Setup: Markets

Select Set-Up | Markets from the menu to view the Markets set-up window. This screen is only enabled for DTN satellite data-feed users. The Markets window enables or disables market groups of symbols. It is important to enable only the markets that will be traded or followed. Computer memory and resources are initialized depending on the market groups selected. To conserve memory and hard disk space, enable only the markets that will be actively used. Each market group is displayed with a number and 3 check boxes. The number indicates how many symbols are currently collected in the market group. The check boxes are used to enable quote collection for each market group, and to enable daily and Intraday charting for each market group.

Enable Market
Check the 3rd box to enable a market group to collect quotes. This enables the software to collect quotes for any symbol received for that market group. If this box is not checked, then quotes and charts will not be available for the market group and no chart archive files will be saved. To view current quotes for a market group, but not collect any chart data, then check only this box. Remember to disable all markets that will not be used. This will conserve memory and computer resources.

Archive Tick
Check the middle box to enable the collection of Intraday chart data for all symbols in a market group (ex. 5 minute, 1 minute, tick charts, etc.). The software will save every tick that is received (for each enabled market group) into several tick archive files. The archive files are used to extract Intraday charts for any time frame. The software can collect up to 3 million ticks as a total pool to extract from. If this box is not check, then no Intraday charts will be available for the market group.

Archive Daily
Check the 1st box to enable daily, weekly, and monthly charts. Daily archive files will be stored for all the symbols in the market group. This will enable daily charts to be viewed for any symbol in the market group. Weekly and monthly charts are extracted from the daily chart data. Regional stock exchanges for U.S. and Canada can be enabled with a check mark, and will inherit the enabling and archive settings of the 'Stocks' and 'Canadian' market groups.

Quote Capacity and Authorization
The software allocates computer memory for quote collection. Each allocation can hold 32,700 symbols. Note: The Futures Options group can hold 42,000 symbols. Some market groups share the same 32,700 quote allocation. Some market groups use a memory allocation by themselves. The stock option symbols have been broken into six separate alphabetical market groups for a total of 196,200 stock options. If a market group reaches its 32,700 capacity, then no more symbols can be inserted into the market group. Symbols are inserted into the quote pages on a first-come first-served basis as received from the data-feed. The Data Base Authorization panel lists the markets that have been enabled on the data-feed equipment.

Stock Options Symbol Filter
Click the Stock Options List button to view the Stock Option symbol filter list. An entry box and a list box will be displayed. The symbol filter list is used to limit the number of Stock Option symbols that can be collected by the software. Many traders (especially Index Option traders) only follow one or two option symbols. Without a symbol filter, the software will collect quotes and build charts for over 100,000 option symbols. This is a huge waste of resources if only a few symbols are needed.

The entry box is used to enter desired stock option symbols. The list box displays the current list of accepted symbols. All other stock option symbols will be ignored. For example, type OEX in the entry box and then press Enter. The symbol will be added to the list box. The software will ignore all stock option symbols except the OEX option symbols. Type IBM in the entry box to accept all the IBM option symbols. The software will only process option symbols that are included in the list box.

Note: Do not include any wild-card characters in the stock symbols (ex. IBM will allow all IBM options to come in). Make sure that the Stock Option Filter box is completely empty if you want to collect all the stock options.

To remove a symbol from the list box, click the mouse on the symbol and then press the Backspace or Delete keys on the keyboard. If the list box is empty, then ALL stock option symbols will be accepted and processed. To clear symbols from the Stock Option market group Quote pages, select Quotes | Clear Market Group from the menu while viewing the Stock Option quote page.