aztrix wrote:Nevermind, I just answered my own question ...
cheers
aztrix
Hi Az, [:)]
See? MS forum has a magic power: you can ask a question and then reply to it to yourself 10 minutes later ... [:)][:D]
aztrix wrote:Please feel free to correct/educate me if I'm wrong, I'm still learning.
With regards to your request, here are a few thoughts:
Metastock formula primer (MFP) has not been updated since 2002 and is still not corrected at the present.
You must also know that many ideas could be encoded in several ways. 2 comes from 1+1, but it also comes from 3-1, 6:3 or 2x1. A code that is opaque to some folks, is clear to others.
MFP is more for learning and less for copying & pasting formulas in Metastock for real trading.
Just do some paper trading for 3-6 months with any new code in parallel to your actual trading with your previously well-understood concepts.
One has to play quite a bit with MFP & MS software to get the hang of programming.
To delay or completely avoid programming nightmares, just do Point & Figure, Kagi, Renko, 3-line Break or buy trustworthy ready-made mechanical trading system(s). Amateur private traders suffer from overdoing things or getting into study areas reserved for full-time money managers. Programming is just one of such BIG temptations.
Remember: you trade for profits, not for writing codes.
HappySingh's posts show that a beginner to programming sees mistakes which people calling themselves "pros" in these forums did not see.
If you lose money because of faulty code from cowboy programmers here in MS forum, what recourse do you have?
The solution is to set some money aside, and hire a professional firm or MS staff to write the code for you.
How do I know all this? I myself started a thread asking a question and got a zombie indicator (one that shows some numbers but in fact means other numbers) along with nasty attitudes.
A zombie indicator is worse than Zigzag which re-desings itself in the past.
When the programming bug bites you, as the non-programmer you are, just go quickly back to moving averages or you'll waste a lot of time for doubtful results. If you can't make profits using MAs, what demon in your head makes you believe that you will be rich using complicated formulas, secret methods, sophisticated software or advanced programming language?
Here is some food for thought: nobody makes any money in the markets simply because Mother Nature has not hardwired anybody to be a money magnet. The markets collect dollars from many speculators to give them all to a few chosen ones, based on mysterious criteria, but not based on your computer, charting software, indicators, broker, trading platform, Internet service provider, age, experience or on how handsome you are.
You do not trade the markets; you trade your beliefs about the markets (Van K. Tharp). You do not take profits out of the markets, you just get the profits from the markets.
If somebody had the real power to make money, why does he not take US$7.48M out of Microsoft stock this week, go on a long vacation and come back when he needs another lump sum of cash? [;)]
PS: by the way, I wonder how HappySingh is doing. Is he happy? [;)]