or return to March 2000 Contents
 FYI -- Online futures brokerage NetFutures.com is offering one month of free paper-trading to new customers. Paper-trading through NetFutures.com is similar to real trading, except that no money changes hands. You'll receive simulated fill orders after every trade. You can paper-trade any US commodity on any exchange in the US in real time.
Paper-trading allows new traders to get a feel for trading commodities and pick up valuable trading experience before investing any money. Experienced traders get the chance to try out new strategies and technical theories in real time to see if they'll work. To claim your free month of paper-trading, visit www.netfutures.com. Click on their paper-trading line, or request a free copy of the new "Ultimate Traders' Toolbox" CD-ROM, which includes point-and-click Internet hyperlinks to NetFutures.com's paper-trading site. NetFutures.comÕs Website also gives you access to free price quotes, charts, reports, research, and more. You can also reach NetFutures.com by calling 888 USA-MORE (872-6673), ext. 80, for a copy of the free "Online Trading Starter Kit." NetFutures.com, an online commodity trading firm, is the sister company of Futures Discount Group, a full-service brokerage founded in 1979. While paper-trading with NetFutures.com is free for the first month, you can enter real trades for a flat fee of $9.99 each way. You also get a five-trade commission-back guarantee and free telephone backup and support, which is especially valuable if your Internet provider or your computer crashes. |
| UPGRADE -- Trendsetter Software has released Personal Analyst version 4, an all-new version of its end-of-day program. The new version offers greater speed, compatibility, and ease of use. Here's a rundown of new features: unlimited windows; new one-click buttons (zoom, list, calculator); a new compare chart feature (view one to four securities on a percentage change basis over a selected period); extensive customizability (change chart appearance, draw unlimited trendlines, change smoothing period); semi-log chart scaling; technical screening (sort by symbol, security name, security type, sector, date updated, candle pattern, or last saved; rank by net change, % change, year-to-date high, low and range, most active, open interest, % change volume, average volume, volume/average volume, stochastics, RSI, TSI, ADX, ROC, MACD, CCI, TMI, %R, TRIX, true range, volatility, regression and statistical rank); master analysis summaries (including top 10 gainers, top 10 losers, and volume leaders); MarketView charts with customizable studies; a new Black-Scholes options calculator; enhanced program functionality; and additional documentation.
The upgrade price for registered users is $89. The price for new users is $349, which ships on a CD with historical data on stocks, mutual funds, futures, and indices, along with the manual in PDF format. Trendsetter develops and markets five financial trading products, from basic ($129) to advanced ($695). This permits an upgrade path for traders who desire to move from overnight to 15-minute delay to real-time trading. Programs are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. 2024 N. Broadway, Suite 310 |
| UPGRADE -- FutureSource/Bridge offers version 2.0 of Professional, its technical analysis and charting software. Traders can use Professional to create custom workspaces that display and analyze real-time prices and news for the futures and options markets. The built-in advanced charting and technical tools allow users to design studies, analyze trends, set limits, trigger alerts, and create subgraphs, overlays, and studies on studies.
Professional's interface is designed to be easy to use with drag & drop techniques for displaying futures contracts in price pages, charts, and studies. Frequently used contract symbols are organized and stored in a Fast Look Navigator. Symbols can be organized by market, type, exchange, or in any logical arrangement. User-definable audible and visual alert functions can also be set to trigger on limit, trendline, time, indicator, or intersection. Professional gives you workspace flexibility. An unlimited number of workspaces each containing 36 unique pages of information can be created and stored on a single PC. Each of the 36 pages within a workspace can consist of an unlimited number of price pages, charts, and news windows in any combination. Traders sharing a PC can each have their own unique customized workspaces and can switch from one to the other quickly without disrupting the information in the other's workspace. Professional provides complete coverage of tick, intraday, daily, weekly, monthly, perpetual, and continuation charts, and it displays data in line, bar, candlestick, point & figure, and histogram chart styles. 955 Parkview Blvd. |
| ONLINE TRADERS CONVENTION
The Online Traders World Expo will take place in Oakland, CA, on March 24-26, 2000. Investors interested in online trading can attend and learn the tricks of the trade from leaders in the online trading industry. Online Traders World Expo is a three-day, comprehensive training conference and consumer show. The Expo will feature a "Trader's College of Knowledge," which is a series of seminars specially designed to meet the needs of individual investors with varying levels of trading knowledge, from novice to expert. Courses in this curriculum are designed in three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced, and seminars are designed to allow each attendee to learn at their own level. More than 30 experts, including David Nassar, author of How To Get Started In Electronic Daytrading, and Harvey Houtkin, known as the "father of electronic trading," have joined the Trader's College of Knowledge faculty. Sponsors of Online Traders World Expo include CyberCorp, eSignal, F1Trading.com, On-Site Trading, Inc., Online Investor Magazine, ON24, and others. In addition, a special Level II Trading Seminar & Workshop will take place on March 24 from 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., timed to coincide with the hours of the US stock exchanges. Using a live Level II datafeed, registered participants will be trained in a variety of areas, including those needed to use the order-routing systems and understand the mechanics of daytrading. Topics of the Level II Trading Seminar & Workshop include how the different exchanges work; specialists vs. the marketmaker system; the SOES (Small Order Execution System); how to use ECNs and why; the SelectNet marketmakers system; and the function and methods of marketmakers. Advance registration is suggested for the Trader's College of Knowledge seminar series and required for the Level II Trading Seminar & Workshop. Register online at https://www.onlinetradersworldexpo.com or by telephone at 800 368-1079. No advance registration is required to visit the exhibition hall only, but discount admission tickets are available at www.onlinetradersworldexpo.com or by telephone at 800 368-1079. For information on exhibiting: info@onlinetradersworldexpo.com, 800 610-2629, or fax 800 493-4925 |
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FREE GRAPHICS PLUS SOFTWARE UPDATES
Intermountain Technical Services has updated and enhanced its Graphics Plus technical analysis software to be Y2K compliant. Free updates may be downloaded from Intermountain's Website at https://www.intermountaintech.com. Updates are available both for the free version of Graphics Plus shipped to STOCKS & COMMODITIES subscribers and the commercial version sold online directly by Intermountain. The upgrade addresses data formats and allows dates into the next several centuries. In addition, more than 255 datafiles can now be stored per directory. Read all about the new features and program changes in the new release of Graphics Plus at https://www.intermountaintech.com/update.html. PO Box 6062 |
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MARTIN PRING WEBSITE AND CD
Martin Pring -- market technician, author, and founder of the International Institute for Economic Research (IIER) -- offers a new Website and a new CD-ROM titled The Technician's Guide To Day Trading. The four-hour audiovisual CD-ROM course, intended for the beginning and intermediate trader, offers a complete guide on how charts can be used for more profitable day trading. Visit https://www.pring.com and peruse the new site for more information. As an enticement to visit, the company is offering that if you are the first to report (via E-mail) a valid, broken link, they'll send you a free CD of your choice. https://www.pring.com |
| TECHNICAL ANALYSIS CHARTING SYSTEM
FIS has released Genesis 4.0, a technical analysis charting system for Windows 95/98/NT/2000 providing a complete set of models and charting features, with real-time feed support and automatic chart updates for non real-time data (such as from a database or file). It also offers spreadsheet-like capabilities, built-in SQL query builder, fully customizable charts and layouts, and no restrictions on data sources or number of instruments that can be analyzed simultaneously. Data can be imported from real-time datafeeds (such as Reuters), from any Windows-based application that supports DDE (such as Excel), from any database that supports ODBC (such as SQL Server and MS-Access), or from any ASCII text file. Genesis allows data to be manually corrected and offers automatic data filtering. Data on the spreadsheet corresponding to a chart scrolls as the user moves the mouse over the chart, allowing erroneous prices to be detected and edited graphically. Genesis incorporates the most widely used charting tools, from moving averages to Fibonacci levels, and users can use applications such as Excel to massage data, produce their own models, and feed the results back to Genesis. Genesis has also been ported to Windows CE for handheld PCs. Pocket Genesis is valuable for charting any data, not just financial. The introductory price for Genesis 4.0 is US$75. Fully working evaluation copies can be downloaded and registered copies ordered online at https://www.fis-group.com/fisdwnld.htm. 28 Drakes Drive |
| CONSUMER INFORMATION
The Consumer Information Catalog issued by the Consumer Information Center offers many booklet titles for consumers ranging from how to buy a used car to tips for childproofing your home to planning your estate. Most titles are free (plus a flat $2 service charge) or a few dollars apiece. Consumer Information Center |
| STATISTICAL TOOL FOR INVESTORS
Excel spreadsheet users can perform analysis using an automated function wizard developed by the National Algorithms Group (NAG). These low-cost add-ins for Excel provide even the less-experienced users with tools for statistical analysis. Because the add-ins are functions rather than macros, users' results are automatically updated when the data is revised. This makes them ideal for answering "What if?" questions. It also allows one team member to build form-based applications for less-experienced users. These add-ins are composed of more than 50 statistical algorithms from some of the most rigorously tested and documented numerical libraries. You'll find a downloadable demo at: https://extweb.nag.com/stats/ae/ae.html. 1454 West Glenlake |
| STUDY ON ONLINE BROKERS
A study by J.D. Powers and Associates shows that many online brokerage firms focus their attention on investors with $100K+ portfolios, which represents about 20% of all online investors. The study shows that online brokers may not be effectively targeting investors with assets between $50,000 and $99,000 -- a group that is increasing their holdings three times faster than investors with $100K+ assets. Investors with assets between $50,000 and $99,000 are also the most dissatisfied with their online brokerage firms. 30401 Agoura Road, Suite 200 |
| NEW SHAREWARE FOR OPTIONS PRICING
The Applied Research Company Co. has released OptionBook 1.0, an Excel 97 template for pricing options. This program is designed to simplify the option valuation process and help users understand how option prices fluctuate. This easy-to-use and inexpensive spreadsheet includes features usually found only in complex, expensive programs. It lets users value stock, index, futures, and cash options, and calculate implied volatility. Because of OptionBook's simple design, users can download, install, and start using this software within minutes. 55 West Jackson Blvd., Suite 337 |
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FREE BOOK ON OPTIONS TRADING
Michael Burke, trading veteran and product manager for Omega Research's OptionStation, has written a 123-page book, Getting Started Trading Options. Topics range from the basics to the more complex aspects of options trading. The book provides definitions and strategies and shows how to take advantage of the benefits available only in the options markets. Charts and graphs map out dozens of option strategies. 8700 West Flagler Street, Suite 250 |
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HOME-STUDY OPTIONS COURSE
Schaeffer's Investment Research offers a home-study course designed to teach options trading to stock and mutual fund investors. The course teaches options through a multimedia curriculum set forth in a 300-page workbook. The course is based on nearly 20 years of trading and market analysis experience. The workbook is complemented by a videotape and two audiotapes featuring discussion and ideas from Bernie Schaeffer. The course also includes a CD-ROM featuring SIR's Option Pricing calculator software. 1259 Kemper Meadow Dr. |
