V.18:3 (40-49):Using Expert Commentary by Mark Vakkur

Using Expert Commentary by Mark Vakkur

One of the most neglected features of TradeStation is the ability to create and modify a study’s Expert Commentary. And you don’t have to be an expert to use it; if you can create a study, you can create expert commentary. This feature can add a new dimension to your chart analysis.

Used correctly, TradeStation commentary can jog your memory for important associations, point out interesting or unusual things in narrative text (instead of being a blip buried in a busy chart), and even serve as a substitute for TradeStation’s data window, allowing you to see only the data you are most interested in and displayed in the format you want. Further, you don’t need to be a programmer to create powerful commentary — although if you are a programmer, the sky’s the limit. In fact, by cutting and pasting the code supplied here, you can be on your way to making and modifying your own TradeStation Expert Commentary in a few minutes. If you’re really impatient, type in the code shown in the sidebar "Commentary code," get it running, and then go back to the article for explanation and elaboration about the elements that most interest you. The illustrations here are in TradeStation 4.0, but the code should work in TradeStation 2000i.