the Trade-Radar + TradingStockAlerts blog

Some of our data sources changed again and it impacted our ability to load fundamental/financial data. In response, we are rolling out a new version of the software: 7.1.24 The data sourcing issues are fixed and some dead links in the Chart menu were removed. So whether you are a registered user or someone engaged in the free trial, head over to our update page and download the latest version. The update page is here:   https://tradingstockalerts.com/software/downloadpatch Contact us if you have questions or identify any new issues.

You may know that Trade-Radar Stock Inspector uses financial data from Yahoo! Well, just this past weekend Yahoo! started having an intermittent problem transmitting some of the data that our software uses. You've probably noticed the effect: Stock Inspector just quits, blows up, goes away... Download the fix right away! We've built in a way to get around this problem and the new version of Trade-Radar Stock Inspector is now working as it should. Plus we've fixed a couple of minor bugs while we were at it. Just go to this special download page and get the newest version now. Some readers who are signed up for the Trade-Radar Software Users Group will be receiving an email with this same information. This update is so important I wanted to cover all possible channels to get the word out. As always, this update is free for all users.

If you're a regular reader of this blog then you've probably noticed that the posts have few and far between lately. Well, I've just been overwhelmed with behind the scenes activities and I haven't had the time for blogging. First, I realized that the Trade-Radar Stock Inspector software was not internationalized properly and our European friends encountered a fatal error each time they tried to display a chart. I've made the changes necessary to accommodate the European way of displaying currency but there is still further testing to be done before I can release the new version of the software. While I was in the middle of testing the Trade-Radar changes I was contacted by someone who wanted to sell me the Internet domain TradingStockAlerts.com. After thinking about it for a bit, I decided to buy it and, of course, I couldn't resist diving in and creating a new web site. After messing around with the homepage I created what think is a pretty darn good s...

For anyone who has tried the Trade-Radar Stock Inspector, I have set up a facility that will allow you to give your opinion. I now have a survey page available. Basically, I am very interested in hearing what new features users might like as well as anything that users feel really needs improvement. Even if you are not a user of the software but would consider using it if it could do something you need, go ahead and tell me your ideas. I am open to all suggestions. The survey page is available on the drop-down menu associated with the "Stock Inspector" menubar item. Or, you can just click on the following link: Take the survey now! With the current version of the software fairly stable, it is time to look for improvements. I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Just a couple of days ago I wrote a post about the newest release of the Trade-Radar Stock Inspector software (read: Trade-Radar Stock Inspector update -- especially important for those who track weekly and monthly data ). As the title suggests, that post focused on improvements in the processing for weekly and monthly data. This post is a follow-on to explain how to correct old price data that may contain errors from back before the latest release. Note that stocks with weekly data in the database have the suffix "-W" tacked onto the symbol in the "Stock Symbol" dropdown. Similarly, stocks with monthly data in the database have the suffix "-M" tacked onto the symbol. Even if you are not sure if you have erroneous data, it is easy to just get rid of it and get fresh data. Here are the steps to take: Select the stock or ETF you wish to fix and click the "Search Database" button If the chart is displayed, click the Exit button at the top righ...

This is a quick post to let all of you know that a new version of Trade-Radar Stock Inspector is available.  We are up to version 6.0.10 now. What has changed -- I received an email from a trial user the other day who said that he was encountering an error when he tried to enter a symbol for a stock on the Bombay stock exchange. It seemed to work fine for daily data but the program blew up when trying to get weekly or monthly data. In solving this problem (the field that contains the symbol had to be made larger in the database), it got me started looking at how the program processes weekly and monthly data. And this led me to fix a few other things. You may not have noticed that the program attempts to pull in intra-day data when the markets are open and you are retrieving daily data. It does a similar thing when looking at weekly data and monthly data. Where the problem occurred is that a new record was created for mid-week or mid-month data, leading to extra data points ...

I wanted to alert readers to an excellent post at the Aleph Blog titled " Portfolio Rule Two ". Those of you who have looked at the Trade-Radar Stock Inspector software know that I have included an extensive collection of valuation measures on the Fundamental Analysis tab of the Dashboard ( see a screenshot ). You know that the software automatically evaluates each one and flashes a red, yellow or green light indicating how well each measure fits the valuation criteria built into the program. These indicators provide a quick estimation of whether a company is a value stock, is over-priced or is somewhere in between. David Merkel's post at the Aleph Blog touches on pretty much all of the valuation indicators in the Stock Inspector software and provides a deeper explanation of why some of them are more important for certain industries, which ones are least susceptible to "faking" and, most importantly, provides confirmation that these seemingly simple ratios d...

I'm excited to announce that a new release of the Trade-Radar Stock Inspector software is available. Version 6.0 can be downloaded today at Trade-Radar.com . Anyone who has already purchased an earlier version or downloaded an evaluation copy of an earlier version is free to grab the new one. Why am I excited? A major focus in this release is usability. Where the previous version did a lot of computations under the hood to make it easy to analyze stocks, there was still a lot of clicking of buttons required and windows popping up and things like that. This new version now integrates the chart screen into the main screen. That means that the program's menu system and toolbar are accessible at all times. You can switch stocks and view new charts quickly and easily without ever leaving the main screen. Here is a screen shot: (Click to view larger image) Please note the two drop-downs at the bottom of the chart screen. With one of the drop-downs, you can turn on and off ...

We haven't had another "flash crash" in a while but I still see crazy data points hanging around that can play havoc with stock charts. When I go to a site like StockCharts.com, for example, and look at an ETF like IGW, the iShares Semiconductor ETF, there is a "flash crash" data point back in May that dips down below $15 on a day when the ETF was trading mostly in the mid-$40's. This data point makes the chart almost unreadable and tends to skew the technical analysis algorithms. Did you know that if you are using Trade-Radar Stock Inspector, you can fix this wacky data point and get your technical analysis back on track? You've probably noticed those fields on the right-hand side of the main screen in Stock Inspector. Those fields display the date, the open-high-low-close and volume data for the stock or ETF. Using the arrow buttons on the toolbar, you can sequence through that data and get to any date you choose. Once you do find the wacky dat...

With respect to the Trade-Radar Stock Inspector software , one of the requests I often get is that I should add a stock scanning facility. Users have said that they like all the analysis features in the software but that it's hard for individuals to unearth those good stocks that look like winners. My reply has usually been that I have already done the scanning for them and the results are available at Alert HQ where I provide free stock picks and alerts. Daily and weekly BUY and SELL signals are available as well as Trend Leaders, Trend Busters, Swing Signals, Gaps and Cash Flow Kings. But wait. There is another alternative: our affiliate friends at MarketClub have a technology they call Smart Scan. Using Smart Scan, you can easily spot winning stocks, futures, precious metals, and currencies that meet one of 24 preset scanning criteria, including uptrends or downtrends. As traders we have 3 potential positions we can take at all times: (1) We can be long the market (2) W...

I'd like to notify users that a new version of Trade-Radar Stock Inspector was just made available over the weekend. The update is related to a fix for the user interface. Some flaky things were going on when entering new stock symbols and retrieving data. It's all been resolved. Both methods now work just fine. For your reference here are the two methods: Method #1 : Click the "Get data from Yahoo" button, enter the new symbol in the text box and all data will be retrieved and stored in the database. Method #2 : Enter the new symbol in the dropdown and click the "Search Database" button. Then click the "Get data from Yahoo" button to retrieve data.) I also fixed a bug that is encountered when Yahoo data has non-numeric results in today's price data. Instead of blowing up, the program now just rejects the data. This usually happens only on very thinly traded stocks or ETFs. If you'd like to take advantage of these updates, click o...

If you invest in the stock market, you need to pick stocks. That means you need to learn about the company and make an educated decision whether to buy or sell. How do you do stock research? Does it go something like this? Look for an interesting stock, maybe one that was discussed at SeekingAlpha or MarketWatch or some other site that you read. Pull up a chart and start trying out different technical indicators. Try to remember how each one works and evaluate it in your head. Complain that most charting sites only allow maybe half a dozen indicators to be displayed at one time. Try to remember the results of each indicator as you move on to do some fundamental analysis Look through Yahoo! Finance or Google Finance or one of the other sites that provides stock fundamentals. Try to remember how all the financial ratios work, which items are important and what range indicates value versus over-priced. Now that you have spent an hour or so surfing the web and trying to pull toget...

With the release of the latest version of the Trade-Radar Stock Inspector software we have to redo some of the documentation that was previously used to introduce users to the program. The updated slideshow below shows some of the software's new features and highlights its simplicity. I have always contended that the Trade-Radar software is very easy to use. There are two main areas that the following slideshow demonstrates: Charting - setting up the chart to generate the indicators may not be immediately obvious to new users. The slideshow below describes how to use the new "Automatic Chart Setup" feature as a shortcut.  Evaluating Indicators - all three tabs on the revamped and greatly expanded Dashboard screen and all the associated indicators are displayed. The slideshow goes on to explain how to evaluate our indicators and make your final Buy or Sell decision.  On to the slideshow! (Look for the icon that allows you to view in full screen mode.) Trade-Rada...

At long last the newest version of the Trade-Radar Stock Inspector software is available for download . For those of you who have not tried the earlier versions of the software, it might be worth it to review the basics before we get into the new features. Basically, the primary function of the Trade-Radar system is to identify reversals in price movements. These reversals are translated into BUY signals or SELL signals. The trick, of course, is to determine if the reversal is significant enough to enter a trade with confidence. We've added a ton of new indicators to help you make that decision. Furthermore, the Trade-Radar software makes it easy for you to assess the valuation and financial strength of any U.S. stock in which you might be interested. If you believe that risk is lower when you invest in stocks that are not over-valued, then these indicators are just what you've been looking for. What's new in version 5.2 -- Now that we have the basics out of the way...

I would like to extend my thanks to the many hundreds of people who have downloaded the TradeRadar software during the last few months. Thus far, the software has been available from our Download page free of charge. I am in the process now of creating a shareware version of the software. There will be enhanced capabilities for both technical and fundamental analysis. Before releasing the new version, I would like to hear from you, the users. What features are you most interested in seeing in the new version? Please leave a comment or email me with your suggestions.

Stocks are making new highs these days. This is the time when you should be preparing to lock in profits. That means setting stops. Setting stops usually entails looking for levels where a stock's descent is liable to halt. If the stock falls below one of those levels, it is sold automatically. The TradeRadar software can help. Here's how. Assume you are long a particular stock. You want to set a stop that preserves a reasonable amount of your profit or prevents unacceptable losses. The trick is to set the stop at a point that is high enough to limit losses but low enough so that the stock has some room to move. After all, you don't want to be stopped out and then see the stock rebound. To accomplish this delicate balancing act, investors commonly look at moving averages, trend lines, Fibonacci retracement lines and support levels. As it turns out, the TradeRadar software automatically generates three of the four indicators mentioned above. Let's use Yahoo (YHOO) as an ...

It's gratifying to see that the new version of TradeRadar is getting downloaded at a good rate. This post will provide a couple of tips for new users and those who have upgraded from a previous version. The AUTO checkbox -- I have previously written about the AUTO checkbox and how it seeks out the ideal setup for the signal you are looking for. In other words, if you select a BUY signal, click the AUTO checkbox and hit the Update Chart button, the software will automatically adjust the Start Date and the Signal Filter setting. The chart will be displayed with the slope lines, the trend line, the moving averages and the Fibonacci retracement lines in the top half and the TradeRadar signal indicator in the lower half. So far, so good. If you want to do further adjustments of the chart, changing Start Date, for example, you need to uncheck that AUTO checkbox . Otherwise, your new settings will be over-ridden by the automatic setup process. Missing Info Message Box -- If you updated fr...

I am pleased to announce that version 4.2 of the TradeRadar software is now available. As always, it is being offered for free on our Download page. New Features -- The major new features in this version include the following: New charting look - instead of a simple red line for closing price we now display open-high-low-close bars. Up-days are colored green and down-days are colored red. Right click on the price series and you'll be able to switch to candlesticks. Can't emphasize this enough - charts look much more professional now and are so much easier to read. Made the SELL signal processing a bit more responsive. This addresses an anomaly in the calculations that sometimes made SELL signals weaker than they should have been. Integrated a statistical component: when closing price exceeds one standard deviation from the Slope (the orange line based on linear regression), the Signal Strength is boosted by 10%. If the closing price is still within one standard deviation, the ...

I have contended that the TradeRadar software is very easy to use; however, setting up the chart to generate the indicators may not be immediately obvious to new users. The slideshow below describes how to use the new "Auto" feature as a shortcut. It goes on to explain how to evaluate our indicators and make your final Buy or Sell decision. (Look for the icon that allows you to view in full screen mode.) Trade Radar Slideshow View more OpenOffice presentations from Traderadar Operator . Note that the "Auto" feature can be turned off so you can manually adjust the date range, the filtering and sensitivity if you so desire. More info -- The following links provide more information and show you where to download: TradeRadar Help File - more details on how to load data, deeper discussion of indicators and description of the portfolio history functionality Features page - more screenshots of features not covered in the slideshow Download page - downloads are always ...

This post is to announce that the full install of TradeRadar version 4.1 is now available. For those who have never used TradeRadar, this will provide all the components necessary to install and run this most recent version of the software. The two screens that have been updated are now displayed on the Features page. The Download pages now provide both the 4.1 upgrade and the 4.1 full install. In addition, the latest help file is available for your review. New Features in version 4.1 -- The major new features in this version include the following: Auto checkbox – automatically sets up the chart for the type of signal you are looking for. Select either BUY signal – smooth or SELL signal – smooth. Click the Update Chart button and the software will automatically try to find the best chart setup. Classic Trend – For a BUY signal using daily data, for example, this chart feature shows the line that could be drawn connecting the cyclic peaks made by the daily high prices. When the stock ...