I am a novice and WealthLab Pro 5.6 is my first trading system. I have spent about two months reading and working examples using Only the RULES based strategies in Backtesting mode. All the Stratgies use Daily bars with ETF's and Closed End Funds. I will learn C# after I learn basic WLP so that things are simpler.

I have hit a road block about a month ago in my learning of WLP when I switched to Paper Trading. I can't get the Orders to consistently get into the Orders pane, so I can't monitor if the strategy actually works in real time.

All the Strategies are Activated, AutoPlace is enabled, and I am Logged into Fidelity with the Strategy Window indicating "Streaming". I will bring WLP up in the evening and sometimes the Strategies in the Strategy Monitor automatically Run but many times I must right click and Select "Run This Strategy Now". This is annoying but livable. The problem is that sometime this does not even run the strategy. It stays red with yesterday's time stamp. (I have several pdf files showing all the sub-panes with the screwy information but I can't attach them to this post.) I have tried closing the program and relaunching it; sometimes it then comes back up immediately with today's date as is it did run but the text never updated. The inconsistancy will occur with a single Strategy used for the same data set but differnt Position size so that I can evaluate the effect that can have in real time trading.

It also appears that sometimes today's data is not being loaded. Last night I could not get any of the charts to show the 2-17-10 data only 1-16-10. As a result all the alerts were not updated from 2-16-10. The Data Manager uses Fidelity Data and is set to automatically update on demand.

I have also had some issues with WLP crashing when it is closed. I have tried un-installing WLP, deleting all refences in the Windows configuration, and deleting all strategies and data. Nothing has changed with the frequency of crashing. I also had some small bugs with BitDefender Internet Security that could not be corrected; so last week I switched to Norton Internet Security. I am running Windows XP Home on a computer with dual graphics cards and 3 monitors. I have tried different configurations for the graphics but I did not see any change in the behavior of WLP.

Where do I start to debug my problems? If I can't find a solution I will have to give up on WLP even though I really like the concept.

Thanks,
Allen

Allen,

QUOTE:
I have also had some issues with WLP crashing when it is closed

Exactly what kind of issues have you had? If that's a DEP message (here's some background), then they can be fixed by following this pattern:

Wealth-Lab 5 Wiki > Errors | Other > (scroll down to) Data Execution Protection (DEP) messages.

QUOTE:
(I have several pdf files showing all the sub-panes with the screwy information but I can't attach them to this post.)

Please create a new support ticket, there you can attach a PDF (or a number of zipped PDFs).

P.S.

QUOTE:
It also appears that sometimes today's data is not being loaded.

At which time last night did you load the data? Fidelity EOD updates are not available immediately (and corrections can be applied like in early morning). Have you tried turnning off the Strategy Monitor at the market's close, schedule an update early in the morning, and then run your strategies in the SM to generate the alerts?

Eugene,

Thank you for the quick response.

I will create the support ticket as you instructed.

Sorry but I can't remmember the actual error message, but I will get a screen print the next time it happens. I followed the links you provided and noticed some references to multiple monitors and logging out of Fidelity before closing the WLP program. I will keep WLP limited to one wide screen monitor. I will try variations of the solutions in the links and see if the crashing continues.

I tried initially to run WLP about 10:00 PM and again about midnight. I finally got it to update when I ran it this morning.

Thanks,
Allen

Eugene,

After submitting the Support Ticket; I have done some more troubleshooting. I have WLP on my laptop. I copied only the Datasets (without the data) and Strategies folders to the Laptop. Everything works correctly on it. I mirrored my actions on both computers and get different results. Both computers have virtually the same software loaded but vastly different hardware. There is evidently some interference between WLP and my computer configuration.

Since the actual date and the program dates appear to be in conflict I wanted to see if I could determine where the problem was; in the Running of the Strategies, getting the data or somewhere else. So I decided to test how it handled Manual Ticket Orders.

The problem also exhibits itself when I place Manual Trade Ticket Orders in WLP. This morning I Placed 4 PaperTrade Market Buy orders about 15 minutes before the market opened. When I was able to look at the situation 30 minutes after the open; two orders had Filled correctly but two had Filled at YESTERDAYS Closing price. The Manual Orders worked as expected on the Laptop.

This same situation is also occurring on the Paper Trading Strategies. All four of the Alerts generated from last night's running of the Strategies from the Paper Trading resulted in the filling the order at yesterday's closing even though I did not PLACE the order until 15 minutes before today's open. I have screen prints showing the screwy dates. The information shown on the laptop looks like it should.

There seems to be some time synchronization problem on my computer. On both computers I use "time.windows.com" in the Windows Date/Time Properties to keep the clock current.

I hope this gives you a useful piece of the puzzle. I am willing to do some modification the computer hardware if you have some suggestions.

Thanks,
Allen

QUOTE:
I can't get the Orders to consistently get into the Orders pane, ...

This is a known intermittent problem, especially when using the Strategy Monitor. Alerts are often not Staged/Placed to Orders. For the time being, you have to be vigilant and take over manually to process the Alerts correctly. It's an insidious bug, and apparently difficult for the developers to duplicate in a consistent manner that would allow them to solve it.

QUOTE:
I will bring WLP up in the evening and sometimes the Strategies in the Strategy Monitor automatically Run ...

It's all based on the computer clock and the next scheduled run. I'm not 100% sure of this, but assuming trading EOD, you might need to have the S. Monitor running before 4:30pm to make the scheduled run. Keep reading...

QUOTE:
The problem is that sometime this does not even run the strategy. It stays red with yesterday's time stamp.... It also appears that sometimes today's data is not being loaded.

... but the problem is that Fidelity EOD data is not actually available at 4:30pm, so even if you make the EOD schedule, that schedule often doesn't allow enough time for the server to return the current day's bar.

I'm now thinking that it shouldn't matter if you launch after 4:30. WLP probably remembers the last run and will execute Strategies if you miss the last scheduled run. Note that Fidelity EOD is "corrected" for the previous day before 6am on the following day, so it's actually best to run your EOD Strategies the following day with the corrected data.

QUOTE:
I have also had some issues with WLP crashing when it is closed.

Another previously documented bug. Considering the other bugs to deal with, it's a low priority issue since it happens when you're closing the app. But this too will eventually be isolated and solved.

QUOTE:
There is evidently some interference between WLP and my computer configuration.

Maybe different Windows update patches? Windows OS? If you're not sharing a data directory, there are a multitude of reasons why one computer would act differently than another (different initial conditions, different data in the data files, etc.).

Good posts. Thanks for posting, and answers. This was helpful for me.

I have noticed, that a few weeks ago Fidelity data (stock data) was updated shortly after the close, but last week specifically, it was not updated until ~ 1:00am ET the next day. For me, I use the Data Manager and explicitly click "Update all data for selected Providers now", then I check the date of the data. If the data is not updated for the pervious days close, then I try again later, and keep trying until I get it. Once I'm sure I have the latest data updates, I run the Strategy Monitor to generate Alerts for the following day. I'm more of a late night person than an early morning person, so I do this around 1:00am ET.

I guess the Data Manager "Automated Data Updates" could work if you set it for the morning updates, but not the evening updates (at least not last week).

It's unfortunate that the Strategy Monitor's "Next Run" is always set to 4:30pm ET. Seems like this will most likely generate Alerts from previous days data. So I always re-run the Strategy Monitor, after I'm sure that I have the up-to-date stock data from the previous day's close.

This is a little cumbersome, but I assume that eventually all of the automated issues will get resolved.

best regards,
Robert

oops, let me clarify this sentence.

It's unfortunate that the Strategy Monitor's "Next Run" is always set to 4:30pm ET. Seems like this will most likely generate Alerts from previous days data. So I always re-run the Strategy Monitor, after I'm sure that I have the up-to-date stock data from the previous day's close.

Should have read: So I always re-run the Strategy monitor, after I'm sure that I have the up-to-date data from the most recient day's close.

I think you've got it figured out robert!

Robert & Cone,

Thanks for the replies.

Robert,
I will use your method of Manually Updating the Datasets. Your experience allowed you to notice the change caused by Fidelity in your working systems, while I don't have enough experience to determine if the problem is me, a program bug, or Fidelity. That make the learning curve very steep.

Not getting today's EOD data from Fidelity in a timely manner could explain a lot of the inconsistant results I am getting.


Cone,
I am a little confused about you comments about automatically running a Strategy. Will WLP automatically run a Strategy that is ACTIVATED if the program is opened at 9-10 PM? Or do I need to Manually run it?

I will be more diligent in observing for missing data. Should I be looking at the date stamp in the Data Manager Update Log or the last bar in a Chart to determine the date of the most recent data?

The error that give me the most worry is what happened when I placed the Manual Trade Ticket orders. How could 2 out of 4 market buy orders entered 15-20 minutes before the market open, be filled at yesterday's closing price? The communication was functioning because 2 trades did occur correctly. I thought paper trade buy market orders were filled at the current ask price at the time the order was Placed.

I am beginning to suspect that WLP has quit funtioning correctly before the program crashes when it is closed. I think it may already be hung up as indicated by some of my Strategies not running even when I manually select RUN. I say this because numerous times when I notice something in WLP not acting as expected; I close the program and then get the crash message. When I re-open WLP, the strategy that would not run, immediately shows to have already been run.


I am going to make the assumption that the data files and program are potentially corrupted and delete them all an start over. I saved my Strategies and the .xml dataset files for my uniques datasets; then copied them back into the proper location for the re-installation. I will either synchronize the data set folders on the two computers or manually copy the data from one computer to the other so that both will work off the same data. I will also disable the scheduled and automtic on-demand data updates on the laptop so that it will not get anything different from my main computer. I will observe with my fingers crossed to see what happens.


Thanks to both of you for the help,
Allen

QUOTE:
Will WLP automatically run a Strategy that is ACTIVATED if the program is opened at 9-10 PM?

As I later said, the S. Mon. keeps track of the last run and the next run. So if the last run is prior to the next run, Activated Strategies should be run when your computer clock is later than the next run.

QUOTE:
How could 2 out of 4 market buy orders entered 15-20 minutes before the market open, be filled at yesterday's closing price?

The Paper Trader is completely internally driven and gives you an idea how automated trading will work. It's far from perfect and several cases are expected to work differently than with live trading (see User Guide, Orders chapter for Paper Trading discussion.

As for the case for starting to Paper Trade before the open, we'll have to ask Fidelity if their Paper Trader considers the market opening time before starting to fill orders. As I mentioned in the ticket, please be specific. When did you start Paper trading (date and time) and what symbols were being traded?

QUOTE:
I am beginning to suspect that WLP has quit funtioning correctly before the program crashes when it is closed...

Anything's possible. Thanks for the observation. With more data like this eventually we'll get this problem licked.

QUOTE:
I am going to make the assumption that the data files and program are potentially corrupted and delete them all an start over.

You can, but it's probably a waste of time (certainly re-installing is). If you use drawing tools, you might want to delete the Data\DrawingObjects.Standard folder for starters. After that try deleting any file in the Data folder that has "Config" in the name (you'll have to reconfigure tools like the S. Monitor after that). It's unlikely these problem are related to Static data, but if you don't mind the time to download everything again, it won't hurt to start over there either. Working from a common folder for data is a good idea too. Of course, if you get an error dialog, it's good to copy the information from it as it will often point to the area in the code with the trouble.

QUOTE:
Should I be looking at the date stamp in the Data Manager Update Log or the last bar in a Chart to determine the date of the most recent data?

At the bottom of the Data manager, I click on "Last Updated Log ..... (click here to view the log)" link and I open the actual log. Then yes, I just look at the date stamp on the symbols, and make sure that the date is the most recient close date.

Cone,

Thanks for the additional insight.

I think the majority of the problems probably can be tracked back to using data that was not consistantly and fully updated. I will use Robert's method to Manually download and confirm current data. Then and only then start the testing and paper trading. This is the most importanrt single piece of advice I have found on this forum.

Once all the data was updated completed, the Manual Trade Ticket is also working as described in the User Manual. When getting real time quotes; All Market orders get Filled immediately at the last Trade Price. Limit orders get filled (on the next 1/2 minute polling cycle) if the limit price crosses or equals the Last Trade Price. It does not matter how wide is the current Bid/Ask Spread.

I think you misunderstood my comment in my earlier post about Placing a Trade before market hours. I only entered and clicked "Placed" for a market order Paper Trade before the market opened. The Order would show ACTIVE, but nothing happened until the market opened. Once the market opened, the order would then be filled. Now that my data is consistant this is a non-issue. I did this test to determine where the inconsistancies were being generated (running the strategies, order filing, etc.). A Manual Trade Ticket eliminates any issues cause by running a strategy. This test showed me that missing part of yesterday's EOD data is not something which the code handles very well. So the solution is to make sure the data is updated correctly.

I am sure I will have other questions in the future, but at least now I should get consistant results I when run the same strategies.

Thanks,
Allen

Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully I now have a balance of good karma. I'm glad to hear things are working better for you now. I'll be looking for your future questions, I'm sure that I will learn from the answers too.

Best regards, Robert