Day Trading & Forex Forum

simonfudge

Hi

I am trying to decide which analysis software I am going to purchase. I have read that Sharescope is very good.
My wish list is to have a package that has candlestick pattern recognition and a function that can data mine for ADX.
I telephoned Sharescope a few weeks ago asking if they did candlestick pattern recognition or knew of any add on that was available. I was told there was no such package.
My questions are -
i) is there a candlestick pattern recognition option on Sharescope or can one be added?
and
ii) can I data mine ADX with Sharescope?

If not, can anyone recommend a decent, inexpensive package or give me any reasons not to bother with Sharescope?

What about any packages that can data mine candlestick patterns?

Simon

tomorton

Hi Simon -

Sharescope is a good charting package, even the Gold EOD only package, and this is great value per month. It does not offer candlestick pattern recognition, and I would have to regards this as a false target anyway - candlestick patterns are just not that simple. The Sharescope data mining facility is hideously complex and I would bet 98% of their customers can not achieve the tutorials and do not use it for real. The SS website says their data mining tool is unique to Sharescope - its easy to see why.

MrGecko

Simon,

I think Updata.co.uk will be able to handle candlestick recognition, though I think it is somewhat limited to UK shares without external data feeds etc...

I will echo Toms point above about the simplicity element. Candlestick patterns can be relatively straigtforward to describe accurately in boolean logic (i.e. IF, AND, OR, NOT, < , > . = and so on), but to do so is sort of missing the point. I will draw an analogy with reading sheet music - you can't tell a computer program to pick out pieces of music, from a library, that you will like, having programmed a series of notes.

A far more fruitful exercise would be to become profiecient at reading the candlesticks ("music") yourself - with enough practise it will become second nature - I think you will find that the automated system will simply throw up far too many unsuitable patterns for your trading style (whatever that may be). If you can learn to spot the gooduns' yourself, and where they may be likely to appear, you will save yourself alot of deliberating and bad trades.

I believe you mentioned having traded in the past, so if I am totally off the mark and this works well, then take all i say with a great deal of salt. You do mention candlestick in combination with an indicator... I should think there are many packages that can filter stocks (or whatever) for ADX conditions, leaving you to do the candlestick bit yourself.

dcraig1

For US stocks, have a look at

StockFetcher.com - Stock Screening

More TA screening than you could ever wish for.

simonfudge

Thanks for your rapid replies, this seems like a great site.

I have traded before but with no great success, so I am keen to be more prepared and professional about it this time.
I take the point about candlesticks and I will try to learn the patterns - I have one of Steve Nissons(?) books.

My thread was prompted by an old thread I saw on this site where someone else was looking to data mine for ADX with SS and had experienced difficulties. This was back in 2006. I was wondering if SS had made life easier with later versions?

I saw on the old thread that someone was suggesting it was easier to manually go through each security with the ADX function enabled on each chart - perhaps this is way forward as one gets to scan the charts as well - fine if it is a limited number of stocks (or whatever).

My plan is to spread bet initially on breakouts and pullbacks using ADX as one of of my trade selection filters. I have been inspired by Malcom Pryor's The Financial Spread Betting Handbook. He recommends SS but then I saw this old thread about problems data mining ADX.

Perhaps I just need to get stuck in and all these issues will become clear. But it would be a shame to spend money on software and valuable time getting familiar with it only to discover that a much more suitable system was available elsewhere.

Simon

MrGecko

Simon,

Unfortunately I am not in a position to advise you on which package or SB form to use, I have little experience in these fields. However, I can certainly recommend Steve Nison's candlestick books. Due diligence with this and the ADX resources should steer you in the right direction.

Can I ask which timeframes and markets you wish to concentrate on?

Chorlton

Simon,

Not that I want to discourage you on your quest but you should bare in mind that candlesticks present NO additional information to a Trader than that of normal bars. Granted, the individual patterns have exotic names and they are slightly more visual but that is all.

IMO Don't waste your time in learning how to identify a harami cross, piercing line, three river , etc, etc. Instead focus on learning to read "Price action", together with what is happening over the last few bars and you will soon understand the "patterns".

All IMO and please accept my apologies for sticking my nose in.......

Chorlton

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SS Marketing

ShareScope Plus and Pro include automatic candlestick recognition. They also include ADX and, although it can't be selected in the data mining wizard, you can create an ADX filter using ShareScript. In fact, one of our customers may already have done so - see the library at ShareScope ShareScript. With reference to some of the comments about using candlestick recognition, you can also data mine on whatever open, high, low and close configurations you like. And with regards to ShareScope's data mining, I don't understand why people find it complicated - I have always found it very simple to use. It also has the advantage that you can tweak it on the fly and see instant results. We also provide tutorials in the Help, on the website (ShareScope Training Zone), and on our training CDs.