V.3:3 (117-120): Software Review by John F. Kepka

Software Review by John F. Kepka

Supplier:

Intra-Day Analyst

P.O. Box 15952

New Orleans, LA 70175

1-800-535-7990

1-504-895-1474

Price:

Program $1500

Yearly Maintenance $250

Security Device $75

Summary:

Ease of Use: A

Documentation: B

Reliability: A

Error Handling: A

Vendor Support: B

Intra-Day Analyst Version 3.0B has come a long way since I first heard of its introduction at the first CompuTrac Seminar (1981) in New Orleans. Essentially, Intra-Day Analyst is a software program which, with the aid of a host quote machine properly interfaced to a computer, provides real-time price updates and graphically displays them (high, low, close) in time intervals from as short as I minute to as long as I complete day (480 minutes). Each graphics screen may be comprised solely of price action or a split screen with prices in the upper half and a selected study underneath.

While I use the Apple version with Commodity Communications quote machine daily, an IBM PC version is also available at the same price (The security device is $100). At the end of this article, the important differences between the Apple IDA and IBM IDA are discussed for those readers who can choose between systems.

The program is menu driven and remembers all of the selections once they are chosen the first time. For all practical purposes, all the user need do is turn it on in the morning, and the program will monitor, update, and calculate studies all day long. My greatest fear for the first month was that I would cause the program to "bomb" while on-line and lose valuable data by picking an incorrect menu selection or hitting the wrong key. After a year and a half, this has never been a problem. Error handling within the program is excellent. The only potential running problems are bad data (this can be edited or deleted by the user), a power failure, or a temporary data transmission loss. I save every hour on the hour, but other frequencies may be chosen.