I've been working on this website. Changed the look of it again. Not really convinced I'll keep this new colour scheme. I have also copied the TS help manual so it's available to read online.

Here's the link:
http://www.thinkingstuff.com/atm/online-help-manual.aspx

TS is currently at v2.0.4, and the help manual is now v8. I've got a few more things to do to this website and will get back to programming TS. Although v2.0.4 is marked as beta, it's very stable.

Forums, I guess, will be the biggest upgrade to the website, just as soon as I decide which Forum software to go with. I have also ditched the old Knowledge Base and merged it back into this blog.

Support is as normal - within 24 hours of receiving your request.

Oanda snuck another transaction type in there - 'CloseOrder'.

Fixed Or Added In v2.0.4

• New Oanda transaction type: 'CloseOrder'
• "Change to Short" (or Long, depending on what's selected) button next to Rule Type.
• Need "saving backtest results" status, otherwise it looks like backtesting stops at calculating entries/exits.
• Should now see less "cannot find trade", "cannot find order" messages. These would happen when the order would be entered / trade would be exited, just before TS tries to update it. They'll still show up sometimes, but less frequently.
• Info added to TS help file regarding the "protected memory" error.

On the Backtesting Results Window, there are now options you can choose from when you go to chart all the indicators and trade entries/exits, etc. I wouldn't normally put out a release just for that, but I also fixed a couple of things for some customers.

Fixed Or Added In v2.0.3

• Backtest Results window now has options to choose from when charting indicators.
• "X Completed Bars After Entry Bar" rule was waiting 1 bar too many. Can now also use 0 (zero) to indicate the rule should be true at the end of the entry bar.
• Change "Overbought setting" to "Value To Be Above", and "Oversold setting" to "Value To Be Below". Makes it a little easier to understand.
• More info added to TS help file.

Quick release to fix a conversion error when upgrading from v1.0.3 to v2.0.1, directly, and have Oanda users (the conversion of trading systems from the old to new format, that is).

Fixed Or Added In v2.0.2

• As mentioned, an "object not set to an instance" error during conversion of trading systems, if upgrading from v1.0.3 to v2.0.1 and have Oanda users.
• Changed error message to give more details if such an error occurs.
• Some explanatory text on the Account Information download tabs on the Command Centre.
• Price Downloads tabs on Command Centre now has its own set of tabs - Ticks, Intervals, Special.

September 2008's release, hopefully going a long way towards being able to call the v2.0.x series "not-beta-anymore".

Fixed Or Added In v2.0.1

• FXCM! Partially. At the moment it only downloads Account information and price data. So you can use it for Alerts, but not auto-trading just yet.
• Searches for Oanda API / FXCM API before trying to use them. Prevents sudden crashes :-)
• Help file now completely up-to-date.
• Old icon still being used in the system tray when there are unread messages.
• "Object not set to an instance" error when save Oanda user and Oanda DLLs aren't there.
• Bulk Data Manager update window - the "Select All" drop-downs need an initial value set.
• ERROR: 22001: value too long for type character varying(5) - happens when using some of the No Trading options and try a backtest.
• Close button for Command Centre, Exit button for opening window, connect the Escape key to all Close buttons.
• Show TSID (unique identifier internal to TS) for Backtest Config entries, because it can be used as search criteria on the Backtest Results window.
• Backtesting exited with error: Index was outside the bounds of the array.
• Shouldn't be able to delete a Trading System or Alert that's currently auto-trading/alerting.
• Problem encountered while downloading Tick prices from Oanda: ERROR: 23505: duplicate key value violates unique constraint "pk_zoanda_audjpy_tk"
• On Accounts Wizard - if you choose "Other" in the margin rate field, crashes.
• Change all rule descriptions from "In Overbought" to "Is Above X", and "In Oversold" to "Is Below X".
• New Oanda transaction description: Order Cancelled (BV:SL) - used to be just one L.

Major changes to just about all parts of TS. Instead of reading below, maybe you should just think of it as a brand new bit of software.

Fixed Or Added In v2.0.0

• Wizards - to help you out with Getting Started, Trading Systems, Alerts, Accounts, Users, Data Manager entries, Backtest config entries, Outgoing email, Receiving email, SMS, Holidays.
• Can now import and export Trading Systems and Alerts. Useful for backing up, restoring, moving between your own computers, or sharing with others. You have the option to encrypt them so nobody else can import them without the password you set. When imported, encrypted Trading Systems and Alerts will not show their inner workings. They will still backtest/auto-trade/alert though. So you can sell your systems but keep your secrets.
• Backtesting no longer relies on Microsoft Excel. All results are now stored in the TS database. You can search on past results. You can also view a result, and you will be shown an equity curve and some other charts of the results. Click a button, and the Chart window will open, be filled with the price data you just backtested with, the indicators used in your Trading System will be added to the chart, as will the entry and exit points.
• All search field values, window sizes and positions, are now stored and re-entered automatically next time you open a window.
• Now have the ability to decide if you want a message created to remind you to connect to the Internet X minutes before the subscription check is done. You decide if the message is created, and if so then how many minutes before.
• The "Trade Mgmt Only" setting no longer resets a trading system to "Disabled" after all of its open trades are closed. Instead the status will remain at "Trade Mgmt Only". Which means you can continually open trades manually and have TS take care of the trade management part for you.
• New colour scheme and icons.
• Subscriptions window has changed a bit. No longer big and ugly.
• Default Chart colours now prettier.
• Can now have multiple Chart windows open at once.
• Now has a confirmation message before closing TS.
• Trading Systems and Alerts no longer started by a countdown. They are started when new price data comes in.
• Close button put on all windows.
• Outlook-style toolbar to assist with navigation.
• Gain Capital now offers CADJPY, EURCAD. Oanda offers EURTRY, USDTRY, USDCNY, USDINR and USDTWD.
• New Oanda transaction description - Order Expired. Set order status to cancelled.
• Put "View Data" & "View Charts" menu items on Data Manager. They open those windows and set the search criteria to match the highlighted Data Manager entry (user then clicks Search button themselves).
• "Table Name and Row count" menu item on the Data Manager. Shows how many bars of price data currently stored for the highlighted Data Manager entry.
• All passwords now encrypted.
• Add more detail to long and short icons (green and red arrows) so that when hovering the mouse, the date and price is also shown.
• Have user option for which trading system to set when unknown. Default to "Unknown".
• Overbought and oversold settings for Detrended Price Oscillator are now to 5 decimal places instead of 1.
• Can now display all rows instead of maximum 500,000. Be careful with that though.
• Maximum Adverse Excursion (MAE) value not correct when the initial stop loss is taken out. It's fine if the stop loss has moved and is then taken out.
• MB Trading and EFX Group now allows multiples of 1000, not 10,000.
• [OHLC] Minus X Average True Range(s) and [OHLC] Plus X Average True Range(s) would add the ATR in terms of pips. E.g. for EURUSD, instead of 1.2345, the end result would be like 75.2345.
• RSI Signal Line Is Falling and RSI Signal Line Is Rising rules need "Signal period" parameter.
• And various other little bug fixes, tidy ups, and miscellaneous changes.

Thanks to some freeware called Wink, there is now the first of probably many video tutorials on how to use TS.  Except that this first one has nothing to do with how to use TS :-)  It guides you through making a backup, then restoring, your TS database.

The reason I made this one first is precisely because I made sooooo many changes to TS that there's a high chance I broke something.  And that's why I'm calling v2.0 "beta" to start off with.  And that's why you should make a copy of your TS database, and test v2.0 on that copy.  When you're happy that TS is working just fine for your purposes, then you upgrade your original database (or just keeping using the copy.  But in either case, making the copy is important).

The backup file is a plain text file, which you can copy somewhere safe in case the computer running TS dies, is stolen, catches on fire, etc.

This procedure is useful for:

• Taking a simple backup for safe-keeping.
• Copying your live database so you can test a new version of TS.
• Copying a TS database from your local computer to a different computer (e.g. a dedicated server you just started renting).
• Moving your TS database to a new version of PostgreSQL, when you upgrade that.  (Necessary when moving between major revision numbers, e.g. 8.1 to 8.2, but not when upgrading from 8.1.3 to 8.1.4).

So take a look.  At the moment I've just uploaded the direct output from Wink, which is a very plain webpage with an embedded flash video.  Click your browser's "back" button to return to the TS website proper.

Backup, Restore, Copy, Move Your TS Database

Suggestions welcomed.

Hi. It's been a while. In fact I was actually trying to make this website look dead. I'll explain why...

TS is being held back by the brokers it currently connects with. Not the number (two), but by the brokers themselves. Gain Capital and Oanda.

I allow auto trading only in Gain Capital demo accounts, because there was no way I could test trading in live accounts without risking real money. Testing is normally what demo accounts are for, but talk in their forums made it out that there are differences between the demo and live accounts. Not good.

One of the chiefs at Gain Capital has told me this is untrue, and asked that I reconsider. And I might in the future.

Oanda has the obvious stumbling block of needing to pay $600 per month for their API. Which is fine if you already have the trading system and the volume. But not good for starting out. Or if you want to take a holiday or something.

So I was looking at Interactive Brokers (IB), EFX Group, and/or MB Trading. Their APIs are free, and apparently good. (BTW, if you didn't know, recently EFX Group and MB Trading became one and the same).

As a side note, in the not-too-distant future I'd like TS to work with shares as well.

As it happens, Medved Quotetracker allows connections to IB, MB, and a bunch of share-trading places. Yay. All I have to do is hook into Quotetracker and a lot of problems are solved at once.

And I was all ready to do that. But then...

I've been approached many times by people who want to go into partnerships. Generally people who want to market my software. Nothing ever got past a couple of emails back and forth.

Until... a bigwig at a forex brokerage stumbled across my site. This time things got serious. A lot of effort was put into the wording of a contract. I signed the contract. I was given a contract-signing fee. Instead of doing the Quotetracker stuff, I was spending all my free time putting in the features that this forex brokerage requested. (Did I say all of my free time? I meant ALL of my free time! :-). And then... it all fell apart.

The deal was that the company would pay me, and then provide the software for free to all of their customers. But exclusively, meaning I could no longer make it available for other forex companies (which at that time and still now is Gain Capital and Oanda). Existing customers could continue to use the old version, but were not going to be given upgrades. So they'd still be able to use what they'd paid for, but that would be that. At least that's how I remember the deal.

So... my integrity told me that I should not try to get new customers. Because it would not be good, in my way of thinking at least, to espouse a product, get people to sign up (which for some entails buying the $600 Oanda API), and then a month later say "oh yeah, you're on your own". BTW, back then I was under strict instruction not to make any of this public, so the option of just telling people what was going on was not available.

And that is why I have not posted for a long time, and tried to make this site look dead, and removed the 12 month plans from the purchase page. Yeah, it was a crazy situation to be in.

But you still came and signed up! Didn't you! DIDN'T YOU! :-) Every couple of weeks or so, someone would write a forum entry somewhere with a link here which would bring a bunch of new members and new sign-ups.

Anyway, now that TS is no longer under contract, please keep writing forum entries and signing up :-)


Where to from here?

Well, the coding for v2.0.0 is almost finished. Then comes testing. And then comes release. And v2.0.0 contains most of the things that the forex brokerage requested. There's a whole bucket load of stuff, but the major points are:

• Wizards. A lot of people had trouble getting set up initially, and it's hoped these Wizards will now make everything much easier.
• Backtesting results no longer print out to Excel files. In fact there is no reliance on Excel nor CSV files at all. The results are instead saved to the database, and you get a pretty equity curve chart.
• After backtesting, you can click a button and TS will fill in a chart with all the indicators that you used in the trading system, and show you where all the entries and exits were.
• You can have more than one chart window open.
• You can import/export trading systems and alerts. For backup and sharing. And if you want to sell your system but don't want others to know how it works, you can encrypt it if you want. Encrypted systems will still backtest/auto-trade on other peoples' machines, but they won't be able to see or change any of the rules. Not even if they peek in the database.
• Auto-trading is now kicked off by new prices coming in, not from a timer.
• Removed the Help sections from individual windows, and the separate PDF document, and now use a standard Windows help file.
• It looks a cooler than before :-)

Pretty much all I have left to code is repeat everything for the Indicator-based Alerts that I've already done for Trading Systems.

Then once v2.0.0 is out, v2.0.1 is going to be a bug-fix and documentation release (because with all the changes now the documentation is a lot different in some places to how the program works). And then I go back to Medved Quotetracker.

So yeah, I'm still around, TS is still being worked on (feverishly), and that's why stuff happened like it did.

Got some small stuff done to clear up the ol' TODO list a little.

Fixed Or Added In v1.0.3

• Error when entering a mobile/cell phone number of 10 digits or more.
• Double-click a row opens the corresponding detail window in edit mode.
• Forex Factory calendar changed again.
• User setting that let's the user decide how to be notified of messages.
• New Oanda transaction descriptions - BuyBox and BoxClose.
• "Save and Stay" buttons should be "Apply". "Close" becomes "OK" (but save as well as close).
• Help menu item for "Documentation".
• Click to send order to broker, but cancel. Status has changed to "Open" even though it should still be "New".
• Bulk add of Data Manager entries - choose Weekly or Monthly as the Base, and it shows too many entries.
• Change "X-over" to "Comparison". E.g. "SMA Comparisons" instead of "SMA X-Over".
• Activity window "Add" button doesn't work.