Trainee Trader » eSignal

2011 Market Recap in Charts

Mark — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:16:01 +0000

Rather then give a boring commentary of the events that have occurred in the past year I will post some stock and index charts that will tell the story for me. The charts are daily charts that I have taken from my eSignal screens. I know that technically there are still 2 trading days before christmas and the year is not over yet but I am not opening my trading platform again until 2012 so Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all of my readers. Each chart will open larger in a new window.

VIX (Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index) Daily Chart 2011 Candlestick

30 Year T-Bond Interest Rates Daily Chart 2011 Candlestick

NASDAQ Composite Index 2011 Daily Chart Candlestick

Dow Jones Industrial Average 2011 Daily Chart

HANG SENG INDEX Daily 2011 Chart Candlestick

NIKKEI 225 Index Daily 2011 Chart Candlestick

S&P ASX 200 Index 2011 Daily Chart Candlestick

EUR/USD Daily Spot Price 2011 Candlestick

Gold Futures (GC #F) Daily Chart 2011 Candlestick

NYME Light Crude Oil (CL #F) Daily Chart 2011 Candlestick

Running eSignal on Mac OS X

Mark — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 01:15:07 +0000

At the moment I am running eSignal on a dedicated Windows 7 computer, however it would be helpful to also run eSignal on my iMac. If you want to run eSignal on a Mac OS X you really only have two options at the moment.

Install on Bootcamp and multi boot.
Install in a virtual machine.

I have put together a quick video detailing the options below.

eSignal running in Parallels

The install process is pretty straightforward and so far eSignal has been running perfectly. The best way to see how well eSignal performs is by seeing it in action under Parallels Desktop 7.

To skip the install process and watch demo of eSignal running in the virtual machine.
To skip to cold start time of eSignal.

eSignal 11 Review

Mark — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 07:36:18 +0000

eSignal 11 is the latest software release from interactive data. The first and most obvious change you will notice is the dark almost Bloomberg like user interface. eSignal 11 has been completely re-written from the ground up and as yet is not feature complete with version 10.5.

eSignal 11 the Main Screen

The first thing you will notice when you login to eSignal 11 is how good it looks. This statement is no exaggeration I was really blown away with the interface enhancements. The Image below shows pretty much the default layout for the main screen.

eSignal 11 allows for ultimate customizability without adding complexity. The user interface is broken down into pages this allows for ultimate flexibility and is great for work flow.

The Top Menu Bar

You can access nearly all of eSignals features from the top menu bar. I will go into these menu options in more depth below. In eSignal 11 this menu bar does not use the standard UI menus which I think is a good thing.

eSMenu

The eS menu bar as shown above is pretty much just like the File menu in most other applications. From this menu bar you can create New Pages, Open Pages, Save Page Create new Layouts, arrange windows and modify application properties.

New Menu

The New menu allows you to create new page elements. The page elements can then be arrange however you wish.

Tools Menu

The tools menu at this point in eSignal 11′s development cycle is some what limited. There is Symbol Search, Alerts and Formula Output. At the bottom of the Tools menu there are options to enable or disable the Quote Ticker and Quote Bar.

Watch List

The watch list menu provides some features for working with watch lists. I find this menu fairly redundant all the tools and options in this menu can be accessed by simply right clicking on a watch list.

Trade

The Trade menu handles most of the eSignal trade integration functions. From this menu you can handle orders, mange connections to brokers and Money Management planner.

Support

The support menu basically links to the web based help content, feature requests and bug reporting.

Detailed Quote Window

The detailed quote window show’s detailed information about the selected instrument and is very Bloomberg like in appearance.

Charting

This is one area where eSignal really stands out, if you can think it you can chart it. You can extend the built-in features using EFS. Some of the charting features of eSignal 11 include.

Unlimited Overlays
Sub-Charts
View other symbols in sub-chart
Selectable Studies, Lines
Drag-and-Drop Studies
Translucency
Bars Aligned with Sessions
Technical Indicators
Add-On Studies
EFS
Back Testing
Area Chart
Bar Chart
Candlestick Chart
Line Chart
Drawing Tools
Tick Intervals
Percentage Scale

The images below shows the standard charts you can produce in eSignal.

Bottom Line

eSignal 11 is not yet feature complete with it’s predecessor and I wouldn’t recommend it for production environments just yet. That being said eSignal 11 is excellent for analysis and is very easy on the eyes. The dark colours make it very easy to spend long periods of time analyzing data. In the coming months eSignal 11 will be force to be reckoned with and excellent value for money. You can run eSignal 10.5xx and eSignal 11 co-currently and you get the best of both worlds. In the coming months I will be putting eSignal through it’s paces but so far I am very happy with it.

eSignal 11 Creating your Own Watch List & Ordering by Sector

Mark — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 02:02:20 +0000

eSignal 11 is the newest cab of the rank from Interactive Data, it is a complete rewrite of the famous eSignal software. I will write a full review in an upcoming article. You can read my review of the older version of eSignal on demand, back in October 2009. As I work with a lot of financial data I like to keep things organized and my workflow as simple as possible. With eSignal data acquisition, testing and analysis it couldn’t be more simple.

Getting The Symbol List’s For ASX Listed Companies

The first step in the process is to download the symbol lists from the ASX website. The ASX listed companies list is updated daily at 12Am. The easiest way to get the data is to download the CSV file, then we can work with it in Excel. As you can see in the image below there are three columns of data: Company Name, ASX Code and GICS Industry Group.

If you are unfamiliar with the GCIS or Global Industry Classification Standard you can read up on it here. Basically it is just the industry group assigned to a specific company by Standard and Poor’s.

Converting and Sorting the Symbol List

eSignal requires the symbol code and then an exchange code to be added on the end. So for example BHP in eSignal would have the code BHP-ASX. There is over 2000 companies that we wish to change the code for so we need to automate the process. In Excel this can be done with a simple formula and a fill. What we want to do is take the text string in column B of our spreed-sheet and add the text string “-ASX” to the end of the stock code. To do this we use the CONCATENATE function, this function takes n text strings and adds them together to form a new string.

As you can see from the above image in cell D1 we simply type: =CONCATENATE(B4, “-ASX”) and we fill down for the entire range and we now have our eSignal symbols ready for export. In order to export our symbol list by GCIS sector we need to custom sort the data first. Simply go to Sort -> Custom Sort and then sort by GCIS Industry Group as shown below.

Creating a New Page in eSignal 11 and Adding a Watch List

The first step is to create a new page in eSignal, to do this go to eSignal menu -> New Page or CTRL + SHIFT + N.

In the New Window template select Watch List. This will add a blank watch list to the page. After the Watch List has been added it is a good idea to save the page. You can do this be right clicking on the page tab and selecting save.

For each GCIS group I will create a new list. To do this simply click on the gear icon to the right of the blank symbol list, now rename the list to the appropriate GCIS group.

Copy and paste the group symbols from the Excel spreed-sheet, save the list rinse and repeat. The image below shows my ASX sorted GCIS watch lists.

In total there are 21 separate lists with 2227 symbols.

eSignal OnDemand – Trading Software Review – Is it worth the money?

Mark — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:37:35 +0000

In my search for a reliable trading platform for my trading system developments I have been testing eSignal OnDemand software. My main reason for testing eSignal OnDemand is their extensive data coverage of global markets. I should note that eSignal OnDemand offers delayed or snapshot data only. This means that eSignal OnDemand is most suitable for longer term portfolio monitoring or end-of-day based trading systems.

eSignal OnDemand Software

After signing up at eSignal OnDemand you will then be able to download and install the software. After installation the first screen most of you will see is this:

Under Windows 7 it is simply a matter of allowing the eSignal data manger access through the firewall and you will be downloading historical data in no time. I really like the integrated browser within eSignal and the extensive getting started guide. The screenshot below shows the browser running in eSignal:

eSignals extensive documentation makes learning eSignal a less daunting process. I strongly recommend anyone starting out in eSignal to not skip this documentation.

eSignal onDemand Symbol Search

One of the first things you will want to do is find a stock, index, future or option contracts symbol. This is easily achieved using eSignal OnDemand symbol search window. The symbol search tool is very powerful and you will often need to narrow your search criteria. Once again eSignal OnDemand makes this an easy process through the use of drop down lists. The search feature allows you to quickly add the symbol to the quote board, open up a chart or perform other analysis tasks with the click of a button. Below are some screenshots of eSignal OnDemand symbol search in action.

eSignal OnDemand Quote Window

The quote window allows you to gain a quick snapshot of how a financial instrument is performing. From the quote window you can quickly open charts and analysis tools by right clicking the instrument. You can also take a snapshot of the current quote window and save it as an image file locally or on a ftp server. The image below shows a brief snapshot of my current eSignal OnDemand quote window:

eSignal OnDemand Quote Board

The Quote Board is very similar to the quote window however it provides a little more data on individual financial instruments. You can very quickly visually track how a stock or financial instrument is travelling at a given point in time. The Quote Board is colour coded and shows the open, high, low, close and percent change of a given instrument. An example of my Quote Board is shown below:

eSignal OnDemand Advanced Chart

This is the area that eSignal OnDemand really advances in their charting. The charting features are so extensive it would take two maybe three post just to do them justice. Instead I will go over a quick run down of the features.

Chart Types

Bar Chart
Candle Stick Chart
Line Chart
Area Chart
PNF Chart
PB Chart
Renko Chart
Kagi Chart

Some of these Chart types shown below (Click to Enlarge):

Chart Drawing tools and Indicators

eSignal OnDemand has an extensive array of drawing tools and built-in chart studies, rather then go through them all the screenshots below show some of the available options.

eSignal OnDemand Page Layout

Using the page layout feature it is very easy to create a specific screen setup for a given workflow and then switch between layouts quickly. This allows for increased productivity and allows you to quickly change perspectives. The layout below is a simple one I created for quickly looking at stocks.

Other Excellent features include:

The ability to export data to csv or html format.
The ability to replay bars of a given security.
The ability to back test trading strategies. (I will cover this in a future post as the features are so extensive).
Price filtering of bars.
Portfolio tools.
Extensive keyboard customisation settings.

Bottom Line

I am very impressed with the range of features and data coverage at such a low monthly cost. I have found the software to be stable and after the initial learning curve fairly easy to use. The charting features and data coverage make this a truly fantastic package for a retail trader who only makes a few trades in a week or month. It is also a good starting point for someone who wishes to get into trading but might be at work during market hours. The bar replay feature allows for you to get a feel for some market dynamics.

In an upcoming post I will detail what eSignal OnDemand has to offer for the quant or algorithmic trader. Overall eSignal OnDemand allows you to start analysing the market at a low cost and when you are ready to move to a real time service you will be able to transfer skills learned. eSignal will also integrate with most brokers so you can make trades directly from eSignal.

A Final Note

eSignal OnDemand will not offer to much to the high frequency trader or day trader. For these practises real time data is essential. eSignal OnDemand does not have free market scanners and some advanced features are sold as an add on service.