Indicators on Indicators

Indicators on Indicators“Indicators on Indicators” with TradeStation 8 By Michael Burke Indicators on Indicators 1. Overview Indicator Library Study Types Calculation Procedures “Max Bars Back” Intra-bar Calculations TradeStation Thinks in Bars 2. Modifying Indicator Inputs Calculated Values Price Value Length Displacement EasyLanguage Dictionary Function Library “Indicators on Indicators” 3. Custom Indicators on the Fly Modifying Calculation by Inputs Custom 1 Line Custom Show ME Custom PaintBar Custom Strategies 4. Advanced Topics Multi-data Analysis Indicators based on other symbols and/or time frames Using Dynamic Inputs IFF MinList MaxLast 5. Indicator Modifications Make a Copy of an Indicator Add new Plots to an Indicator Change Alert Criteria Conditional Coloring 6. Included Material Workspaces EasyLanguage Examples Indicators on Indicators 1. Overview Indicator Library The Insert Analysis Techniques dialog gives you access to all of the built-in analysis techniques in TradeStation. Analysis Techniques Types There are five types of analysis techniques: Indicators, ShowMe, PaintBar, ActivityBar, and ProbabilityMap. Each offers a unique analytical look at the price data on a chart. Indicators on Indicators Calculation Procedures Indicator rules and instructions are based on “bars” and the data in each bar: Open, High, Low, Close, Volume, etc. Indicators calculate from left to right, working across the chart, bar by bar, from the first bar to the last bar. “MaxBarsBack” “MaxBarsBack” is the maximum number of bars a study needs to reference in order to calculate. As an example, let's say that you are inserting the Mov Avg 1 Line Indicator into a chart and using a length of 50 bars. This indicator needs to reference 50 bars of data before it can make its first calculation and draw a plot line. Therefore, the “MaxBarsBack” would be 50. Indicators automatically calculate this “MaxBarsBack” value, but strategies do not, and must be set manually in the Format Strategy Properties dialog. Intra-bar Calculations Indicators can calculate and test alert criteria on a tick by tick basis regardless of the chart interval. Indicators can also be set to calculate only on each bar close event. TradeStation Thinks in Bars Remember that the chart makes the analysis, TradeStation indicators calculate on bars. So if the chart is a 1-minute chart, then you have a 50-bar moving average of 1-minute data. Indicators on Indicators 2. Modifying Indicator Inputs Input Parameters Price – Any bar by bar calculation Example: Close High Volume (High +Low) / 2 Length – Number of bars to use to perform calculations Displacement – Move plot line visually on the chart right or left. Abbreviations: C Close H High L Low O Open V Volume T Time D Date Math Operators: + Addition - Subtraction * Multiplication / Division Logical Operators: AND Both Expression must be TRUE OR Either Expression can be TRUE Relational Operators: < Less than <= Less than or equal to < Greater than <= Greater than or equal to = Equal to <> Not equal to Crosses Above Multi-bar pattern Crosses Below Multi-bar pattern Indicators on Indicators 3. EasyLanguage Dictionary The EasyLanguage Dictionary is a reference dictionary of all EasyLanguage Reserved Words and Functions that can be used to build indicators and strategies. Function Library – The User Functions category lists all the EasyLanguage functions built into TradeStation. Example: Average(Price, Length) Highest(Price, Length) Momentum(Price, Length) SlowK(14) Each Reserved Word and Function has an online help definition and explanation of what the function calculates, and how the parameters are used. “Indicators on Indicators” The idea of “Indicators on Indicators” is derived from the concept of measuring one indicator or function with another. Examples: RSI(SlowK(14), 10) Average(LinearRegValue(Close,10,1), 20) RateOfChange(Highest(Close,20),50) Custom Indicators & Strategies on the Fly Built into TradeStation are a number of pre-written Indicators and Strategies that allow you to quickly enter your calculations or criteria as an input, then plot indicators or test strategies on those calculations or criteria. Indicators: Custom 1 Line Custom 2 Line Custom 3 Line Custom 4 Line Custom ShowMe Custom PaintBar Strategies: Custom Long Entry Custom Short Entry Custom Long Exit Custom Short Exit Indicators on Indicators 4. Advanced Topics Multi-data Analysis Any indicator can be formatted to plot and calculate on any data stream in a chart. Multi-data analysis allows you to insert up to 50 data streams into a chart (different symbols, different intervals, or any combination), and then base you indicators and strategies on those data streams. (Note the 50 bar moving average on both the QQQQ, and SPY) The Base Study on drop down allows you to select which data stream in the chart the indicator will be based on. The Scaling tab allows you to also set specifically the sub-graph in which an indicator will plot in. Note: A chart can display up to 16 sub-graphs. Indicators on Indicators Using Dynamic Inputs There are a number of EasyLanguage Reserved Words that allow some flexibility in what is plotted based on your conditions and/or ranges of values. In most cases you would need to write a custom indicator to perform complex conditional calculations. But, here are some examples of what you can do with just a little EasyLanguage know-how. Examples: IFF() The IFF function is used to conditionally return one of two specified numeric values. Custom ShowMe Criteria =Volume >Average(Volume, 50) * 1.1 PlotPrice =iff(Close >Close[1], High, Low) MinList() Returns the lowest value of the specified inputs. MaxLast() Returns the highest value of the specified inputs. Custom 2 Line Indicator MinList(Low, Average(L,10)) MaxList(High, Average(H,10)) HighD() Gets the High price from N days ago in an intraday chart (minute or tick). LowD() Gets the Low price from N days ago in an intraday chart (minute or tick). CloseD() Gets the Close price from N days ago in an intraday chart (minute or tick). OpenD() Gets the Open price from N days ago in an intraday chart (minute or tick). Custom 4 Line Indicator HighD(1) LowD(1) CloseD(1) OpenD(0) // 0 =current day Indicators on Indicators 5. Indicator Modifications Make a Copy of an Indicator From the main menu, select File ~Open EasyLanguage Document. Next, select an existing EasyLanguage file and click Open. Once the file is open, from the main menu again select File ~Save EasyLanguage Document As, and assign it a new name. Make any modifications you need to this new file, the original file is unchanged. Add new Plots to an Indicator You can add additional plots to any existing indicator by opening the EasyLanguage file and adding additional Plot statements. An indicator can have up to 99 plots, but you must use a unique plot number for each plot statement. Example: Plot10(0); // Creates a zero line as a reference line Plot11(50); // Creates a reference line at 50 Plot12(-50); // Creates a reference line at negative 50 Plot13(Average(Plot1, 10)); // Averages one of the other plots Plot14(Average(SlowK(14),10)); // Use any of the functions in the Dictionary Change Alert Criteria The Alert functionality is only accessible in Indicators, ShowMe and PaintBar studies, but not in Strategies. Alerts are triggered when the specified criteria are true on the last bar of a chart. The EasyLanguage instructions for the analysis technique must contain the alert criteria, and alerts must be enabled either via the Properties dialog box (from the EasyLanguage PowerEditor) or the analysis technique’s Format dialog (from the chart). Example: If Close crosses above Close[1] then Alert; If Close crosses below Close[1] then Alert; If Close crosses above Average(Close,10) then Alert; If Close crosses below Average(Close,10) then Alert; If Average(Close,3) crosses above Average(Close,10) then Alert; If Average(Close,3) crosses below Average(Close,10) then Alert; If Low <Lowest(Low,10)[1] AND Close >Close[1] then Alert; If High >Highest(High,10)[1] AND Close <Close[1] then Alert; Indicators on Indicators Conditional Coloring Conditional Coloring allows you to change the color of a plotted valued based on some custom criteria. SetPlotColor(plot num, color) Changes the color of specified plot. Example 1: Plot1(RSI(Close, 14)) ; If Plot1 >75 Then SetPlotColor(1, red); If Plot1 <25 Then SetPlotColor(1, cyan); Example 2: Plot2(Average(Close,20)); If Close >Plot1 then SetPlotColor(2, cyan) Else SetPlotColor(2, red); Note: See the EasyLanguage Dictionary for list of the 16 available color words. Download Link: http://www.tradestationworld.com/download/mburke/MBIOI.ZIP You can contact me at: [email protected] Thank You for Attending!