		       Stock View v1.0 Tutorial


Start Stock View v1.0 by typing 'sview' if you are currently in the
directory where you installed it.  If you are running it from another
directory be sure to pass the directory where you installed it as the
first argument to sview.  

For example: \stkprog\sview\sview \stkprog\sview 

You might want to create a batch file with this line and put the
batch file in a directory that is always in your path.  

If you have not registered your copy of Stock View you will first see
a registration screen that encourages you to register and allows you
to enter the program registration number.  Select the Continue button
to go on to the main Stock View screen.  If you don't have a mouse,
you can use the keyboard.  Just hit the tab key until the Continue
button is highlighted and hit enter or press Alt-c.  You will see
some more propaganda on the benefits of registering; wait patiently.

You are now at the Stock View file selection screen.  This is where
you select what stock data file you want to view and specify the
format of the data file.  Use the directory list box to select the
directory containing your stock data files; then use the file list
box to select the file you want to view.  From the file type list box
select the format of the file.  If you are using the keyboard, use
the tab key to move around and the space bar to select an item in the
list box.  You can set the file filter box so that only files
matching the specified name are shown in the file list box.  Once you
have selected a file, click on the Read file button.  Now you can
view or train using this file by clicking on the View or Train
button.  If you are using the keyboard you can press Alt and the
highlighted letter instead of clicking on the button.  

The usual directories box contains a list of the last 10 directories
where you read data files from.  When you click on the Read button to
read the selected stock data file, the directory where the file
resides is added to the usual directories list if it isn't already
there.  In the future you can select the directory from this usual
list rather then through the directory list box.  

Now, lets try to select a file and view it.  First use the directory
box to select the directory where Stock View has been installed.
Now, set the file filter box to *.prn.  In the file list box you
should now only see files that end with prn.  Select the file called
MCAF.PRN from the file list and select the file type to be ASCII
comma separated.  Now, click on the Read button.  Notice how the
current directory was added to the usual directory list.  In the
future you can simply select the directory from the usual list rather
then through the directory list box.  Now, click on the view button
to enter the Stock View chart screen.  

If you have an unregistered version you will begin to experience some
delays from now on; be patient or better yet register.  Even though
all features of the program are availible in the unregistered version
a lot of them are time delayed.  So there will be some lag between
when you initiate something and when it actually happens.  The
registered version does not have this lag.  

You should now be in the Stock View chart screen.  The price
information is graphed as orange colored bars with the top of the bar
corresponding to the high price for the period and the bottom
corresponding to the low.  The closing price for the period is shown
as a white dash through the bar.  The volume information is graphed
as blue colored bars at the bottom of the screen.  Notice that one of
the price and volume bars (probably the right most) is highlighted.
At the top of the screen is a status line for the currently
highlighted period.  The status line shows the name of the data file
(usually the stocks ticker symbol), the begin and end date for the
highlighted period, and the high, low, close and volume for that
period.  This allows you to see the exact values for price and volume
corresponding to the highlighted period.  

At any time, you can press the Esc key to exit the chart screen and
return to the Stock View file selection screen.  But, don't do this
yet because there's a lot more features in the chart screen which we
haven't explored yet.  

You can move the highlighted period to the left and right using the 4
and 5 keys of the number pad.  To move faster to the left and right
use numeric pad keys 1 and 2.  And, to move to the begining and end
of the data use the 7 and 8 keys of the numeric pad.  Notice how the
status line at the top of the screen is updated as you move.  

If you ever forget what keys do what, just press ? (question mark) to
see the help screen.  

You may have noticed by now that the Y axis used for both the price
and volume is logarithmic.  The developers of Stock View believe that
logarithmic graphs are the best way to view stock price and volume
data.  In a linear graph a $1 move in a $3 stock or a $30 stock
appears to be the same, but percentage wise you know there's a big
difference between the two.  The $1 move in the $3 stock is much more
significant than the $1 move in the $30 stock.  In a logarithmic
graph the $1 move in the $3 stock will actually look more significant
than the same move in the $30 stock.  However, in a true logarithmic
graph when the price of the stock is less then $1 the logarithm
becomes negitive.  To get around this problem Stock View uses a
semi-logarithmic graph (log(x+1)).  

Often times people view stock graphs where the bottom or the base of
the graph does not correspond to $0.  The developers of Stock View
believe that a graph can be misleading if the base of the graph is
offset.  For example the daily fluctuations in a stock that moves
between $12 and $14 can appear exaggerated if the base of the graph
is $10.  If you were to plot the same stock on a graph where the base
is $0, the fluctuations would not look nearly as large.  Thus, Stock
View always graphs price and volume with $0 as the base of the graph.

The Stock View chart screen has 3 cyan colored horizontal lines for
price reference.  The line closest to the bottom represents a price
of $1.  The middle line is $10 and the top line is $100.  The very
top of the graph is $200.  So you can easily graph the price of any
stock in the $0 to $200 range.  If you want to graph a stock that's
more then $200 per share (and can afford to buy it), you shouldn't be
using this charting program.  The volume level is referenced by the
cyan line near the bottom and the 3 green lines.  The first green
line represents a volume of 10 lots (lot = 100 shares).  Each
consecutive line represents an increase by a factor of 10 over the
previous line.  So the top green line represents a volume of 10,000
lots or 1 million shares.  

Since both price and volume are plotted on the same graph (but with
different scales) it is possible for the price and volume bars to
overlap.  If this bothers you, you can simply disable the display of
price bars, volume bars or even both.  Press the v key to toggle the
display of volume bars and the p key to toggle the display of price
bars.  

Although you can't change the vertical scaling of the Stock View
chart screen, you can very easily change the horizontal scaling.
When you first enter the chart screen the horizontal scaling is daily
(1 day per bar).  However if you would like to see the graphs on a
weekly scale just press the w key (5 days per bar).  For monthly
scaling, press m (20 days per bar).  Press q for quarterly scaling
(60 days per bar).  To return to daily scaling press d.  In addition
you can press the numbers 1 through 9 to select a scaling that
specifies the number of days per bar.  

When the horizontal scaling is daily, Stock View allows you to
display one of several technical indicators along with the price and
volume.  For example to display a simple moving average press the S
key (not s, but capital S).  At the top of the screen you will be
prompted for the number of days to use in the average.  Enter a
reasonable number like 5 (cause you can probably crash the program by
giving illegal values) and hit enter.  Whala, you have a simple 5 day
moving average.  If you don't like the indicator sitting right on top
of the price bars, you can move the indicator up or down using the .
(dot) and , (comma) keys.  You may notice that at the far right side
of the status line another value is displayed.  This is the value of
the technical indicator for the highlighted period.  The simple
moving average indicator can be turned off by press the S key again.
Remember indicators are only displayed when the horizontal scaling is
daily.  

The following is a list of the technical indicators availible in
Stock View.  

S - simple moving average 
W - weighted moving average 
E - exponential moving average 
O - moving average oscillator 
M - momentum oscillator
C - ROC oscillator 
V - On-Balance volume 
R - relative strength index
D - %D stochastic 

All technical indicators prompt you for their independent parameters.
You must give valid values for the indicator to be displayed
properly. 

A discussion of technical indicators is beyond the scope of this
tutorial.  Your local library should have some books on the subject.
The file called REFRENCE included with this distribution contains a
list of some books and magazines on the subject of technical
analysis.  We highly recommend reading some of these references if
you're new to technical analysis.  

One of Stock View's most useful feature is its train mode.  This mode
allows you to advance through the stocks price history day by day and
make buy and sell transactions to test your trading skills.  

To enter train mode, go to the file selection screen and click on the
Train button (or Alt-t).  Notice that when you enter the chart
screen, only the first day of the stock data file is displayed.  You
can advance forward by pressing the 5 key on the numeric keypad.  If
you think the stock looks like a good buy you can press the t key to
make a transaction and then press the b key to buy as many lots as
you want.  Note that in train mode you can only make a transaction on
the most current day (this is to keep you from cheating; this is not
enforced in view mode).  

When you enter transaction mode, the status line changes to show you
your trading status.  It show in this order the following: the number
of lots you currently hold, your net gain or loss, the number of
transactions you've made, your average buying or shorting price, the
price (per share) you would pay if you bought the stock now, and
finally the price (per share) you would pay if you sold the stock
now.  When buying stock you must buy it at the high price of the day
and when selling you must sell it at the low price of the day.  

When you are done buying press, the Esc key.  Now advance into the
future and see if that was a good decision.  If it was and you want
to lock in your gains, enter transaction mode again and press the s
key to sell you lots.  You can actually sell more lots then you
bought.  When you do this we assume you are shorting the stock and
will buy it back later at a lower price to fill the short and still
make some money.  If you're losing a lot of money and want to clear
out all the transactions you've made so far, just press C (capital
C).  

To use the train mode effectively you should first decide on a period
of time over which you will trade the stock.  A period of about a
year or two is a good amount.  You enter the trading period with no
stock, but hypothetically unlimited cash.  You make transactions
during the trading period and try to lock in as much gains as you
can.  At the end of the trading period any stock you have must be
sold at the current selling price and any short positions must be
filled.  You exit the trading period with no stock, but hopefully a
decent net gain.  To be really fair you should subtract a commission
of about $30 (or whatever your stock broker charges) from your net
gain for every transaction you made.  The train mode is a good way to
learn to use technical indicators and fine tune your trading skills.

Well this is the end of the tutorial.  We hope you find Stock View to
be a useful and profitable charting tool.  We urge you to register
your copy as soon as possible; especially since it's free.  Any
contribution you can make to help support future enhancements of this
product will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

Scott Marquette
