Reprinted from Technical Analysis of STOCKs

& COMMODITIEs magazine. 2012 Technical Analysis Inc., (800) 832-4642, http://www.traders.com prODUCt rEViEW

eSignal 11
Part 2
INTERACTIVE DATA CORP. 3955 Point Eden Way Hayward, CA 94545 Telephone: 510 266-6000 Fax: 510 266-6100 Internet: www.esignal.com Product: Complete trading platform Requirements: Windows 7/Vista/ XP/2000, Intel Core i3/i5/i7, 3GB RAM, 250MB available disk space, DSL or cable modem. Price: Premier, $134 per month or $120 per month for annual prepaid; exchange fees. Premier Plus, $206 per month or $186 per month for annual prepaid; exchange fees. apply this concept to creating our own trading systems.

eSIGNAL FORMULA sCRIPT

In

by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan

a recent guest appearance on CNBC, author and analyst Nassim Taleb mentioned that a robust system is one that sustains shocks and improves after each one. Of course, he was referring to the banking and financial system of nations, but we could easily

The challenge, of course, lies in creating such a system, but just because it is challenging does not mean it is not possible. Almost all technical analysis software gives you the option of creating your own customized trading systems. eSignal offers their customers their eSignal Formula Script (EFS), which is a simple formula language that uses JavaScript. In this, the second part of this review series, I will cover the EFS feature of eSignal along with the trade integration feature. Not much has changed with regarding how you write the code for a trading system. You open the Script Editor, enter your code, and save it. After that, it is just a matter of inserting that study onto your charts. In Figure 1, you see John Ehlerss SwamiCharts stochastic inserted into the chart. There are a few new features that have

been added to the EFS feature set. For example, in previous versions if you wanted to change things like the colors on a chart or the appearance of a line, you would have to go into the EFS code and make changes to it. In this new version, all you do is double-click on the indicator in the chart and change the options on the Edit Chart window (Figure 2). TRADING INTEGRATION One of the notable changes in version 11 is in the added flexibility of the trading integration feature. eSignal now supports more than 30 brokers, so the chances of your broker making it on that list are very high. For the purposes of this review, I used the eSignal paper trading account, but you need to set a default broker before you place your trades. You can access all trading integration features through the Trade menu. So to add your default broker, all you need to do is select the Broker Manager and add your broker using the dropdown menu. You may have to follow certain configurations

FiGUre 1: creatinG cUStoM StUdieS. By using eSignals Formula Script (EFS), you can create custom indicators or trading systems. These studies can very easily be applied to any advanced chart. Here you see the SwamiCharts stochastic applied to the daily chart of the CME group (CME).

Reprinted from Technical Analysis of STOCKs

& COMMODITIEs magazine. 2012 Technical Analysis Inc., (800) 832-4642, http://www.traders.com

FiGUre 2: EDIT CHART WINDOW. This window allows you to change things such as color, style, thickness, and plot types using options from a dropdown menu. This saves you the trouble of opening up the script editor and making changes to the code.

to connect with your broker, but once that is done correctly, you will be ready to place your trades. There are different ways to place trades in eSignal 11. Before placing a trade, its a good idea to go to the Trade Settings option and select the choices

there. Most of these options are for you to receive trade confirmations. You can

place your trades from the advanced chart or the Trade Manager option, or using the point & click feature. First, Ill look at how to place trades from the advanced chart. Along the top of the chart you will see a few icons. One is the trading icon, which, if you click on it, will display a trading panel on the right side of the chart (Figure 3). All you have to do is click on the appropriate button to place your order. Once the order is executed, a position line will be displayed on the chart, making it very easy to see how your trade is performing. Prior to placing the trade, you can select a predefined money management strategy. You can create as many money management strategies as you like using the money management planner. This gives you the opportunity to create stop and profit targets. The nice thing about these predefined strategies is that when you place your trade, the selected strategy will automatically be sent to your broker, so all you have to

eSignal 11 provides a comprehensive set of features for any trader. They continue to improve their product so it keeps abreast of current technological developments.

FIGURE 3: TRADING FROM THE CHART. Clicking on the trading icon across the top of the chart will open up a trading panel along the right-hand side of the chart. From here you can place your buy & sell orders using one click.

Reprinted from Technical Analysis of STOCKs

& COMMODITIEs magazine. 2012 Technical Analysis Inc., (800) 832-4642, http://www.traders.com

do is click one button. The Trade Manager window displays market depth, which enables you to see the bid and ask prices. To place a trade from this window, all you have to do is click on the price you want to place your trade directly from the price ladder. Trading with the point & click method involves double-clicking on the last price column of any quote window. This brings up a trading window from which you can enter or verify all the details of the trade and once everything meets to your satisfaction, click OK and the trade is sent to your broker. Once a trade is placed, you can view your trades in the Account Manager window. This window displays brokerspecific information and lets you see the status of your orders, monitor your positions, see which orders have been executed, your account balance, and, of course, the profit or loss of your account. If there are any open orders, you can cancel them from Account Manager. The Trade Log window displays all trading activity, which may be way more information than you need. Fortunately, you can filter the information, and the nice thing is you can export the information to another folder, making it easy to manage your accounts.

MORE MUsCLE

eSignal 11 provides a very comprehensive set of features for any trader. They continue to improve their product so it keeps abreast of current technological developments. By far, the most obvious difference in this version is the look of the product, which gives the interface a very clean appearance. Add to that the greater flexibility and power of some of its features, and you have something that is at the forefront of trading software. Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan is Editor for STOCKs & COMMODITIEs.

SUGGEsTED READING

Gopalakrishnan, Jayanthi [2012]. eSignal: Part 1, product review, Technical Analysis of STOCKs & COMMODITIEs, Volume 30: March.