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This post deals with the way TS 4 and TS 2000 handle data and it is not
pretty. I have spent the last two weeks sorting this out and I am one
disappointed user.
TS2000: Here is a major change from TS 4. There is no 1 tick up or down
volume. Well, that is not quite true. In the data window the up and down
volume columns read the same values. The values are half the actual up
or down volume but with no indication if it is up or down.
A 2 or 5 tick or 5 minute chart shows different up or down volumes but
most of these are not true values. Here is why. Lets look at a 2 tick
chart and start with an up tick volume. It always reads in the up tick
column. Say the next three are down ticks each at the same lower price.
The first one reads in the down tick column BUT THE NEXT TWO READ IN THE
UP TICK COLUMN!!! After the first down tick any down ticks immediately
following at the same price will have the volumes put in the up column.
Only if the price is lower from the immediately previous down tick will
the volume stay in the down tick column. This biases the tick volume
strongly to the upside and makes it worthless using tick volumes in
indicators. Plot up and down volume on a 5 minute chart and see how much
more the average up volume there is compared to the down volume. Knowing
this pattern it is possible to write an indicator to move the misplaced
down volumes back into the down column.
Can someone tell me why Omega changed from the way these volumes were
handled in TS 4? And they did it on propose according to a tech at
Omega.
More bad news!
TS 4: I have made extensive comparisons of missed ticks between charting
in TS 4 and two other charting services, Quote.com and BMI. I used BMI
cable as the data feed for TS 4. Quote.com is over the Internet. BMI
charting allows you to see and print Time & Sales. That is, each and
ever tick (this can not be done in Signal cable but can in Signal
Online). Quote.com has the same feature. Since BMI charting and TS can
not run at the same time I used Quote.com as the reference. The numbers
are per cent of ticks missed as compared to Quote.com. Since it seems
more ticks will be missed the faster the market is for that stock I have
listed the seconds per trade in parentheses. These numbers are
different due to collecting BMI and TS data a few minutes apart
(closing one charting program and opening the other).
I am listing only part of the results I obtained but the pattern is the
same as shown below.
Stock BMI (sec/trade) TS (sec/trade)
AAPL 1.7% (10.1) 10.3% (17.5)
AOL 3.9% (3.2) 30% (1.9)
(There were a string of losses for 20 seconds for AOL on BMI and if it
were not for those the % would be 1%. I look for consistent patterns.).
What the results tell me is that BMI is not the culprit for lost ticks.
IT IS THE TS 4 SERVER!! Remember, all the tick results posted on the
list are read on (or though) TS. If the TS server is at fault then
comparing satellite feed with cable with FM is not getting at the
problem since all those go through the TS server! I really can not
believe it is that hard for paid, professional programmers to get this
right. And why does not Omega advise us of these type limitations? Let
me make it clear - BMI is as good a data feed as we are going to get for
TS 4.
I started to run the same test on TS 2000 when I discovered the down
tick volume problem. Some testing is still possible and maybe an online
feed may show to be best for TS2000. But I am so disappointed at this
point that I do not have the energy to keep this up. I had such high
hopes for TS2000 and it has not worked out. Bill Cruz told me Omega made
all the changes from TS 4 to TS2000 because those are the features
people wanted. I do not know who those people are but I hope THEY enjoy
their changes.
A very disappointed
Wayne Mathews
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