====================================================================== The Stock Charting and Technical Analysis System *** ShareWare Version 1.34SW *** Wall Street On-Line Publishing, Inc. P.O. Box 6 Riverdale, NY 10471-0060 CompuServe: [76703,4343] Assistance Hotline: (212) 884-5408 ====================================================================== Copyright 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 by Ted M. Young ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Welcome to the Stock Charting and Technical Analysis (SCTA) program, ShareWare version. This program is menu-driven, and is quite easy to operate so we're going to keep the instructions to a minimum. Please read the ENTIRE manual including the Warranty/Disclaimer BEFORE operating the program, so there will be no confusion. It is recommended that you try out all of the functions of the program with the sample data included, before you start entering your own data so that you will not lose any "real" data by being unfamiliar with the program. If you are not familiar with the operation of DOS and your printer, we suggest you read the manuals that accompany your equipment since this manual only deals with the software itself, not with the basics of working the computer or printer. Note: This program assumes that you are familiar with the terms used in the technical analysis area, such as On-Balance Volume, Moving Averages, etc. The program (and this documentation) will NOT teach you these terms, but it makes it easier to experiment and learn because it is not "overloaded" with features that other programs (costing many times more) have. In addition, this documentation is necessarily small because of the price we charge ($10 for registration). Wall Street On-Line Publishing also produces a monthly newsletter, the Wall Street Micro Investor, which discusses technical analysis and shows how the different formulas are used to predict stock performance. See the order form in WSOL.REG for more information, or call (212) 884-5408 from 9am to 8pm Eastern Time. COMPUTER EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: o IBM PC/XT/AT or 100% compatible with at least 512k of RAM (it is possible that the program will run with less memory) o MS/PC-DOS 2.1 through 3.3 (version 3.x is recommended) Using the SCTA (C) 1985-88, by Ted M. Young Page: 1 o 2 floppy disk drives or 1 disk drive and a hard disk (a hard disk is recommended if you will be using large amounts of data) o Color/Graphics Adapter (or compatible, such as an EGA). Hercules Monochrome/Graphics support is available upon request (CGASIM, HGCIBM, or other CGA simulation programs should work without any problems). THE SCTA PROGRAM WILL ENABLE YOU TO: 1. Generate high/low/close/volume bar charts with the ability to vary the size that the HLC bars (top) chart and the volume, indicators, formulas (bottom) chart take up on the screen. For example, the top chart can take up 30% of the screen while the bottom chart takes up the remaining 70%. 2. Perform technical analysis using moving averages, trading bands, trendlines, or any combination of these. 3. Chart price & volume formulas and moving averages of the formulas in the bottom window on the screen, including RSI, Stochastics, Positive Volume Indicator, On-Balance Volume, etc. 4. "Record" Auto-Screen macros which will enable you to "playback" your technical analysis routines with just a few keystrokes. 5. Automatic access to current and historical quotes from the CompuServe Information Services financial database is available when registering the program. See the order form WSOL.REG for more information. =========================== INSTALLING THE SCTA PROGRAM =========================== Note: the symbol means press the Enter or Return key. FLOPPY DISK BASED SYSTEMS: -------------------------- 1. Make sure that you have two blank-formatted disks available, with one of them being formatted with the /S parameter, i.e. with the DOS system files on it so it can be booted directly (please see your DOS manual for information about formatting disks). 2. Put all the files from the .ARC on the blank-formatted disk and place this disk in drive A:. Using the SCTA (C) 1985-88, by Ted M. Young Page: 2 3. Put the DOS system-formatted disk in drive B:, and at the A> prompt, type INSTFLOP . The program will then be installed on the disk in drive B:. 4. When the install process is complete, remove the disk from drive B: and label it as the SCTA Program Disk. The disk in drive A: is now the SCTA Sample Data Disk, but you should use another formatted-blank disk to hold your own data (see the 'S'etup Data Disk function below). 5. If you want to be able to print the charts on your printer (when you press Shift-PrtSc), copy the GRAPHICS.COM (or GRAPHICS.EXE in some versions of DOS) file from your DOS disk to the SCTA program disk. However, the GRAPHICS program only works for IBM/Epson compatible printers. If you have another printer, you can use the chart Screen Save function which will save the graphics screen as a standard BASIC BSAVE format which many print programs can use. There is also a program called Pizzaz (from Application Techniques) which works on many printers (the mail-order company PC-Connection carries this product for about $45, they can be reached at: 1-800-243-8088). 6. To start the program, simply put the SCTA Program disk in drive A: and the sample data disk in drive B: and either reboot your computer, or at the A> prompt, type AUTOEXEC . HARD (FIXED) DISK BASED SYSTEMS: -------------------------------- Note: If your hard disk drive is not C:, replace C: with your hard disk drive letter (D:, E:, etc.) in the instructions below. 1. At your DOS prompt (the C> prompt), make a sub-directory called SCTA by typing: MD \SCTA . Then type: CD \SCTA . 2. Make a Data sub-directory by typing MD: \SCTA\DATA . 3. Move all the files that were contained in the .ARC to the C:\SCTA directory (your current directory) and type INSTHARD . 4. If you want to be able to print the charts on your printer (when you press Shift-PrtSc), copy the GRAPHICS.COM (or GRAPHICS.EXE in some versions of DOS) file from your DOS disk to the \SCTA directory. However, the GRAPHICS program only works for IBM/Epson compatible printers. If you have another printer, you can use the chart Screen Save function which will save the graphics screen as a standard BASIC BSAVE format which many print programs can use. There is also a program called Pizzaz (from Application Techniques) which works on many printers (the mail-order company PC-Connection carries this product for about $45, they can be reached at: 1-800-243-8088). Using the SCTA (C) 1985-88, by Ted M. Young Page: 3 5. Now type AUTOEXEC to start the program. Note: to start the program from "scratch," type: CD \SCTA , and then type: AUTOEXEC . 6. When the MAIN MENU appears, type "I" to change the System Information. Respond: N to the "Is this correct (Y/N)? -->" question. The cursor will then move next to the Data Drive and Pathname line. Now type C:\SCTA\DATA\ . Then press until you get back to the "Is this correct" question and respond: Y . See the I command below for more information. ==================== THE SCTA MAIN MENU ==================== (C) BAR CHART PLOTTER --------------------- This will run the bar charting module of the SCTA program. From there you will be able to draw the high/low/close bars, and do technical analysis using moving averages and formulas. While using the Chart Plotter, you can type a question mark (?) to get the menu which appears in the middle of the screen as a window. When the Charting program starts, you will get a large window with the symbols of available data to plot. Note: most functions can be aborted (escaped) by simply pressing the key in response to any of the prompts. CHART FUNCTION MENU A - Adjust Screen -- Adjust the percentage of the screen that the top section uses, selectable from 2% to 99% (in 1% increments) of the screen. B - Begin AUTO-SCREEN -- Starts the AUTO-SCREEN macro recording mode, where commands (except for B, C, D, P, T, W, X, and Q, as these commands would not be useful during automatic execution), and their parameters are saved so they can be "re-played" using the X (eXecute AUTO-SCREEN) command, without doing the commands again manually. This is useful for doing the same analysis for one stock every day, after updating your data, so you can get up-to- date charts using your own analysis techniques, or applying the same analysis to different stocks. C - Chart -- Plot a new HLC chart on the top screen and a volume bar chart on the bottom screen. This function will bring up the list of symbols that can be charted (same as the first screen you see when you bring up this charting module). Using the SCTA (C) 1985-88, by Ted M. Young Page: 4 D - End AUTO-SCREEN -- This command ends the recording of an AUTO- SCREEN. If there is no AUTO-SCREEN being recorded, or there were no valid actions performed after the B command, then this command has no effect. To save the AUTO-SCREEN, simply type a name (1 to 8 characters long, no periods, slashes, etc. -- similar to DOS filename restrictions). If you want to continue recording (e.g. you pressed the D command accidentally), you can press when it asks for a name. If you want to stop recording, but you don't want to save the macro (e.g. you made a mistake somewhere during recording), type * (an asterisk, or SHIFT-8) and recording will stop, and no AUTO-SCREEN file will be saved. E - Erase a Chart -- Erase either the top or bottom screen only. F - Formulas -- Draw a Wilder's RSI, the WSMI RSI, Lane's Stochastic (Slow or Fast), our own Range-Plus (stochastic variant) formula or a linear graph of the high, low, or close price of the stock on the bottom screen. You can calculate moving averages on these formulas. The oscillator formula plots the most recent Moving Average plotted (called P2) subtracted from the Moving Average plotted before that one (called P1), i.e. P2-P1 is plotted. H - Horizontal Range -- Change the date range of the chart that is displayed by entering the first and last date which you want to see. You can also specify the number of "Blank Days" which is the amount of empty space on the right side of the chart (from 0 days -- no blank space -- to as many days as you wish). This is useful for projecting the stock using trendlines and other analyses. Note that the date must exist (weekends and holidays don't exist), and must be entered with leading zeros, e.g. 01/05/86. M - Moving Average -- Draw a moving average of the stock, either on the stock itself (the top screen) or on the bottom screen. Either a simple, weighted, or exponential moving average can be drawn. To draw a trading band, you specify the offset of the moving average as a percentage. For example, to draw a 3% below trading band, you would specify 97 for the Moving Average Percentage. To draw the 3% above line, you would specify 103 for the MAP. To draw a normal moving average, you can either specify 100 for the MAP, or simply press , and the program will assume 100% (no trading band -- normal moving average). N - Comparison Chart -- Draws a HLC chart of another stock on the bottom of the screen, with the starting date the same as the stock plotted on the top screen (if possible). No analysis can be done on this "secondary" chart. Any analysis (moving averages, etc.) will use the data for the stock plotted on the top screen. P - Print MA Values -- Print on your printer the actual values of the last 2 moving averages or formulas plotted along with the data for the stock itself. S - Save Screen to Disk -- You can save the graphics screen in the standard BSAVE file format so that it can be manipulated by other software, e.g. a print program for your specific printer. Using the SCTA (C) 1985-88, by Ted M. Young Page: 5 T - Trendlines -- draw trendlines using a "floating cursor." To draw a trendline, use the cursor movement keys (e.g. <-- to move the cursor Left) to move the large 'X' (the floating cursor) so that the center of the cursor is on the first point of the line. Press the space bar to indicate this point (the computer will beep to acknowledge the point), and then move to the second point and press the space bar again. The line will then be drawn (extended to the edges of the screen) through the two points that were indicated. To exit the Trendline drawing, press the key. You can use the F9 function key to toggle the small help window on and off if it interferes with drawing the trendlines. V - Volume Formulas -- Plot any of the five volume formulas available: Positive volume (PVI), Negative volume (NVI), On-Balance volume (OBV), Positive Volume Trend (PVT), and Daily Volume Indicator (DVI). You can calculate moving averages on any of these formulas. W - Wand -- Turn "on" the wand function. This function will place a vertical line (the "wand") extending from the top of the screen to the bottom. Information about the date on which the wand is on will appear in a window in the middle-left of the screen. The information is displayed in the following order: Date, High Price, Low Price, Close Price, and Volume (100's). The wand can be moved left and right by using the left (<--) and right (-->) cursor keys to move the Wand 1 time unit (1 day for a daily chart, 1 week for a weekly chart, etc.). If the key is held down, the wand will move 15 time units (approximately) to the left or right. If the key is held down instead of the key, the will move 50 time units in either direction. The key will move the wand to the left edge of the chart, and the key will move to the right edge of the chart. To exit the Wand function, press the key. X - Execute AUTO-SCREEN -- Allows you to execute any previously saved AUTO-SCREEN (produced by functions B & D above), on the currently plotted chart. Q - Quit -- Quit the Charting function and return to the MAIN MENU. (E) EDIT STOCK DATA ------------------- This module executes the data editor and entry system. Make sure to (S)ave your file after editing it before you e(X)it back to the Main Menu. R - Retrieve/Create a stock -- use this before any other choice to load a stock into memory to be edited, or to create a stock to be entered. Using the SCTA (C) 1985-88, by Ted M. Young Page: 6 A - Add records to current stock -- use this to enter the data into the currently loaded stock. The data must be entered in decimal format (i.e. 148.125 NOT 148 1/8). C - Change a record -- if you made an error in one of the records, use this function to change the information in a specific record (you must know the record number, use the List command to find out). The record will be shown, and you can simply press if you don't want to change, for example, the HIGH PRICE. I - Insert a blank record -- if you left out a date in between some records, use this function to insert a BLANK record, and then use the Change function to edit it. D - Delete a record or records -- use this function to delete a record, or a range of records (you must know the record number or numbers to use this function). J - Adjust record(s) -- you can multiply (or divide by using a decimal) or add (or subtract by using a negative number) a number by a range of records for example, if there was a 2 for 1 stock split, you would Multiply the range of the split (you must know the record numbers) by .5. This will multiply the High, Low, and Close of each record by .5. V - View record(s) in current stock -- displays the date, high, low, close, and volume for a range of records to the screen. P - Print record(s) in current stock -- displays the date, high, low, close, and volume for a range of records to the printer. Make sure the printer is on and on-line! S - Save current stock on disk -- after entering or editing a stock, Save the stock on the disk before quitting or Retrieving/Creating a new stock. E - Erase a stock from disk -- this will permanently delete the stock and the data for that stock from the disk. Use this with caution, as it's permanent. Q - Quit to MAIN MENU -- when finished with the editor, you may Quit to the MAIN MENU. (S) SETUP DATA DISK ------------------- This function sets up a blank, formatted disk, or a new sub- directory so it can hold data and be used with this system. To let the program know where the data disk will be, or which sub-directory should be set up, make sure that you have entered the Data Drive and Pathname information correctly under the System Information command (see below) before executing this command. Using the SCTA (C) 1985-88, by Ted M. Young Page: 7 IMPORTANT: The floppy disk MUST be formatted (see your DOS manual for more information). If you are setting up your data disk as a sub- directory on your fixed disk, then make sure the sub-directory exists and is empty. WARNING!!: Executing this command (S) should only be done ONCE for each floppy disk or sub-directory, as it erases ALL data that might have previously been there. (I) CHANGE SCTA SYSTEM INFORMATION ----------------------------------- To change the SCTA system information, type N in response to the question "Is this correct? (Y/N) -->." Press to skip over any lines that you don't want to change. Data Drive and Pathname --> type the drive letter and path name (see DOS manual for more on paths) where the data will be, e.g. B: for the second floppy drive, or C:\DATA\ for the Fixed Disk, the sub- directory data. Note: If using a pathname (i.e. C:\DATA\) you MUST put in the final backslash. Printer Port --> Type 1 for LPT1: (the normal response), 2 for LPT2: or 3 for LPT3:. If you are not sure which is appropriate, type 1. On the next screen, you will be asked for the Foreground, Background, and Border colors. These colors will only affect the text screens, not the Chart Plotter. You must respond with a number, not a color name. NOTE: The Background and Border color numbers should not be greater than 7. The following is a table of the numbers and their associated colors: No. Color No. Color No. Color No. Color --- ----- --- -------- --- --------- --- ----------- 0...Black 4...Red 8...Dark Grey 12...Lt. Red 1...Blue 5...Magenta 9...Lt. Blue 13...Lt. Magenta 2...Green 6...Brown 10...Lt. Green 14...Yellow 3...Cyan 7...Lt. Grey 11...Lt. Cyan 15...White (X) eXit SCTA System This command will end the program and return you to DOS. Using the SCTA (C) 1985-88, by Ted M. Young Page: 8 WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER AND LICENSE The Stock Charting and Technical Analysis (SCTA) program is hereby licensed to you for a trial period of 30 days. If you wish to continue using the program after the 30 day trial period, please register the program and support the concept of try-before-you-buy ShareWare software. Otherwise, please erase all copies of the SCTA program from your disks. The file WSOL.REG contains more information on registering this program. Within the first 30 days (your trial period) we will offer free telephone support (except for your long distance charges, if any) for the SCTA program at: (212) 884-5408 from 10 am to 6pm. Support is also available through CompuServe, send E-Mail to: 76703,4343. THE SCTA SOFTWARE IS SOLD "AS IS," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. NEITHER WALL STREET ON-LINE PUBLISHING, THE WALL STREET MICRO INVESTOR NEWSLETTER NOR ANY OF ITS EMPLOYEES OR AFFILIATES SHALL MAKE CHANGES TO THIS LICENSE NOR BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, OR LOSSES INCURRED RELATED TO THE USE OR MISUSE OF THE SCTA SOFTWARE. Using the SCTA (C) 1985-88, by Ted M. Young Page: 9