ^Days in Past^ *E *B 31,Number of Periods Number of Periods ----------------- Enter the number of periods over which to compute the formula. If you have daily data, this is the number of days over which the indicator is computed. If you have weekly data, this is the number of weeks. *E *B 32,Moving Average Type There are 3 Moving Average Types: Type Description S Simple moving average W Weighted moving average E Exponential moving average *E *B 33,ROC Type Rate of Change can be computed on a percentage basis or in price units. To compute Rate of Change by percentage, enter "%". To compute in price units, enter "$". *E *B 34,Slowing Period Enter the "%K" Slowing Periods value. *E *B 35,Days in Past "Days in the past" is the subscript associated with a data array. For example, for "today" enter zero, "yesterday" is -1, the day before is "-2", thirty days ago is "-30". *E *B 36,MULTIPLY/DIVIDE SCALAR VALUE ------ Enter the number by which to multiply or divide the array. *E *B 40,Editing Keys Cursor Movement --------------- Arrow keys - cursor movement Ctrl-LeftArrow - word left Ctrl-RightArrow - word right Home - beginning of field End - end of line/field Ctrl-Home - beginning of first field Ctrl-End - end of last field *P Inserting and Deleting ---------------------- Ins - toggle insert mode Del - delete character at cursor BackSpace - delete character left Ctrl-BackSpace - delete word left Ctrl-T - delete word right Ctrl-U - delete to end of line Ctrl-Y - delete to end of screen Alt-I - insert a line after current line Alt-D - delete current line *P Other Editing Keys ------------------ Enter - Move to next field F3 - Save file F4 - Check Script for errors F7 - Formula Builder Help Screen Ctrl-R - Restore field Esc - Abort data entry See also ^Formula Builder^ ^TAS Script Syntax^ ^Formulas and Data Arrays^ *E *B 41,Formula Entry Formula Entry ----------------------- Enter an expression or formula that you would like to see in your selection output. Whatever you put in this field will be computed by TAS and placed in a column in the output. For example, if you want to see the 21 Day EMA of the Close, you could put in: +------------------------------------+ Formula F1 | MOV(C,21,'E') | +------------------------------------+ Remember, you can use the FORMULA BUILDER key (F7) to pull up a menu of the functions available in TAS. You can begin simply with individual indicators in each formula field. *P Once you become familiar with the construction of formulas, you can start to combine functions. For example, if you want to take the difference between the 26 and 12 day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA) of the closing price, you could either type the following, or use the FORMULA BUILDER key to enter: +------------------------------------+ Formula F1 | SUB(MOV(C,12,'E'),MOV(C,26,'E')) | +------------------------------------+ which would give you the difference between the two Moving Averages. *P The following function keys are used in this screen: F1 - Help F3 - Save this Selection Panel in a file F4 - Run this Selection and show output F7 - FORMULA BUILDER See also ^Formula Builder^ ^Running a Selection^ ^Formulas and Data Arrays^ ^Editing Keys^ *E *B 42,Selection Condition Selection Condition ------------------------------------ Enter a condition which must be true to have the ticker included in the report. For example, if you want to include only those stocks whose 12 day ROC is greater than zero AND whose current price is greater than the 21 EMA, and assuming you placed the 12 day ROC in 'Formula F1' (above) and you computed the 21 day EMA in 'Formula 2', then you could put the following in the Condition C1: +---------------------------------+ Condition 1 | F1 > 0 AND F2 > C | +---------------------------------+ *P Alternatively, you could also break the two conditions up and place one in Condition 1 and one in Condition 2 as follows: +---------------------------------+ Condition 1 | F1 > 0 | +---------------------------------+ +---------------------------------+ Condition 2 | F2 > C | +---------------------------------+ See also ^Formula Builder^ ^Running a Selection^ ^Formulas and Data Arrays^ ^Editing Keys^ *E *B 43,Formula Title Formula Title ------------------------------ When your selection is complete, it will create a report on your screen. In order to name the column containing the formula on the left, you should put in some descriptive name here. You have 8 characters to use to name your formula. *E *B 44,Running a Selection When you choose to run a selection from this screen, you will be asked for the name of a TICKER LIST against which your selection will be run. After you choose a TICKER LIST, the selection will be run against all the tickers found in that list. Once the selection is run, a report showing the values of each formula will be displayed on your screen. You can sort the values of each column in either ascending or descending order. *E *B 50,Formulas and Data Arrays Formulas and Data Arrays ------------------------ The Formula may be combinations of any of the following: 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) - Add each element of array "a" to create a cumulative sum array. *P div(a,b) - Divide each element of array "a" by an element of array "b". divby(a,x) - Divide each element of array "a" by the value of "x". dx(p) - Directional Movement Index hhv(a,p) - Highest High Value in array "a" in the last "p" days int(x) - Turns the number "x" into an integer. *P isect(a,b) - Returns the number of days since array "a" intersected array "b". llv(a,p) - Lowest Low Value in array "a" in the last "p" days macd() - Moving Average Convergence/ Divergence mdi(p) - Minus Directional Movement Indicator mo(p) - Momentum Array p = number of periods *P 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". *P mulby(a,x) - Multiply each element of array "a" by the value of "x". neg(a) - Compute Negative of an array "a" nvi() - Negative Volume Indicator obv() - On Balance Volume over(a,b) - Returns the number of days since array "a" crossed OVER (above) array "b". *P pdi(p) - Positive Directional Movement Indicator pvi() - Positive Volume Indicator rsi(p) - Wilder's RSI for 'p' periods roc(d,p,r) - Rate Of Change Array d = Data Array p = number of periods r = ROC Type '%' - percentage ROC '$' - Unit ROC *P 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) - Calculates Volatility indicator See also ^Data Array^ *E *B 60,Selection Run Window Each Formula column on this screen is numbered at the top row. You can sort all of the entries according to the values in a column by entering Alt-n where 'n' is the column number shown at the top of the screen. For example, to sort on column 4, hold the ALT key at the same time as you press the '4' key. Normally, sorting is done in 'ascending' order (from lowest to highest). If you want to change the order of the sorting, you can use the following keys: ALT-a to cause subsequent sorting to be 'ascending' ALD-d to cause subsequent sorting to be 'descending' To print the tickers and their values, type Alt-p. *P The following keys are used to get around the report screen: HOME - go to top line END - go to last line PgUp - Go back one screen PgDn - Go forward one screen ESC - Leave the Selection Run Screen *E *E *B 100,TAS Script Syntax TAS Script Language (TASSL) is similar to PASCAL syntax. TAS has built-in TA functions and price arrays so that TAS scripts can be created by the user to screen a Metastock(*) Data Directory (or directories) for stocks which match custom criteria. Syntax: ------------------------- {comment} {- curly braces surround comments a := b - ':=' is used to assign 'b' to 'a' * / - + - multiply, divide, subtract, add ( expression) - parentheses are used to guarantee order of evaluation is correct *P IF (x) THEN - Conditions are tested with IF (cond) THEN true tstmt; statement is executed. If (cond) is false, then ELSE the ELSE (if present) portion is executed fstmt; BEGIN - Use BEGIN ... END; to group a series of stmt1; statments together. stmt2; END; *P Predefined Values : Filled in when each MSP file is processed -------------------------------------------------------------- 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- If one, this ticker is the first to be processed. 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 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. *E *B 101,Formula Builder Formula Builder ---------------- Formula Builder is invoked with the F7 key. You will see a menu of functions and data arrays which are available with TAS. Move your cursor to the choice you desire in the menu list. Pressing enter (or double-clicking with your mouse) will select your choice. If the function has additional parameters, you will be prompted for each. *P Once complete, the formula and its parameters will be placed in the line at the location you hit the F7 key. It will be inserted into the text of the line if you were in INSERT mode, otherwise it will replace the text from the point where the cursor was located. See ^Formulas and Data Arrays^ *E *B 110,What is a TAS Script? What is a TAS Script? ----------------------- A TAS Script is a list of mathematical expressions, formulas, conditions, and actions which is run once for each Ticker Symbol in a Ticker List. See ^Ticker List^ *E *B 111,Ticker List Ticker List ------------ A Ticker List is a list of those stock, fund, index, or bond "tickers" which you want to scan as a group. *E *B 200,New User Welcome Welcome to Technical Analysis Scanner (TAS tm) ------------------------------------------------- It appears that this is the first time that you have used TAS because there is no TAS.CNF configuration file in the current directory. Once you leave this screen (and the next screen), you will be placed in the TAS CONFIGURATION screen. There, you will be asked to tell TAS where your Metastock compatible or ChartPro data files are. Once you finish there, press the -F3+ key to SAVE your configuration. At any time, you can press the -F1+ key to get help. You will notice that the bottom of the screen will contain LFLASHING HELPL until you successfully exit the TAS CONFIGURATION Screen. ----------------------------------------------- Press -ESC+ to LEAVE THIS SCREEN *E *B 201, Trial User Welcome Technical Analysis Scanner / Profit Tester (TAS/PT) Copyright 1990-1991, FlexSoft ------------------------------------------------- -You are running a TRIAL VERSION of TAS.+ If you would like to register TAS and receive a REGISTRATION CODE which will allow you to execute TAS from a .BAT file, run more than 20 TICKERS, send output to a disk file, use more TAS indicator functions, and receive continuing support for TAS, fill out the REGISTER.DOC file which came with TAS and send your registration to: FlexSoft 7172 Regional St, #276 Dublin, CA 94568 ----------------------------------------------- Press -ESC+ to LEAVE THIS SCREEN *E *B 300,Buy When Enter a combination of Condition Numbers above (C1-C6) which are to be used to signal a BUY transaction. See ^TAS Profit Tests^ *E *B 301,Sell When Enter a combination of Condition Numbers above (C1-C6) which are to be used to signal a SELL transaction. See ^TAS Profit Tests^ *E *B 302,Long Stop Enter a combination of Condition Numbers above (C1-C6) which are to be used to signal a STOP LONG transaction. See ^TAS Profit Tests^ *E *B 303,Short Stop Enter a combination of Condition Numbers above (C1-C6) which are to be used to signal a STOP SHORT transaction. See ^TAS Profit Tests^ *E *B 304,Profit Test Type Profit Test types are : LONG - Long positions only SHORT - Short positions only BOTH - Stop and Reverse from Long to Short *E *B 305,Initial Cash Enter the amount of cash each ticker's profit test is to start with. *E *B 306,Commission Schedule Choose one of the broker's commission structures if you want to add some reality to your test. If you want to leave the commissions out, select NOCOMM. *E *B 307,Share Purchase Rule ROUNDLOTS -Buy or Sell shares in hundred share units ALLCASH - Buy or Sell shares with all available cash *E *B 308,Output File Name Enter the name of a file in which to place the Profit Test Report you will see on your screen when run. *E *B 309,Slippage Choose one of the following to determine the price at which the next transaction will take place. TODAYS CLOSE NEXT AVERAGE NEXT OPEN NEXT CLOSE NEXT HIGH NEXT LOW *E *B 310,Detail Level Choose one of the following: DETAIL - Shows all buys and sells TICKERSUMMARY - Shows totals by ticker TOTALSUMMARY - Shows totals for entire run *E *B 330,Profit Test Formula Enter an expression or formula that you would like to use in your profit test. Whatever you put in this field will be computed by TAS and placed in a column in the output. For example, if you want to see the 21 Day EMA of the Close, you could put in: +------------------------------------+ Formula F1 | MOV(C,21,'E') | +------------------------------------+ Remember, you can use the FORMULA BUILDER key (F7) to pull up a menu of the functions available in TAS. *P When you refer to the FORMULA in the CONDITION statements below, you should use the name F1 to F7, depending on which line the formula is entered on. See ^TAS Profit Tests^ *E *B 331,Profit Test Condition Enter a condition which must be true in one of the BUY, SELL or STOP boxes below. See ^TAS Profit Tests^ *E *B 400,TAS Profit Tests TAS Profit Tests ---------------- The TAS Profit Test feature lets you put in up to 7 FORMULAS (combinations of technical indicators) and up to 6 CONDITIONS which can be defined as BUY, SELL or STOP signals. You can then have these FORMULAS, CONDITIONS and SIGNALS run against a TICKER LIST to create a report which shows you the results you would have achieved if you had used this trading system. For example, if you wanted to trade on a combination of Wilder's 14 day RSI greater or less than 30 and 70, and the Accumulation/ Distribution (AD) greater or less than zero, you would enter the following FORMULAS Formula F1 RSI(14) Formula F2 AD() *P Then, as your CONDTIONS, you could specify the following: Cond C1 F1[-1] < 30 AND F1 > 30 Cond C2 F1[-1] > 70 AND F1 < 70 Cond C3 F2 > 0 Cond C4 F2 < 0 Conditions C1 and C2 are checking for the RSI crossing 30 going up and RSI crossing 70 going down, respectively, a BUY and a SELL condition according to Wilder. Conditions C3 and C4 are checking the Accum/Dist function for above or below zero, BUY or SELL conditions, respectively. *P So, in the belief that combining the two indicators might be more advantageous than using them alone, you could say in the SIGNAL portion of the screen, BUY WHEN SELL WHEN C1 AND C3 C2 AND C4 *E