Hi,
Two weeks ago I posted a report on Quotes
Plus data and how it compared with Telechart data. Over the last two
weeks, I’ve continued my QP/TC comparison to decide if there is any value
in keeping TC data.
Since I posted the report below, I’ve
increasingly utilized QP data to the point where my code can no longer support TC
data (even using database-specific coding). And, I found that I didn’t
miss the QP-specific items (BOP, Money Flow, etc.) Further, the QP
Sectors and Industries are so much better than TC Sectors and Industries that system
development using TC’s is worthless. While there may be value
in having two data sources for comparative purposes, I decided that keeping TC
data is simply not worth the subscription fees.
This morning, I terminated my TC
subscription.
Regards,
Dan.
From: Dan Clark
[mailto:dan_public@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005
9:06 AM
To: 'amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
Subject: Report on Quotes Plus
Data
Hi,
Over the last several weeks, I’ve posted questions
about Quotes Plus data. This a quick report on what’s
happened so far.
When I started using AB again in April, I used TeleChart as
my data source. As a source and as a charting package, TeleChart
had some advantages. The TC charting had a few, minor advantages
over AB. And, the data had some good features when compared to
Quotes Plus – Media General Industry Group and Sector Indexes, intraday
data updates, and clean data (minimal dead tickers).
However, on the downside, the TC UI had loads of
idiosyncrasies and is not even in the same league with AB for scanning and back
testing. And, as I became more familiar with QP3 data, TC data
advantages started to disappear:
·
While TC intraday data updates are
still an advantage, I can work around it with intraday updates from my broker
– Interactive Brokers.
·
With the new QP plugin, the QP data
appears to be much cleaner; dead tickers are excluded.
·
It turns out that TC’s
implemention of Hemscott’s Media General industry/sector hierarchy
doesn’t work well for me. TC stripped off the Hemscott
macroeconomic Sector Level (8 Sectors) of the hierarchy and uses the bottom two
levels of the Hemscott hierarchy – Business Segment and Industry
Group. Unfortunately, TC refers to the “Business
Segment” level as the “Sector” level. IMO, the 31
TC “Sectors” provide too much granularity and are not useful as
macroeconomic indicators.
Quotes Plus apparently uses the
Reuters Industry and Sector hierarchy which I now find more useful.
·
Now that I’ve gone through the
process of creating my own indexes, I find that it’s an advantage.
Using “AddToComposite” I can create custom indexes that meet my
needs and do not have to depend on the TC definition.
·
While I don’t invest in Mutual
Funds, I do like to use them sometimes as economic indicators. With
TC, they are an added cost item. With Quotes Plus, they come as part of
the standard package.
·
Except for Money Stream and BOP, TC
provides little additional data to AB other than price and volume. Quotes
Plus has a wide variety of fundamental data and “other” data.
For example, it provides market cap data and the percent shares held by
institutions – which I use in my system.
·
My scans run much faster with QP
data. Accessing TC’s data from AB is slower than accessing QP
data. I haven’t quantified how fast the scans run, but scans
running against QP data appear to run 50 to 100% faster.
One final issue with TC is more emotional in nature...
TC is a VERY marketing oriented company. Although
TC’s trainers seem like pretty good folks, asking a basic question to TC
management get a marketing hype response. In some cases, the answers are
quite insulting. At one point, I posted a question on forum about
the Worden Studio product (a web-based product) and how it related to
Telechart. Instead of a clear answer, I got marketing
hype. When I complained that I couldn’t see any value with
Worden Studio, they condescendingly stated that I just didn’t know how to
use it!
I’m a Data Warehouse Architect by profession (fancy
name for database developer) and have developed analytical software for 34
years. I don’t claim perfection, but I do understand a
fair amount about analytical systems. For TC management to try to
explain away their products’ deficiencies by telling me that I just
don’t know how to use it is extremely insulting! What’s worse
is that it displays a lack of sensitivity for customer needs and
requirements.
OK, flame off!
Because I’m cautious, I’ll keep the TC
subscription for another month or so to ensure that I haven’t missed
anything. From this point forward, Quotes Plus is my primary EOD
data source.
I hope you’ve found this report useful.
Best Regards,
Dan.