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Cyber Tips & Tricks
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Outstanding Bugs/Glitches Following are some outstanding bugs and issues that provide unpredictable performance currently in CyberTrader Pro (as of version 3.313). Charts Lose Pre-Market Info at Market Open For those of you who chart pre-market data for stocks and futures, CyberTrader Pro charts have had a tendency to demonstrate unpredictable behavior in displaying pre-market data after the market opens. This can be a disconcerting effect when traders are trying to display a smooth stochastics flow from the pre-market period to main market hours. I have struggled with this predicament for some time, because CyberTrader Support reps didn't seem to have a good grasp of the issue. However, Matt at CyberTrader explored the issue over a 2-week period and we had a detailed discussion about the situation. I will attempt to give a good detailed explanation of the issue, but if you want to see the transcript of our discussion in the Communications Panel, go here. Ironically, the explanation lies in how the software (correctly) computes the stochastics over longer periods of time. For example, look at the following 2 screens that show 2 different stocks (AMAT & NVDA) displayed in the same chart in subsequent moments. The state of the environment was as follows:
Premarket Chart Data Retained After Market Opens
Premarket Chart Data Lost After Market Opens Poof! All of NVDA's pre-market info is gone! Turns out that once charts are refreshed after the open (9:30ET), pre-market data should disappear. Why is this? Well, longer-term stochastics charts, by design, are based on "normal" (no pre-market) market hours. In other words, if you look at a "daily" stochastics chart set for 200 days back, only post-open market data is included in the computation. (Remember, only highs and lows reached during regular market hours are considered.) First of all, charts can be refreshed one of three ways: 1) by changing the stock symbol that is being charted, either by typing it into the chart directly or changing the symbol in a linked Level II window; 2) by clicking the chart in question, and pressing the "Enter" key; or 3) sometimes the chart will refresh itself if it loses connection to the server and has to reconnect itself automatically. (This happens scores of times at a micro-level throughout the day. CyberTrader Pro users prior to version 3.X may remember that an annoying and noticeable disconnect and reconnect would occur at almost EVERY market open as chart servers would change over! However, this disappearing activity seems to be inconsistent, and CyberTrader (to date) is unable to explain it. In other words, NVDA may lose the data on a particular morning while AMAT (or other stocks) don't. And the next day, the reverse might be true. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with volume, as large volume stocks exhibit the trait as inconsistently as thinly traded stocks. Therefore, the only way to ensure that the particular stock (or futures index) you're charting maintains its pre-market data and therefore maintains a smooth short-term stochastics flow from the pre-market to post-open time period is to:
But you won't necessarily lose the pre-market data for a particular stock or index after the open if the chart is manually or automatically refreshed, for the previously stated reasons. The point is that the only way to be certain that you won't lose the data is to not: 1) execute the refresh yourself; or 2) be the unfortunate victim of a server reconnect that happens to purge the data in that instance. We'll have to see if Cybertrader comes up with a better, more complete explanation over time for this inconsistent charting behavior. As always, if this is a significant issue for you, bug them about it. Incorrect Data Showing After Setting Up Chart Study for 200-Period Simple Moving Average for Nasdaq (E-Mini) Futures
Members of Undergroundtrader.com (and others) may have tried to set up a 200-period Simple Moving Average trend study on their 1-minute and 3-minute intraday charts for the Nasdaq E-Mini futures (/NQMG2) to coincide with Jea Yu's (or other) chart training and are seeing different readings than what RealTick users are experiencing. This is under investigation, but is believed to be a deficiency in CyberTrader Pro software. Because the Nasdaq futures trade on Globex (a 24-hour market), it is believed that the software needs to be set up for a "Market Hours" range of 24 hours if one wants to effectively track futures trends in longer "period" settings. RealTick software charts can be set up for 24 hours, but Cybertrader Pro has a limit of 0600-2000 hours. Because changes from 0930 (market open) to 0800, 0700, or 0600 create proportionate trend-line shifts in readings closer to respective RealTick chart readings, it is believed that this is the main or only reason why CyberTrader Pro users are not able to get accurate readings for these 200-period Simple Moving Average Nasdaq futures charts. CyberTrader has explored this situation and responses have ranged from complete indifference to "we know it's an issue, and will suggest product management consider its importance for a future upgrade". If you are experiencing this or a similar chart data discrepancy that is a global issue and/or can be reproduced among multiple CyberTrader Pro users, please be diligent on communicating your concerns to CyberTrader Support. This is the only way to ensure that CyberTrader will know that particular software features are important to users, and that these software changes will be reflected in future upgrades. No Downtick Registered/No Shorting Limitations There is an issue that seems to be connection-related, where you may note that the downtick/uptick arrow in the Level 2 box doesn't seem to budge when the price increment increases or decreases for a particular stock. As a result, you seem to be able to "short at will" even when the stock is static or decreasing in price. CyberTrader is aware of this issue, which seems to be connection-related. If you log off and back on, the issue is cleared up. Most importantly, there is no liability to you as the "shorter" if the otherwise "illegal" short trade does execute. General Erratic Activity If you find yourself experiencing erratic charting performance or other activity that doesn't match up to other Cybertrader Pro users using the same version of the software, consider doing what I do. Every time CyberTrader introduces a new version of the software, I backup my Layouts folder and any Market View (.stk) files or other customized settings that I have made before I install the new version. Then, rather than perform an "upgrade", I completely uninstall the current version and delete the CyberTrader folder, and then do a "full" installation of the new version. Next, I copy the previously backed-up Layouts folder and any custom ".stk" files, etc. into the new CyberTrader folder. The first time you open the new version, you can go load your previous Layout and you're back in business. CyberTrader has gotten better recently about version upgrade issues, but I used to have so many problems resulting from performing software "upgrades" that I set a precedent for doing only "full" installations when new versions are released.
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