Setting up a Chart
Select { File | New } from the menu
or select the New icon from the toolbar. This will open a new
chart with no symbol assigned. The default chart type is "daily"
but this can be modified with { Chart | Properties... }.
Any time you enter a new symbol in a chart, either in the chart
properties dialog, or using the shortcut of just typing a symbol
in a selected chart, the program will attempt to retrieve the
data requested. This may cause it to connect to the internet
site currently configured for retrieving historic data for the
selected time unit (days, weeks, etc.). Depending upon your networking
configuration this may initiate dialing, if you are configured
for dial-up networking and have no current connection. If the
connection can not be made, it may take up to two minutes for
the program to "time-out" and give up trying. With
your internet connection established, type any stock symbol in
the chart and hit <enter>. At this point data will be downloaded
and displayed.
Retrieving
Data
There are two types of data retrieved
by SSChart. The first is historic data used for displaying daily,
weekly, and monthly charts. The second is quote data (either
realtime or delayed) that is recorded to build intraday charts,
(time frames less than 1 day). There is no historic retrieval
of intraday data from free data sources. Some subscription sources
provide this feature. The program features you will have available
depend on the data sources selected, for instance, mytrack supports
intraday backfill, and orderbooks, etc. while free sources like
yahoo do not.
Historical daily, weekly,
and monthly charts
Each time a new symbol is typed
in a chart, the program first checks for data previously downloaded
and saved in the .\Data directory. If there is any data for this
symbol it is loaded. If the { Data | Auto Update On } menu
item is selected (checked) it will attempt to bring the data
up to date with the latest available.
You can also manually initiate
the update with { Data | Update }, or with the cursor
in the chart window { <right click> | Update }.
The "update" operation
attempts to retrieve data from the last day you already have,
forward to today or whatever date is set in the date fields in {Chart
| Properties... }.
The { Chart | Reload }
operation discards previously retrieved data and attempts to
refetch the full range requested by the date fields in { Chart
| Properties... }.
Intraday
Charts
In order to get data for intraday
charts, the program must be running and gathering quotes continuously
during market hours or you must be using a quote source that
provides intraday backfill. The program saves the data as one
minute data. Other intervals are generated by combining 1-minute
data to produce the desired interval. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15,
30, and 60 minute intervals are currently supported). To get
a full day's intraday data (without backfill), the program must
be run continually, with data collection on, the whole time the
market is open, otherwise there will be gaps in the data when
you stop collecting. If using the Yahoo US source which combines
realtime ECN with delayed quotes, the price is available realtime,
but the volume is only in the delayed quote so the most recent
15 or 20 minutes of the chart will not have the volume information.
To turn on quotes:
Either select { Data | Get
Continuous Quotes } from the main menu, or use the Data
Collection button on
the toolbar.
SSChart will save several days
of intraday data for each active symbol. By default, data is
collected for all symbols in open charts as
well as all symbols in any open SLFMap when
data collection is on. The actual number of days can be set in
the Data Preferences dialog.
(You actually have to run the program during market hours for
each day you want to accumulate data for.) There is also a preference
setting to accumulate data only for symbols in open charts and
not symbols listed only in an SLFMap.
Note: Selecting an SLF file in
the toolbar selection
box does not cause quote data to be collected for the symbols
listed in that file, unless you actually create an SLFMap by
clicking on the SLFMap button in the toolbar. For each symbol
listed in an open SLFMap, SSChart collects and saves 1-minute
data. From this saved 1-minute data it can construct intraday
charts for longer periods.
The Medved QuoteTracker
program can be configured to pass data through to SSChart,
if you have this program. Whatever data limitations are applicable
to the data source set in QuoteTracker pass through to SSChart.
About
Retrieved Data
All data suppliers disclaim any
responsibility for the accuracy of the data. This includes the
live data streams you pay for, and even data feeds direct from
the exchange. You should double check any data with multiple
sources before relying upon it to make trading decisions. We
do not offer trading advice, any decisions you make in this regard
are yours alone.
About
Intraday Data
There are two types of intraday
data: polled and streaming. The free intraday data
you will get if you select "yahoo" as the quote source
is polled. In other words SSChart requests a quote from the source
every few seconds as specified under Quote Fetch Time Interval
in the user preferences dialog. Streaming
quotes on the otherhand come in continuously as trades happen.
Streaming data is only available when you have selected one of
the quote routers as the data source.
When using polled quotes
When the intraday charts are
constructed using polled quote data, they do not "see"
every trade. There may be some trades in between quotes that
are beyond the range of the current "candle" being
constructed. This means in reality in some cases a candle may
be graphed shorter than it actually should be. When using the
"Yahoo delayed+ECN" source, the ECN data is realtime,
but only for trades on the ECNs reported. There may be other
trades on another market that would affect the range of the current
candle. SSChart puts a gray "halo" around the candle
when the data collected is incomplete. The data is marked this
way in two cases, (1) when the data is constructed from ECN data
only, and (2) when the data collection was interrupted for more
than a minute, in which case it plots data in a straight sloping
progression between the last time it had, and the latest quote.
You will notice when it has been able to fill this data with
delayed quote data, the halo goes away. We have noted with the
ECN data that for some symbols during the day the server may
stop updating the quote for several minutes at a time. You can
tell when this is happening if you notice the time of the last
quote displayed near the top left of a chart and compare this
with current time at the exchange when the last quote was requested
that shown in the right side of the status bar at the bottom
of the main window. (The actual quote time returned by the "Yahoo"
sources, does not contain the seconds, so the seconds will always
show as zero in the chart window when you are collecting quotes
from this source).
Special note for delayed data
sources:
Keep collecting data with the
delayed sources until the market close time plus the delay time
(usually 15 or 20 minutes past the official close time).
Even with these problems, the
charts are generally accurate for most actively traded securities,
but you need to be alert to possible data errors.
When using real-time streaming
quotes
When using streaming quotes via
one of the quote routers charts will be more accurate as every
trade is sent through. You will also be able to view the time&sales
record for each trade. You should be aware that errors do exist
in the data stream. Trades get entered wrongly and later get
corrected, but will still result in a spike on the chart. Also
especially on Nasdaq securities, block trades get entered out
of sequence. Immediately after the market close, you often see
several block trades which can make the charts look erratic.
Tick Charts
Tick charts are another form
of intraday chart. Tick charts are only meaningful when using
streaming realtime quotes. They are not disabled if you use polled
quotes, but are not meaningful in this case since you are not
really getting each tick (trade) but rather a snapshot of the
price on a regular interval.
Setting
up Studies
There are three available display
panes to each chart. By default, only the top pane is visible.
The volume information will display in the bottom pane by default,
to make this visible select { View | Bottom Pane }. Other Studies are selected from the
{ Studies | Selected Studies... }
menu. Each study has a default
group it belongs to for purposes of routing it to the desired
pane for display. If you <right-click> in the chart you
will get a pop-up menu that will allow you to show/hide and of
the three panes. Many studies including MACD and Stochastics
are displayed in the middle pane, so this must be made visible
in order to see these studies. Experiment with the pane selections
under { Chart | Properties... } to get what you want.
This area is still undergoing further development so some changes
may occur between releases. To add a study see important information
under moving averages that applies to adding any study.
Adding and modifying studies
Use either the {Studies| ...} main menu,
or <right-click> in a chart and select {Studies Setup...}
to get to the studies dialog. See moving
averages for important information that also applies to other
studies.
Deleting studies
Use the { Studies | Selected
Studies... } dialog
to delete existing studies from a chart.
Selecting
Data Sources
The { Data | Internet Sources...
} menu item can be used to select from available
data sources. Different sources can be specified for quotes,
daily, weekly, and monthly data. (The quote source is used for
intraday data). Note different sources may update their data
at different times, and at any given time there may be errors.
We have noted missing days on some sources, that get filled in
after a few days, etc. If you do not seem to be getting good
results from one source, try one of the others available. If
you find additional web sites offering historic stock price data
in either HTML or download format (usually denoted as spreadsheet
download format), let
us know the URL and we will attempt to add configurations
for these sites to the program.
Using
the quote routers to get data from myTrack or IB
The quote routers are programs
included with SSChart that interface realtime data sources to
SSChart. They also allow you to connect up to four computers
on a LAN each running a copy of SSChart which will get their
data from the one machine running the quote router. This is done
so you can have a cluster of machines to get more screen space.
They will function for free during the trial period (but you
still need an account with the data provider). After the trial
period they are available for a ($10 - $15 a month lease (in
addition to the fees you pay the data provider and exchanges).
Note: In
order to use the quote routers, both the router and SSChart must
be running on either Windows NT, 2000, or XP. We recommend you have a broadband internet connection
and enough RAM in your system to avoid swapping programs to disk.
You can check this by running the task manager program and checking
that the current memory usage does not exceed the physical memory.
If swapping occurs, system response time slows down drastically,
close down applications you don't need. You can tell from the
task manager window which programs are the real memory hogs.
You must have an account with the data provider to get data from
theses sources. There are currently two quote routers available:
SSQRouterMT
This interfaces to the Track
Data "myTrack" data source. You must add the "SDK"
entitlement to your myTrack
account to enable the quote router.
Additional SSChart features available
with myTrack account include: live intraday charting, historic
update of intraday charts, time&sales display, and (ECN)
orderbook and level II if you have these features enabled in
your account. See specific instruction for using the myTrack
router on our website here.
SSQRouterIB
Interfaces to the TWS (Trader
Work Station) of your Interactive
Brokers account. No historic update is available with this
source, but intraday charts can be generated and saved as long
as you are running and collecting quotes during market hours.
You also get a time and sales display. There is currently a limitation
of 40 symbols at one time that you can monitor. This is a TWS
interface limitation not an SSChart limitation.
See specific instructions for
using the IB router on our website here.
Operation differences when using SSQRouterMT
Since the myTrack connection
gives you access to historic intraday data for backfill, the
update and reload functions of the chart pop-up on intraday charts
are active when using this data source. The { Update
} selection will fetch
data to bring and intraday chart upto data. The { Reload
} selection will reload
entirely the number of days of data specified under the { File | Preferences } menu from
the mytrack server.
Usually after the market closes,
we use the batch update button to update our daily charts, then
set { Data | Auto Update On } and run a slide show on
an intraday chart to make sure all the intraday data is up to
date.
Note the myTrack historic daily
data is actually retrived slower than when you get it from Yahoo.
The difference is it is ready as soon as the market closes, where
as there is an hour or more delay with the other sources before
the data is ready.
Getting
quote data from the Medved QuoteTracker program
SSChart can use the built in
HTTP server in QuoteTracker to supply quote data (if you have
the QuoteTracker program). To do this first follow the directions
for enabling the built-in HTTP web server in the QuoteTracker
program as described in the QuoteTracker program help. You must
configure it for the default port number of 16239. Next create
a portfolio in QuoteTracker named "SSChart" and add
one valid symbol to it. This portfolio must have at least one
symbol in it for the communication with SSChart to function properly.
Lastly select the "QuoteTracker" data source for quotes
under { Data | Internet Sources... } in SSChart, and be sure to have the
QuoteTracker program running before you enable the { Data
| Get Continuous Quotes } or create an SLFMap in SSChart. Note:
If you have not paid to register QuoteTracker then that program
will only activate its HTTP web server if you have a minimum
"ad click" percentage of .8 percent as of the time
of this writing.
Setting
Colors
The study colors are applied
when the studies are created. Other color selections are made
under the { Chart | Color... } menu. To change the background color
select { Chart | Color... }, highlight the Item BackGround
in the list box, and either click the [Color...] button
or double click the item name. All other items shown may have
their colors specified in a similar manner.
Once you have a chart setup to
you liking, exit the SSChart program so the setting will be saved.
When you restart, the entire layout with custom settings should
be restored. This is the easiest way to maintain your chart setup.
Type a new symbol in the chart to view a different stock. Another
mechanism for saving your settings and applying them to new charts
is Chart Favorites.
Chart
Favorites
You can now save your favorite
chart layouts and save them to a file. Once you have created
a couple of favorite charts it is easy to create as many charts
with the saved characteristics as you want. Create a chart to
your liking and use the { Chart | Add to Favorites... } menu item to save the chart settings
to a file. The filename you chose will appear as a submenu item
under the { Chart }
menu the next time you look there. You can now create as many
charts of that type as you want by selecting the favorite name
from the { Chart }
menu.
Printing
Chart windows can be printed
and will be centered on the page. You need to experiment with
the chart window dimensions and page orientation until you get
something to your liking You can view the chart window before
you print it with { File | Print Preview }. If it looks
OK on the screen it should also look OK on the printer.
Note that the chart window is
colored in the Print Preview window. If you have a black and
white printer and use candlesticks in your charts, then the up
candles will print with a black outline and the down candles
will print solid black. If the background is any other color
than white the colors of the items will be changed so that the
background can appear white.
Hints &
Shortcuts
<Right-click>
Right clicking in the various
windows brings up a menu specific to that window type. Some of
the selections are only available in this pop-up menu and not
in the main menu.
Use the favorites feature
First and most important, after
you configure a chart to look the way you like it, save it as
a named favorite by selection { Chart | Add to Favorites...
}. It will be saved as a named file with the .fav extension
in the FAVORITE subdirectory and also its name will appear
under the { Chart } menu. You will then save yourself
the tedium of setting everything up again for a new chart of
this type.
You can set a favorite as the
default chart that gets created when you press the { File
| New } or { Chart | New } button or the
[New] icon from the toolbar. To do this, select { Edit
| Favorites... }, select the chart from the list you want
to be the default, check the Set as default box and press
[OK].
Load new symbols into the same chart
Whenever any chart window is
the current window, you can just start typing a new stock symbol
on the keyboard. The symbol appears in the upper left corner
of the window while you type. When you hit the <enter>
key, the program attempts to load data for the new symbol. You
can open as many windows as you like, but each one takes up memory
resources. Rather than opening 100 different charts for 100 different
stocks, I tend to open 3 or 4 with different time frames, then
type in new symbols in these or drop them in from an SLFMap.
(Using drag-and-drop avoids typing errors).
Mouse shortcuts
Double clicking in any chart
expands that chart to full screen. Double clicking again restores
its original size.
Keyboard shortcuts
Specific keyboard hotkeys
are shown in the menus for many common operations like changing
the chart time frame, or candle size. If a feature in the menus
shows a keyboard character (or sequence like 'Shft+S') then the
key or key combination can be used to perform the same action
as the menu selection.
Drag-and-Drop
All windows except the chart
window support drap-and-drop in the conventional way by pressing
the left mouse button down, dragging the mouse over another window
and releasing the left mouse button. When dragging from the chart
window or the horserace window the <shift> key must be
pressed in addition to the left mouse button. You can drag-and-drop
a symbol from the SLFMap into a chart or another SLFMap for example.
See the following table for possible drag-and-drop operations.
Supported Drag-and-Drop Operations
Window Type |
Drag Source |
Drop Destination |
Chart |
<shift
key> |
yes |
SLFMap |
yes |
yes |
HorseRace |
<shift
key> |
yes |
Quotes |
no |
yes |
Time&Sales |
no |
yes |
OrderBook |
no |
yes |
Level2 |
no |
yes |
MarketPulse |
no |
no |
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Symbol
List Files
An even better shortcut for scrolling
through all the stocks you are interested in, is to use a symbol
list file (SLF). A symbol list file is a simple text file containing
ticker symbols, and optionally the company name one per line.
How to create a symbol list file
You can create new SLF files
from the program by selecting {File | New} and from the
New dialog select SLFMap Window. This creates a
new SLFMap window with no symbols. Select the newly created window
( <click> in it somewhere ) and type a symbol followed
by <enter>. Repeat for all symbols you want in the SLFMap,
then select {File | Save SLFMap As...} to save the new
SLF file. To delete a symbol from an SLFMap, <right-click>
on the symbol and select { Delete } from the pop-up menu.
The symbol name is shown at the top of the pop-up menu, so you
can confirm you are deleting the correct one. After making changes
use {File | Save SLFMap} to save the changes.
You can also use a text editor
as outlined below:
Use Notepad to create the file (or another text
editor). The file format needs to be plain text, do not use
Word doc format, as this contains binary information. (You
can use Word or Wordpad however if you save the file as text
with line breaks). Enter your symbols, one on each line. The
ticker symbol is the first entry on the line and anything following
it is used as the company name. (If the ticker symbol happens
to contain spaces then it needs to be surrounded by "double
quotes"). When saving the file for the first time, you must
select {File | Save as} from the notepad menu, and then
set the "Save as type:" field to "All
Files". Give the file a name with the extension ".slf"
and save it in the SLF subdirectory under where SSChart is installed.
It will then appear in the toolbar pulldown list where it can
be selected.
The company name is optional,
if it does not appear in the .slf file, SSChart will attempt
to get it from the data stream (if present) and if not it will
check its symbol database for a match. If the program cannot
find a name for the symbol, the name field of the chart will
be left blank.
The example below shows the contents of the file index_yahoo.slf
which contains the special ticker symbols used to retrieve indices
from the Yahoo finance website. (Note comment lines may be inserted
by beginning the line with the "#" character.
# index symbol names for yahoo
^DJI Dow Jones 30
^SPC S & P 500
^IXIC Nasdaq composite
^RUT Russell 2000
^TYX 30 yr bond
Save all symbol list files which
you create with the extension .slf (symbol list file)
in the SLF subdirectory.
How to use a symbol list file
Select the SLF file you want
to view from the selection box in the SLF Toolbar. Once you have
selected a SLF file you can then choose to view it in a chart
or SLFMap window by pressing the appropriate button next the
the selection box. The main window status line at the bottom
of the main window should display a message indicating the file
was loaded. (You can also see this message in the status message
window, which will magically appear if you hit F4).
What it does for you in a chart window
Now for the neat part. Make any
chart window your currently selected chart (i.e. <click>
on one of your charts so it becomes the active chart). You can
now scroll through your list of stock symbols you loaded by using
the <Page up>, <Page Down>, <
Home>, and <End> keys on the keyboard.
Page Down |
loads the next symbol
from the list into the chart |
Page Up |
loads the previous |
Home |
loads the first |
End |
loads the last |
When you first open the symbol
list file, it does not affect the current chart. Start by hitting
the <Home> key to load the first symbol from the
list, then scroll through the rest with <Page Down>.
You can also select { Chart
| Slide Show } to automatically scroll through the slf list
in a chart once, loading a new symbol every few seconds. This
is especially useful for intraday your daily charts at the end
of the day if you are using a data source supporting intraday
backfill (currently only myTrack). You should first select {
Data | Auto Update On }. Once you've completed the update, switch
Auto Update off again so you can scroll back through the
charts without the delay of it trying to update them again.
What it does for you in an SLFMap window
An SLFMap
window lays out all the symbols in the SLF file in a rectangular
grid where each symbol occupies a cell. All the cells are colored
from the green to the red color spectrum. The color coding shows
you the relative change of a group of stocks during the day (updated
by quote data). If you have an SLFMap open, you can drag-and-drop
a symbol from the SLFMap to an open chart. (You do this by positioning
the mouse cursor over the symbol in the SLFMap, press and hold
down the left mouse button, then move the cursor into an open
chart and release the mouse button. This will load that symbol
into the chart.
Keyboard shortcuts
There are a number of hotkeys
assigned to speed common operations like, changing the time-frame
of a chart, changing candles sizes, and selecting zoom settings.
You can find these listed in the menus next to the specific items
they apply to.
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