THETECHTRADER.COM
The first question that may go through your head when you visit The Technical Trader homepage is, "Just who is Harry?" The name "Harry Boxer" will probably not ring a bell, but he has had more than 30 years' experience in technical analysis. Based on this foundation, Boxer has created a website where subscribers can watch him trade in real time for $5 a day after the 15-day trial period. You need to provide a credit card number to take advantage of the trial period. The focus of the site is Boxer's insights into the market and the stocks he trades throughout the trading day.
Those who subscribe to the service receive a web-based trading diary with updated alerts on various significant news items, as well as the trades placed by Boxer. An example of what you can expect can be seen in Figure 1. You also have the option of downloading a Windows-based, instant messenger-style window on your desktop where entries are displayed in real time. And if you can't use the Windows-based alert feature, you have the option of using the Java-based one. In addition to the alerts, you receive Boxer's daily and year-to-date returns.
FIGURE 1: TRADING DIARY. Information on all trades entered and exited is provided in real time, along with significant market news.
A section titled "Harry's Top Charts & Picks of the Week" contains some nice features. The charts of the week component provides charts of three to four stocks with the potential to be attractive plays. The analyses of the charts are also displayed, along with the price charts and indicators. Then there's the list of the 25 stocks that display the most bullish technical patterns. There is also a list of stocks that are good short candidates. These bullish and bearish stocks are selected based on a proprietary indicator, so it's not possible to do any type of testing.
All subscribers can participate in the weekly chat with Boxer. You also have access to closing market analysis and forecasts. In addition, several links to sites that may be of interest to traders are provided on the homepage.
TheTechTrader.com homepage
As I've always said, trading based on a system that's created by someone else can be tricky. So before you blindly start following someone's method, do your homework. Take a look at the recommendations, test them, and see if you are comfortable with them before making that first trade. And always use sound risk management to minimize your losses.
-Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan,
STOCKS & COMMODITIES Editor
3DStockCharts.com
At a time when the electronic communications networks (or ECNs) industry seems to be in the midst of rapid consolidation, the arrival of 3DStockCharts.com makes perfect sense. 3DStockCharts.com provides both two- and three-dimensional charts and other market data in graphic form for the integrated order books of two recently consolidated ECNs: Island (which was acquired by Instinet) and ARCA (or Archipelago, which merged with the REDIBOOK ECN in 2001). If, as some have suggested, the consolidation of the ECN industry was inevitable, perhaps it was equally inevitable that an organization would develop the tools and the technology to pursue the vision of what former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Arthur Levitt is said to have believed was the ultimate goal for electronic communications networks: a completely integrated network for real-time ECN trading.
3DStockCharts is the organization most aggressively pursuing this goal. Setting itself up as an "ECN market center," 3DStockCharts takes advantage of the revolution in graphics technology to specialize in two- and three-dimensional charts of ECN trading activity, including graphic data of bid/offer sizes and trade times and sizes. For those who found their eyes crossing on first exposure to a Level II screen, the first glimpse of 3DStockCharts will likely bring back more than a few awkward memories. Nevertheless, like Level II screens, the two- and three-dimensional data displayed in 3DStockCharts is in some ways surprisingly straightforward.
BY THE BOOK
There are five main modules within 3DStockCharts. There is the Book view module, which actually consists of both a Full Book and Top of Book option. Simply enter the stock symbol, press "Full Book," and the 3D bar chart pops up. The three-dimensionality of the bar charts is expressed through an x-axis representing price, a y-axis representing volume or the number of shares, and a z-axis representing time. Green bars signify buy orders and red bars signify sell orders, with the most recent trade in white. The bar chart itself can be manipulated for zoom effects; you can pan to specific parts of the bar chart, or rotate the chart to a new perspective. Two-dimensional displays are also available in the View pulldown menu at the top of the bar chart area.
Within the Full Book and Top of Book view modules are six tabs that provide additional information on the selected stock. The first is the bar chart tab just mentioned. The second tab, "Book," displays the 15 highest bid limit orders and 15 lowest ask limit orders on the various ECN books (Instinet, Island, ARCA, REDIBOOK, and Brut). The Spread tab shows the best bid and ask prices, the width of the spread, and the depth of the limit orders outside the spread. Again, buy orders are green bars and sell orders are red, with totals represented by the length of the respective bars. The fourth tab, Line, is a streaming intraday line chart of trading in the selected stock, and the sixth tab, Totals, shows the activity of each of the various ECNs in tabular form. The newest addition to 3DStockCharts is the fifth tab, Pressure, which is a proprietary "buying and selling pressure indicator" (see Figure 1) that helps traders gauge both momentum and the likelihood of momentum shifts.
FIGURE 1: BAR CHARTS. 3DStockCharts' bar charts can be resized, zoomed, panned, and rotated.
QUOTES AND NOTES
The other modules of 3DStockCharts provide such information as bid and ask quotes from the ECNs that are a part of the 3DStockCharts package (see Figure 2). The Get Quote module features an intraday line chart and a table listing bid and ask sizes, and the price, time, and size of the most recent trade for the selected stock. The ECN Totals module provides total orders, shares booked, and traded information for each participating ECN, as well as total dollars traded. This module also lists data on current open orders and shares. The Get Quote and ECN Totals modules are not updated automatically, though the ECN Totals module does feature a Last Update line to keep traders from operating on old information.
FIGURE 2: GET QUOTE. 3DStockCharts' Get Quote module features an intraday line chart as well as quotes from various ecns.
The Most Active module currently configured gives the trader information on the six most active stocks on the Integrated Island/ARCA ECNs, as well as most active, biggest gainers, biggest losers, and biggest movers data from Instinet. The Integrated Island/Arca display of the six most active stocks is in minibar chart form, while Instinet's data is presented in a set of easy-to-read tables. The last module is a watchlist that is still in development as of this writing. Upon completion, the watchlist module will allow traders to make and maintain a streaming list of last trades and the best bid/ask prices. There are additional plans for customizable lists, as well as portfolio tracking.
BOOK 'EM
3DStockCharts recently announced that it would become a subscription-based site at a price of $9.95 a month. Given the amount of data 3DStockCharts provides - to say nothing of the economic realities of dotcom businesses in the 21st century - this should surprise no one. For those who are trading stocks on an intraday basis and looking to get the most competitive bid and ask prices, $10 every 30 days is a small price to pay for 3DStockCharts' graphic display of that information. In addition to the modules mentioned, 3DStockCharts features a set of resource links that provide access to each of the participating ECNs (as well as a few others, such as Attain, NexTrade, and Market XT). They also provide access to charts from ClearStation, trading chatrooms at Raging Bull, Yahoo!, and StockHouse, fundamental financial information from sites such as Zacks and Quicken.com, and filing information from Edgar.
Much has been made of the demise of the daytrader in the years since the stock markets topped in 2000. While it is undoubtably true that the bear market has taken more than its share of would-be intraday mercenaries deep into the forest for the mauling of their financial lives, it is also undoubtably true that the markets have provided opportunities for a new breed of technically savvy yet fundamentally sound intraday trader. After all, if the bursting of the market bubble meant that somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 trillion was lost, then that money had to go somewhere. Is it too hard to imagine more than a few intraday traders during this period - armed with breakthrough technology in market data analysis and presentation such as what 3DStockCharts provides - taking more than a little slice of that $8 trillion for themselves?
- David Penn is a Staff Writer for STOCKS & COMMODITIES.
Originally published in the November 2002 issue of Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2002, Technical Analysis, Inc.