Trade Prospector/Realtime Version 1.31 Update Available

If your email client is unable to properly display the embedded graphics, please use your browser to access http://www.3mtinc.com/tprtreleasenotes.htm

ATTENTION: You must already have the base TPRT install completed in order to properly use the 1.31 update.  If you don't have this, please download and install http://www.trade-prospector.com/download/tprtinstall.exe first.  Then download and install the 1.31 update noted below.

The version 1.31 beta update of the Trade Prospector/Realtime software is available.

OR

You will run the normal end of day TP program each day - either using the program's trade candidate indicators to identify potential next day trading candidates and/or to download the SR database used by TPRT (you can also launch TP to download the SR database by clicking the Check SRs button on the TPRT startup panel).  When there is a new SR database for the realtime software to use, you will be prompted during TP startup to download it.

Currently (during the rollout of TP/RT) only the Quote.Com datafeed is supported (the QCharts Basic subscription is what you'll need).  A version compatible with eSignal's datafeed will be available soon, followed by a version for DTN's Iqfeed.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please let us know at support@trade-prospector.com

If you have any suggestions for enhancements, new features, technical studies, tools, etc. that you'd like to see incorporated in the software, please email your thoughts/suggestions to the above email address.  This is your opportunity to get a feature that you've always wanted into a future release of the software.

The cumulative update history follows:

The TP/RT 1.31 update contains the following enhancements:

This update integrates a number of key new features described below, including:

• Added ability to decouple windows from the main window frame
• Added multiple workspace pages
• Windows can be on a specific workspace page or all pages
• New optional floating button bar
• TC and GF Scanners (TCScan and GFScan) windows are now sizable
• Added automatic support for six digit prices to accommodate JY, etc.
• Intraday Gann Frame time and price lines redraw for previous days
• Added new Bollinger Band Scanner
• Added optional Bollinger Band centerline property
• Changed ORBS study "opening price" line to width of 1
• Major CCI study enhancements
• New Tools Edit Menu
• Changes to SR annotation and symbol selection for new contracts
• Added ability to protect study/signal/confirmation settings
• Added new Reload SRs button to startup panel
• Integration of infrastructure for upcoming major enhancements
• New Market Status Bar
• New Font Size Control for Quotesheets
• New Font Size Control for Charts
• New Open Interest Study
• New 0/4/8 Only Option on Gann Frame
• Variable Candle Wick Widths
• Multiple minor mods
• Automatic cursor tracking across charts
• % of chart price scaling

TPRT windows (e.g., charts, quote sheets, etc.) now have a Decouple! option on their window menus (which appear on the main window frame when a child window is active).  Clicking this menu item will decouple the current window from the main TPRT window frame and make it a free floating window, independent (i.e., decoupled) from the main window frame.  Such windows can be placed anywhere on your desktop (not just within the main TPRT window frame) and will appear on the Windows task bar.

If you want to recouple a window to inside the main TPRT window frame, you can click the Recouple! menu option (note that as you'd expect, window menus will appear on each decoupled window's menu bar - rather than on the TPRT main window frame's menu bar).

Note that the Alert Log and the Delta Neutral Assistant windows have no other window menu entries and therefore supply Decouple checkboxes on the panels rather than Decouple menu items.

Users now have the option of using multiple workspace pages to organize/group windows within their workspace and to economize on the amount of desktop space needed.

To activate the new multiple pages option, click the Workspace button and select "Show Pages".  This will make the workspace pages button bar at the bottom of the main window frame appear.  All workspaces have by default one page (the name of which is defaulted to "Page 1") and all windows of existing workspaces are automatically assigned to that page.

To add a new workspace page, simply right click in a blank area of the page button bar.  A new page button will be created with a default name (e.g., Page N).  The change the name of that page, right click the button and a text editing box will appear where the button was.  Enter the name you want to use and then click in the blank area of the button bar to apply the change.  To delete a page, hold the shift key down and right click the button - it and all pages assigned to it will be deleted.

To switch between workspace pages, simply click one of the workspace buttons.  The windows on the current workspace page will disappear and the windows of the new page (the one you clicked) will appear.

You can optionally assign a window to a workspace page (the default) or make it visible on all pages.  When you create a window (e.g., by clicking the chart button to create a new chart window), it is automatically assigned to the current workspace page and will only be visible when that workspace page is the active page.

However, you can make a window visible regardless of which workspace page is active by moving that window to all pages.  To do this, use that window's "ToAllPages!" menu option.  This will effectively decouple that window from any specific workspace page and thus make it visible at all times regardless of which page is selected.

If you've moved a window to "all pages", you can later move it to whatever the current workspace page is by using the window's "ToThisPage!" menu option (which replaces the "ToAllPages!" menu item when a window is not currently assigned to a workspace page).

Note that windows are always automatically created on the currently active workspace page, but that these menu options can be used to move windows between workspace pages later.  To do this, activate the workspace page containing the window you want to move.  Select the window you want to move and click its "ToAllPages!" menu item (the menu item will change to "ToThisPage!").  This window is now visible on all workspace pages.  Then click the workspace page you want to move the window to.  Then select the window and click its "ToThisPage!" menu option (which changes the menu item back to "ToAllPages!").  The window is now only visible when that workspace page is active.

Also note that you will only see the ToAllPages/ToThisPage menu item if you have more than one page in your workspace.

The Alert Log is never assigned to a workspace page and is thus always available on all pages.  We suggest you use the Alert Log rather than popup alerts when using multiple workspace pages.

We've made it possible to also decouple the TPRT menu button bar from the main window frame and make it a free floating tool bar (which will always be on top of other windows).

To do this, click the Workspace button and select "Floating Buttons".  This will transform the button bar into a floating bar that you can position anywhere on your desktop.  If you want to return the button bar to the main window frame, just click the Workspace->Floating Buttons option again.

The Trend Channel Scanner and Gann Frame Scanner windows are now sizable.  When no chart is displayed, the width remains fixed but the height can be varied.  When a chart is displayed, both the width and height can be adjusted

Certain securities like the Japanese Yen futures contract can trade with prices in up six decimal digits.  This modification allows charts, quote sheets, and T&S to display these prices in up to six decimal digits if needed.

As a chart with a Gann Frame is scrolled back in time, the Gann Frame is recomputed based on the visible bars and price lines drawn accordingly.  Intraday timelines will be drawn for the last visible day on the chart.  Note that if part of July 18 is visible, the timelines will be drawn for the visible part of July 18.  But as the chart is further scrolled back and July 18 scrolls off the chart, the timelines would then be drawn for July 17, etc.

A new Bollinger Band Scanner (BBScan) has been added.  Operation is basically the same as the TC Scanner except that the scan is done based on the Bollinger Band study.

A new "Centerline?" property checkbox has been added to the Bollinger Band study's property page.  The default is for this property to be checked which causes the centerline (the moving average) of the Bollinger Band to be drawn.  However, for those traders who don't wish to see the centerline, unchecking this property will cause the centerline to not be displayed.

The Opening Range Breakout System (ORBS) study has previously used the line width defined on the property panel as the width of the opening price line and incremented it by 1 for the width of the opening range boundaries.  This provides a significant visual difference when the line width is set to 1 (and thus the range boundaries are twice as wide as the opening price line), but it's been found that with wider line sizes the visual difference isn't significant.  We have therefore changed the study to always present the opening price line with a width of 1 regardless of the line width defined for the boundary lines.

The CCI study has undergone some radical enhancements:

• Support for dual CCIs
• Signal or confirmation generation based on user defined boundaries
• Crossover signal generation for dual CCIs - options include buy/sell signal and/or exits
• Ability to generate both regular signals from the first CCI in a dual set AND a crossover signal
• Addition of a "signals only" option for the study - using the CCI Signals option on the Studies->Signals menu

The new property panel looks like this

When first displayed, the property controls for the second CCI are not visible.  To enable them, just click the Second CCI? checkbox.  For the one or two CCIs that you want to define, enter the the number of periods over which to calculate it/them, the line width(s) to use, the color of each, the price you want to be used in the calculation (the standard calculation uses HLCAvg however you can use any of the available price types), and an optional smoothing factor (0 or 1 means no smoothing).

To generate buy/sell signals off the first (or only) CCI that you define, click the Signal? checkbox.  When Signal? is checked, the Thru? and Invert? checkboxes and the Hi/Lo boundary boxes will be visible.  By default, buy signals are generated when the Lo boundary is penetrated and then retraced back through (reverse for sell signals using the Hi boundary).  If you want the signal generated on the initial penetration of the boundary, click the Thru? checkbox.  If you want to invert the signal types (i.e., generate a buy signal based on the Hi boundary instead of the Lo boundary), click the Invert? checkbox.  You might do this for example if you wanted to generate buy signals on an upward move through the 0 line and a sell on a downward move through the 0 line (in this case you'd check Thru? and Invert? and set the Hi and Lo boundaries to 0 - as in the picture above).

Note that if other than 0 boundaries are used, a crossover of 0 will deactivate the last signal for the study.  For example, if you're using 100 and -100 boundaries and the CCI ran up over and back through 100, a sell signal would be generated by the study.  When the CCI crosses the 0 line, that sell signal would be deactivated with a study-specific exit.  This prevents a now obsolete sell signal from being included by the TPRT signal engine.

If you define two CCIs, the Xover? checkbox will be visible.  To generate crossover signals (i.e., a buy when the first CCI crosses above the second CCI or vice versa for a sell), check the Xover? checkbox.  Note that you can generate both crossover and normal signals from the one study setup.  For crossovers, normally you'll define the shorter period CCI first.  However, if you're also generating normal signals based on the longer period CCI, it will have to be defined in the first CCI position.  So you'll want to check the Invert? checkbox for the Xover? setting to accommodate for having entered the longer period CCI first.

If you want both a crossover signal AND an exit signal generated, check the Exit checkbox.  With that setting, when a buy signal is generated, an ExitShort signal will also be generated.  Unlike the automatic 0-cross study-specific exits generated to deactivate study signals, the ExitShort (and ExitLong) signals generated by the crossover exit are global.  So if the TPRT signal engine has an active short signal in place at the time the CCI study generates a crossover ExitShort signal, the signal engine will generate an exit against the currently active short.  If a long signal was active, the ExitShort would have no affect.

If you want only the exit signal generated by the crossover, click the Exit Only checkbox.  With the Exit checkbox, the study will generate BOTH a crossover directional buy/sell signal AND a matching ExitShort/ExitLong signal.  With the Exit Only checkbox, only the ExitShort/ExitLong signal is generated without the matching buy/sell.  Use this for setups where you want to exit based on the CCI crossover but aren't including a crossover buy/sell signal in your overall buy/sell signal framework.

Here's an example of a prototype Gold contract daily chart configured with several studies (including the new CCI - using the CCI Signal version of the study so there is no need for a CCI studybox) to generate signals:

We've integrated the edit menu for chart drawing tools.  The Edit Tools menu works similar to the Edit Studies menu.  All drawing tools (e.g., horizontal lines, vertical lines, extended lines, etc.) currently on the chart are shown on the Edit Tools panel.  Not that tool-studies like Trend Channel are already edited via the Edit Studies panel and are not shown on the Edit Tools panel.  As you select a different tool in the list, it will be immediately highlighted on the chart with a thicker width to help you identify which drawing tool you've selected.  

With the Edit Tools panel, you can remove tools, change their line width and color, and set their current line width and color as the default for all subsequently drawn tools of that type on the chart.

With the addition of new treasuries and currency futures contract SRs, the TP SR study has been enhanced to present price level annotations consistent with the displayed security (e.g., for ZB SR levels are annotated on screen in the format 107^5 rather than decimal and selected currency contracts may have their SR price levels annotated up to 5 decimals if necessary such as for JY).

Note that the symbol for Globex traded currency contracts differ from their pit traded equivalents.  The pit contracts use the normal HMUZ expiration month suffixes while the Globex traded contracts use the CIPT month suffixes.

Note that TP computes support/resistance projections using the Globex and ACE traded contracts because there is actual raw trade data available for the electronically traded contracts unlike pit traded contracts.  Therefore, the TPSR study will automatically use the SR projections for the comparable electronically traded contract if you display a chart for a pit-traded version.  For example, the SRs for ZB03U will be displayed on a US03U chart.  The SRs for EC03P (the Globex symbol for Euros) will be displayed on an EC03U (the pit symbol for Euros) chart.

The Edit Studies panel now has a "Protect" button.  Clicking this button will toggle the edit protection on the currently highlighted study.  Protected studies will be prefixed by an asterisk in the Edit Studies panel's studies list.  Protected studies will not even be shown on the Edit Studies panel for any person other than the one who protected them.  This protection is preserved if the chart window layout or the chart layout is saved and shared with others.  Only the person protecting a given study can edit or unprotect that study.

Although very infrequent, downloading via the internet is not always without interruption.  So, in the event an SR database download was interrupted or otherwise corrupted (e.g., by local machine caching or internet acceleration software), the SR database can be automatically deleted and re-downloaded by pressing this new Reload SRs button on the TPRT startup panel.

Note that there is a key difference between Reload SRs and Check SRs - Check SRs does NOT delete the current SR database, thus if there is no newer SR database yet on the server it won't download anything.  Reload SRs DOES delete the SR database first and thus will force a download of whatever the currently available SR database is on the server (even if it is the same version as the one that had been on the local machine).  Use Reload SRs only if you believe that you have a corrupted SR database for whatever reason.  Under normal situations, you'll use the Check SRs button (or download as part of running the end of day TP program).

While not currently visible, this update also integrates new infrastructural and architectural elements that will support some upcoming major enhancements, including:

• Internal option chain database - many datafeed providers do an incomplete job of keeping their option symbol chains up to date.  We have therefore integrated a new infrastructure which will be used to automatically provide option symbol chains to the upcoming new option montage component using our own equity and futures option database.  When rolled out, there will be an update to the TP program which will allow you to selectively determine if you want to download equity and/or futures option symbol databases along with the SR database.  Those users not requiring the option databases can select to not download the databases.
• Password protection of chart layout/template - the current update makes it possible for the creator of a chart layout/template to protect the studies and settings used from modification.  However, we've also implemented an infrastructure that when activated will allow the creator of a chart layout/template to also password protect it if they want to.  This makes it possible to selectively share layouts/templates to only those who know the password.  The creator will also have the option of password protecting for a specific user.
• Studies as values - a new study object interface infrastructure was added under the cover in this update that will be used in the upcoming new Watchlist component.  The Watchlist will operate similar to a quotesheet except that columns using technical studies using variable timeframe price bar data can also be included.  Because of the use price bar data, the Watchlist will carry a higher performance overhead than the existing Quotesheet component.  For that reason, the Watchlist will not replace the Quotesheet but will rather provide an additional tool for traders.

A new market status bar has been added.  You can activate it by clicking the MktStat button on the main button bar.  This will open a bar that quickly shows the current up/down issues ratio on the NYSE, Nasdaq, and DJIA and the current price and net on the DJIA, SPX, and NDX along with color coding.  Degree of red indicates the degree of bearishness.  Degree of green indicates the degree of bullishness.  Above 1 is a positive bias.  Below 1 is a negative bias.  The more above 1 the more positive, the more below 1 (toward 0) the more negative.

For compactness, the bar has not window title bar.  So to move it, just click anywhere on the bar with your left mouse button and drag the bar where you want it.  The bar also floats so that you can position it anywhere on your screen(s) and its location is not limited to the TPRT workspace window and will stay visible even if you minimize the TPRT window.

To close the market bar - simply right click on it.

A new FontSize menu item has been added to quotesheet windows.  This menu will allow you to change the font size used on the quotesheet to 8 (default), 9, 10, 12, or 14.  The quotesheet will dynamically resize itself on any change of the font size.

A new Font button has been added to the chart properties panel.  Clicking this button will display a font selection panel.  Changes made on this panel will be reflected on the chart after you click OK on the property panel.

A new Open Interest study has been added.  This study is applicable to futures and option contracts using the daily timeframe and will show the open interest of the specific contract on each day of the chart.  Since open interest only changes daily, nothing is displayed on intraday charts or for charts of equities (which don't have open interest).

A new checkbox is available on the Gann Frame property panel.  Checking the 0/4/8 Only? checkbox will cause only the 0/8th, 4/8th, and 8/8th frame lines to be drawn on the chart.  The chart will of course still be scaled the x/8ths, so the underlying chart grid and the prices on the right side of the chart will continue to reflect all x/8th levels, but if this option is selected only the 0/4/8 frame lines will be drawn.

Candle charts now use variable candlewick widths.  The width of the wicks is based on the width of the candle (which itself is based on how the user has the chart's timescale adjusted).

Modifications have been made to correct minor bugs or add minor enhancements - such as a problem deleting the last drawing tool in a list, saving signal summaries in CSV format (commas have been removed from numbers), and to include a missed histogram property in the CCI study's object archive.  Mods in "y" correct minor issues with variable candle wick width on equivolume charts and font change related artifacts that sometimes affected the last price indicator and charts with Gann Frames not fully adjusting font size.

All charts displaying detail boxes and crosshair cursors will now synchronize their cursor tracking (when charts have different timeframes, the synchronization will use a best approximation). 

An optional price scaling mode has been added.  Using the new "Force Price Scale to % of Chart" field on the chart's property panel (accessed via chart's right click menu Chart->Properties option) you can override normal price scaling and force the visible price bars to be the user specified percentage of the chart's price scale (when you have Autoscale Prices enabled).  For example, if the visible bars span 10 points and you set this parameter to 80%, then the price bars will automatically occupy the central 80% of the (12.5 point in this case) price scale 

The TP/RT 1.30 update contains the following enhancements:

This update integrates a number of key new features described below, including:

• Gann Square of 9
• New Full Range Equivolume Bar Option
• New Trend Channel Scanner
• New Price Channel option on Moving Envelope study
• Add Signals and Inverted Signals to Envelope study
• New Price Profile Study
• New Alert Log with Optional Detach
• Optional Window Cluster on Alert Log
• Double-click on Alert in Alert Log to Open a New 5 Minute Chart
• Added "x/8ths distance moved" indicator to Gann Frame
• Added up/down x/8ths filters to GF Scanner
• New Symbols in GF Scanner results list are highlighted
• Direction of move into an x/8th is indicated on GF Scanner
• User definable chart window caption overrides now on Chart Properties panel
• Added TickPressureX2 quotesheet property - double the width of TickPressure for those users who wanted a wider graphic pressure bar
• Added "Bid/Ask Spread" and Bid/Ask Size Max" quotesheet properties (can also be used in alerts and filters)
• Mod to Gann Frame's Fan rendering to prevent premature frame rollover
• Sizable quotesheets with automatic vertical scroll bars
• Use Filters as Alerts in quotesheets - popup alert will have a reset option
• Quotesheet based alerts indicate which quotesheet the alert sourced from in the alert message text 
• Highlight alerted symbols in quotesheets (if not reset)
• Reset Alerts option added to quotesheets main menu
• BidTick and AskTick quotesheet properties added
• Added additional filter to ignore occasional bad symbol from datafeed market scanner
• Mods to realtime updates for CCI
• NOSAFEGUARD initialization parameter
• Display certain securities like bonds in 32nds price format
• Added "Reset Login" and "Check SRs" buttons to startup panel
• Setting Boundary Color to the Chart's Background color on Chart Properties will hide SR labels
• Optional Bid/Ask T&S Display Format

The new TPRT Gann Square of 9 tool/study with integrated optional Price/Time Squaring has been integrated.

To use the new tool, access the chart's popup menu and select Tools->Special->Square of 9.  Then left-click on the chart and the cursor will become a vertical line.  Move the line over the bar on the chart that represents the key high or low from which you want to project the Square of 9 and left-click.

The Square of 9 property box will popup and you can confirm/change the starting price, # of degrees of rotation per projection, and the square's step size.  You can also enable Square of Time timelines (similar to those computed by Pyrapoint) and indicate whether the timelines should be computed using TPRT's default method, using no adjustment (the so-called Inner Square method), or a straight three digit method.

Note that the introduction of a Square of 9 tool/study to a chart is restricted to the symbol for which it was added.  This is to avoid obvious problems should you change the symbol for a chart since the So9 is always set to a specific key high/low that is applicable to the particular symbol and is therefore inapplicable to other symbols.  If you change the symbol for a chart on which you have an So9 tool/study, that tool/study will deactivate itself.

Here's an example of a chart with the Square of 9 (and timelines) tool/study on it:

This particular chart set the Square of 9 tool/study based off the October low on the S&P using a 45 degree rotational increment and a step size of 3 and default timeline projection.  There is a variety of material available on the internet on the Gann Square of 9 and also some on Pyrapoint.

2. New Full Range Equivolume Bar Option

A new full range form of the equivolume chart option has been introduced.  In addition to the equivolume candles, a new full range equivolume candle is available.  Select the Range? checkbox in the Equivolume area of the Chart Properties panel.  This will produce full range equivolume bars color coded based on the bar's net change relative to the preceding bar and shaded accordingly to help visualize the way in which trends are forming.

a new Trend Channel Scanner which basically operates similar to the Gann Frame Scanner - except that you're setting the properties of the Dynamic Trend Channel study instead of the Gann Frame study and the filters are based on prices being Above or Below the channel, in the upper or lower quartile of the channel, or in the middle.  All other functionality is identical to the GFScanner.  To create a new Trend Channel Scanner, click the new TCScan button on the main window frame.

4. New Price Channel option on Moving Envelope study

The Moving Envelope study has been enhanced with an optional Price Channel mode.  Normally the moving envelope is produced by offsetting a user defined number of points, %, or trading range from a moving average.  With this enhancement, users checking the "Price Chan?" checkbox on the Moving Envelope's property panel will activate its Price Channel mode.  In this mode, the user entered number of periods is used to draw upper and lower channel boundaries based on the highest high and lowest low of the user specified period.  This mode of operation is known as a Price Channel or a Donchian Channel.  Here's an example:

Optional signal generation has been added to the Moving Envelope study (either normal mode or price channel mode).  Checking the Signal? checkbox will cause the study to generate buy/sell signals based on breakouts of the envelope/channel.  Also checking the optional Invert? checkbox will cause the buy/sell signals to be reversed (i.e., sell signal on a breakout and a buy signal on a breakdown).

A new Price Profile study has been integrated.  The Price Profile is fundamentally a frequency distribution histogram of prices and is similar to chart types sometimes called Market Profile or Market Structure charts suggested by ideas of Peter Steidlmayer.  However, this new study has several advantages over the chart style approach:

• Since the price profile is a complement to and not a replacement for the regular price chart, having it implemented as a study means that the user doesn't need to open yet another chart window in order to use it.

• The user can decide whether to display the study in its own area (scaling of which will be kept in sync with the price chart area scaling) or as an underlay in the price chart area.

• Unlike most such chart style implementations that typically force a 30 minute time interval on the compilation of the profile, this new study gives the user control over the time period used.  It can be used on any intraday timeframe chart (not just 30 minutes) and it can also be used on daily, weekly, and monthly charts.  The profile accumulation period is determined based on the chart timeframe (i.e., intraday charts accumulate their profiles per day, daily charts accumulate their profiles per month, and weekly and monthly charts accumulate their profiles per year) and any time period filtering (when including afterhours data) the user has specified in the chart properties:

The example above shows both forms of the study:

The overlay version which is drawn in the price bar area of the chart with a color automatically selected based on background and candle colors to facility drawing the profile histogram "under" the price bars.  And the non-overaly version which is drawn in a separate study area of the chart.  Both versions are available on the chart's Studies->Special menu.

7. New Alert Log with Optional Detach

The new Alert Log is activated by using the AlertLog button on the main window frame's button bar.  Clicking that button when an Alert Log window is already open will cause the Alert Log to be restored to normal size (if minimized) and brought to the top window position.  When an Alert Log window is open (even if minimized), all alerts are directed to it.  No popup alert message boxes will appear.  Each alert will be displayed in the alert log - new alerts will be in bold.

While at least one unacknowledged alert is present in the log, the log window will flash and beep.  Clicking a bold (unacknowledged) alert in the log window will acknowledge it.  You can also acknowledge all pending alerts by clicking the Reset All button on the Alert Log window.

Alerts will scroll down (with new alerts appearing at the top of the alert log) as they are generated displaying the alerts in reverse chronological (most recent first) order.  If you want to remove the entries in the alert log, you can click the Clear All button.  Clicking Clear All also has the implicit affect of resetting any as yet unacknowledged alerts.

A unique feature of the new Alert Log is its ability to decouple from the normal multiple document windowing interface (MDI).  The MDI windowing interface places all windows within the main window frame (e.g., charts and quotesheets are windows within the main TPRT window frame and move when the main window frame is moved or minimized).  By checking the Alert Log's "Decouple?" checkbox, the Alert Log will decouple from this MDI environment and will be movable as a seperate and distinct window.  It will also appear on the Window's task bar.  You can then position the Alert Log independently from the TPRT window frame, minimize the TPRT window while leaving only the Alert Log visible, etc.

Double clicking on a symbol listed in the new Alert Log will open a new intraday chart window showing that symbol.

An optional window cluster has been added to the alert log.  Users can assign the alert log to one of the TPRT window clusters.  Then when clicking an alert in the alert log, the related symbol will be activated in all other windows assigned to the same window cluster.  This allows a user to setup a 

10. Added "x/8ths distance moved" indicator to Gann Frame

The Gann Frame study shows the number of eighths the price has moved from the relevant frame high/low.  This allows users to quickly gauge the distance of price movement 

11. Added up/down x/8ths filters to GF Scanner

We've added new filters to the Gann Frame Scanner that allows the user to differentiate between price movements up or down into a given x/8th zone.  Thus a trader may decide they want to only see price moves up into 8/8th and ignore price moves down into 8/8ths (from +1/8th).

Symbols that were just added to the Gann Frame Scanner results list during the current scan are highlighted with asterisks for easier identification.

The direction of the move (up or down) into the current x/8th is now shown in the Gann Frame Scanner's results list.

The Chart Properties panel now has an optional window caption text box.  Text entered into this box will override the related chart window caption - which normally shows the name of the security and timeframe being charted.

The new TickPressureX2 quotesheet property offers a double wide version of the TickPressure property.

The new Bid/Ask Spread and Bid/Ask Size Max properties are available as quotesheet properties and for use in alerts and filters.  The Bid/Ask Spread is the price difference between the current Bid and Ask.  The Bid/Ask Size Max is the larger of the two of Bid Size and Ask Size.

This modification corrects a minor problem in which the Gann Frame's optional Gann Fan would sometimes prematurely rollover to the next frame if a user defined right edge was setup on the chart.

Quotesheets have been made user resizable and have automatic vertical scroll bars.  Quotesheets can contain an unlimited number of symbols and the user can now scroll the quotesheet if needed.

Quotesheet filters can no optionally be used as alert definitions that apply to all symbols on the quotesheet.  Use the "Use as Alerts?" checkbox on the quotesheet's Filter/Alerts panel to activate this behavior.  This option permits bulk application of alert criteria to a group of symbols.  If an alert is triggered for a symbol in the quotesheet, the symbol is highlighted for easier identification in addition to the normal alert popup (or entry to the alert log).  The popup alert box will include a new Reset button which will clear the alert condition on the related quotesheet.

The name of the quotesheet is now indicated in the alert message when a quotesheet-based alert is triggered.

As noted above, symbols that trigger quotesheet-based alerts are now highlighted on the quotesheet until they are reset.  Reset occurs either by clicking the Reset button on the alert popup, resetting the alert in the alert log, or using the new quotesheet's "Reset Alerts" menu item.

This new quotesheet menu item will reset all symbols which currently have unreset alert conditions.

The new BidTick and AskTick properties have been added to the available quotesheet properties and can also be used in alerts and filters.  BidTick and AskTick contain either -1 or +1 and reflect whether the Bid (or Ask) ticked down or up.

The datafeed servers were occasionally including invalid symbols in the results from the server-based market scans.  We've added an additional data integrity filter to deal with this condition.

Some multi-monitor configurations use non-linear monitor numbering (e.g., monitor 3 is to the left of monitor 1).  This condition can result in certain video setups reporting window positions as negative values.  TPRT uses a default safeguard that causes workspaces to automatically reorient if they are appear to have been saved off the viewable desktop.  However, this reorientation is also triggered by these non-linear multi-monitor configurations.  We have therefore added a NOSAFEGUARD parameter to the TPRT.ini file.  This parameter is normally set to false (meaning to use the normal safeguard).  However, users with non-linear monitor configurations which are causing TPRT to reorient their workspaces from where they were saved can edit the TPRT.ini file and change the "false" to "true".

Modifications to the presentation of price quotes for certain securities that have yet to convert to decimals such as treasuries.  These are now presented in the format xxx^yy for securities that still trade in 32nds and xxx'yyy for securities that still trade in 32nds and half 32nds.  This modification affects quotes, detail view box values, and last price markers on charts.  Chart price scales remain in decimal).

We've added "Reset Login" and "Check SRs" buttons to the startup panel.  Reset Login will delete the tmtRTAutoLogin.ini file from your TP directory which will cause TPRT to have the datafeed interface library ask for your datafeed username and password again.  Use this if you change your datafeed username or password.  Check SRs will launch the end of day TP program to both perform the normal authentication of your user ID (which trial period users need to do everyday and regular users need to do ever few days) and check to see if there is a new SR database available to be downloaded.

To facilitate the new "Check SR" button functionality, users should also download and run http://www.trade-prospector.com/download/tp020035update.exe for the latest rev (2.0.37b) of the end of day TP program that supports the new short form user login authorization/SR database download cycle which is activated by the new TPRT "Check SR" button.

Users wishing to only see SR lines without the text label annotations can now do this by using the Chart Properties panel and setting the boundary color to be the same as the chart's background color.

We've added an optional "wide" format for the T&S.  This format combines price and bid/ask information on one line rather than bids, asks, and trades appearing on separate lines.  The T&S display is wider, but more information can be shown.  To activate, right click on the T&S panel to activate the property panel and select the "Wide Bid/Asks" checkbox.

The TP/RT 1.29 update contains the following enhancements:

This update integrates a number of key new features described below, including:

• Studies menu has been reorganized into categories for easier use
• New 3rd upper and lower stops for large movement days
• New Control-Left Click shortcut on an action map brings up news browser for that symbol
• Shift-click changed to Control-Click in the T&S panel to change font size - for consistency w/trade entry interface
• New optional autoscaling feature for Gann Frame study
• Gann Frame will now recompute based on the visible chart - so scrolling back in history will show you the GF as of that time
• Additional automated trailing stops - time-based and price channel based
• Trace of the trailing stops can now be optionally shown on the chart
• Active automated stop is shown in lower left corner of chart
• Added right edge offset to chart properties - allowing display of "future" area of chart
• Keltner Channels supported by Envelope study
• Added Alerts to Envelope study
• New Dynamic Trend Channel tool/study
• Trend Channel can optionally produce Andrew's Pitchfork
• New Dynamic Trend Line study
• New Volume-only Charts - xxx.V symbol format and NYVOL, NQVOL, and DJVOL
• New CCI Study
• New option on Chart Properties Panel to show or not show the automatic intraday high/low boundaries
• New option on Dynamic Fib properties panel to generate "wave" projections
• New Tile Vertically option on the Windows button menu
• Added new numerical quotesheet/scanner/alert properties - Tick and TickPress
• New option to show the basis line(s) that Fib retracements and projections are based on
• Tick charts (timeframe=0) automatically appear as line charts regardless of chart style setting
• New Alert Criteria - "Last-Bid" and "Ask-Last"
• Double click on study opens property panel (alternative to right click and select Edit)
• New Chart Window Save/Load menu items
• New Candle Waist toggle on chart's View menu
• Added an alternate Detail Box format - short form - Control-Click on box to toggle format
• New "Apply" button on Edit Studies Panel
• New Windows List menu item on Windows button menu
• Candle waists are under user control via the Chart->Properties panel
• Internal changes to price scaling to accommodate volume charts, round away binary floating point representation, etc. 

We've adopted a new categorized submenu structure for the chart's studies menu.  Studies are now categorized as Basic, Signals, Confirmations, Geometric, Special, and Plugins (reserved for a future feature).

2. New 3rd upper and lower stops for large movement days

We have introduced new TPRT calculations to compute additional support/resistance levels (called 3rd upper/lower stops).  Like the special BP1b/BP2b SRs, the 3rd upper/lower stops are computed internally by TPRT for presentation on the charts.  This chart of the S&P index Friday October 4 demonstrates the benefit of having these additional SRs.  Note the SPX bouncing exactly off the 3rd lower stop support projection during October 4th's selloff.

We've added a short cut to the action maps.  You can still launch the new browser for a specific symbol on an action map by right clicking and selecting News from the popup menu.  But you can now hold the control key down and left click on the symbol to directly launch the news browser with that symbol.

For consistency with the upcoming trade entry interface, the T&S font size change shortcut has been changed to a Control-click.  Shift-Left and Right clicks will be used as shortcuts to trigger trades in the upcoming trade entry interface.

5. New optional autoscaling feature for Gann Frame study

We've added a new autoscaling feature to the Gann Frame geometric study.  With autoscaling turned on, the Gann Frame will automatically scale up its size as necessary to assure that the 1/8th price intervals are at least the appropriate minimum interval size based on the current price octave, e.g., for the S&P futures the minimum desired interval is  1.953125.  Autoscaling will start with the frame size you've defined in the Gann Frame's properties and will scale it up as needed until the computed frame at that size has at least the appropriate minimum interval.  This saves users from having to manually adjust the frame size periodically to compensate for changes in the price action.

The Gann Frame is now shown based on the visible chart rather than just the most recent data.  This allows users to scroll the chart back along the timescale and see what the Gann Frame looked like at a given point.

We have integrated two new types of trailing stops into the TPRT summary signal generator.  The new time-based stop will trail the stop by a specified price amount each bar.  This allows a user for example to implement a trailing stop on say a 1 minute S&P futures chart of an initial 4 points moving 1/2 point per bar in the direction of the trade (meaning that no signaled trade would persist more than 8 minutes if it wasn't moving in your favor).

There's a new optional trailing stop trace checkbox on the signal summary control panel (accessed by left clicking in a chart's signal display area).  Checking the checkbox will cause the trailing stop (computed based on the users specifications on the signal summary panel's "stops" slideout) to be traced on the chart.  Note that trailing stop tracks will appear only if you have summary signals being generated AND have stop management parameters defined.

Any active automated stop (per the user's definitions on the summary signal generator's stops panel) will be displayed in the lower left corner of the chart.  Again, this only applies to those with summary signals configured and stop management parameters defined.

There's a new "Right Edge" property on the chart's property panel.  Entering a non-zero value in this property will cause the chart to display that many empty bars into the future - thereby creating a right hand edge on the chart into which lines, trend channels, etc. will be projected.

Some traders like to use Keltner Channels, which are nothing more than a moving envelope based on a moving average of the average bar price and average trading range within the specified period.  This feature has been implemented within the already existing TPRT Envelope study, with some additional capability.

While Keltner Channels always use the average bar price in their simple moving average, with the TPRT Envelope study the user has the option of using an exponential moving average and not just the bar average price.

Keltner Channels also compute the average trading range based on the same period as the price moving average.  With the TPRT Envelope study, the user can decide to use a different period to compute the average trading range (computing the trading range as the envelope distance is signified by selecting the "Bars" distance qualifier rather than "Percent" or "Points" - for "Bars", the specified # of bars is then used to compute the average trading range and that average is used as a dynamic envelope distance value).

To simplify setup of the Envelope study for Keltner Channels, the user need only enter a period for the study and click the "Keltner" button.  This will automatically configure the Envelope properties panel to use a "bars" distance equal to the user specified study period, use "Avg" prices, and use a simple moving average of price rather than an exponential moving average for the envelope's basis.

There is a new optional Alerts checkbox on the Envelope property page.  Checking this option will cause an alert to be fired when price moves outside the computed envelope boundaries.

We've integrated a new Dynamic Trend Channel tool/study.  Like other tool/studies, the Dynamic Trend Channel is initiated via the chart's Tools->Special menu and initially drawn on the chart.  To draw the initial channel, select Tools->Special->Dynamic Trend Channel and the mouse cursor on the chart will turn into a vertical line.  Position the vertical line cursor over the bar from which you want to draw the trend channel and click the left mouse button.  The mouse cursor will turn into a small crosshair and a rubberband line will follow the track of the mouse cursor.  Position the end of this line on the bar that represents the end of the trend channel you want to draw and click the left mouse button.

At this point, the trend channel's property page will popup and you can configure its attributes.  From the property page you can also select Anchored or Dynamic (rather than the default Fixed) which will cause the trend channel to compute itself dynamically rather than solely based on the to/from bars you drew on the chart.

Fixed - this causes the trend channel to remain static and be computed based on the start and end price bars you drew on the chart.  This is the typical method used for normal static trend channel drawing tools.

Anchored - this causes the trend channel to automatically compute itself based using the user's indicated starting price bar through the latest price bar on the chart.  You can anchor a trend channel at a presumed high/low and then have the channel automatically adjust based on subsequent price action.

Dynamic - this causes the trend channel to automatically compute itself based on the dominant trend of the last N bars (user specified).  This allows you to see the dynamically changing trend as prices progress.  Since you can have more than one dynamic trend channel on the chart, you could have automatic trend channels of different timeframes in order to quickly visualize the predominant trends of each.

For both Anchored and Dynamic, there is an optional "Offset" parameter that can be configured by the user.  The default is zero which means use up to and including the last bar.  Any other number will shift the trend channel that many bars back in time.  In other words, for an Anchored channel a non-zero Offset will cause the trend channel to be evaluated from the user specified starting bar to the Nth bar prior to the most current bar.  For a Dynamic channel, a non-zero Offset will cause the dynamic period to be shifted back N bars (e.g., if you specify a 10 period channel and a 5 period offset, the channel will be computed from bar[-14] to bar[-5] and also projected forward).

Other options on the properties page:

H/L Channel? - this produces a default channel that computes the distance of the upper and lower boundaries from the linear regression line based on the maximum distance any given high or low is from the linear regression line (always encapsulates all prices within the trend channel's period).

Pitchfork? - see below

Std Dev - if H/L Channel is NOT checked, then the Std Dev field is enabled and the user can specify the number of standard deviations above and below the linear regression line to draw the channel boundaries

Alert? - enables/disables alert popup messages when prices break above/below the computed channel boundaries.

The Dynamic Trend Channel can optionally produce an Andrew's Pitchfork rather than a regular trend channel.  By selecting the Pitchfork? option on the properties panel, the trend channel will compute itself based on the Andrew's Pitchfork algorithm.  Note that this is not a linear regression like the normal trend channel.  Instead, this will be computed such that the handle of the pitchfork will originate at the starting bar and bisect the high and low of the selected range.  To use:

Select Tools->Special->Dynamic Trend Channel from the charts menu, move the vertical mouse cursor over the bar that is to be the start of the pitchfork handle and click the left mouse, then move the rubberband line to the more outside bar that represents the high or low price you want the pitchfork to project from.  TPRT will automatically compute the opposing intermediate high or low (between the user indicated start and end bars) and compute and project the pitchfork.

We have also integrated a new automatic Dynamic Trend Line study.  Unlike the trend channel, the trend line study computes and projects upper and lower trend lines in multiple time periods based on the overall price action and the upper and lower lines are not necessarily in the same direction and/or slope (as in the case of a forming pennant or an expanding or contracting triangle).

We've added the ability to produce volume only charts for symbols.  Rather than just showing volume using the volume study on a price chart, TPRT users can now produce an actual volume chart (where the volume bars are in place of price bars) and use technical indicators, signals, and confirmations on the volume bars.  By using both a price and volume charts in this manner, traders can more easily identify price/volume divergences and other potential opportunities.

To produce a volume chart for a symbol, symbol append a dot-V (".V") to the end of the symbol.  Note that this can only be used on equities and futures where actual volume is reported.  It cannot be used on indices since no volume is reported on indices.

However, we have created three special purpose symbols that equate to special Quote.com volume data sets for NYSE total volume, Nasdaq total volume, and DJIA total volume.  Note that the QC indices would normally produce constantly increasing curves on the chart because the data represents total volume at each point in time.  TPRT transforms this data into incremental volume per chart time interval and presents the volume chart accordingly.  The three TPRT shortcut symbols are NYVOL, NQVOL, and DJVOL.

We've integrated added the CCI (Commodity Channel Index) study.  It's name is deceiving, it isn't specific to commodities.  It appears on the Studies->Basic menu.  Aside from cosmetic controls (e.g., line width, color), the CCI has two governing parameters - the study time period and a smoothing factor (default is no smoothing).

The CCI measures the difference between an instrument's price and its mean.  High CCI values suggest that prices are high relative to average prices and low CCI values suggest that prices are low relative to average prices.  The CCI is an oscillator (normally between -100 and 100, although it's not uncommon to see it oscillate between -200 and 200) where above +100 implies overbought and below -100 implies oversold (of course markets can always become more overbought or more oversold, so you should never use a single indicator).  The CCI is also sometimes used to identify divergences in which prices are making new highs or lows by the CCI is not similarly making matching new highs/lows.  Such divergences classically result in some degree of price correction.

TPRT charts normally automatically show high of day and low of day boundaries on intraday charts.  However, for traders not wanting to see these boundaries indicated, there is a new checkbox on the chart's property panel - access via Chart->Properties

The Dynamic Fibonacci tool/study has been enhanced with the ability to compute fibonacci "wave" projections.  To use this feature, use the Tools->Special->Dynamic Fib Prices tool and draw the basis line from the starting bar to the ending bar of a presumed "wave" (an overall up/down or down/up price oscillation).  When the properties panel is displayed, check the Projection Mode? check box and set the desired % projection levels you want to see.  TPRT will automatically locate the intervening high or low and then compute and display the Fibonacci projections (which will be in the direction of the "wave's" oscillation (e.g., if the price oscillation you are projecting based upon was up and then down, the price projections will be into higher prices from the end of the designated "wave").

The Windows button on the main window frame's left side button bar now includes a Tile Vertically option in addition to the previous Tile (which meant Tile Horizontally).

We've added new numerical quote attributes for Tick (either -1 or +1 to indicate direction of price tick) and TickPress (a numerical representation of the already existing graphical Tick Pressure attribute - value varies from 32 to -32).  These values can be shown in columns on the quotesheet/scanner and/or used in alert and filter criteria.

We've added an additional option to the Dynamic Fibonacci Prices property page.  Checking the Show Basis? checkbox will show a yellow basis line that highlights the price range over which the retracement or projection is based (see earlier chart in #19 above for example).

Charts using a timeframe of zero (i.e., showing each trade) will automatically be presented in line format regardless of what the chart's style setting is.

24. New Alert Criteria - "Last-Bid" and "Ask-Last"

We've added new quote properties for the difference between the last price print and the bid price and between the last price print and the ask price.  These values of "Last-Bid" and "Ask-Last" can be used as columns on quotesheet/scanners and/or used in alert and filter criteria.

We've created a short cut to access the property panel for off chart studies (e.g., CCI).  Off-chart studies are studies drawn in their own areas of the chart window rather than in the price bar area.  Normally, the property panel is accessed via right clicking on the study area and selecting Properties on the popup menu.  With the new short cut, users can alternatively just double click on the study area and the property panel will popup.

26. New Chart Window Save/Load menu items

The chart window's menu (which appears in the menu area of the main window frame when a chart window is the active window) now includes a Layout option.  The Layout menu contains Save and Load options.  These options can be used to save and load a complete chart window layout.  The already existing Chart Layout save/load functions save the chart template (studies, properties, signals, etc.) to facilitate both automatic setup using default layouts and to provide a method of sharing a chart layout.  These chart layouts are independent of the overall chart window layout into which they were loaded.

However, some users wanted the ability to share entire chart window layouts, not just the displayed chart template.  They wanted to share quick access button and T&S and window sizing configurations.  The new chart window layout menu items provide this ability.  Chart window layout files have a .TPC file extension (different from the .TPL chart layout files).

27. New View->Candle Waist toggle on chart popup menu

We've added a new option on the chart's popup menu under the View menu to toggle the candle waist line.  Many traders like to see what's called the Candle Waist (the centerline of the candle body) and it is enabled by default.  However, those traders not wanting to see the candle waist can simply toggle it off (or back on) by selecting View->Candle Waist. 

28. Added an alternate Detail Box format - short form - Control-Click on box to toggle format

The chart's Detail Box can now be shown in either the normal full form or a short form that only shows date/time/price of where the crosshair cursor is currently on the chart.  This is for those users who like to use the crosshair cursor all the time and only need it to show where on the chart the cursor is currently pointing.  To toggle between the two formats of the Detail Box, simply Control-Left click on the box (remember, just left clicking on the box moves the detail box from corner to corner).

29. New "Apply" button on Edit Studies Panel

We've added an Apply button to the Edit Studies panel.  Clicking Apply will cause the chart to redraw using the updated studies (like it does when you click Done) but will keep the Edit Studies panel displayed.

30. New Windows List menu item on Windows button menu

The Windows button (on the main window frame's left side button bar) menu now contains a List option which will display a menu of all windows within the TPRT main window frame.  The active window is checked.  Selecting one of these windows from this menu will activate and display that window (unminimizing and/or bringing it forward in the window ordering as necessary).

31. Candle waists are under user control via the Chart->Properties panel

A new checkbox has been added to the chart's property panel (Waist) which controls whether candle waists are displayed.  Candle waists are normally shown within the candle body and represent the midpoint of the body (i.e., half way between the open and close) and are used by some traders as target entry levels for certain setups.

The TP/RT 1.28 update contains the following enhancements:

This update integrates a number of key new features described below, including:

• New Delta Neutral Trading Assistant
• New ScanParam quotesheet/scanner column property
• The location of minimized windows is now preserved
• Workaround for Visual Basic window object inconsistencies
• Added font upsize/downsize control to T&S panel

1. We've integrated a new Delta Neutral Trading Assistant to support those traders wishing to engage in this form of trading.