Metastock 9.0 Bugs

[thehoop1]

Metastock 9.0 Pro Bugs (Real-time)

I've been using Metastock for years and recently got the latest version 9.0 Pro. I moved up from 7.02 and really enjoy how it runs on Windows XP. I here that 8.0 was designed for XP but I skipped that version.

There are a few things that I'm really disappointed in though and it shocks me that these bugs made it through testing if there was any testing at all!

Here are the bugs I've found so far.

1. The volume on stock daily bars is screwed up. When you initially call up a stock it will read the correct volume. If you go to another stock and then back to the previous stock the volume will double. Each time you do this the correct volume will be added to the last bar volume. So if you did this really fast 5 times and the initial volume was 100,000, on the 5th time the volume would be showing approx. 600,000. I use volume in my decisions and so I have to look at ESignal instead of Metastock to see the correct volume.

2. On some stocks the previous day's open and high/low data will show on the current day's bar. So if today's bar is actually an inside bar it won't show that way in Metastock. This affects indicators which of course produces false signals. It's strange that it only affects "some" stocks.

3. Going from a daily stock chart to a weekly or monthly causes a low memory message. This is during real-time data collection. I've got a 3.0gHz Pentium 4 with 1 Gig of RAM so it's not the computer's fault. I've never got this message on a daily chart.

I'm trading in the US but I'd imagine you get the same Metastock software as I get. I've told Equis about these problems and they said that it will take a whole new different version (not a patch) to fix these problems. What BS!!! Like I said before, did ANYONE at Equis test 9.0?!!!

Another thing that chaps my butt is Reuters datalink. When I use the downloader it seems that 15-20% of their symbol database contains stocks that aren't traded anymore. Instead of them deleting these stocks, they make the customer do it.

The positive for me with 9.0 is that it taxes my harddrive a lot less than 7.02 did. But the negatives are so basic to any trading software that I think Equis really dropped the ball. I don't really care about new "plug-ins" or whatever they're hyping, I use my own indicators. It's when basic things like data collection and volume don't work that makes me wonder about the future of Equis.

Has anyone else seen these problems?

 

[1kyle]

Hello -- So far I've been impressed with MY copy of version 9.

Problem 1 -- haven't been able to re-create -- makes no difference whether I append the 2nd stock to the ist chart or have totally separate charts.

problem 2 -- haven't encountered either.

problem 3 -- I don't have the RAM problem and actually have an older computer than yours -- 1GB Pentium IV 2.02GHZ Advent machine -- although I've got 4 X 250 GB fastish disks -- Disks moved off the motherboard on to an Ultra Promise controller which windows thinks is a SCSI controller -- although it's not.

I'm running Windows XP Pro and have appled the latest updates and service packs.

I'm not using Reuters data. For the UK I'm using Citifeed Prestel and for the US I'm using Yahoo with a downloader. see http://www.hquotes.com

I tested again the volume problem with 3 UK stocks using the prestel EOD data and tried again with the YAHOO UK data for the same 3 shares -- no problems.

Note that I'm not doing any real time work -- I'm using the EOD version as I'm not a full time trader and can only trade after my normal day job.

My version of Metastock 9 was the upgrade obtained in the UK from

http://www.paritech.co.uk

maybe you got an "earlier" build than mine or there's something in your data -- but so far I can't reproduce your problems.

 

[thehoop1]

1kyle, thanks for the info. I'm using 9.0 Pro which is the real-time version and all the problems I stated are actually during real-time data collection. When I review the EOD data at night the program is fine.

As far as the "low memory" message it comes up after the weekly or monthly data is on the chart for about 30 seconds to 2 minutes. But I've had the performance window up on Windows XP Home and have not seen any unusual spike in RAM usage when the weekly/monthly data is loaded. I believe now that when the "low memory" message comes up, once it's acknowledged it doesn't seem to affect the computer. So it's probably just a glitch but it's still annoying.

Another thing about Metastock Real-time that I wish would be fixed is the ability of weekly and monthly bars to be updated in real-time. Since I look at weekly bars to trade daily bars it would be nice to see my weekly indicators change in real-time. When weekly data is shown on a real-time chart it only shows data up to yesterday's data. Maybe someday that'll change.

Thanks again and good trading.

 

[TheBramble]

TH - the weekly bar can only be completed with the last trade (closing trade) of the week.

Whatever time frame you're using - you need that 'period' to complete for the bar to be calculated.

 

[thehoop1]

Bramble - thanks for the input. I guess my first question would be to ask if you're using the "Pro" version of Metastock which is real-time? Like I stated in the first sentence of my first post, I'm using the "Pro" version which is real-time.

I like to compare apples to apples but it might be hard since I'm using Esignal as my real-time data feed and I'm not sure of yours or even if you're using real-time data. But I'd like to go over both real-time and EOD data collection as I've experienced it. I've been using Metastock for approximately 8 years .

I'll talk about real-time data collection first. Bramble you said

Whatever time frame you're using - you need that 'period' to complete for the bar to be calculated.

If that's true then you could never get real-time data. Let me explain. If I have a daily bar on a chart that’s in real-time, the “close” is the last price that stock traded at and it moves according to each last price during the day. Even though it’s a daily bar and it’s not “complete” yet it still is a fluid bar. Also my indicators will move in real-time depending what they’re based on (close, high, low, etc). Now if I move down to a 60-minute bar the same thing will happen even though the 60-minute bar is not “complete” yet.

Now let’s say I’m using a 60-minute bar and want to go up to a daily bar. Remember each bar is not yet “complete” but yet it still allows me to view a daily bar in real-time. But if I want to move up to a weekly bar it will not display real-time data and yes the weekly bar is not “complete” but neither were the daily or 60-minute bars. When I have a weekly bar on the chart during normal trading hours the bar is static and it only shows up until the previous day's data.

For some reason I think that Metastock or Esignal doesn’t allow weekly or higher bars to be displayed in real-time or in other words be fluid bars.

As for EOD data, let’s say it’s Thursday night and I’ve just downloaded my EOD data for Thursday using Reuters. If I look at a weekly bar, the bar is going to show data from Mon-Thurs even though it’s not “complete”. My indicators are still being calculated by this “incomplete” bar even though it won’t be “complete” until Friday’s data is collected.

So in conclusion, I’m a little confused about your statements Bramble. But if the way I interpret them is correct, there could never be any real-time data according to you. Since the bar would have to be “complete” before being calculated. Obviously, this isn’t the case since there are real-time programs available hence the phrase “real-time”.

Hoop

 

[DaveJB]

I think that was just a misunderstanding - the final bar on a chart is going to show, as Hoop says, the story so far.
I get esignal RT and am calculating the P&F as explained - you get an update event, go collect the bar, and the final bar is gradually built up until the end of the time period when it 'sets' in concrete (so to speak) and a new bar begins to fill out.
Problems aren't, as has been surmised, in the EoD version.

 

[dilmun99]

My experience of MS 8 and now 9 over the last year is as follows:

Charting , indicators - excellent.
Explorer - stock searches and filtering - great for technical analysis filters, but do your fundamental scans elsewhere
Optionscope - rudimentary - don't know why they include it
System testing - very iffy. Lots of wierd, unexpected effects mean that fills often don't happen in ways you expect (e.g. if you use the "realistic pricing" setiing you won't get a fill if market opens higher than yesterday's close). Lots of man-hours to get reliable results.
Help - manual clumsy, lots of undocumented features. But phone and email tech support very responsive.

It's a mixed bag - particularly a problem if you want to do serious system testing. There are lots of helpful workarounds on the Yahoo groups for metastock, but you'll find its anything but a turnkey solution. What system tester has no easy way to reference the entry price for your current position?

All in all, it's powerful tool, but much fewer 3rd party resources than something like Tradestation. But who has that much money?

 

[TheBramble]

Thanks for the analysis.

Are these comments for the EOD or the Pro version - or both?

I used the EOD for many years (up to V7) and found it the easiest charting package for indicator design and analysis.

It doesn't seem to have much of a user base among full-time traders.

 

[Uncle]

I really dont know what the gripe is as to E O D charts not filling on a minute by minute basis. Metastock Pro is programmed to follow intraday and E O D which means quite clearly END OF DAY!!!!

I despair at times with what some people expect from a proprietry programme at a reasonable cost.

Yes I am a Metastock user of long standing, but I dont expect it to make the decisions for me - that is down to ME!!!

John

 

[dilmun99]

Thanks for the analysis.

Are these comments for the EOD or the Pro version - or both?

I used the EOD for many years (up to V7) and found it the easiest charting package for indicator design and analysis.

It doesn't seem to have much of a user base among full-time traders.

I use EOD, but I suspect many of the points are aplicable to both.. If you used version 7, be aware that many of the problems in the system tester appeared in version 8.0 - the biggest issue is the effect of the broker module, which was a failed attempt to make the software more "realistic". Like no fractional shares, so if you want to do a test on something with a big nominal value (e.g. the Dow) you need equity of $100mm to avoid distortions!

The professional user base seems to be more analysts than traders (my unscientific obervation) although there is a retail base in the US who use it as a plug & play trade generator ("let's see which built in systems that I don't understand worked well for this stock in the past, so I can use it in the future..")

 

[zambuck]

I really dont know what the gripe is as to E O D charts not filling on a minute by minute basis. Metastock Pro is programmed to follow intraday and E O D which means quite clearly END OF DAY!!!!

I despair at times with what some people expect from a proprietry programme at a reasonable cost.

Yes I am a Metastock user of long standing, but I dont expect it to make the decisions for me - that is down to ME!!!

John

...indeed agree......

 

[thehoop1]

(dlimun99, this is not directed at you, thanks for your input)

WOW! This is pretty comical! Was I talking about Metastock Pro or Metastock EOD? Could everyone PLEASE reread the first line or two of each of my 3 previous posts? Or maybe people don't read posts anymore, they just want to respond haphazardly and make themselves look foolish? Some posters have really cornered the "fool" market!

Now for the 4th time, I'm talking about the Pro version and yes that stands for Professional. Pro means REAL-TIME!!! If you're talking about EOD then start your own EOD thread!!! And if you've never had the real-time version then you have absolutely NO idea what I'm talking about.

What blows my mind is when things are written in PLAIN English and people still misinterpret them. If you have trouble understanding English then I can only imagine how bad you "read" a chart. Buy, no wait, I meant sell!

 

[TheBramble]

You may well find that future support for your questions gets less than a vibrant response.

But given you feel the quality has been so poor, perhaps that's no bad thing.

 

[gcb01]

Real-time data problems

I run v 9.0 professional with e-signal for data..

I have been getting massive data spikes on running the system tester. e.g. a low of $1.57 on MCD against the typical price of around $29. This is despite clearing the cache prior to running the test.
The period I was testing with the system tester was 4383 5 Minute Bars 24/02/2005 14:40 through 16/05/2005 21:00. So if the system being tested is unchanged then each test should return identical results. Not so.

Also the problem does not occur on every run. When it does occur it affects different stocks.

Symbols it occurred with included MCD, MLNM, MDT.

Spikes are found by viewing results of tests and finding enormous gains/losses in equity in a very short time. "Plot on chart" shows numerous huge spikes (not at opening time). These are also shown on the Positions tab.

The effect of this is that every test requires wading through all the results (for each stock) to identify those with “suspicious” results and then checking each of these stock’s detailed positions. This is hugely time-consuming.

Equis have advised on how to clear the problem. As a follow I have asked them
a) how to prevent it occurring.
b) An easy way (non-manual) of identifying when it has/is happening. (it is very obvious in a chart but in a system test or exploration, it is often only uncovered on delving into the data).

These questions were asked 24/5 and as of today I have not had any form of response despite a reminder.

Has anyone else had a similar problem?

 

[Trdr]

Thehoop1, a workaround for an updated Weekly chart is to create an ASCII file of the Weekly data, create a chart from the data and update it as and when. Unfortunately if you're following many stocks etc then there's a lot of manual data entry that has to be done.

 

[gcb01]

Thehoop1, a workaround for an updated Weekly chart is to create an ASCII file of the Weekly data, create a chart from the data and update it as and when. Unfortunately if you're following many stocks etc then there's a lot of manual data entry that has to be done.

Thanks Trdr

With the number of stocks I want to cover and at intraday level, manualy checking even the system tester output is far too time-consuming.

There seem to be two very fundamental problems:
1. the data goes wonky sometimes.
2. the system does't know/can't warn you when the data has gone wonky.

If this is indeed the case, it renders the package largely useless for intradday data.