MetaStock Pro (Real Time); MetaStock End-Of-Day
Equis International
90 South 400 West, Suite 620
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
(800) 508-9180
E-mail: sales@equis.com
HYPERLINK "http://www.equis.com" www.equis.com
Overall Rating: 4 stars
Level: Beginner to advanced.
Price: MetaStock Pro for eSignal is $1,695; MetaStock Pro for QuoteCenter is $1,395 and MetaStock end-of-day is $499. Monthly subscriptions start at $59 per month. Complete pricing options on company Web site.
Recommended System: Minimum requirements are 800 megahertz (MHz) or faster processor, 512 MB RAM, 200 MB available hard disk space, video card and monitor supporting at least 256 colors at 1024x768, Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Windows 2000, Internet Explorer 6.0 or later with the latest service packs and a MAPI compliant e-mail program.
MetaStock Pro and MetaStock End-Of-Day are excellent analysis and charting tools to help traders make buy and sell decisions. It can do many things, such as charting and scanning for assets such as stocks and futures that meet certain criteria. In addition, the Performance Tester is the backtesting module that can be used to test trading ideas. MetaStock is a popular software and third-party plug-ins are available for an additional cost.
MetaStock can be used to track bonds, forex, futures and stocks. Real-time and end-of-day scans can be used to find assets that meet criteria. Also, data can be imported from free sites — there are many trading systems, custom indicators and other tools that are available on the Web to purchase or for free. Also, there are other features such as the ability to be able to make actual trades through some brokers.
For charting, MetaStock is very easy to use. The software contains many canned indicators and line studies. Free trading systems are included with the initial installation. You can drag and drop canned indicators and easily change indicator settings. Charting is exceptional here and you can create custom indicators. Also, you can backtest ideas before live trading. Web-based user groups provide a helpful user community to provide support and answer questions in addition to technical support provided by the vendor.
INSTALLATION: 4 stars
Installing MetaStock involves a few steps. You can order a CD for a trial period of the software at www.equis.com. Before purchase you have to decide on which data feed you will use because the software is specific for eSignal and QuoteCenter. There is also the ability to use free end-of-day data where available. During the software installation, you will be asked what data feed you will use (eSignal or QuoteCenter). To place trades, you will have to provide broker information, such as name, user id and password.
Also, technical support availability is extensive. All their technical contact information is available on the company’s Web site.
ENHANCED SYSTEM TESTER: 3 stars
To perform back testing of trading systems, you can choose a number of sample trading systems that are included with the software. The Enhanced System Tester module can give the trader important performance statistics on profitability of trades along with an equity curve of past trading profits (see “Enhancing your testing,” below). This can help compare the risk and reward of one trading system versus another. You can perform backtests on many trading systems for a single security or a group of securities, or you perform a backtest on a single trading system against a variety of assets. This module is a favorite of mine for help in determining which trading ideas I want to further develop and possibly implement with real trading dollars.
USING METASTOCK: 3 stars
MetaStock is easy to use. The software excels at charting, scanning asset symbols and providing basic back testing statistics when analyzing new trading systems or using the many free trading systems that are available on the Web. If you will be using end-of-day data, then familiarity with the Downloader will be required. Real-time integration does not require you to download data as on-demand data is seamlessly provided with eSignal and QuoteCenter.
There is a tremendous amount of power available when using the software. The ability to scan is great. You can screen the entire database of stocks or any subset. Also, there are many Web sites that can provide additional free trading system code and indicators.
The back testing module requires some effort. It’s not very easy to use, but can be programmed with practice. To create a new trading system, I would take an example system and use this as a template to start from. The user community can provide a vast amount of free technical support.
MetaStock works with stocks, futures and forex in real-time or end-of-day. A broker module is provided that can assist in making trades. The real-time data feed is seamlessly provided with eSignal and QuoteCenter. There are third-party programs that can be used to download free end-of-day data.
SUMMARY
MetaStock has many nice features. It is very easy to use. Charting and adding canned indicators and line studies is top notch. This is a powerful piece of software for back testing ideas, analyzing existing and new trading systems. The ability to use the software as a screener for securities that meet your criteria can really cut down on the trader’s work load by limiting analysis to only those assets that are first screened by the software. Customizing charts is quite easy. Programming new trading systems can be easy or difficult depending on what the trader is trying to do. The user community can really be helpful when learning the ins and outs of the program.
Lawrence M. Seldin, CMC, CPC, has been involved with trading futures, options and currencies since 2002. He trades both long term and short term for his own trading accounts. He can be reached at larry@seldin.net or www.seldin.net.
