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FT4Web by Investors FastTrack

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Averaging

Updated 03/11/14

Averaging is a key part of making investment decisions. This help page covers both the technical aspects Averaging and how to use Averaging to Invest.

As of April 2013, there were 2,406 "growth" funds in the FastTrack database. What is a growth fund? Well the red average line shows that growth funds are essentially S&P 500 Index funds.

On the average, growth funds are 95% correlated to the S&P 500. They appear to be a bit better than the S&P 500 both in return and volatility, but you must understand that "BAD" growth funds are liquidated, and only "GOOD" funds remain in the FastTrack database. This is known as "Survivor Bias"

This average is a Daily None average. Click to see the details on how to setup the type of Average.

 

Chart Label + Buy and Hold Values
ColorBar Cells
Dashed PoleDate Zone
Distribution and Date Label
Issue List
Solid Pole
SubTabs
Tabs



There is a Chart ToolBar.
Turn it off or on by right-clicking on the Chart.
This toolbar is useful for a variety of purposes.
Click for details
The Chart is Divided into Seven Zones

FastTrack for the Web Chart Tab can contain one to SIX sections (as opposed to five in FastTrack for DOS). To change the charts displayed in the zone,  right-click the mouse on the chart to bring up the PopUp menu and select "Appearance" from the menu.

The Seventh Zone (lowest) is the Date Scale.

The zone contains the number of the year, and light-blue month and quarter marks. When the mouse rests in the Date Zone, then keystrokes are routed to the zone and interpreted as period change commands.

The Obvious: The date tics mark the months (blue) and years (red). The Start and End dates of the chart are in white.

The chart is scaled to market days. This means the x-axis distance between the sequential market days are equal. Weekends and holidays do not affect the chart.

Changing the Charts Displayed
Right-click on the chart to get a list of properties and methods that apply to the chart.

From the Appearance dialog, you  can,

  • Split the chart into six sections.
  • Change the line, background, and text colors you see.
  • Control the way averages are computed.
  • Select Modeling
  • Plot arithmetic lines or semi-log lines (constant rate of return is a straight line)
  • Set the chart size.
  • Control the content of the flexible I Chart

Click to see Other Menu options.
 

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Displaying the Right Lines in the Chart Tab

To get a particular symbol to display on the screen. Click on the chart so that key strokes are directed to the Chart object. Hit . . .

  • R for the red line
  • G for the green line
  • Y for the yellow line
  • P for the purple line
  • C for the cyan line (light blue)
  • B for the blue line

Next, type the ticker symbol into the popup entry box.

There are other techniques to change the issues displayed.

To Change the Period Displayed.
  • Right-click on the chart to popup these menus.
  • Or, move the mouse into the date zone at the bottom of the chart and hit a single letter denoting the period you want displayed. The valid letters are the capital letters in the pop up menu in the example to the right.
  • Or, set the pole positions, move into the Date Zone, and hit Z. This zooms the view to include only the days between the poles, inclusive.
  • Selecting number of days pops up an entry box where you may enter the number of market days you wish to have displayed. The last date is always
Changing Indicator Parameters
  1. Click  the chart object   to direct subsequent key strokes to the chart.
  2. Hit U. This pops up the Parameter Dialog.

Alternately, right-click on a chart or indicator label object  like "Tot return" in white letters in the top left corner of the chart.

The parameters values you choose govern the why the technical indicators work.

The Perfect Parameters

There are no magical numbers that always work. More important than the numbers is the way you interpret what you see. Do not spend a lot of time trying to find perfect parameters.

Click here for more help on setting parameters

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wpe9.gif (4515 bytes)Loading the Chart Tab's Issue List
  1. Right-Click on the Issue List
  2. Select "Load Family".
  3. Pick the family from the Family Tree to the left.
    OR, Enter the Family name in the family name box and click "Load"

To pick a family from the family tree you have to expand the Categories to see the subcategories and individual families. Click for more details.

Note: You cannot exactly duplicate the image displayed to the right. The menu disappears before the family tree appears. This image was cut and pasted to form a composite.

Load a Family the Quick Way
  1. Click on the Issue List.
  2. Hit the [Control] + [M] on the keyboard.
  3. Type the name of the family to be loaded.
  4. Hit the [Enter] key on the keyboard.

You must already know the name of the family.
 

Chart ToolBar

To cycle through the funds, work with signals, draw trend lines , rank the funds, or pick funds, use the "Chart Tools" toolbar

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Chart Label Buy and Hold Values

Depending on the chart being displayed the Chart label shows  parameters, the name of the chart/indicator, and statistics over the entire period displayed. Unlike the Performance SubTab Values, Char Label Buy and Hold values are for the current span of the chart and NOT for the period between poles. Click for more details

SubTabs

This is an area to the right of the Chart. It includes the Val, Index, and List Subtab.

Index SubTab

The Index  list contains all the ticker symbols and names of issues available in your FastTrack databases.

There is an entry box at the top of the list. As you type a ticker symbol or issue name into the entry box, the index list scrolls to a matching row.

In the example to the right, we entered S for Sears (symbol S). To do this, we had to enter the S and then two spacebars. The spaces distinguished the single letter S from all matching symbols and names that begin with S.

Changing the Lines Charted

Drag from the Index SubTab list to a cell of the ColorBar to change the line displayed.

Right-Click the Index SubTab
  • Add to PopList: This adds the selected issue to the Pop List.
  • Rebuild Index: If you use 3rd party programs that create FastTrack FNU files, these files will not automatically be added to the Index List. Click the menu item to update the Index List
The Val  SubTab

Click the Val Tab (Circled). This displays performance values. These values are color coordinated with the lines on the chart.

Each value has an identifying abbreviation. This information measures the performance of each line.

When both the Dashed Pole and the Solid Pole are visible, the measurement is "between the poles". When only the Dashed Pole is visible, the "between the poles" measurement is between the Dashed Pole and the last (rightmost) date displayed.

Click for details on the Calendar Stats.

Click for defaults on Sig, Trend, and CDF.

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The List SubTab

This Subtab contains an Issue List that functions much like the Issue Lists on other tabs. However, there is one unique function: Build a family by using the Chart Tab Issue List and the Index SubTab.

Building a Family
  1. Clear the Chart Tab Issue List by right-clicking and selecting "Clear List"
  2. Display the Index SubTab.
  3. Double Click any issue. It will turn gray indicating that it has been added to the Issue List which is hidden beneath the Index SubTab at this moment
  4. Or, select an issue with the arrow keys, and hit ¬ after issue is selected to add  the selected symbol in to the Issue List.
  5. Or, find and issue by typing in the <Entry Box> at the top of the index tab, then hit ¬ to add  it to the hidden Issue List.
  6. Finally, click the List SubTab to see the results, and right-click the Issue List to save the Family.

For more detail, Click to jump up on this page to review all the functions of the Index SubTab,