Tutorial: Working with Multiple Stocks: Create and Apply a Trading Solution
Create and Apply a Trading Solution
i Tutorial Task
Create and apply a trading solution.
Let’s take the work we have done with MBNA and apply our successful approach to another stock.
The easiest way to do this is to create a “trading solution”. Trading solutions allow you to bundle together all of the fields required to recreate an entry/exit signal on another stock or in another portfolio.
Commentary
Let’s recreate the model of the optimal signal using the Vertical Horizontal Filter that we used for “MBNA Cp”, with the “Baxter Intl Inc” (BAX) data series. We could create each of the individual fields one-by-one in the BAX data series. However, there is a better way -- we can use a trading solution.
A trading solution is a way to bundle a field definition along with all of the fields it requires into a single concept. This single object can then be applied to new data. In this case, we want to recreate the processing that was used to create a particular model of the optimal signal.
Step-by-step Instructions
Part 1: Create a Trading Solution
1. Press the Define Trading Solutions button on the toolbar. This will display the Define Trading Solutions Dialog.
The easiest way to define new trading solutions is to click on the Define Trading Solutions button on the toolbar.
Ä Note: If you cannot locate this icon, you can also select Define Trading Solutions… from the Processing menu.
This will display the Define Trading Solutions Dialog, where you can define and modify trading solutions.
2. On the Define Trading Solutions Dialog, press the New… button beneath the list of Trading Solution Groups.
Similar to functions and entry/exit systems, trading solutions are divided into groups to help you find the functionality you need quickly and easily.
To create a new group to contain our new trading solution, press the New… button at the bottom of the list of trading solution groups. This will display the Modify Trading Solution Group Dialog.
3. On the Modify Trading Solution Group Dialog, accept the default name “My Trading Solutions” and press OK.
The name “My Trading Solutions” is automatically entered as the default name. To create a group with this name, press the OK button.
Ä Note: If you have already created a group called “My Trading Solutions”, a different default name will appear.
“My Trading Solutions” will now appear selected in the list of trading solution groups. The list of solutions in this group will be empty.
Ä Note: If you are repeating this tutorial, a different default name will be generated.
4. On the Define Trading Solutions Dialog, press the New… button beneath the list of Trading Solutions in the Selected Group.
Now, we want to add our first trading solution to our new group. To create a new trading solution, press the New… button at the bottom of the list of solutions in the selected group. This will display the Create a Trading Solution Wizard.
5. On the Create a Trading Solution Wizard: Basic Information page, enter “Model Optimal Signal with VHF” as the Solution Name. Press Next.
The first page of this wizard allows you to enter some basic information about the trading solution that you are creating. In this case, enter “Model Optimal Signal with VHF” as the solution name (without the quotation marks). If you like, you can also enter a more detailed description of what this trading solution will do.
Ä Note: If you are repeating this tutorial, you will need to enter a different name for the solution name since each trading solution must be unique. For example, try adding a “#2” to the end of the name.
After you have specified the information on this page, press the Next button.
6. On the Select Source Field page, select the “Model: Optimal Signal (Default Trading Style) #2” field from under “MBNA Cp” in the selection tree. Press Next.
The second page of this wizard allows you to specify the field to base this trading solution on. The definitions for this field and all of the fields required by it will automatically be included in the trading solution when it is created.
To select the “Model: Optimal Signal (Analog) #2” field* from the selection tree, click the plus sign next to “MBNA Cp” to display a list of the entry/exit signals defined for “MBNA Cp”. Then, click on the appropriate field.
Ä Note: If you have renamed this field as part of the optional activities, select the renamed field.
Ä Note: You can also create trading solutions based on fields other than entry/exit signals by selecting Display non-signals in the list of potential source fields.
After you have selected the appropriate field, press the Next button.
Ä Note: You can also double-click on the selected field to advance.
Some brief processing will occur while TradingSolutions determines which fields and inputs that will be needed for this solution.
7. On the Verify Inputs page, press Finish.
The final page of this wizard displays the inputs that will be required by this trading solution. In this case, the solution requires the Open and Close fields.
When you are ready to continue, press the Finish button.
8. On the Define Trading Solutions Dialog, press Close to exit the dialog.
Our trading solution is now ready to be used on new data. Press the Close button to close the Define Trading Solutions Dialog.
Step-by-step Instructions
Part 2: Apply a Trading Solution
9. Use the Import Data Wizard to import data for BAX into the Tutorial Data group.
1. Make sure the group you want to import into is currently selected. In this case, click on the “Tutorial Data” group.
2. Start the Import Data Wizard by clicking on the Import Data button on the toolbar.
Ä Note: If you cannot locate this icon, you can also select Import Data… from the File menu. You can also select Import Data… from the context menu for the
3. Select Import data from files on your computer. Press Next.
4. On the Select Files page, press the Select New Files… button.
5. Select the “BAX.txt” file from the “Sample Data” directory and press the Open button.
6. On the Select Files page, press Next.
7. On the Start Import page, press Finish.
Ä Note: If you see the message “No new data was imported.”, you already had this data imported.
Ä Note: The bottom of the Portfolio View may be below the area currently being displayed. If you cannot see the bottom of the Portfolio View, use the scrollbar on the right-hand side of the Portfolio View to move the display to the bottom.
10. Select Apply a Trading Solution… from the context menu for “Baxter Intl Inc” in the Portfolio View.
Right-click on “Baxter Intl Inc” in the Portfolio View and select Apply a Trading Solution… from the context menu. This will display the Apply a Trading Solution Wizard.
Ä Note: If you accidentally select the “MBNA Cp” data series, press the Cancel button.
11. Review the introduction to the Apply a Trading Solution Wizard and press Next.
The first page of each wizard in TradingSolutions provides a brief introduction to the task that the wizard will help you perform. Introductory pages, such as this one, that require no additional actions can be set to not display in the future.
When you are finished reviewing the information on this page, press the Next button to continue.
12. On the Select Trading Solution page, select the “Model Optimal Signal with VHF” from the “My Trading Solutions” group. Press Next.
The first page of the Apply a Trading Solution Wizard allows you to select which trading solution to apply. Select the “My Trading Solutions” group, then select “Model Optimal Signal with VHF”.
Ä Note: You can also create new trading solutions from this wizard by pressing the Create a New Trading Solution button. This will display the Create a Trading Solution Wizard that we used earlier.
When you are ready to continue, press the Next button.
13. On the Create Fields page, note the name of the field being created and press Finish.
The final page of the wizard displays the fields that will be created by applying this trading solution. In this case, the calculation of the Vertical Horizontal Filter, the optimal signal, and the model of the optimal signal will all be created.
Ä Note: If these fields were already defined for this data, the previously created Vertical Horizontal Filter and optimal signal would be reused rather than creating new copies of these fields. Only the model of the optimal signal would be created as a result of applying the trading solution.
To create the specified fields, press the Finish button.
TradingSolutions will calculate all of the specified fields. Unlike the first models we created, no analysis window will be displayed since multiple fields are being processed at one time.
14. TradingSolutions will display a Status Dialog while it is recreating, training, and calculating the required fields. When it is finished, the Status Dialog will disappear.
15. When the training has completed, a message will be displayed in the Messages and Alerts Window indicating an analysis of this field is ready.
16. (optional) Analyze the signal created by the trading solution by double-clicking on this message. You can also compare it to other predictions for Baxter by right-clicking on Baxter in the Portfolio View and selecting Analyze Signals….
Analyzing and comparing signals was covered in previous tutorials. If you need help with this, you may return to those tutorials for additional information on analyzing signals.