Each month in this Journal, our technical support staff addresses issues of interest to many CSI subscribers in a question-and-answer format. 

Notice:
  The views and information expressed in this document reflect the opinions and experience of the author Robert C. Pelletier.  Neither CSI nor the author undertake or intend to provide tax advice or trading advice in any market or endorse any outside individual or firm.  All recommendations are provided for their informational value only.  Readers should consult competent financial advisors or outside counsel before making any software purchase or investment decision.  CSI does not stand behind or endorse the products of any outside firms.

Copyright (c) 1999 Commodity Systems Inc. (CSI).  All rights are reserved.

Q.
    I see the "Error Report" in the Technical Journal each month, but am unsure what to do with this information. Please advise.

A.
    The error report is published for your information only, and requires no action on your part.  CSI prints a 100% census of the errors we corrected in the past month in the CSI Technical Journal (and has forthrightly done so monthly for 17 years) so that you will be aware of revisions that may affect your trading decisions.  These errors are automatically corrected in the UA database during the daily update process, usually with the next day's data release, and can be corrected through a special download with QuickTrieve.® No other firm we know about acknowledges each and every error they commit, but we feel that this public scrutiny helps us build pride in our work and keeps us on our toes.

Q.
    The new Unfair Advantage program is great, but it doesn't offer the "View" menu that I used frequently in past versions. Have these features been omitted?

A.
    They were inadvertently omitted in 2.1.0 and have been restored in 2.1.1. All of the features from the earlier "View" menu have been retained in the updated version of Unfair Advantage.  You can reach them now through a right (not left) click of your mouse.  The menu that displays when you right-click from a UA chart allows you to adjust the display of volume and open interest, set bar frequency, draw a grid, draw over the Y scale, select bar presentation (including candlesticks), copy an image to the clipboard and clear annotations These features are described in the latest on-line version of the UA manual.
 

Q.
    I'm trying to set up an analytical trading system, and find the issue of accurate data keeps coming up.  With all data originating at the exchanges, is doesn't I seem logical that one service can be noticeably better than another How does CSI report fewer errors than other companies?

A.
    This question has come up many times since Sheldon Knight's 'How Clean is Your Data" article appeared in Futures magazine last September. There are several reasons why CSI came out on top. The most important is our people.  More than 50% of CSI's 30 employees have been with CSI for more than 15 years.  This experience makes us well qualified to tackle problems quickly and efficiently.

Our low error rate is an important factor that differentiates CSI from other services.  We filter out errors in our data by using redundant data sources.  Nearly every market we quote is backed up by one or more alternatives, offering an opportunity to use voting logic on questionable data points.  Close contact with vendors and exchange personnel make it easy for us to verify suspicious data points.  The exchange sources we speak with daily are usually quite grateful for our diligence in "keeping them honest."
 

Q.
    I'm having trouble using UA's ASCII data with Trade-Station.® Any suggestions?

A.
    For best results with UA-created ASCII files, specify "ASCII comma with century"' format in your UA portfolio.