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My statement is quite true, there were more imitations of MS than just AB. I will be the first to admit that MS is outdated and has not kept up with technology and just because of that I have not upgraded since 4 years ago, after using it for stock analysis since DOS version 1 in 1981. But, if you have used any trading software at all for a length of time you can see for yourself by comparing the early version of the AB to MS the AB attempt to use very similar language. Not only AB but the original Tradestation (easy Language - developed by Bill Cruz) , OmniTrader, Telechart, and quite a few others started many years ago (80-90s) attempted to follow MS structure and approach. Sadly, since MS was sold to Thompson Reuters no real changes have been made, just adding more crappy plug-ins.
I would not be surprised about what Janeczko said only 2 years ago. Remember, AB started long before 2009 and I actually used it for a couple of years, but the program had limited capability and I also had data issues, so I gave up on it.
I have used almost every software (Stocks, Futures, Options, Forex, AI, etc.) for retail customer developed since mid-70 and I can tell you to this date have not seen a single software out there that performs screening and back testing any easier and more accurately (for 1000s of equities and any indicators in one run) than MS, despite the fact that it is way behind technology and the fancy features offered by the kinds of Ninjatrader.
All said, don't take me wrong AB is a nice and inexpensive package for what it offers, but despite being around all these years it has never won the top honor in the annual TASC magazine polls, though this year made a finalist for software under $500 (the reason, I suspect).
Cheers!
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
AB has no limited capabilities. I don't compare a software of 2001 to a software of 2012. And whatever data issues from a data vendor you once had is not my problem. No offence. But be rest assured that AB beats MS in any scan, exploration and backtest competition.
Regarding TASC, if that is how you wanna compare software I'm saying to you that I don't give a damn about awards. They don't mean anything. The more you pay and advertise the more awards you can get. Look at the Emmys. A show like "The Wire" that is acclaimed to be one of the best shows ever hasn't won any of them. So take your awards and put some flowers around them to give them more life. A good software doesn't need awards. A good software speaks for itself. Me rather thinks other software vendors are in fear of AB because of its higher power at much lower price.
Here is the code example I was talking about McCLellan Code Example Copy&paste it to the AB editor.
I was just doing a test creating an index using 6000 NYSE stocks. The whole AddToComposite operation took 13 seconds. McClellan Oscillator
If you wanna create it using S&P500 stocks just create a watchlist or put those stocks in a group and then in Auto Analysis use filter setting to include just that group or watchlist. Use 'All quotes' the first time and press 'Scan'. For updating use the other available options of 'Range' setting like 'From-to', 'Recent bars' or 'Recent days'
The code of the previous post uses Volume to create the index. So if you wanna use Close then simply change composite setting from "V" to "C". Here it is McClellan version 2
Amazing how little code is needed to pull that off. Since I have the trial version, I need to download the NYSE data each time I open it, so I'll give it a go when I open AB later this evening. Again, this should work with something like Yahoo! data, right?
