Hi all, I’m a new user and this is my first post and would appreciate some help pointing me in the right direction as I think I must be missing the point! I am loving the fact that I will be able to code up my own indicators but grasping the fundamentals is proving difficult for me. I have read the manual (well most of it), I have watched loads of videos but I am sure that I am missing a step/point somewhere along the way....

Ignoring the various charting tools for a moment, within MS I have Experts, Explorers and Systems. I can use systems to test returns (points or $) on a range of stocks using a range of systems. I can use Explorers to investigate stocks that may be currently triggering a buy or sell signal using a variety of trading systems. I can add experts to my charts to highlight when buy or sell signals are triggered on my charts, on an ongoing basis (as the data is updated either EOD or in RT).

1) I tested EOD (over the last 6 months) SPY data on the Enhanced system tester using all systems and it said that “Equis – CCI +100/-100 Crossover” would yield the highest profit. I can plot this on my chart and it shows me historical buy and sell points. As I understand it, the system tester offers me backtesting capabilities but moving forward (so that buy and sell signals are displayed on a moving forward basis) I need to add an expert to my chart. So I go to the Expert window and the “Equis – CCI +100/-100 Crossover” does not exist. So I choose the “PS CCI (commodity channel index)” as it is the closest that I can spot but this gives me completely different results. This happens quite regularly in that when I use the system tester. I then can’t find the equivalent expert to use on an ongoing basis? Can anyone set me straight?

2) I test another stock (using longer historical data) and it tells me that “Equis – Stochastic 20/80 w/optimization” would yield the best results and that the optimization should be 5 and 75 (for instance). However, the closest expert to this that I can find is the “Equis - Stochastic Oscillator”. So, I attach the expert to the chart and by default it shows me different signals. I look into the expert and realise that I can change various parameters that highlight the buy/sell signals. Within the “Highlights” tab the overbought/oversold triggers are set to 80 and and 20, so this fits with the system tester. But in the “Symbols” tab when I look at the condition that triggers a buy signal it is using Cross(Stoch(5,3),20) AND
C>Mov(C,200,E). So, I guess that I need to change it to Cross(Stoch(5,75),20) AND C>Mov(C,200,E) so that it follows the system. Is this the right way to work with Metastock?


As I am only starting out with this software, I am sure that I am missing something fundamental in my attempts to use it and I would really appreciate some help in answering the above and setting me straight when it comes to using what looks to be a very useful tool...it’s just quite a steep learning curve!

Many thanks,
Pelham