Using Our Data With MetaStock™

Overview

In order to read our data with MetaStock™, there is no need to import it “into” MetaStock™ or configure The Downloader™ in any way. All you need to do is go File > Open, select “Local Data” and then navigate to the location on your machine where our data is installed. Once you open one of our data files with MetaStock™, it will remember the path you followed to get there and then offer you data from that location next time around. This makes it appear as if the data is now “in” MetaStock™.

Illustrations

Click on a link below to see illustrations of how to open our data with MetaStock™.

Stocks
Forex
Futures

FAQ

When I start MetaStock™, it gives me the error message "The online vendor account is not configured properly or does not support this feature". How do I fix this?
This probably means that you’ve tried to enter your log-in details at Application Properties > Reuters Datalink. To remove these details, start up MetaStock™ and, after it presents the error message, click "Work Offline". Then click Tools > Options and select the “Reuters Datalink” tab. Then delete the entries for User ID and Password. Finally, click “O.K.” and shut down MetaStock™.

When I go to open a file, I can’t see any security symbols or names – just files F1.dat, F2.dat etc. If I try to open one of these, I get “Not a valid MetaStock file for Windows”. What am I doing wrong?
In the File > Open dialog, you need to select Files of Type = Smart Charts (at the bottom).

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Why can I only see two years of data?
By default, MetaStock™ only shows 400 data points (somewhat under two years). To see more data in a chart, you will need to adjust the program’s Load Options. A setting of 5,000 will typically show about 20 years of daily data.

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In the File > Open dialog, you need to select "Options" as shown:



Then select "Load Options":



And enter your desired values:

I hate having to add all the individual A-Z sub-folders for an Exploration. Is there an easier way?
For most of the stock exchanges we cover, we offer the ability to eliminate the A-Z sub-folder structure. Open Premium Data (our Stocks updating product), click the Configuration Tab and then the “Database Structure” button at bottom right. Follow the instructions there to eliminate (or restore) A-Z sub-folders.

Please note: if A-Z sub-folders are eliminated, some of your data folders may contain over 2,000 securities. You will need to be using MetaStock™ v.8 (or higher) in order to be able to read that many securities in a single folder.

I am accessing the US historical data and looking at the Open Interest field to obtain the unadjusted close. However, the values there are only shown in whole numbers. How can I see the actual unadjusted close in detail?
Many charting programs (including MetaStock™) pre-suppose that Open Interest will be a whole number. To "trick" MetaStock™ into revealing the full value of the unadjusted closes, create a new indicator in the Indicator Builder called “OriginalClose” and enter the formula as OI + 0. Then use this indicator to plot the unadjusted close.

I want to see “date-padded” data - can I do this in MetaStock™?
It is possible to emulate date-padded data using Metastock. Dates on which no trades were recorded will appear as blank gaps in the chart.

1. Open up a chart of any stock.
2. Right-click on a blank area of the chart and select “Chart Window Properties”.
3. Make sure that “Show inner window title bars” and “Show inner window splitter bars” are enabled. Then click OK.
4. Open up a chart of an appropriate index to use a date reference. For instance, use the S&P 500 as a date reference for any U.S. stock.
5. Click Window > Tile. You should now see one chart on top of the other.
6. Left-click on the price display in the index chart to select it and then drag the prices to the bottom of the stock chart around where the dates are shown. You should now see the index chart as an “inner window” at the bottom of the stock chart.
7. Close down the original index chart that you opened in step 4.
8. Right-click on a blank area of the stock chart and select “Chart Window Properties”.
9. Untick “Show inner window title bars” and click OK.
10. Drag the splitter bar just above the index chart downwards as far as it will go. This will "resize" your index price display so as to ultimately hide it, leaving only the dates.
11. Click File > Save As. Select “Template” as the Save As type and call the template something like "Padded".

Where can I get help on using MetaStock™?
For a basic tutorial on the MetaStock™ formula language, see the Metastock& Formula Primer. For a fantastic MetaStock™ newsletter see MetaStock Tips and Tools Newsletter. For a wide range of indicators and also custom programming services see Jose Silva's Metastock Tools site. There are a few Metastock™ support forums available on the Internet too - Equis Metastock Forum, Yahoo Finance Equis Metastock Group, ReefCap's Metastock Forum and Stock Meeting Place Metastock Forum.

Known Issues

Limitation on number of files per data folder
Very early versions of MetaStock™ (before v6.5) could only read up to 255 files per folder. From v6.5, the program was able to read up 2,000 files and from v8 it could read up to 6,000 files.

Absolute file references
MetaStock™ allows you to go beyond “Smart Charts” and create what it calls “Charts” and “Layouts”. You can save many different versions of the same Chart under different names and you can create a Layout of charts and then save the Layout with a distinctive name. Unfortunately, these objects rely on absolute file references. Let’s say that your ASX data is installed under c:\Trading Data\Stocks\ASX and you create a series of Layouts from your ASX database. MetaStock™ “remembers” the exact location of each underlying data file in each Layout. Now let’s say that you wish to move your ASX database from your c: drive to your d: drive because your c: drive is full. The MetaStock™ Layouts that you have created will no longer work, because they are based on data files that used to be located elsewhere.

Accidental folder drag
Sometimes, during the File > Open process in MetaStock™, a double-click on a folder name can be handled incorrectly, the result being a click-drag-click action. This can cause one sub-folder to be dragged inside another. Typically, the affected folder will be an alphabetical sub-folder such as the “B” folder, which is dragged inside the ”A” or “C” folder. The “B” folder will continue to update successfully, but eventually another version of the folder will be created in the correct position (for instance, when a new stock starting with “B” is added the database).

File Corruption
Corruption of MetaStock-format data files typically occurs in the following circumstances –

1. if two programs attempt to access data files at the same time (for instance, if you have files open in MetaStock™ when performing a data update).
2. if your machine loses power or locks up during an update.
3. if data files aren’t closed down properly (for instance, if MetaStock™ is closed abnormally).