Worden Trainer
Joined: 10/7/2004
Posts: 710
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If you attended the class in Dearborn, accept my thanks for spending the day with me exploring the Worden tools that run in the new Blocks Player.
The Blocks Player is now ready for download and you have the chance to be among the first to get it. Here's all you need to do:
If you already have SnapSheets installed on your computer: Click here and run the automatic Patch Program that will transform your SnapSheets into the Blocks Player. The Patch will also change the file extensions on any files you've created so they seamlessly run in the Blocks Player.
If you have not installed SnapSheets: Go to the Blocks Player website and install the program from there.
If you have any questions about the material presented in these notes, please ask it as a comment below these notes. (Download a printable pdf of the notes at the end of this page.)
I start class by opening BlocksPlayer and creating a NEW Workspace in the Blocks Player. You can do this by clicking File and Blank Workspace. This will give you a blank Workspace to use.
I then add a Tool Window to the Workspace by clicking the  button located in the upper left corner of the screen.
From the Worden folder, I choose the Other folder and then add the WatchList Tool Window.
I then change to different WatchLists from the top WatchList picker (noting the list of stocks is coming from TeleChart). Every WatchList in my TeleChart is also in the list for this WatchList picker in the WatchList Tool Window. When I pick a WatchList the tickers in the list are displayed below it.
I note the link button at the bottom of the Tool that allows me to link the symbol from TeleChart to this Tool. I also note the special Watchlists, TeleChart Active List and TeleChart Sorted Active List which are first in the picker and allow me to view the exact same list in this WatchList Tool as I am viewing in TeleChart.
Time to add another Tool Window!
I click the START button again and add the Bar Chart Tool (choose the Worden folder and then the Charts folder).
Your screen should now look a bit like this:
Then I click the Input Connector (icon at the top right of the Bar Chart Tool Window, put my cursor over the Connect Symbol To drop down, hold the left mouse button down and drag across to the WatchList and release the button. The Bar chart tool is now getting its data from the WatchList Tool and I see the price history of each symbol I choose in my WatchList.
I add another Bar Chart in exactly the same manner. Once connected to the WatchList, I remove the volume bars by clicking on the “x” top left of the Volume Bar pane.
Then with the time frame selector (top of the Bar Chart Tool Window), I choose “Week” as the time frame.
Finally, I add a Google Finance Charts Tool using the same START, Worden, Browser by Category, Google Finance…choose Google Finance Charts. I connect to WL with the Input Connector just as I did the Bar Charts.
These are the three tools used in the Featured Workspace in the Web Library called Personal Chartist.
This video gives a grand tour of the Personal Chartist: New pre-built Workspace: Personal Chartist
I then explain the moving and snapping of Tool Windows.
Check out this short video to learn how to move, snap and tab Tool Windows within your Blocks Player: Moving and Tabbing Snap-In Tools
I snap the first Chart Tool to the right of the WatchList Tool. I snap the second Chart Tool below the WatchList Tool. I snap the Google Tool tabbed with the first Chart Tool.
I add a couple of basic studies from the Web Library to the chart with the add study  button (Worden Stochastics and MACD of price). I also cover the QuickEdit in each tool.
Watch this video to learn how to add studies and use the QuickEdit: Adding Chart Items (plot, markers, etc.) from the Web Library
Here I review the purpose of the icons on the Bar Chart: deleting, changing the hierarchy of panes, pinning. I also show the scroll bars, time frames and restore functions on the bar chart.
Finally I show how to map the hot keys Ctrl+Jump (to jump to a stock) and Ctrl+SpaceBar (to space bar through a WatchList).
I then talk about putting your stock analysis in a larger context. I start by showing a small sample of the Industry studies you can use. Running the Bar Chart Tool in Blocks Player, makes it easy to think outside of the stock.
I add (via the ADD STUDY button) the Industry Price History indicator. This allows me to quickly see the industry of the stock I was analyzing.
I pin the Industry Price History indicator. I then add both Symbol Rank vs. Industry AND Industry Rank vs. All Industry (I use quick edit to change 50 period and then set both to use the Hemscott Sub Industry).
This combination allows me to immediately know the following about every stock I go to:
- Was the stock one of the best or worst performing stocks in the group for the past 50 days?
- Was the stock’s 50-day performance gaining or losing strength vs. the other stocks in the group?
- Was the sub industry itself a strong a weak performer vs. all other groups?
- Was the group gaining or losing strength over time relative to all the other groups?
In one glance the chart reveals if it’s a strong or weak stock in a strong or weak sub industry. I could also see if the stock was getting stronger or weaker vs. its sub-industry and if the sub-industry was getting stronger or weaker vs. all other sub industries.
These are two plots that immediately put me outside of the stock to get a greater context for the stock’s price performance.
Be sure to review this video: Do You Remember to Check a Stock's Industry Before Buying?
I shift our focus to some of the Market/list-based studies available in the Web Library. I plot an Advance/Decline line. Using the QuickEdit, I easily displayed an A/D line for several industry and index WatchLists (Internet and NASDAQ 100).
I plot the Percent of Stocks Above Moving Average plot. It quickly exposes the trend directions of the stocks in any WatchList. It reveals what percentage of stocks are in an uptrend over any set period of time.
It also allows me to get an idea if there was growing strength or weakness in the group based on component price trends.
I then showcase the technique featured in this video: Look for a Bounce When Too Many Stocks Make a New Low at the Same Time
I explore some of the fundamental-based studies made possible by the Hemscott Fundamentals Data Feed. I plot the Fundamental Criteria Raw History plot. Using QuickEdit, I plot several different fundamental conditions including P/E ratio, Percent of Shares Held by Insiders and Percent of Shares Held by Institutions. This allows me to see the fundamental trends of the stock.
I plot a Fundamental Criteria Industry Average. This let me see the average fundamental history for all of the stocks in the industry.
I plot the Fundamental Criteria Rank vs. Industry. This plot makes it clear how the stock’s condition ranked vs. the other stocks in its industry. Like with price performance earlier in the presentation, this gave the stock’s condition a context.
I end this section with a real world example, plotting in our Bar Chart Tool the DJ-30 Price History; then adding the studies: % of Stocks Below MA 200 (with Quick Edit choose DJ-30) and WL Average (from the Hemscott Fundamentals; with Quick Edit choose the DJ-30 and P/E Ratio). I reviewed how each of those indicators looked at the Dow’s previous historic high and at the most recent historic highs.
I then take a few minutes to explore some of the other Tool Windows (Snap-Ins) available in the Web Library.
I add a few of the Browser Snap-Ins via the menu; Windows (Snap-Ins), Add to SnapSheet, from Web Library.
I add the following from the Browsers by Category:
Analyst Ratings: Zacks Analyst Ratings
New: MarketWatch News
Financials: CNN Money Financials
I also added a few other Snap-Ins from the Web Library:
Charts: P& F Chart
Options Express
Version 1.0 Archive: Overbought-Oversold Pie (which I connect to the Date Pointer and WatchList Picker)
Before braking for lunch I cover the basic concepts of a Block, a Block Diagram and preview BackScanner.
Check out this video to review this material:
Your First 3 Block Diagrams
Customizing with Properties
To get a sense of how data can flow through a Block Diagram, I explain the Block Diagrams for Price History and a MovAvg.
After lunch I focus on making changes and creating our own Block Diagrams. I start with the 10 bar moving average in our price pane. I double click on the name to expose the block diagram. After reviewing the data flow, I make changes to the Moving Average.
First, I right-click and copy the Moving Average plot in the Price History pane. I then pasted the copy in the same pane. I double-click the copied plot and made the following changes to its properties:
I then changed the Block Diagram of the MA plot from this:
To this:
I connected [BarChart Price History 2] to a [Bar High] Block.
I connected the [Bar High] Block to a [Maximum] Block (set the period to 10)
I connected the [Maximum] Block to the [Moving Average Front Weighted] Block
I double-clicked the and changed it to red.
This transforms the plot into a front-weighted moving average of the highest highs for a 10-bar period.
I close the Block Diagram and use QuickEdit to change the average type to exponential and the average period to 21.
I then copy and paste the MaxHigh plot, double click it and make the following changes to the Block Diagram and Properties.
I right-click the [Bar High] Block and replaced it with a [Bar Low]. I replace the [Maximum] Block with a [Minimum] Block. I also change the Legend and Name in the properties. Once closed it becomes an exponential moving average of the min lows. With the other plot, I now have an interesting channel to track when price goes to extremes.
I then add the WatchList Average (unweighted) plot from the Market Indicators folder in the Web Library. I double-click the plot and followed the data flow through the Block Diagram.
I decided to change the Block Diagram of the plot so it used the Active WatchList in the WatchList Tool instead of a static WatchList for its symbol list source. Here is picture of the changed Block Diagram:
I then added the studies seen earlier in the day (A/D line, % of shares above MA and Count % new lows) and used the same technique to draw the symbol from the active WatchList so that all studies become studies of my current WatchList
I also created a simple plot from Scratch.
Right-click on the chart, go to Create New then Plot in New Pane (use the following settings):
Name: Daily Volatility
Plot Type: Numeric
Scale With: On Own Scale
Below is the Block Diagram for the Daily Volatility:
I then created a second plot from scratch (use the following settings):
Name: Closing Momentum
Plot Type: Numeric
Scale With: On Own Scale
Below is the Block Diagram for the Closing Momentum:
I showcase how you can use the Color Plotter to color a plot based on whatever conditions you like. I used it to color the Closing Momentum indicator (bars) 3 colors depending on the value of the bar. Below is the Block Diagram for the Closing Momentum color (using the conditional coloring connector on the color plotter in the Closing Momentum indicator’s Block Diagram):
Here are some posts to review concerning conditional coloring:
Personal Chartist with Color-Coded Price and Volume
Colored Candles (with different time frames)
Rate of Change and fundamentals (conditional coloring)
The final segment was on BackScanner.
To review everything we did in BackScanner, check out the videos on the web site (follow the link below):
BackScanner Site
Post any questions about the class content below.
Again, thanks for coming to class and taking the time to review these notes.
If you have any new questions, please use the ASK A TRAINER forum.
Here is a video on how to get the most from these forums: Learn how to use the forums: post a new topic, reply, Search existing topics
I am attaching a few Workspaces you can download and play with, including the BackScans used. Many are the examples I used in the class in the new version of Blocks Player you can now download.
Save each in the following folder:
\My Documents\Blocks Files\Workspaces
Once there, you can open any of them via FILE and OPEN Workspace and choosing MY COMPUTER
Attachments:
Best vs Worst.bworks - 50 KB, downloaded 655 time(s).
CAS-FibTool.bworks - 40 KB, downloaded 830 time(s).
Double Dip in Stochastic BackScan.bworks - 49 KB, downloaded 787 time(s).
Dow Jones 30 Long Term Health.bworks - 34 KB, downloaded 697 time(s).
High vs Low Cash Flow.bworks - 33 KB, downloaded 717 time(s).
Low vs High Debt to Equity Ratio.bworks - 33 KB, downloaded 876 time(s).
Low vs High PE.bworks - 33 KB, downloaded 695 time(s).
Market Flush Volume Surge.bworks - 54 KB, downloaded 691 time(s).
Notes from Dearborn.pdf - 1,142 KB, downloaded 1,327 time(s).
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Registered User
Joined: 10/7/2004
Posts: 1,279
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Thanks Michael,
Good stuff, nice presentation!
Please tell Chris that it would also be useful to have a button in the top button bar that is a link to the Blocks Player Website.
Just about every application now has something similar.
Bill
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Registered User
Joined: 10/7/2004
Posts: 1,279
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but gosh,
Where is the simple plot function?
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Worden Trainer
Joined: 10/1/2004
Posts: 18,819
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I'm not sure what you mean.
Are you trying to create a new plot from scratch or pull down a study from the Web Library?
- Craig
Here to Help!
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Worden Trainer
Joined: 10/7/2004
Posts: 710
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Bill...thanks for your kind words. If you're looking for the plot to create your own plot in a pane, just right click your mouse on the chart and choose either Create New Plot (which puts your plot in that pane) or Create New Plot In New Pane (which gives you a new pane in which to place the new plot).
If you are looking for the Add Study button, it is at the top left of your Bar Chart tool...its the green plus sign.
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Registered User
Joined: 6/27/2006
Posts: 286
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Ok so can you tell me what the Blocks Player is? Is this a replacement for SS? Is this an addon to SS?
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Registered User
Joined: 10/7/2004
Posts: 886
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QUOTE (dfaris)
Ok so can you tell me what the Blocks Player is? Is this a replacement for SS? Is this an addon to SS?
Yes dfaris; it is the next revision level to SnapSheets. They also decided to changed the name from SnapSheets to BlocksPlayer.
Bob
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Worden Trainer
Joined: 10/1/2004
Posts: 18,819
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It is the next version with the biggest change being a change in name from SnapSheets to The Blocks Player.
- Craig
Here to Help!
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