Jose,
All of what
you said is granted. And yet…
I recently posted
a reply to another thread in which I mentioned my most recent experience of MS “support
and development”. Basically I wanted to know why the data on demand
function didn’t work for intraday data from E-signal on International
exchanges, specifically the LSE (whereas I can see the data on my E-signal
charting package).
Now, if I was
running a business like Equis I would like to think that if someone made a
constructive criticism such as mine I would at least look into the possibility
of doing something about it and then releasing a FREE(!) patch to upgrade the
software asap. I mean, the problem is simple – the E-signal data manager
is not talking to the Equis data server for this exchange. It works for the US exchanges,
so it should only take an experienced programmer a few hours to determine where
the communication breakdown between the two utilities is occurring and then fix
it?? Well maybe I’m wrong, but the answer I got just spoke volumes about
the company’s attitude…basically that they are working on ‘other
priorities’ and didn’t have time to look into it – and if I
wanted my money back then I could have it! And I though it was George Bush’s
job to try to alienate themselves from the world outside the US!!
OK, maybe it’s
not that bad – and there is a work-around after all. But it is plain bad
business. I don’t WANT my money back because, as you said Jose, I too have put a lot of time and effort into
learning the ropes with this software and don’t want to have to do the
same in a hurry with something new.
I encounter
limitations with this software on a fairly regular basis. Sometimes I can work
around it, sometimes it means I’m getting too complicated for my own good
and so it’s a kind of wake-up call, but sometimes…sometimes I just
sit and look at the thing and say to myself “now why on earth can’t
it do THAT?!”. All of us who have used this thing for any length of time
have had that moment I am sure.
Users, traders
and programmers are coming up with new ideas all the time, which is one of the
things that makes this industry so exciting and challenging. Most of those
ideas are useless, some are brilliant. There is a lag time with software
development too, as the various companies try to keep up with these new ideas
and eachother. That is called healthy competition and the end result SHOULD be an
improvement in ALL the software packages out there as either (a) new functions
are added or (b) the existing functions are made more robust and/or
user-friendly. As has been said before I’m afraid it looks like Equis
just can’t be bothered trying to play this game anymore and has
lost interest in the market for hard-core traders. That bodes ill for the
future, regardless of whether my immediate needs are satisfied at this
particular point in time.
Jose, you said…
>3) More than 95% of programming tasks are basic building blocks
which
>don't require complex programming;
…and I
agree whole-heartedly. However, a problem inside the other 5% is still a
problem…
Amibroker for
testing and E-signal for trading is sounding more and more like where the
future lies for this particular trader.
From:
Jose [mailto:josesilva22@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005
1:03 PM
To: Metastockusers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Metastockusers]
Time to ditch MetaStock?
There seems to be a lot of recent discontent
building up with regards
to the lack of MetaStock development from
Equis/Reuters. It is indeed
true that other charting programs have overtaken
MS in a major way.
For example, AmiBroker (AB) can plot a composite
system equity curve
based on hundreds of securities, and allows the
changing of parameters
with the aid of real-time variable sliders.
Watching the AB composite
equity plot change in real-time is a marvel.
Just getting MetaStock to plot the same single
composite equity
(forget real-time manipulation), involves so much
processing overheads
that it is not practical.
So, AmiBroker is indeed superior to MetaStock in
many ways.
However... I still find myself using MetaStock for
95% of my tasks.
Why?
1) Familiarity & ease of use = time-saving -
it generally takes me
five times longer to code in AB;
2) MetaStock's Graphic User Interface is still
superior to AB;
3) More than 95% of programming tasks are basic
building blocks which
don't require complex programming;
4) Successful mechanical trading strategies are
composed of 60~80%
logical thought, and 20~40% actual programming
skills.
It is the last point that needs to be generally
acknowledged &
understood.
It is not the actual charting package that decides
how successful the
development of one's mechanical or subjective
trading system may be,
but rather, it's the trader's own ideas and
ability to put them into a
logical & codeable form that makes a good
system worth considering.
More programming complexity is not always better.
If I were to be just interested in the
intellectual challenge of
coding difficult or abstract ideas, I would have
probably left this
group to join the AmiBroker camp a long time ago,
just as others have
already done.
However, being much more interested in the bigger
picture, means that
the charting tool is not so important to me.
MetaStock is fine for
just about all system development purposes.
If productivity is also important to you, and you
already use
MetaStock, you may find that there is little or no
need for better/
faster tools, or for re-learning a new process.
If you are not using a charting package yet,
consider MetaStock's easy
learning curve before choosing a career in rocket
science.
Take care not to lose sight of the forest for the
trees. :)
jose '-)
http://www.metastocktools.com
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