eiffel-mas-announce — For announcements of new releases and other important events for MAS

[MAS-announce] Re. the new 1.6.6q release

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

To anyone who is trying out or plans to try out the new 1.6.6q release,
I've gotten a couple bug reports for the Windows version, but it would also
be helpful to hear about installation and running of the new release going
smoothly.

So if you install 1.6.6q and everything goes smoothly, sending me a short
email reporting this success will be helpful.


Thanks.
Jim Cochrane (MAS author)

[MAS-announce] New beta release for Linux

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

As promised, the Linux version of the 1.6.6q release has been made
available on the download page for the MAS project.  I decided
to produce the standard *.rpm and *.tar.gz files containing the executables.
Also, contrary to my original plans, the release includes the new
graphical shell, the MAS Control Terminal and includes some
auto-configuration functionality.  This has been tested successfully on my
Redhat 7.3 machine.  If others experience problems, please send me an
email, along with the distribution you're using and the linux kernel
version (uname -a).  I would also appreciate hearing about cases in which
everything goes smoothly.

Note: You will need to have glibc 2.2 or greater installed.  The system
won't work with glibc2.1 or less.  I recommend reading the release notes
before downloading:

http://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.php?release_id=215137


The new release can be downloaded from:

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=6838&package_id=6938&release_id=215137


Jim Cochrane

[MAS-announce] New beta release for Windows (Linux to follow soon)

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

I've just released a new beta release of MAS for Windows.  I'm calling this
release 1.6.6q.  I'm hoping to release a Linux version soon, probably
within the next two weeks.

I'd like to invite those who use the Windows version of MAS to download
this new release and send me feedback about what you like and don't like.
I've made some fairly substantial improvements to the system, especially
with respect to ease of installation and use, mainly by employing a
graphical shell with the clunky name MAS Control Terminal (suggestions for
a better name are welcome).  (The documentation, however, needs more work,
although some changes and improvements for this release have been made.)
So please - try it out and let me know what you think.

You can download the new Windows version at:

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=6838&package_id=6938&release_id=215137

Here are the current release notes for 1.6.6q:

Notes: This is a beta release, in preparation for a planned production
release (which will probably be numbered 1.6.7). Besides some enhancements
to the server (such as some new "operators" and a "Commodity Channel
Index" indicator constructed with the new operators), the main feature
of this release is a much-improved setup/install program for the Windows
version, which should make it easier for non-technical users to install
the system and start using it than with the previous release. As of
Feb. 5, 2004, only the Windows version is included here, but I'm hoping
to find the time to make the files for the Linux version available in
the next week or so. The Linux version for this release will probably
consist of the executables themselves, rather than the complete rpm
and tar.gz versions. The planned 1.6.7 release will, of course, be a
complete release.


Enjoy.


Jim Cochrane

[MAS-announce] MAS for Windows has been added to the 1.6.6g beta release

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

For those interested in the Windows version of MAS, I have added the file
mas-windows1.6.6g.zip, which includes the new mas.exe and the new
indicators_persist and generators_persist files.  It can be downloaded from
the "files" page at:

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=6838

[MAS-announce] Signal generation: file logging bug has been fixed

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

I have just discovered that the bug that caused a core dump when
using the file logging options for trading signal generation is fixed.
This may especially be good news to Windows users who have struggled
unsuccessfully to get event (signal) logging working with the the awkward
"fake_mailer.bat" script.  The facility is also available to Linux users,
of course - for those who wish to log their signals to a file instead
of have them sent as email.  (See below for a description of how to use
file logging.)

I should mention that I tested this on Windows with the new mas.exe
(1.6.6g) and on Linux with 1.6.6g and the old 1.6.5 release.  Since all
tests were successful, I think there's a very good chance that Windows
users will also find that it works with 1.6.5.

However, as many of you know, a couple tests cannot ensure that a problem
does not exist.  I think the chances that the bug remains are small, since
the previous behavior was quite consistent: generate a core dump.  If
anyone tries out file logging with 1.6.5 or later and still runs into
problems, please let me know.

Why did I not discover this earlier?  Simply because I had done nothing to
fix the bug and hadn't thought to test it before - too much to do.  Chances
are 99.9% that the bug was in the ISE library class I was using and it has
been fixed there.

To use file logging for trading signals: From the MAS command line enter
'r' for Edit event registrants, then 'a' for Add registrants, then 'l' for
Log file.  Type a file name for the log file.  Then choose the event types
you want.  Then type '-' for Previous, then 's' for Save changes.  The next
time you run a market analysis, this "registrant" will be used and the
generated signals will be written to the log file whose name you specified.


Jim

[MAS-announce] Some new mailing lists

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

All -

I've added a few new mailing lists for MAS on sourceforge:

eif...@li...

For submitting requests for new features and improvements.  (This list is
intended to be "write-only" - that is, it's not intended for subscription.
I believe anyone should be able to send emails to it without subscribing,
but if you experience a problem with this, please let me know.)

eif...@li...

For discussion of proposed features and improvements submitted to
eiffel-mas-feature-req.

eif...@li...

For MAS support issues.  This list is currently intended to allow MAS users
to help each other out with technical issues, although I may also
participate from time to time.  The existence of this list should also help
cut down on support-related traffic on the mas-discuss list so that that
list can be used more general discussions of MAS.

eif...@li...

For discussion of issues related to how to use MAS as an effective trading
tool.  This is the appropriate list for discussion of topics such as the
usefulness of a particular indicator, how MAS's signal generation mechanism
can be used as part of an effective trading system, etc.


Note: The lists may take a few hours to "finalize", so if you run into
problems using them right away, this is probably the reason.  You may want
to wait till tomorrow to subscribe or whatever.

Finally, I've been thinking that it may be a good idea to break the
mas-discuss list down further into sublists.  Examples: mas-discuss-technical
(technical issues) mas-discuss-advanced (advanced topics, such as how to
use powerful, but difficult-to-use features).  If you have any ideas or
feedback on whether this would be useful and what sublists would be useful,
your input is welcome.  Please respond just to me, because I don't want to
clog the discuss list with this.


Thanks.
Jim

[MAS-announce] Beta release (1.6.6g) of mas, macl, mct, etc.

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

All -

I decided to release the latest version (as of May 18) of the server,
macl, mct, and the charting GUI as a beta release in the file section.
If you're interested, you can download it from:

https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=6838&release_id=161042

Be sure to read the release notes at:

https://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.php?release_id=161042


Jim

[MAS-announce] MAS tips list

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

All -

I've created a MAS tips list:

eif...@li...

It is essentially a repository for answers to questions I receive that may
also be helpful to other users.  Therefore, it's proabably best used as a
reference - that is, by browsing the archive for info about a problem you're
having - rather than via subscription.


Jim

[MAS-announce] Re: New Question

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

> If I want mas to give me a list of stock that crossed a buy or sell trigger 
> yesterday, and only list the one from yesterday. How do I do that?
> 
> I tried setting the analysis date to yesterday, and run. I got nothing.
> 
> I tried setting it for 1 week, I got an email with listed triggers that 
> happened yesterday, plus triggers that happened earlier in the week.

Hi Stephen.

[Note: I'm CCing this reply to the mas discussion list, since I believe it's
relevant for other MAS users, too.]

MAS does something that may come close enough to what you want to be
acceptable, with a couple caveats that I'll mention later.  When mas performs
a market analysis, it saves all triggered events in a history file so that
the next time it runs, those same events will not be re-reported - only new
events will be reported.  (So the first time you run it you will get some
events that go back several days, depending on the start-date you set; but
on subsequent runs, you will not get many "stale" events.)

The first caveat is that sometimes a signal will seemingly reappear
again the next day.  The reason for this is that sometimes the current
day's data will affect the mathematics such that an anomaly occurs where
yesterday's signal is no longer a signal - the signal now occurs "today".
I believe this phenomenon appears in many trading systems.  (And the ones
where it doesn't are probably modified to eliminate it; I'm not sure if
that is a wise decision, though.)

The second caveat is that there is a bug in the current version (which I
have not yet released) where each day's analysis overwrites the history
file from the previous day.  This bug, of course, removes the feature of
not producing duplicate signals.  This is on my list of important bugs to
fix.  I think the 1.6.5 version you are using does not have this bug, but I
have not yet had a chance to verify this.  If you find that it does have
the bug, I'd appreciate it if you would let me know.  (The easiest way to
tell is by looking at the history file: If before a run it has records for
the previous day's signals in it and after the run it only has today's
signals, then the bug is present in your version.  The history file is that
...history* file we were discussing in a previous email of yours.)

I have my system configured to run mas every day, telling mas to process
the last 3 or 4 days of data.  The result is (when using a version
where the above-described bug is not present) that most signals are
for the last 2 days - today and yesterday, with a small number for a
day or two before (due to the anomaly described above).  I find that a
signal for the day before is often useful because it will often point
out a tradable that has not yet moved - that is, the potential trade
may still be available.  (I've recently had the idea, though not the
time/energy to try it out, of including intraday data processing for the
signal generation.  My thinking is that if a stock is in a long-term trend
(according to the criteria I've set up in mas), the short-term criteria
(that it's oversold - for an uptrend) will sometimes be too late when
EOD data is used - for example, I often receive signals that are too
late by one day - the stock has already moved too much to get in on.
But if the analysis is done a few times during the day, rather than at
the end of the day, the chances are a lot greater for the signal to be
generated in time for a trader to act on it.  This scheme is, of course,
for those who can trade during the day; it wouldn't work for those who
are not able to place trades until evening.)

[Tip: If you have some intellectual stamina, Jack Hershey's posts on
misc.invest.futures and misc.invest.technical are often full of somewhat
cryptic, but very useful, if you can decipher it, information about
powerful trading techniques.  You might want to use google.com to check out
some of his past posts.]

> 
> Once I get this figured out, I would like run a cron job so when I get up 
> every morning there is an email in my box with buy and sell recommendations.
> 
> How would I do that?

I can give you some pointers.  First, if you don't already, you should read
up a bit on cron and how to set up a crontab file.  Then you'll need to
write a script or two to drive mas to do what you want.  (Adding the
ability in mas itself to do such scheduled processing is on things I've
been considering, but this is not a trivial feature to add.)  You can take
a look at the following scripts in the scripts*.tar.gz file for an example
of how to drive mas:

run_market_analysis
analyze_watch_lists
analyze_stocks

Here is the cron entry I use to run mas every day:

50 17 * * 1-5 ~/bin/run_market_analysis


If you need more guidance, I may be able to help; but I can't devote a lot
of time to it - at least not without charging a fee :-)


Good luck -

Jim

[MAS-announce] Invitation to join the mas-discuss list

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

This email is an invitation to all subscribers of the mas-announce mailing
list to join the mas-discuss mailing list to participate in discussions
about MAS, including helping each other out with problems, as well as MAS
tips and tricks, and other discussion related to how to use MAS.

The reason I'm sending this announcement is that a couple MAS users have
asked me if there is a user group and/or mailing list for discussing MAS
issues, and I think that the mas-discuss list is the appropriate forum for
such discussions.  I also suspect that as the user base for MAS grows,
the discuss list is likely to become more active and, as a result, more
helpful and valuable to those who subscribe.  As well, I suspect that
some of you who have not subscribed to mas-discuss would be interested
in such a forum.  This email is therefore intended to serve as an initial
"push" to encourage this forum to develop.

I should mention that I have had offers from MAS users to fill the role of
a moderator for the list, for the purpose of leading and encouraging
discussions and perhaps excercising some control over irrelevant posts.  I
think this is not necessary at this point.  Rather, I think that the list
members can excerise their own self-discipline, as well as encouraging
each other's enthusiasm about ways to more effectively use MAS.


Best wishes and good trading!


Jim Cochrane

[MAS-announce] Announcing release 1.6.5 of MAS

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

Version 1.6.5 of MAS has been released.

The major news for this release is that MAS is now officially available
for Windows systems and MAS can now retrieve its end-of-day data from
yahoo.com, using their free web-retrieval service.

For a more complete list of changes, see the server change log at:

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/eiffel-mas/SERVER_CHANGE_LOG.txt

(The GUI has not had any significant changes in this release.)

Enjoy.


Jim Cochrane

[MAS-announce] test 2

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

another test

[MAS-announce] test message

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

Testing announce list.