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Date/Time: Fri, 29 Mar 2024 09:33:12 +0000



Combination Symbol Chart Study Question

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[2018-01-17 14:17:24]
ErikT - Posts: 117
I think I forgot to click "Upload" for the 2nd attachment. Trying again for the .CHT file now...
Private File
Private File
[2018-01-17 14:20:54]
ErikT - Posts: 117
Somehow the act of posting the 2nd attachment seems to have lost my original post. Here's a re-post of my original support request that was the base post in this thread until something weird happened...

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Hi guys,

I've been a HUGE fan of the Combination Symbol Chart study ever since you introduced it. This is an incredibly powerful tool for back-testing performance of complex multi-leg hedged trades, and I've been using its results extensively in my work. So imagine my shock when I realized for the first time today that the results it produces seems to be completely, totally bogus! Of course it's always possible that I have configured it incorrectly, so I'm attaching both a .CHT to reproduce the problem and a simple Excel spreadsheet showing "manually calculated" versions of what the data should be.

FYI, the price data in the manual (excel) calculation was sourced from the SierraChart .DLY files' closing prices for the dates in question. Accordingly, the dates are actually the prior date from the close price (the .DLY files seem to use the date/time the futures session began the evening before).

In tha attached .CHT file, start with the daily chart named "START HERE: M8X8 Dly Combo". This is a HISTORICAL chart of CLES5M18 and it relies on other HISTORICAL charts to supply data for Combination Symbol Chart study to integrate values from CLES1X18, 6M19, and 3H19.

There is also another tab with my attempt to produce a High-Accuracy Spread Chart, which relies on a mirror set of INTRADAY charts for the same symbols, again using Combination Symbol CHart to integrate the values.

In trying to diagnose this myself, my first thought were that a skew in trading session times and/or a skew between TRADES and QUOTES might be responsible. But today's huge red bar on the "START HERE" chart is very telling. Hey wait... I was about to say it's showing -0.39 right now and if that were remotely close to correct I would show a huge loss on my futures account, which I don't. But I just glanced back at the chart and it went from -0.39 (huge red bar on the day) to +2.66 in the amount of time it's taken me to type this paragraph! So something is really screwy here. In case it matters, the 9:00:00am official pit open for the futures market happened to occur around the same time the bar went from -0.39 to +2.66 in a matter of seconds.

So something was clearly very wrong with the huge red bar (now gone) this morning, but if I exclude that the other results are in the ball park but don't match up. Makes me wonder if the problem is a skew between trading hours of the exchange and those that SC is using for some reason. Again, the values I used to manually calculate the combination were CLOSING PRINTS that were sourced directly from SC .DLY files. They seem to match what the exchange shows me for official SETTLEMENT prices (2:30pm pit close for NYMEX futures). When using HISTORICAL charts, SC doesn't allow me to specify trading hours. I have assumed it is using exchange trading hours to determine the dimensions of the daily candles. In other words, I assume the top of the body of a green candle (or bottom of body of a red) should match the value of the combination determined manually from exchange SETTLEMENT prices.

Please help... I've been using this extensively and I just now realized that all my charts are probably completely wrong!

Thanks,
Erik
[2018-01-17 20:54:48]
Sierra Chart Engineering - Posts: 104368
First, these long post of yours are inappropriate, unwelcome, and are not consistent with our support policy. Further help in this regard will be chargeable at 75 USD per hour. You are not helping with all of this information. It is only a burden.

The study you are referring to works 100% correctly as it is designed and intended. Your belief that there is a problem is simply based on an expectation of it having to work in a certain way like you are looking for, but it is not designed that way. Or there is some underlying data issue. This is not something we are going to spend any time looking into.

Instead have a look at using the Add Additional Symbol study:
Add Additional Symbol

When using the study you must must be on the latest prerelease which is 1691.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, *change* to the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2018-01-17 21:01:34
[2018-01-17 21:33:16]
ErikT - Posts: 117
Wow. I had no idea my bug reports/support posts were unwelcome and/or inconsistent with your policies or expectations. I was merely trying to report what appears to me to be a bug, with the best of intentions. Thanks for being clear so I know where you stand.

Are your support policies documented anywhere so that I can understand your expectations? I looked and could not find any support policy section in the help.

Is the intended function of Combination Symbol Chart documented anywhere? The only information I had was from your post on this board saying that it worked like Difference(bar) except all values were added together. I have looked for a help section and searched on "Combination Symbol Chart" and can find nothing documented. Don't you think it a little unreasonable to tell me it's my fault for not knowing what the intended functionality is if that functionality is not even documented? If it is documented, I was unable to find it in the contents or using your search tool.

I certainly appreciate that SC is a low-cost product and will try to adjust my expectations accordingly. But honestly I don't understand where your attitude is coming from. I merely report what appear to me to be bugs. I post as much background/supporting information as possible because my experience in the software industry tells me that's usually what support staff appreciate. It's now clear that you do things differently, but frankly I had no way of knowing that.

Add Additional symbol as it is described in the documentation link you provided does something completely unrelated to my needs, but thanks just the same for suggesting I look into it.

Please know that I mean no offense to anyone and had no idea my posts were unwelcome or inconsistent with your expectations. You do things rather a lot differently than most companies, and I'm doing my best understand what to expect from you and what you expect from me. Let's work together!

Best,
Erik
[2018-01-23 19:44:19]
Sierra Chart Engineering - Posts: 104368
Don't you think it a little unreasonable to tell me it's my fault for not knowing what the intended functionality is if that functionality is not even documented? I

Here is the relevant documentation we have prepared:
Combination Symbol Chart

It did not exist before. We just now had a chance to review and do some updates and get it out.

I post as much background/supporting information as possible because my experience in the software industry tells me that's usually what support staff appreciate. It's now clear that you do things differently, but frankly I had no way of knowing that.
The problem is there is a lot of unnecessary information given.


Add Additional symbol as it is described in the documentation link you provided does something completely unrelated to my needs, but thanks just the same for suggesting I look into it.
The idea is once all the symbols are loaded into a single chart, you can then use the arithmetic studies to do the calculations you require. But perhaps you may need to create your own custom study to do the calculations required. In the end, we do definitely believe that what you require can be achieved. Since you know exactly what you want, would be best to create a custom study.


Are your support policies documented anywhere so that I can understand your expectations? I looked and could not find any support policy section in the help.
Yes, refer to:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=doc/PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

You do things rather a lot differently than most companies, and I'm doing my best understand what to expect from you and what you expect from me. Let's work together!
OK thank you. This is why we worked hard recently creating the Add Additional Symbol study to bring multiple symbols into a single chart, and to make the calculations involving those easier. That was a significant task on our part.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, *change* to the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2018-01-23 19:47:06
[2018-01-23 21:04:29]
ErikT - Posts: 117
Thanks very much for your detailed reply, and I shall strive in future to respect your policies regarding support posts.

FYI, after much more testing and analysis on my end, I am convinced there is a bug, but it is not a problem with the study itself. The study works fine, but frequently the LAST BAR displayed is completely wrong. The workaround is to close and re-open the chartbook, which always fixes it. I'm not certain of this, but my sense is this problem only exists when the study is "Displayed as Main Price Graph". I DO NOT REQUIRE SUPPORT ON THIS PROBLEM, as the workaround of reopening the CB addresses my need. I mention it only in hope of being helpful. Let me know if you want any further detail, but no action is necessary for my purposes.

I very much appreciate the work you do to provide new features, and will in future strive to conform to your policies and expectations. Thank you for being clear about your frustrations. Until this I had no idea my posts were offending you. Thanks again for a fantastic product!!! :)

Best,
Erik
[2018-01-23 22:16:54]
Sierra Chart Engineering - Posts: 104368
I am convinced there is a bug, but it is not a problem with the study itself
Yes this would make more sense. Not with the study itself. It has to do with the underlying data or sometimes update calculation synchronization issues (Which would not apply to historical daily charts though).

We know the study works in a very definite and consistent manner, and we do not deny that the result is not always going to be what you expect. That very well could be. But we just know that there is a definite reason for it and it takes a lot of time on our part to analyze a particular case and explain why, especially when there are multiple charts involved.

The study works fine, but frequently the LAST BAR displayed is completely wrong. The workaround is to close and re-open the chartbook, which always fixes it.
Not sure why that would change anything unless you were to restart Sierra Chart, but what we recommend doing instead is selecting: Edit >>Download Data for All Historical Charts. Or go to the chart with the study and select Chart >> Recalculate (Should not be necessary).
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, *change* to the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing

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