I just got access to WLB and was wondering whether you can direct me to a good source to start with. I am interested in Strategy building via rules and also charts. I don't even know how to save a certain chart layout to pull up later, with technical indicators such as MACD, SMA etc. I have some experience with Prodigio from tos and some screening sites (stockfetcher, finviz, etc.) Other than than, I am a total newbie with WLP. Any help is appreciated!

QUOTE:
I don't even know how to save a certain chart layout to pull up later

We call these "Workspaces". See the Workspace menu, it should be self-explanatory. If not, hit F1 for the User Guide and search for Workspace.

QUOTE:
with technical indicators such as MACD, SMA etc.

For just charts with indicators, open a new chart (Ctrl+Shift+C, or use the "New" or "Charts and STrategies" menu method), drag and drop from the Indicators dialog, and save the Chart. (Once saved, it's thought of as a Strategy even though it might not have any trading rules.) If you use the same indicators for multiple charts, just open the chart that you just saved. Use the Windows menu to arrange, and save the Workspace.

Good luck, feel free to ask more questions, but if you're not familiar with a tool you're using, strike F1 for the User Guide to [hopefully] pop up to the appropriate section.

You know, at the old wl4.com site, we have a Where to Begin? topic in the KB. We need to update this and put in our curent Wiki KB.

Thank you Cone. Saving a chart as a "strategy" was counterintuitive. I am glad you jumped in with your post. Also thank you for the workspace too, it helps a lot building and saving custom screen views. I am definitely checking your wl4 site, and hope you can update it with the new 6.1 version of WLB.

P.S: I have to admit though after using the WLP today, that the TOS (thinkorswim.com) platform is more advanced and easy to use. Probably, just because I am very familiar with it.

It depends on what you want to do. For simple scans, news, charting and basic indicators for discretionary trading/order entry, TOS is great.

Granted I'm not too familiar with TOS, but if you want to design and backtest strategies on a Portfolio level with your own Position Sizing rules, then take the results and do a Monte Carlo Analysis or develop an Artificial Neural Net indicator, then you might want to check out those features in Wealth-Lab.

I do realize that WLP is mainly a backtesting tool, and I understand that the charting, order entry, quote system etc are not the primary focus of WLP. I still have the tos account, and will use them for all these. However, it is very convenient to know the basic of order entry and charts while using WLP, that's all.

I appreciate you taking your time to reply to my post, and totally agree with your observations. I have yet to learn on WLP and plan to do so over the next few days/weeks. I have noticed that the backtesting results are very quick to generate and easy to build via rules. Very promising! There are so many things to be done, that I don't know where to start. I played with some of my simple strategies I have used in the past with success, such as volume profile, price, OBV, SMAs and MACD crossings and was surprised to notice that they underperformed buy and hold over the past two years. I am now really confused on what works and what doesn't. I came to realize that I probably need to build a system with the help of backtesting, but I don't know how. Any idea?

Re: Charting
On the contrary, TOS doesn't have any advantage that I can determine here. And, with a little programming, you can do some pretty cool things in WLP charting. Here's one of my favorites: Corona Charts.

Re: Quotes
Here too, WLP's quote tool is quite potent. Try loading 3000 streaming quotes in TOS looking for pre-programmed stop/limit trigger conditions.

QUOTE:
I came to realize that I probably need to build a system with the help of backtesting, but I don't know how. Any idea?

Sure, too many. The basic idea is to build, test, and trade a strategy (or a few) that you're willing to trade consistently through thick and thin. Pick up a book on the subject. A dozen years ago I was hooked after reading "Trade your way to Financial Freedom". For more ideas, you can see some old book reviews at wl4.com.

Sure that book from Dr. Van Tharpe is one of my favorites I bought and read a few years ago. Essential in defining risk and choosing the appropriate stop loss and position size. I have done my home reading on trading and technical analysis. Actually a lot. My favorites are Douglas, Murphy, Mammis, Elder etc. I will definitely explore your link, especially about trade systems and automation. Thanks a lot again. I hope you will just as helpful in the future, as I am sure I will come back here for ideas, suggestions and help.

As for comparison with tos, I have traded with them for many years now. I know the platform upside down, making it very easy to use from my part. For example, I could not find VWAP in WLP, while I use it often (a customized version via thinkscript) in my short term trading in tos charts - 2 day five minutes charts. I have yet to know and learn WLP, but it is very encouraging to read from and expert that it is good. I look forward to learning it!

Were you looking for something like this?

VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price)

Requires installing Community Indicators from Extensions section.

Hi Eugene, thank you for chiming in. I have learnt that you along with Cone are the stars here, and am happy you were able to find some time to help me.

I have already installed all extensions, addins, Indicators and Strategies via Tools-Extension Manager inside WLP. I looked under Fidelity Supported Extensions and Other Extensions. Other Extensions is empty. However, I did not see any VWAP indicator when searching under "Open Strategy" menu. Could you please teach me how to find it? Thanks!

Hi Skerdi,

That's because you haven't installed any extension, C.Indicators in particular. Installing extensions takes visiting our site. Click on the direct installation link in my message above.

Also make sure you've read the WLP User Guide > Extension Manager, and the "Extensions" section's home page here.

Thanks Eugene! I was able to install the Community Indicators and then plot your VWAP indicator in my chart. I saved the chart as "Strategy". It is all good!

I am researching on buying a book on automated trading. I am leaning towards Kaufman's book on Cone's recommended list. Any suggestions for me?