DEAR SIR, > > I SEEM TO BE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH TELLING METASTOCK TO CLOSE A POSITION 3 > DAYS LATER ESPECIALLY WHEN THE FORMULAS IS TRUE SEVERAL DAYS IN A ROW. > > FOR EXAMPLE:ON A CHANNEL BREAKOUT SYSTEM IF THE FORMULA:BUY > H>REF(HHV(H,10),-1) .NOW I TRY TELLING IT TO SELL 3 DAYS LATER: > BARSSINCE(H>REF(HHV(H,10),-1))=3 .IT HAS NO PROBLEM WITH THIS FORMULA BUT IF THE > FIRST FORMULA :H>REF(HHV(H,10),-1) IS TRUE SEVERAL DAYS IN A ROW IT DOESNT KNOW TO > START FROM THE FIRST OCCURANCE WHERE THE BUY WAS TRUE.HOW DO I REFER BACK TO THE > FIRST OCCURANCE SINCE THIS IS WHERE IM GETTING IN ON THE FIRST BREAKOUT NOT ON THE > CONSECUTIVE ONES. > THANK YOU IN ADVANCE AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED FURTHER INPUT

THANKS PATRICK, I WOULD STILL GET THE SAME CONDITION .FOR EXAMPLE IF THE CONDITION IS TRUE THREE DAYS IN A ROW,WHERE TODAYS HIGH TAKES OUT THE HIGH FROM 10 DAYS AGO AND TOMORROW WE GET A NEW HIGH THAT TAKES THE PREVIOUS TEN DAY HIGH AND THE FOLLOWING DAY AFTER TOMORROW WE GET ANOTHER HIGH METASTOCK WOULD GET YOU IN ON A BUY WITH THE FIRST OCCURANCE.BUT IT WOULDNT KNOW TO GET YOU OUT 3 DAYS LATER BECAUSE IT WAS TRUE 3 DAYS IN A ROW SO YOU WOULD WIND UP GETTING OUT THE LAST DAY THE STATEMENT WAS TRUE PLUS THREE DAYS WICH WOULD PUT YOU 6 DAYS AWAY. FOR SOME REASON I'M GETTING MORE CONVINCE THAT METASTOCK IS LACKING ON THIS CAPABILITY.UNLESS THERES A WAY OF DOING IT THAT I'M NOT AWARE OF..SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!

Patrick, Thanks for the reply ,I really appreciate it and sorry for the cap lock I have not tried the formula because it looked like one of the many that I had tried;I've been beating my brains over this for weeks. I will try it anew and see if I get the results that I want. The formula I'm using for buys: H>REF(HHV(H,10),-1) .Now I try telling it to sell 3 days later for sells: BARSSINCE(H>REF(HHV(H,10),-1))=3 .after running the test ask for it to be plotted on a chart and you will see that its not following the system to sell after three days if it makes consecutive bars high.

SportRider, below is your MS code solution - but only if you promise never to touch the Caps Lock again, ever... ;) [code:1:65e4ee6675] { LongEntry-related timed exit } { ©Copyright 2004~2005 Jose Silva For personal use only. http://www.metastocktools.com } { User inputs } exitPds:=Input("Exit trade at x periods", 1,2600,3); delay:=Input("Entry and Exit delay",0,5,0); { Sample entry conditions } In:=H>Ref(HHV(H,10),-1); { Entry-related exit latch } latch:=If(PREV>0, If(BarsSince(PREV<=0)<exitPds,1,-1),In); { Clean Entry & Exit signals } entry:=latch=1 AND Alert(latch<1,2); exit:=latch=-1; { Plot signals in own window } 0;Ref(entry-exit,-delay) [/code:1:65e4ee6675] jose '-)