Chart window related interface improvement request
Author: boreland
Creation Date: 9/27/2017 1:26 PM
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boreland

#1
I've installed the latest version. Disappointed that there were no new features. Some things that really but I'm not holding my breath that they will ever be addressed:

1. Show the stock symbol on the closed down chart header. A simple fix that would make the world of difference.

2. Skinny down the borders around the charts. Too much wasted real estate on everything.

3. Add a web browser so one can have an integrated view.

4. Add watchlist that can be clicked to open up a chart

Anyone else?

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Eugene

#2
1 - Not sure what difference would it make but the titles of minimized chart windows are listed under the Window menu and show the stock symbol.

2 - This is a matter of taste. Some may not like borderless charts.

3 - An integrated view of what exactly would the browser serve?

4 - What do you mean by "watchlist"? How's it different from a DataSet?
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boreland

#3
@Eugene

QUOTE:
"Not sure what difference would it make but the titles of minimized chart windows are listed under the Window menu and show the stock symbol."


When you minimize a chart they close down and appear on the bottom of the workspace. So you have a bunch of closed down charts with no idea which is which sitting on the bottom of the page.



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Eugene

#4
QUOTE:
So you have a bunch of closed down charts with no idea which is which sitting on the bottom of the page.

Right, but if you open up the Window menu you have them listed there with their titles and stock symbols.
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ReneW

#5
My two cents:

Strategy-Window, Portfolio Inspector tab, Portfolio By Instrument, clicking a holding (stock etc).
Why in the world is it not possible to show the chart tab immediately for the clicked underlying like,
for instance, in the Portfolio By Position tab ?
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Cone

#6
QUOTE:
When you minimize a chart they close down and appear on the bottom of the workspace.
Anyway, there's not really anything that Wealth-Lab can do to alter that minimizing behavior (that's built into Windows MDI forms). However, when minimized, the title could be changed to the symbol instead of showing "Stra..." for every minimized windows. That would be an improvement!
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Eugene

#7
QUOTE:
Why in the world is it not possible to show the chart tab immediately for the clicked underlying ?
Each time I have to change first from portfolio tab to the trades tab , looking for the trade, clicking
the trade and eventually the chart tab is shown. This is quite cumbersome....

Because position != trade here. Consider this: there can exist multiple trades taken (on the same or a different bar).

The "Portfolio By..." views always list aggregate positions in a given stock, not individual trades. In this context it's impossible to know what trade should be shown on the chart when you click on such aggregate position because it's virtual, not linked to a particular trade, and may be composed of multiple entries and exits in the same instrument (e.g. buy 100, buy 100, partial sell 100, buy 100, short 50...)

As making assumptions and guesses is not an option, finding your individual trade on the Trades tab inside the Portfolio Inspector is the only correct way. This is by design.
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boreland

#8
QUOTE:
Anyway, there's not really anything that Wealth-Lab can do to alter that minimizing behavior (that's built into Windows MDI forms).

Well, there is, the symbol could be the first thing shown on the title bar instead of strategy name.
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Eugene

#9
QUOTE:
Well, there is, the symbol could be the first thing shown on the title bar instead of strategy name.

Before proposing changes I'd try to follow the logic behind the existing solution. For example, the existing pattern makes sense to me: "Strategy: Name [or Chart] - Symbol [or DataSet] Timeframe". Why make symbol name the first?
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boreland

#10
Your suggestion makes no sense at all. You clearly do not trade. I do not want to have to go to the top of the form, open a pull-down list to find the chart at the bottom of the page, to have to then move the cursor down to the bottom of the form to expand the chart. I just want to know which chart is which and to click the expand button for each chart in quick succession. Really is this so much to ask for some simple, basic human factors, common sense, good practice design behavior.
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superticker

#11
QUOTE:
the existing pattern makes sense to me: "Strategy: Name [or Chart] - Symbol [or DataSet] Timeframe". Why make symbol name the first?
Well, the existing pattern makes sense (strategy first) if you're trading with multiple strategies and the Windows menu items are sorted alphabetically. Are they? If so, then things are sorted by strategy, which is a good thing. But if you're trading from a "single strategy", then listing the strategy first on an alphabetical sorted menu isn't ideal.

I use to have multiple strategy windows open at the same time until I found a better way:

1) Create a dummy, permanent DataSet for all pending trades you're watching.

2) Sorted by threshold, copy the Quotes window you are using to watch all your candidate trades with into the Clipboard. This assumes you're monitoring all candidates with the Quotes window already. If not, then you should be. You can place Alerts into the Quotes window with the Monitor-in-Quotes-Window button.

3) From the Clipboard of candidate quotes, paste that into Excel.

4) Select the column of ticker symbols in Excel for the first several stocks that have quote thresholds between 85-100%, and paste those into your dummy DataSet via the Data Manager window.

Now you got a DataSet with all the salient stock symbol candidates you want to trade with. You can open a single strategy window and cycle through that DataSet during the day to view each candidate. Moreover, you can "link" a daily-bar strategy view with a 15-minute-bar strategy view so you can cycle through all your candidates at your leisure with both views simultaneously.

One comment. In practice, I don't use Excel for this. That's too much hassle because I may repeat this process a couple times when the market first opens. Instead, my clipboard extender supports regexp processing, so with a single regexp macro I can convert what's captured in step 2 into step 4 without leaving the clipboard. I'm happy to share the regular expressions I use for this if you're interested.

Now I'm thinking someone is going to suggest adding a WL Quotes-to-DataSet pop-up-menu item that would automate this entire process.
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boreland

#12
Jesus christ!!!
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superticker

#13
QUOTE:
Jesus christ!!!
I think that means the WL interface isn't user friendly. :)

I totally agree some simple improvements in the WL interface would lead to more people using it. In this spirit, let me suggest the following interface enhancement.

Whenever one mouses over a ticker symbol (say with the CTRL key depressed) in the Quotes window, WL would display the strategy chart for that trade. Basically, it works like the dummy, watch-list DataSet discussed above but without the hassle of creating that watch-list DataSet in the first place. Traders could simply mouse over Quote-window symbols to see what its strategy chart is doing.

It looks like two other WL traders in this thread besides myself are interested in this feature. Shall we all call the Fidelity the support line to request this feature? (800) 544-7595 (WL & Active Trader Pro support)
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