Working with Different Exchanges

"Exchanges" refer to the places where securities are traded. Examples of exchanges are the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.

Exchanges are defined in TradingSolutions so that you can easily specify when new data is expected to be available for all of the securities traded in a single location. This information is used primarily for intraday data requests and assigning dates to future predictions.

Defining Exchanges

TradingSolutions includes a generic exchange called "Major U.S. Exchanges" which can be used for stocks traded in the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and other exchanges. A common exchange can be used since these places trade at the same time and report data from the same time zone.

Additional exchanges should be defined for securities that are traded at times that are different from the major U.S. exchanges. The following information is specified for each exchange:

·      Time zone where the exchange is located

·      The times the exchange is open

·      The days the exchange is open

Exchanges can be defined by selecting Define Exchanges… from the Data menu. This will display the Define Exchanges Dialog. This dialog can also be displayed from the Import Data Wizard, Modify Data Dialog, and Modify Group Dialog, among others.

To create a new exchange press the Add New… button on this dialog and enter information on the Specify Exchange Characteristics Dialog. You can also modify the settings for exchanges by selecting them and pressing the Modify... button.

Using Exchanges

Exchanges are used in several situations, including the following.

·      Determining when intraday data is during market hours.

·      Determining when intraday data should be available.

·      Assigning dates and times to future predictions.

The exchange associated with a data series is typically specified when the data series is first created. Most data series are created from the Import Data Wizard. In addition, data series can be created from the Create Empty Data Series Dialog.

The exchange associated with a data series can be modified from the Modify Data Series: Properties page. In addition, the exchange for all data series in a group can be modified from the Modify Group: Properties page.

Handling Holidays and Special Sessions

Exchange definitions in TradingSolutions specify when securities are normally traded at an exchange. However, the definitions do not include information about holidays or special sessions when trading may be stopped.

Data services typically only include data for when the exchange is actively trading. Therefore, in most cases, it is not necessary to take any additional actions to account for holidays or special sessions. Projected values for predictions may be labeled with incorrect dates, but the information will still be valid.

In some cases, data services will include information when an exchange or market is technically closed. If this information is outside of normal market hours, TradingSolutions will discard it automatically. However, if this information occurs when the exchange is closed due to holiday or special session, TradingSolutions cannot detect it automatically. If this occurs, it may be necessary to remove the data manually by selecting the dates in the spreadsheet, right-clicking on the selection, and selecting Remove Dates….