Ensign: Quote Page

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Ensign Windows can collect and display quote information for thousands of symbols.  The symbols are sorted into several market groups and are listed in alphabetical order.  To display a quote window click the Quotes button from the main Toolbar, or select File | Quotes from the menu.  Several quote windows can be displayed at the same time if needed.  The quote window can be used to develop custom quote pages, access charts, export quotes, display a ticker tape, find news stories, view Time & Sales, and create a DDE link to a spreadsheet.  A listing of the Top-100 symbols in several categories can also be requested.

Quote windows display the current price for every symbol collected.  The symbols are grouped into market groups (ex. NYSE, Nasdaq, Futures, Index, etc.).  A button bar at the bottom of the quote window is used to switch market groups.  A button keyboard of alphabet letters is also located on the bottom of the quote window.  The button keyboard is used to spell-out symbols with the mouse.  To change the color of a quote window select Window | Set Window Color.  To change the font, font size, and font color select Window | Set Window Font from the menu.

Symbol Abbreviations

Adding a Symbol
To add a new symbol to a quote page select Quotes | Add Symbol from the menu.  Type the symbol to insert and then press Enter or click the OK button.  Make sure that symbols are added into the proper market group.  For example, don't add stock symbols into the 'Futures' market group.  The newly added symbol will sort alphabetically into the market group quote list.

Deleting a Symbol
To delete symbols from a quote page, select the row (or several rows) and then select Quotes | Delete Row from the menu, or press the Delete key on the computer keyboard.  To delete every symbol in a market group select Quotes | Clear Market Group from the menu.  Clearing the whole market group deletes expired or corrupted symbols and frees-up room for new symbols.  The market group will rebuild with new symbols as they trade and are inserted back into the quote page.  To clear the price values on a single row, select Quotes | Clear Row from the menu.  This will clear the prices for the selected row only.  This can be useful if the prices were somehow corrupted and need to be reset.

Finding a Quote
To view a quote for a symbol, select a market group by clicking on a market group button at the bottom of the quote page.  For example, to view a quote for 'IBM' click on the NYSE market group button (New York and American Stock Exchanges). The symbols in the 'NYSE' market group will be displayed in alphabetical order. Use the vertical scroll bar to scroll down to the 'IBM' symbol, or click the mouse on the button keyboard to spell-out I B M.  The button keyboard at the bottom of the quote page is patterned after the computer keyboard.  The computer keyboard can also be used to type IBM. As each letter is typed the quote page will sort down to the 'IBM' symbol.  Click on the New button (in the button keyboard) or press Enter on the keyboard before starting a new symbol search.

Quote Columns and Rows
The quote window displays several columns of price data for each symbol (ex. High, Low, Last, etc.). The columns can be moved and rearranged by dragging the column titles to a new location with the mouse.  For example, to move the 'High' column to a different location, click on the word 'High' and drag the mouse left or right to the desired location.  The column will be repositioned when the mouse button is released.  The width of each column can be adjusted by dragging the separator line between column titles. To reset all the columns to a default width select Quotes | Reset Column Widths from the menu.

Each row on the screen displays a different symbol.  The rows on 'Custom' quote pages can be moved or rearranged by dragging the symbol to a new row.  For example, if IBM were listed on a custom quote page, it could be moved down the page by clicking on the word IBM and then dragging the mouse down to a different row location.

Column Titles
The title that is displayed for a column can be changed by double-clicking on the column title.  A selection window will appear after double-clicking on the column title.  For example, to change the 'High' column to display the 'Bid' prices instead, double-click on the word 'High' and then select 'Bid' from the pop-up selection window.  Changing the column titles can also be accomplished by using the drop down list box on the right edge of the quote window button bar.  Select a column title from the drop down list box to change the title of a selected column.  To clear (blank out) a column, click on the column and then select Clear from the drop down box.

The following column titles are available for quote display (if the data-feed contains them): 
%Change, % Off High, % Off Low, % Off Open, %Range, 52 Week High, 52 Week Low, Arrows, Ask, Ask Size, Ask Time, Ask Yield, Bid, Bid Size, Bid Time, Bid Yield, Clear, Dividend, Down, EPS, Expiration, Gap, High, Interval, Last, Low, Market, MidBidAsk, Name, Net, Net Bid, Net High, Net Low, Net Open, Open, Open Interest, PE Ratio, Range, Scale, Spread, Strike, T-Counter, Total, T-Time, T-volume, Unchanged, Up, Volume, Xdiv Date, Yesterday, Yield. Note: The Up, Down, Unchanged, and Total price fields display 'Statistic' quotes.

In addition, DTN IQFeed users will have the following fields: Assets, Liability, Volatility, Capitalize, Long Term Debt, Shares Outstanding.

Calculations

% Off High = (High-Last)/Last
% Off Low = (Last-Low)/Low
% Off Open= (Last-Open)/Open
% Range = (Last-Low)/(High-Low), this is a raw Stochastic for Today's range
Gap = Open-Yesterday's Close
Mid Bid/Ask = (Bid+Ask)/2
Net Bid = Bid-Yesterday's Close
Net High = High-Last
Net Low = Last-Low
Net Open = Last-Open
Range = High-Low
Spread = Ask - Bid
Yesterday = Yesterday's Close

Changing the Quote Page Format
Click the Format button or select Quotes | Format from the menu to toggle the quote page format from a vertical format to a horizontal format. The default format displays symbols in a vertical format, with the symbols listed down the left edge of the window. Clicking the Format button will toggle to a horizontal format, with the symbols listed horizontally across the window. The first 4 columns of price data (from the vertical format) will be displayed in the horizontal format. Drag and arrange the columns so that the horizontal format will display the desired 4 price fields. Click Format again to toggle back to the vertical format.

Opening a Chart from a Quote Window
There are multiple ways to Open a chart from a quote window.
1) Double-click the mouse on any symbol in the quote window (uses default time frame).
2) Select a symbol and then press the '=' equal sign key on the keyboard (uses default time frame).
3) Select a symbol and then click the chart Times button on the chart Toolbar.
4) Press Ctrl-1 through Ctrl-0, or Ctrl- - or Ctrl- = Top row of keyboard. Displays a chart for the selected symbol, using one of the first 12 time frames from the Time Frames button panel.

NOTE: The double-click default chart time frame is specified in the charts set-up screen. Select Set- Up | Charts from the menu to view and edit the double-click time frame.

Browsing Charts from the Quote Window
Once a chart has been opened from a quote window, the Home and End keys on the keyboard will display charts for the next symbols in sequence on the quote window (up or down).  Browsing up and down through the quote window symbols is a convenient way to quickly look at all the charts on a custom quote page.  Press the Home key to display the chart for the preceding symbol up the quote page.  Press the End key to display a chart for the next symbol down the quote page.

If a chart is opened directly from a symbol's market group quote page (like the 'NYSE' market group), then the Home and End keys will browse through only the visible symbols in the window. If a chart is opened from a 'Custom' quote page, then every symbol in the custom quote page can be browsed (even those symbols that are not currently visible in the quote window). 

Settlement Prices
An asterisk character '*' is placed next to a symbol's 'Net Change' value when a settlement price is received for the day.  Settlement prices for futures and options are usually received within the half-hour after a market closes. Any symbol that has an asterisk in the 'Net Change' column is either settled for the day (after market hours), or hasn't traded yet that day.  Not all vendor feeds send this flag to indicate the symbol has settled.

Editing Bad Quote Prices
Occasional reception of bad ticks or prices may corrupt the High or Low prices for a symbol.  The daily price ranges in the quote page can be corrected by editing a Daily chart for the affected symbol.  Display the daily chart and graphically edit the current day's bar by pointing to the correct price with the mouse. Once the mouse is positioned on the current bar, and at the correct High or Low price level, right-click the mouse and select Edit | Low or Edit | High from the pop-up menu.  You can also press Ctrl-L or Ctrl-H on the keyboard to edit the bar to the price that the mouse is pointing to.  Note: For DTN users, the easiest way to correct bad prices is to display the symbol on a quote page and then select Quotes | Refresh Visible Rows from the menu.

Copying Quotes and Symbols to the Clipboard
Select Quotes | Copy to Clipboard from the menu to save the currently displayed symbols and prices to the Windows clipboard. The first eight price columns will be copied to the clipboard. Once the quotes have been copied to the Windows clipboard, they can be pasted into Spreadsheet programs or other Windows applications. Only the visible symbols from the quote window will be copied to the Windows clipboard, except when using the Top-100 feature (all 100 symbols will copy to the clipboard). Select Quotes | Symbols to Clipboard from the menu to copy just a list of the symbols to the clipboard. This list can be pasted into the Internet Services ‘Download’ window for internet chart updating.

Showing News Stories
Select a symbol on a quote page and then click the News button from the quotes button bar to display any news stories that are related to the symbol. Selecting Quotes | Show News Stories from the menu will also accomplish the same task. A news window will open and display the news story titles that have been received that are related to the selected symbol.

For example, selecting IBM on a quote page and then clicking the News button will display all news stories related to IBM. This feature is a quick link from a quote page to the news window. If there are no current news stories for a particular symbol then the news window will not be displayed.

Printing a Quote Window
Select Quotes | Print Quotes from the menu or click the Print button from the main Toolbar to print the currently displayed symbols to the printer. Only the symbols that are visible in the quote window will print. The first eight price columns will be printed if printing in Portrait mode. The first eleven price columns will be printed if printing in Landscape mode. To print an entire market group, save the market group to an ASCII file first, and then load and print the ASCII file from a word processor.

Changing Net Change Colors
The color of 'Up' and 'Down' net change values can be customized and changed. Click on the square color box labeled 'Up Net' to select a color for positive net change prices. Click on the square color box labeled 'Down' to select a color for negative net change prices. The color boxes are located in the lower right corner of the quote window. The default colors are 'Green' for up nets and 'Red' for down nets.

Hiding the Quote Button Bar and Tabs
To hide the quotes button bar, click on the Buttons button or uncheck the Quotes | Show Button Bar menu item.  Hiding the button bar will provide more screen space for viewing quotes.  To redisplay the button bar again, select Quotes | Show Button Bar from the menu or press the ESC key on the keyboard while the quote window is the active window.

To hide the custom quote page 'Tabs' at the bottom of the quote window, uncheck the Quotes | Show Tabs menu item. Select Quotes | Show Tabs from the menu to redisplay the tabs again.

Using the Keyboard on a Quote Window
Several keyboard keys can be used on a quote window. Press ALT-Q to access the quote menu selections.  Press the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll up and down through the quotes.  Use the Up, Down, Right, and Left arrow keys to select rows and columns.  Press the Delete key to delete a selected row.  Press Home to jump to the first quote in the market group. Press End to jump to the last quote. Press the Tab key to change the keyboard focus on the market group buttons.

Using Snap Quotes
The Snap Quote feature is used to quickly find a quote for any symbol. Snap Quotes eliminate the need to browse through quote pages and market groups to find a symbol. This feature is particularly useful for Brokers who look-up many quotes for customers during the day.

A Snap Quote window displays the price data for just one symbol. The prices for the Last, Net Change, Open, High, Low, Bid, Ask, Volume, Open Interest, Market, Tick Time, Bid Size, Ask Size, and Tick Volume are shown in the window. The Symbol is displayed in the window title bar. 

To request a Snap Quote click the snap quote button () on the quotes button bar, or select Charts | Snap Quote from the menu. The F12 function key will also retrieve snap quotes. An entry window will prompt for a symbol. Type in a symbol and then press ENTER. The Snap Quote window will then appear containing all the price data. Double-click anywhere on the Snap Quote window to open a Chart for the symbol (The chart will be set to the default time). Click the New Symbol button to request a Snap Quote for a different symbol.

Several snap quote windows can be opened at the same time if desired. Press CTRL-T from the keyboard, while the Snap Quote window is active, to open a Time & Sales window for the selected symbol.

Viewing Ticker Tape
The Ticker Tape feature scrolls symbols and prices across the title bar of a quote window. Select Quotes | Show Ticker Tape from the menu to activate the ticker tape. Select Quotes | Hide Ticker Tape from the menu to disable the ticker tape.

Since multiple quote windows can be displayed at the same time, each quote window title bar will have its own ticker tape. Cascade the quote windows to easily see multiple ticker tapes. A ticker tape will only scroll the symbols that are currently displayed in a quote window. For example, if a quote window is re-sized so that 15 symbols are displayed, then only those 15 symbols will scroll across the title bar when any price changes occur. Bid and Ask prices for the displayed symbols will scroll with a lower case 'a' or 'b' following the price.

Using the Top-100 Quotes Feature
The Top-100 Quotes feature scans through all the symbols in a selected Market Group quote page and displays the Top-100 symbols that match the scan criteria. The scan can be set-up to automatically update based on a timer. The Top-100 button is only visible on a Market Group quote page (not on Custom quote pages). Click one of the Market Group buttons at the bottom of the quote page to view symbols by Market Group. Click the Top-100 button () on the quotes button bar, or select Quotes | Top 100 from the menu to display the list of selection criteria.

Each market group can be scanned for the following items:

Filtering the Top-100
The Top-100 symbol search can be filtered with price and volume ranges. The search can also exclude symbols that have not traded or are settled for the day. The 'Range Filter' panel allows for 'High' and 'Low' prices to be entered. For example, if a high price of 50.00 is entered, and a low price of 40.00 is entered, then the Top-100 scan will include only symbols with prices between 40.00 and 50.00. Place a check in the ‘Include Settled’ box to include symbols that are settled for the day, or have not traded yet during the day.

The scan can also be filtered by Volume. The 'Volume Filter' panel allows for a 'High' and 'Low' volume range to be entered. This allows each scan to filter out all symbols that don't have volumes within the specified range.

The Top-100 list is generated each time the Top-100 feature is accessed. The list will change during the day as different symbols trade up or down. To start an automatic scan, enter a time in the ‘Auto (minutes)’ entry box. Example, enter a 3 to enable an automatic Top-100 scan every 3 minutes based on the filter criteria.

Saving the Top-1oo List
To save a Top-100 list to a custom quote page, drag the mouse down to select all the symbols in the list, and then transfer them to the specified custom quote page. The list can also be saved to an ASCII file by selecting Quotes | Save to ASCII from the menu while the Top-100 list is displayed. The ASCII file will be saved in the \ENSIGN folder. The ASCII file name will be the name of the market group (ex. NASDAQ.TXT). Click the Print button on the main Toolbar to print the Top-100 list.

Saving Quote Pages to an ASCII File
Ensign Windows can save a quote page to an ASCII text file. Several ASCII file formats are supported. Entire market groups, custom quote pages, or Top-100 lists can be saved to ASCII files. Saving quote pages to an ASCII file format can be used to export the quote data into Spreadsheet programs, Word Processors, and other technical analysis programs.

To save the active quote window to an ASCII text file select Quotes | Save to ASCII from the menu, then select a file format. The file formats are 'Excel Columns', 'Excel Commas', 'MetaStock 5', 'MetaStock 7', and 'AIQ'. Each file format saves the data in a different way. The ASCII file is saved in the \ENSIGN\ASCII folder. The file name will be the name of the custom quote page, or the market group name (ex. NYSE, NASDAQ, COMMODIT, INDICES, CASH, STATISTI, etc.).

• Excel Columns-This format exports the symbol and several columns of quote data from the quote page. If necessary, rearrange the columns before saving the data. This will insure that the desired columns are saved. Rearrange columns by dragging the column title with the mouse to a different column location. The file name will use .TXT as the file extension (ex. NASDAQ.TXT ). The first row of the ASCII file will contain the column titles for the data. Each column of quote data will be 10 characters wide. Select Set-Up | Computer from the menu to specify how many columns to save.
• Excel Commas- This format is exactly the same as the 'Excel Columns' except that each column of data is separated with a comma, instead of being 10 characters wide. This is called a comma delimited ASCII file.
• MetaStock 5-This format will create ASCII files that can be imported into the MetaStock program. The Ticker Symbol, Date, High, Low, Close, and Volume are exported for each symbol. The name of the ASCII file will be the market group name, with .PRN as the file extension. The Dates are formatted as MM/DD/YY.
• MetaStock 7-This format is the same as the 'MetaStock 5' format along with 2 additional price fields. The Ticker Symbol, Date, High, Low, Close, Volume, Open, and Open Interest are exported for each symbol.
• AIQ- This format is similar to MetaStock 7, less one price field. The Ticker Symbol, Date, High, Low, Close, Volume, and Open are exported for each symbol.

Linking to an Excel Spreadsheet

To start a link to an Excel Spreadsheet select Quotes | Link to Excel from the menu while viewing a custom Quote page. When a new quote price is received by Ensign Windows, it will be passed to the spreadsheet. This allows customized spreadsheet formulas and models to be used while using the real-time quote data from Ensign Windows. The link uses OLE technology (not DDE) to connect real time quotes to the spreadsheet. To disconnect the link, select Quotes | Link to Excel again.

NOTE: An Excel Link can also be started from an Options page. Only one link should be active at any given time. Do not attempt to link several quote pages or option pages at the same time. If you leave Excel open after disconnecting the link, do not attempt to link again until you have exited Excel. When you start the link again, then Excel will re-open.

Using the Keyboard on a Quote Window
Several keyboard keys can be used on a quote window. Press ALT-Q to access the quote menu selections. Press the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys to scroll up and down through the quotes. Use the UP, DOWN, RIGHT, and LEFT arrow keys to select rows and columns. Press the DELETE key to delete a selected row. Press HOME to jump to the first quote in the market group. Press END to jump to the last quote. Press the TAB key to change the keyboard focus on the market group buttons.

read more» Custom Quote Page
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