| QuickStart
Guide to MSST
1 – Set your testing options in SpyGlass
- Entry
and Exit Price - if you'll be making trades the day you get the
signal, choose "Close". If you'll be getting signals
at night and making trades the next morning, choose "Next
Open".
- Entry
and Exit Commissions - enter your commission amount (e.g., 29.95 at
Schwab).
- Stops
- enter any stops you will be using.
- Initial
Equity - the amount you will commit to each trade.
- Interest
Rate - the interest rate paid on un-invested balances.
For more details on these options, see MSST
Help.
2 – Create a signal formula in MetaStock.
- In
MetaStock, go to Tools|Indicator builder.
- Select
“New” to create a new custom formula.
- Your
formula must return the following values:
- 0
= No signal
- +1
= Enter Long
- +2
= Close Long
- –1
= Enter Short
- –2
= Close Short
- The
following example uses the signals from the Equis CCI system that
comes with MetaStock:
If(
{------- START ENTER LONG
SIGNAL ----------}
Cross( CCI(14),-100)
{------- END ENTER LONG
SIGNAL ----------}
, +1,
If(
{------- START ENTER SHORT
SIGNAL ----------}
Cross( 100, CCI(14))
{------- END ENTER SHORT
SIGNAL ----------}
, -1,
If(
{------- START CLOSE LONG
SIGNAL ----------}
Cross( 100, CCI(14))
{------- END CLOSE LONG
SIGNAL ----------}
, +2,
If(
{------- START CLOSE SHORT
SIGNAL ----------}
Cross( CCI(14),-100)
{------- END CLOSE SHORT
SIGNAL ----------}
, -2,0))))
- Name
your formula (we’ll call it “CCI signals”) and click on OK to
save it.
- Close
the indicator builder.
2 – Create an exploration
- Run
the Explorer (Tools|The Explorer).
- Press
the New button to create a new Exploration.
- In
column A we are going to show the percent return of the system.
Place the cursor in column A, and then press the
“Functions” key.
- In
the Function Category list, choose “MSST”.
A list of available MSST functions will be displayed.
Select the one that says “Percent Return of system” and
press OK.
- Column
A should look like this:
ExtFml( "MSST.
PercentReturn ", Signal function)
- Now
replace the words “Signal function” with a reference to the signal
formula function you created earlier, so it will look like this:
ExtFml( "MSST.
PercentReturn ", fml(“CCI Signals”) )
·
If desired, you can place other system test information in
the other columns, such as number of long trades, total equity, etc.
·
Name your system and press OK to save it.
3 – Run the
exploration
·
Set the number of days you want in the test by going to
Tools|The Explorer|Options and setting the “Load XXX records” value.
·
Go back to the Explorer dialog and select Explore to run the
test.
·
When the exploration is done, you can press on any column
heading to sort by that column.
4 – Copy the
results to Excel
·
Use the mouse to click within the list in the Exploration
report. This may take two
clicks!
·
Copy the contents of the report by either pressing Ctrl-C or
right-clicking and selecting Copy.
·
Run Excel (or other spreadsheet program), and paste the
results of the exploration by pressing Ctrl-V or right-clicking and
selecting Paste.
·
Move the cursor
to the cell below the percent return column.
·
Enter the formula to calculate the average return, which is
determined by summing up the entire column, and dividing by the number of
entries. For Excel, this
would look something like:
“=SUM(B2:B9228)/9227”
(we start at row 2 because row 1 is
header information. I have
9227 securities in my report).
·
Now you have an average return number for your system!
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