CONTENT of README!.TXT file: You are free to copy and distribute the original or archived copy of the shareware version (Version S432) of MarketMaster(tm) for your or others' trial use PROVIDED: IT IS DISTRIBUTED WITH ALL ORIGINAL PROGRAMS AND SUPPORT FILES AND DOCUMENTATION; YOU DO NOT CHARGE MORE THAN A NOMINAL FEE OF US$15 FOR EXPENSES AND COST OF HANDLING WHILE DISTRIBUTING THIS SOFTWARE FOR TRIAL USE. MarketMaster(tm) Version S432 is distributed as "as is" and for trial use. Trial use does not extend to later or other Series or Versions, nor accessories, unless expressly so declared in writing by the publisher, R.M.C. THE RELEASE OF A LATER VERSION NUMBER IS AUTOMATIC NOTICE THAT ALL PRIOR VERSIONS ARE NO LONGER TO BE CIRCULATED AND ARE WITHDRAWN FROM PUBLIC USE. THEREFORE, AS OF 6-1-91, ALL PRIOR SHAREWARE VERSIONS OF MARKETMASTER MAY NO LONGER BE USED OR CIRCULATED. THE ONLY VERSION THAT MAY CIRCULATE AND BE USED IS THIS VERSION, DENOTED IN COMPRESSED FILE AS MM432.EXE, OR MM432.ZIP OR MM432.LZH. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY OF THE ABOVE TERMS, YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CEASE THE USE OF THIS PROGRAM -- MARKETMASTER(tm). IF YOU AGREE WITH ALL THE ABOVE TERMS, THEN YOU MAY FURTHER PROCEED: MarketMaster(tm) Version/Release number follows this pattern: Version Number | Shareware Version -- S 4 3 2 / \ Release Level Correction Level GET COMMERCIAL VERSION: After your trial period (30 days), and if you are serious about investing, you would be wise to order the commercial version of MarketMaster(tm). Commercial version provides you with up to SIX (6) forecasting indicators instead of just one, and unlimited usage in terms of time and number of data files you can analyze. Commercial versions allow you to print the graphs to your printer. A hardcopy user manual is also provided. This shareware version allows you to create a data file for the stocks of Merrill Lynch (ticker symbol: MER), Aetna Life & Casualty (ticker symbol: AET), Chrysler Corp (ticker symbol: C), Travelers Insurance Company (ticker symbol: TIC), and Dow Jones & Co. (ticker symbol: DJ) to do limited price forecasting on each. Commercial versions allow unlimited number of data files and enhanced analyses on any stock, future or market index. To order a commercial version, please use the Order Form in the accompanying file ORDER_FM.TXT, or call R.M.C. at 408-773-8715 or write to us at the address below: R.M.C. P.O. Box 60842 Sunnyvale, CA 94088-0842 U.S.A. Phone: 408-773-8715 CHECK, MONEY ORDER OR CREDIT CARD (VISA OR MASTERCARD) ACCEPTED. MARKET_MASTER(tm) USER MANUAL: MarketMaster is copyrighted. Copyright(c) 1991 by R.M.C. You may not decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer any version of MarketMaster, nor modify MarketMaster itself without prior written consent from R.M.C., or act in any way that impairs the proprietary and intellectual property rights of R.M.C. or its successors and assigns. R.M.C. retains the title and ownership of the MarketMaster programs and support files but grants you a lease and license for their use, provided that you abide by the terms herein. The author, manufacturer and publisher retain all rights to the program and support files and can make changes to them, or withdraw them from public use altogether, at their sole discretion and without notice. Your use of MarketMaster constitutes representation that you are fully aware of the inherently uncertain nature of forecasting, and in particular financial forecasting, as well as the risks inherent in buying and selling in the financial markets, and that the output of MarketMaster does not constitute "advice" or "recommendations", and that past performance is no guarantee of future results. Note that you need a minimum of 17 days of data to begin a forecast. However, the entry of more than 62 days of data would be wasteful of labor since the program will not use any data more than 62 days old. The first 12 days of data are used as the initial foundation for analysis and are not displayed. Hardware and Software Requirements: 512K RAM, 700K disk space and MS-/PC-DOS 2.0 or later. PURPOSE OF THIS PROGRAM: MarketMaster(tm) is designed with one objective, to help you siphon money out of the target stocks, futures or indices as efficiently and effortlessly as possible. To do so, we have developed up to 6 different powerful algorithms that create leading indicators to forecast both the direction and extent of future price movement before it happens. (If you are an experienced investor/trader, you know that leading indicators are extremely difficult to develop.) We have in fact taken this unique proprietary financial high technology several steps further. First, we create the leading indicators to forecast the direction of movement ahead of time. Then we apply a transformation to the leading indicators so that they will be transformed into direct indications of future target prices. Then these future target prices are plotted next to the current price for easy determination of the magnitude of movement and future targets. All the results are then displayed graphically for easy, at-a-glance decision making. In addition, the program constantly checks its margins of error inherent in any forecasts and learns from its errors automatically to give you better future forecasts. As usual, our emphasis here is power and ease of use. HOW TO INSTALL MARKETMASTER: To install MarketMaster, you should first create a directory on your hard disk using whatever directory name you like, and copy the MM432 MarketMaster file over to the newly created directory. Then go to the newly created directory containing the files you just copied and type "MM432" to extract files. The program also requires the DOS file COMMAND.COM. Just copy COMMAND.COM to the subdirectory so that it is accessible. That's all there is to the installation! INSTRUCTIONS ON USING MarketMaster: After installing MarketMaster as described above, you should go to the directory containing MarketMaster and type "GO" and press key to begin running the program. After the introductory screens, the program asks for a file name, you can enter "DEMO" for a demonstration and the program will use the "DEMO.DBF" file containing actual sample data (S&P500 futures contract) to demonstrate to you its capabilities. Additional DBF files that come with MarketMaster are for your review. To Do Your Own Analysis. You can only do analysis in a limited manner with this shareware version on the stocks of Merrill Lynch & Co. (ticker symbol:MER), Aetna Life & Casualty (ticker symbol: AET), Chrysler Corp (ticker symbol: C), Travelers Insurance Company (ticker symbol: TIC), and Dow Jones & Co. (ticker symbol: DJ). To do enhanced analysis on any and all stocks, futures, indices, etc., please call us at 1-408-773-8715 for pricing information on our commercial versions. If this were a commercial version, you can analyze any tradable by entering the name of the file you want to use. If that file does not exist, it will be automatically created for you so that you can then begin data entry for that file. For example, in the commercial version, if you want to call the data file for IBM stock "ibm", then just type "ibm" as the file name when asked. If a file named "IBM.DBF" exists on disk, it will be automatically fetched and opened. if the file does not exist, it will be created. (Note: Those familiar with dBase will note that the data files are in dBase file format). Once the proper data file is chosen (or created, if not found on disk), you are ready to use the functions. You will be presented with a spread- sheet-like command menu. If you are familiar with Lotus 1-2-3, you will know how to move (i.e. cycle) from one command to the next by pressing the space bar or by using the arrow keys. As you move from command to command, a description of the function of the high-lighted command will be displayed on the last line of the screen. Use the space bar to move to the different commands and familiarize yourself with the functions of each command. Note that the DELETE command is a toggle in that it will alternate between the functions of DELETE and UNDELETE. The use of the VIEW command immediately put you in a line-by-line display of data records (also known as the "BROWSE MODE"). Once you are in VIEW (i.e. BROWSE) mode, the Lotus-style menu will no longer be operative. Instead, use the new commands as described on the top of screen to navigate or manipulate data. For example, ^U means pressing down the key and then press the U key. It is the same as the DELETE/UNDELETE toggle in the earlier Lotus-style menu. You can mark each line of record as DELETED or UNDELETED using Control-U key combination. Likewise, as described on the top of screen, you can use F2 key to EDIT any record while in VIEW (i.e. BROWSE) mode. The F3 key allows you to APPEND or add a record, and so forth. You can use the arrows to move from record to record, and from field to field. To get out of the VIEW mode, you simply press the key, and the Lotus- style menu will again be presented at the bottom of the screen, ready to carry out the commands you choose. You might find the VIEW mode more convenient for adding (i.e. APPENDing) or updating (i.e. EDITing) records, but this is largely a matter of personal taste. AUTOMATIC DATA ENTRY: A file converter utility is available, which converts any Computrac, CSI, Metastock file into the dBase file that MarketMaster can use, automatically. INTERPRETATION (indicators #1 through #6): Let us illustrate with the "DEMO" file since it has ample data. After you picked "DEMO" as the file name, the program presents the Main Menu. When you press 'l', '2', '3', '4', '5' or '6' while in the Main Menu, you will see a graphic display seconds later corresponding to the indicator you chose. Forecasting indicator #2, differs from forecasting indicator #1 in being more sensitive to congestion areas of support or resistance, especially in sideways markets. Moreover, it attempts to make better price projections in non-trending markets. In a relatively trending market, forecasting indicator #1 will tend to indicate higher prices or lower prices more reliably, because its emphasis is on directional (i.e. trending) movement. However, in a non-trending market that oscillates, forecasting indicator#2 tends to be superior in forecasting price tops and bottoms. Indicator #3 and #4 are analogous to indicator #1 and #2, respectively. The main difference is that whereas indicators #1 and #2 do not utilize volume data at all, indicators #3 and #4 use a different approach that does use volume data. The use and interpretation of indicators #5 and #6 do not differ from that of indicators #1 and #2. Like indicator #1, indicators #3 and #5 emphasize trending or directional movement and indicators #4 and #6 emphasizes oscillatory or sideways movement. For each leading-indicator analysis, three lines will be presented. The blue (or dotted) line is the closing price line showing the actual closing price for the last 50 days or less. The yellow (or solid) line is the forecasting indicator which forecasts the probable future price direction and target. Future price targets are estimated by this yellow (solid) indicator line. A confirming indicator (given as a light-blue or dashed line) is also provided. The confirming indicator confirms what has been forecast and serves to justify a position, be it bullish or bearish. This is useful because of the substantial lead time that forecasts can sometimes precede a price turning point. It is not unusual for a market to be bearish, as indicated by the yellow (solid) line, and yet the prices do not decline right away, and vice versa. The yellow (solid line) forecasting indicator can predict price tops and bottoms ahead of their occurrence. However, the confirming indicator should confirm to fully justify maintaining a trading position. After knowing the market is bullish or bearish from the leading indicators, whether to establish or to keep a position can then be determined by referencing the confirming indicator. A bullish position is well justified if the leading indicator is bullish and the closing price remains above (and NOT equal to) the confirming indicator. The case for a bearish position is well justified so long as the leading indicator is bearish and the closing price remains below (and NOT equal to) the confirming indicator. By comparing the yellow (solid) forecasting indicator line with the price line and the confirming indicator line, you can immediately determine the near-term price outlook. In general, if the forecasting indicator, i.e. the yellow (solid) line, is above the closing price line (as represented by the dotted line), and the closing price is above the confirming indicator line (as represented by the dashed line), a bullish position is justified. This is so because the yellow (solid) forecasting indicator is telling you that the future price/direction will be above the current price and this is further confirmed by the closing price being above the confirming indicator line. Conversely if the forecasting indicator, i.e. the yellow (solid) indicator line, is below the closing price (as represented by the blue dotted line), and the closing price line also drops below the confirming line, a bearish position is justified. Moreover, the degree of bullishness or bearishness can be gauged by the amount that the yellow (solid) indicator line is above or below the closing price (blue dotted line). A deteriorating bullish situation (i.e. one less bullish) is indicated where the yellow (solid) indicator line, although above the blue (dotted) price line, is rapidly dropping or moving towards said blue dotted line. Conversely, a decreasingly bearish situation (i.e. less bearish) is one where the yellow (solid) indicator line, although below the blue dotted line, is moving up relative to said blue dotted line and approaching it from the downside. Theoretical buy and sell signals are triggered where the yellow (solid) indicator line crosses above (for buy) or below (for sell) the blue dotted line which in turn crosses above (for buy) or below (for sell) the blue dashed line (i.e. the confirming indicator line). In practice, you would want to pay attention to the magnitude of future price movement by comparing the target price, as indicated by the yellow (solid) line, with the current price, as indicated by the blue (dotted) line, to see if it is sufficient to justify a trade, after taking into consideration commission, slippage, frequency of trading and other personal preferences, etc. The amount of lead in each forecast is highly data dependent. The nature of the underlying stock, future, index or mutual fund, does affect the amount of lead time. If you do not want to rely on confirming indicators, it is advisable to adjust for the amount of lead time by referencing recent forecast history. For example, if for a certain stock, the buy signals from the forecasting indicator (solid line) tend to come a day before the true price bottom, then you would want to take that into account in planning your entry or exit, particularly if you do not want to wait for the confirming indicator to confirm. Likewise, if the sell signal for this same stock tends to come 3 days ahead of the true top, you would want to consider waiting for about 3 days after a bearish forecast, or until the signal is confirmed by the confirming indicator, before selling or going short. Each stock, future contract or security has its own peculiar lead time for buy and sell signals and an examination of the graphic display given by MarketMaster will usually provide the clue as to how much time adjustment to make. Or you can simply wait for the confirmation from the confirming indicator. Please note that as situations warrant, MarketMaster refits the forecasting and confirming lines before predicting the next period in order to provide the best perspective of the latest analyses for better decision-making. As noted before, the first 12 days of data are not displayed. ABOUT DIFFERENT MONITORS: Some users will not have an EGA or VGA monitor, therefore, the blue closing price line will show up as a dotted line (representing price), the light-blue confirming indicator line will show up as a dashed line, and the solid line will represent the forecasting indicator. Note that for CGA monitors, the program picks the highest resolution which usually results in a two-color black and white display. PRINTING THE SCREEN GRAPH: If you wish to print the graph displayed on the screen, you should turn on you printer, make sure it has paper and then select your printer type. In a few seconds to a minute or more (depending on your printer), the graph will be transferred from your screen to your printer. After the printer is finished with printing, the program presents you the Main Menu for further instructions. Currently, for hardcopy graphic output, we support all printers that are compatible to Epson- FX, HP-Laserjet, Epson-MX or IBM Proprinter. Be sure to set your printer to the proper emulation mode if it is other than the above named. Besides stocks and futures contracts, areas where MarketMaster can readily apply include the forecasting of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is a market index that has a High, Low, Close for each day. As for volume data, simply use the New York Stock Exchange Volume in lieu of the volume for the 30 industrials. This is preferable to no volume at all. You can use the signals for the broad market averages to switch between stock and money market funds without commission (assuming that you switch between no-load mutual funds). TIPS FOR INDEX-RELATED TRADING: MarketMaster is a full-spectrum (i.e. generic) price forecaster. It will analyze any and all stocks, futures and market indices in all types of markets. It is in use all over the world for forecasting in various American, European and Pacific financial markets and exchanges, attesting to its analytical robustness. For those who intend to use MarketMaster for stock options, we suggest that they forecast the underlying stocks instead of the options themselves. For those who intend to trade stock index futures, we suggest that they simply analyze the underlying index itself. For example, for the S&P500 futures, it would be much better and more accurate to forecast the S&P500 cash index by using the daily High, Low and Close of the cash index itself and by using the total New York Stock Exchange volume as a proxy for the volume of the 500 S&P stocks. Likewise, for OEX options trading or stock index futures options trading, the underlying cash index should be analyzed instead. Not only will the results be more accurate, the data is readily available and not delayed. Moreover, you avoid the problem associated with expirations as would exist if you were to analyze the futures or options directly. In the case of non-market-index futures such as agricultural commodities, you may have no choice but to use the data relating to the particular commodities. MarketMaster assumes that the data are real historic observations and process them with that assumption. Certainly if the numbers are false, the processing will be meaningless and computational failure may result. To avoid problems, always use real historic data. For best results, pick reasonablyactively traded issues for your analysis. Not only will the forecasts tend to work out better, these are also the type of investment/trading vehicles that you'll want to use since they tend to offer the most opportunities for profit and the least slippage. ******************************************************************** *********** SAMPLE COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK FROM OUR USERS ************ ******************************************************************** "After five previous ... programs to do market analysis, MarketMaster(tm) is by far the easiest to use and understand ..." G.W., Los Angeles, CA "Your program [MarketMaster(tm)] is what I've been looking for." D.M., Chicago, IL "I enjoy the program [MarketMaster(tm)] very much and use it to track my stocks and bonds." B.B., San Francisco, CA "I've tested it [MarketMaster(tm)] with Dow Jones Industrial Average. The indicators really do work and turn ahead of time." L.L., Houston, TX "Boom! Platinum moved just as MarketMaster(tm) forecasted. So did silver. I am really excited about this software ..." J.M., Baltimore, MD "Thanks to you and your associates for making this [forecasting program] available to the public." B.M., Boston, MA "The T-Bonds moved really well [as forecasted by MarketMaster(tm)]." S.P., New York, NY "MarketMaster(tm) is terrific, its SELL signal for the S&P500 on October 6, 1989" could not be more timely. Keep up the good work." M.B., Seattle, WA "Thank you for creating this great program." I.V., San Jose, CA "I back tested the system on many markets over a period of months. I can safely say that anyone can trade with MarketMaster(tm) and make money. It can be used with any market from S&P to Wheat. I have referred MarketMaster(tm) to about 20 of my friends. Thanks and good luck." R.M., Utica, MI "Your program is absolutely first class." M.M., Potlatch, ID "I have bought many trading methods and systems for commodities in the past. I think yours is the best. It is easy to operate even for this computer novice... [I]f one uses it wisely, it will be very profitable. [T]he price is an incredible bargain! It is worth much more!" A.H., W. Palm Beach, FL "Just a note to tell you how pleased I am with your MarketMaster program. It is almost uncanny how well it predicts price movement. Almost without exception, it will accurately show direction and, to some extent, the distance of the move... It is a pleasure to work with an investment program that REALLY works." H.S., Grosse Pointe, MI ======================================================================== WHERE TO DOWNLOAD THE LATEST SHAREWARE VERSION OF MARKETMASTER(tm): The latest shareware version of MarketMasteris always first uploaded to EXEC-PC BBS and Compuserve Investors Forum for free distribution. EXEC-PC is a huge 213-line BBS. Its phone numbers are as follows: SYSOP (SYStem OPerator): Bob Mahoney Main system number: 414-789-4210 EXEC-PC BBS will be down for maintenance every Thursday 2pm-6pm CST. Standard 2400 bps modems on all lines (except as noted below) US Robotics HST 9600/MNP5................... nodes 201-215, 414-789-4337 US Robotics HST 14400 & V.32/V.42bis/MNP5... nodes 216-225, 414-789-4352 US Robotics V.32bis/V.42bis & HST........... nodes 226-230, 414-789-4360 CompuCom Speedmodem 9600 MNP 5 modems....... nodes 241-245, 414-789-4450 ======================================================================== **** LIMITED TIME MILLION-DOLLAR OFFER! **** ** ANNOUNCING THE MILLION DOLLAR GIVEAWY! ** OR HOW TO GET OUR COMMERCIAL VERSIONS FREE Read the accompanying FREE!.TXT file, which details simple and easy ways whereby you can get copies of our commercial versions ABSOLUTELY FREE. ONE MILLION DOLLARS' WORTH OF MARKETMASTER WILL BE GIVEN AWAY! GUARANTEED! If the FREE!.TXT file is missing, please call us at 408-773-8715 ======================================================================== Acknowledgment: Lotus 1-2-3 is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. dBase is a trademark of Ashton-Tate