Configure Unfair Advantage with your Trading software
DELTA - ONE DAY AT A TIME
Set up CSI's Unfair Advantage with the Delta software.
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage software,
- Delta software.
Delta Info: We provide two Futures portfolios for ODAT.
- The first portfolio is called Delta-Commodities, and shows up in the root directory (C:\) as Delta-Futures. This portfolio contains Pit, Electronic and Combined
(Pit & Electronic) sessions.
- The second portfolio is called eDelta-Commodities and shows up in the root directory (C:\) as eDelta-Futures. This portfolio contains ONLY Electronic and
Combined (Pit & Electronic) sessions.
Instructions:
01. Go to your Desktop and double click the icon "Launch UA".
02. Select "Portfolio" from the main menu bar.
03. Select "Download Latest Vendor Portfolio" or "Download Portfolio" from the "PORTFOLIO" menu.
04. Select "Delta-Commodities" or "eDelta-Commodities" from the menu.
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage software,
- Delta software.
Delta Info: We provide two Futures portfolios for ODAT.
- The first portfolio is called Delta-Commodities, and shows up in the root directory (C:\) as Delta-Futures. This portfolio contains Pit, Electronic and Combined
(Pit & Electronic) sessions.
- The second portfolio is called eDelta-Commodities and shows up in the root directory (C:\) as eDelta-Futures. This portfolio contains ONLY Electronic and
Combined (Pit & Electronic) sessions.
Instructions:
01. Go to your Desktop and double click the icon "Launch UA".
02. Select "Portfolio" from the main menu bar.
03. Select "Download Latest Vendor Portfolio" or "Download Portfolio" from the "PORTFOLIO" menu.
04. Select "Delta-Commodities" or "eDelta-Commodities" from the menu.
05. Click "Yes" if it asks "Would you like to download the latest portfolio?".
06. Choose "PORTFOLIO" from the main menu and click "Select All".
(NOTE: All files in the portfolio should turn blue)
07. Select "Portfolio" again, and choose "Rewrite File Immediately".
(NOTE: All files in the portfolio should turn blue)
07. Select "Portfolio" again, and choose "Rewrite File Immediately".
08. Wait for the program to finish rewriting.
09. Close Unfair Advantage.
10. Go back to your Desktop and double click the icon "Delta Commodities".
11. Select "Data Type..." from the "File" menu.
12. Select "CSI Data Format" from the "Select data Type" window, and click the "OK" button.
09. Close Unfair Advantage.
10. Go back to your Desktop and double click the icon "Delta Commodities".
11. Select "Data Type..." from the "File" menu.
12. Select "CSI Data Format" from the "Select data Type" window, and click the "OK" button.
13. Select the folder "Delta-Futures" or "eDelta-Futures" from the "Browse for Folder" window, and click the "OK" button.
14. Click the "All" button to import all symbols to Delta, and click the "OK" button.
15. Select the contract from the drop down box.
Add one or more symbol(s) to the Delta (One Day At A Time) portfolio through CSI's Unfair Advantage software.
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage software,
- Delta software.
Instructions:
01. Go to your Desktop and double click the icon "Launch UA".
02. Click the drop down box "SELECT PORTFOLIO" and select the Delta-Futures portfolio.
03. Click the button "Add File To Portfolio".
04. That opens a window called "Selecting Data Series".
05. Click the IFG tab, select the number of contracts you wish to observe, type in the symbol or csi number (i.e. PA2) and click the "OK" button.
Click the "YES" button to build the hard disk files.
Follow STEP 3 to add the same symbol with a Nth Nearest contract or Back Adjusted contract.
Click the Nth Nearest tab, type in the symbol or csi number (i.e. PA2) and click the "OK" button.
Click the "YES" button to build the hard disk files.
06. Close Unfair Advantage.
07. Go back to your Desktop and double click the icon "Delta Commodities".
08. Click "FILE" along the top and select "Data Type..." from the "File" menu.
09. Select "CSI Data Format" from the "Select data Type" window.
Click the "OK" button.
10. Select the folder "Delta-Futures" from the "Browse for Folder" window.
Click the "OK" button.
11. Click the "All" button to import all symbols to Delta.
12. Click the "OK" button.
13. Select the contract from the drop down box.
TRADING BLOX
Set up CSI's Unfair Advantage with the Trading Blox software.
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage software,
- Trading Blox software.
Trading Blox info:
These instructions tell you how to create your own data files with the CSI Unfair Advantage (UA) product. These instructions are for use with Trading Blox version 2.2 or later.
There are two basic steps:
1. Import our CSI UA portfolio file into CSI UA and build all the data files.
We provide CSI Unfair Advantage portfolios to import into CSI UA that are identical to the ones used to create the sample data. There are three portfolios:
one for futures, one for forex, and one for stocks. You can import one or all, depending on your CSI subscription. If you only subscribe to North American Futures, you should just import the Futures portfolio.
To download the portfolio(s), execute 'Launch UA' from your Windows Desktop, select 'Portfolio' from the main menu, click 'Download Portfolio' and choose:
[Screen Shot 1]
- TradingBloxForex or,
- TradingBloxFutures or,
- TradingBloxStocks.
To create these files, first use the "Portfolio/Select All Files" and then use the "Portfolio/Rewrite File immediately" menu option to build your files. Note: If all the files don't turn 'blue' and the file creation process goes too quick, you may have written just one selected file. Make sure you deselect any files, or use the Portfolio/Select All menu option to select all files. [Screen Shot 2]
2. Tell Trading Blox where the new data can be found.
Trading Blox is now ready to use this data. Select Edit/Preferences from the Trading Blox menu, and set the Futures Data folder to UA\Files\Futures. For Forex set the "Forex Data" folder to UA\Files\Forex, and for stocks set the "Stock Data" folder to UA\Files\stocks. If your UA installation is in a different drive or directory, or the files are stored somewhere else, then use that location here. The picture below is for Futures, and shows how the Futures Data Folder is changed correctly to \ua\Files\Futures\.
[Screen Shot 3]
You can now run a test using these new data files. As you update UA each day with new data, each new day's data is then immediately available to use in Trading Blox for testing. Remember to set your test end date to the current month so the test uses the new data.
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage software,
- Trading Blox software.
Trading Blox info:
These instructions tell you how to create your own data files with the CSI Unfair Advantage (UA) product. These instructions are for use with Trading Blox version 2.2 or later.
There are two basic steps:
1. Import our CSI UA portfolio file into CSI UA and build all the data files.
We provide CSI Unfair Advantage portfolios to import into CSI UA that are identical to the ones used to create the sample data. There are three portfolios:
one for futures, one for forex, and one for stocks. You can import one or all, depending on your CSI subscription. If you only subscribe to North American Futures, you should just import the Futures portfolio.
To download the portfolio(s), execute 'Launch UA' from your Windows Desktop, select 'Portfolio' from the main menu, click 'Download Portfolio' and choose:
[Screen Shot 1]
- TradingBloxForex or,
- TradingBloxFutures or,
- TradingBloxStocks.
To create these files, first use the "Portfolio/Select All Files" and then use the "Portfolio/Rewrite File immediately" menu option to build your files. Note: If all the files don't turn 'blue' and the file creation process goes too quick, you may have written just one selected file. Make sure you deselect any files, or use the Portfolio/Select All menu option to select all files. [Screen Shot 2]
2. Tell Trading Blox where the new data can be found.
Trading Blox is now ready to use this data. Select Edit/Preferences from the Trading Blox menu, and set the Futures Data folder to UA\Files\Futures. For Forex set the "Forex Data" folder to UA\Files\Forex, and for stocks set the "Stock Data" folder to UA\Files\stocks. If your UA installation is in a different drive or directory, or the files are stored somewhere else, then use that location here. The picture below is for Futures, and shows how the Futures Data Folder is changed correctly to \ua\Files\Futures\.
[Screen Shot 3]
You can now run a test using these new data files. As you update UA each day with new data, each new day's data is then immediately available to use in Trading Blox for testing. Remember to set your test end date to the current month so the test uses the new data.
Click Images to Enlarge.
To add new markets to CSI's Unfair Advantage and Trading Blox.
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage software,
- Trading Blox software.
There are two steps in this process:
1) Add the new instrument to the UA "Futures" portfolio
First open UA, select the "Futures" portfolio, and press "Add file to portfolio". [Screen Shot 1]
This will bring up a "Selecting Data Series" window that allows you to select new markets to add to this portfolio. Select the Market Type of "Futures," press the "Back Adjusted" tab so that the file will use the backadjusting we defined for the rest of the porfolio, and press the Markets button to select from a list. Alternately you could just enter DA into the box and hit return. Or a string of markets like DA,W,C etc. [Screen Shot 2]
You don't need to modify any other information on this page. But double check to make sure it's similar because some versions of CSI UA don't bring this up correctly. The important part is that the File Format is ASCII and if you click on Preferences you see that the file is Comma Delimited and with a force .txt extension.
[Screen Shot 3, 4, 5, 6]
When we press the "Markets" button, we get the following screen that allows us to select the market we wish to add to the portfolio. In this case we are adding Milk (DA). You can check the "Select" box next to the market to add. [Screen Shot 7]
When we are back at the "Selecting Data Series" window press the "OK" button.
We will get a message asking if we want to build these files, we press 'Yes'. [Screen Shot 8]
Once we are back in the main UA screen, the instrument has been added to the portfolio, and the file has been built. This instrument will be updated daily, and we can now access this data from Trading Blox.
To check that this file was created successfully, go to the UA/Files/Futures folder, and find the file staring with DA. It should be something like DA followed by some characters and ending in .txt. Also, if you open this file you should see the data in the format D,O,H,L,C,V,OI,DM,UC comma delimited with no header.
The folder with a list of .txt files should look like [Screen Shot 9].
If you open a file, like AD, then you should see the format is correct like [Screen Shot 10].
2) Add the new instrument to the Trading Blox Futures Dictionary
Now we can start Trading Blox and access the Edit/Futures Dictionary menu item. This will bring up a list of all the futures instruments Trading Blox™ is aware of, and the associated contract details. Press the "New Market" button to add a new market. Erase the symbol field and replace it with the actual symbol (in this case DA).
Press the 'Synch UA' button to get the market data from CSI UA. Be sure to double check this data as it is not always 100% accurate. You will want to fill in the Margin as well, so get that from the exchange. All this data needs to be checked periodically and is the responsibility of the user. The exchange can change symbols, minimum ticks, big point values, margins, etc with very little notice.
Press the 'Find Symbol' button to locate the file name (based on the symbol) and the folder location. Note that the find process finds files starting with the symbol name, so in the case of C you may find CC or CT first, so just hit the button again. If your file name does not start with the symbol, then enter the first few letters of the file name to find it, then change the symbol back to the correct symbol.
We can now press OK. The instrument has been added to our Futures Dictionary.
The last step is to add the instrument to one of our portfolios, so it will be used for testing. Use the Edit/Portfolios menu option. In this case we are using the Demo portfolio for testing, so we are going to add Milk to that portfolio.
Simply select the Portfolio to use (Demo), and check the checkbox next to the instrument to add (Milk). [Screen Shot 11]
Press Ok and return to the main Trading Blox™ screen. Now when you use the Demo portfolio, Milk will be included as an instrument to use for the test.
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage software,
- Trading Blox software.
There are two steps in this process:
1) Add the new instrument to the UA "Futures" portfolio
First open UA, select the "Futures" portfolio, and press "Add file to portfolio". [Screen Shot 1]
This will bring up a "Selecting Data Series" window that allows you to select new markets to add to this portfolio. Select the Market Type of "Futures," press the "Back Adjusted" tab so that the file will use the backadjusting we defined for the rest of the porfolio, and press the Markets button to select from a list. Alternately you could just enter DA into the box and hit return. Or a string of markets like DA,W,C etc. [Screen Shot 2]
You don't need to modify any other information on this page. But double check to make sure it's similar because some versions of CSI UA don't bring this up correctly. The important part is that the File Format is ASCII and if you click on Preferences you see that the file is Comma Delimited and with a force .txt extension.
[Screen Shot 3, 4, 5, 6]
When we press the "Markets" button, we get the following screen that allows us to select the market we wish to add to the portfolio. In this case we are adding Milk (DA). You can check the "Select" box next to the market to add. [Screen Shot 7]
When we are back at the "Selecting Data Series" window press the "OK" button.
We will get a message asking if we want to build these files, we press 'Yes'. [Screen Shot 8]
Once we are back in the main UA screen, the instrument has been added to the portfolio, and the file has been built. This instrument will be updated daily, and we can now access this data from Trading Blox.
To check that this file was created successfully, go to the UA/Files/Futures folder, and find the file staring with DA. It should be something like DA followed by some characters and ending in .txt. Also, if you open this file you should see the data in the format D,O,H,L,C,V,OI,DM,UC comma delimited with no header.
The folder with a list of .txt files should look like [Screen Shot 9].
If you open a file, like AD, then you should see the format is correct like [Screen Shot 10].
2) Add the new instrument to the Trading Blox Futures Dictionary
Now we can start Trading Blox and access the Edit/Futures Dictionary menu item. This will bring up a list of all the futures instruments Trading Blox™ is aware of, and the associated contract details. Press the "New Market" button to add a new market. Erase the symbol field and replace it with the actual symbol (in this case DA).
Press the 'Synch UA' button to get the market data from CSI UA. Be sure to double check this data as it is not always 100% accurate. You will want to fill in the Margin as well, so get that from the exchange. All this data needs to be checked periodically and is the responsibility of the user. The exchange can change symbols, minimum ticks, big point values, margins, etc with very little notice.
Press the 'Find Symbol' button to locate the file name (based on the symbol) and the folder location. Note that the find process finds files starting with the symbol name, so in the case of C you may find CC or CT first, so just hit the button again. If your file name does not start with the symbol, then enter the first few letters of the file name to find it, then change the symbol back to the correct symbol.
We can now press OK. The instrument has been added to our Futures Dictionary.
The last step is to add the instrument to one of our portfolios, so it will be used for testing. Use the Edit/Portfolios menu option. In this case we are using the Demo portfolio for testing, so we are going to add Milk to that portfolio.
Simply select the Portfolio to use (Demo), and check the checkbox next to the instrument to add (Milk). [Screen Shot 11]
Press Ok and return to the main Trading Blox™ screen. Now when you use the Demo portfolio, Milk will be included as an instrument to use for the test.
Click Images to Enlarge.
VANTAGEPOINT
Change the provider symbol in VantagePoint.
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage software,
- Market Technologies' VantagePoint software.
Instructions:
01. Find the market in the list.
02. Right click on the market name and choose "Properties".
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage software,
- Market Technologies' VantagePoint software.
Instructions:
01. Find the market in the list.
02. Right click on the market name and choose "Properties".
03. Click on the 'Advanced' tab.
04. Click 'Edit Symbols'.
05. Change the symbol and click 'Save'.
06. Click the 'OK' button.
07. Once all the symbols have been changed close VP and reopen it.
08. You should now have the new combined session data.
08. You should now have the new combined session data.
TRADESTATION
Set up CSI's Unfair Advantage with Trade Station
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage software,
- Trade Station software.
Trade Station info:
Let’s say you’re a spread trader with positions in multiple commodity markets: March and May corn, March and May soybeans, and February and April gold, for example.
Follow these simple steps to create such a portfolio:
01. Click UA’s Portfolio Menu and then click “Create New Portfolio.” Type a portfolio name, such as, “MyFutures” and click [OK].
Unfair Advantage will proceed to the market selection screen.
02. At the “Selecting Data Series” screen, make sure the “Market Type” says “Futures.” In the “Symbols” box to the right of market type, enter the symbols
for each of these commodities. For our example, the input would be “C, S, GC.” (If you prefer to use CSI numbers, go ahead and enter them as 9, 17, 30.)
Or, if you don’t know either, you can choose from a list by clicking the [Mkts] button next to the “Symbols” box.
03. Since the delivery months you trade are fairly nearby, it would be easy to view them as part of an “Individual Futures Group” (IFG).
Simply click the “IFG” tab in the center section of the screen where contract types are selected. Click [OK] to accept that the nearest three contracts
will be included for each of your markets. (This will encompass the required contracts, plus a few more).
04. If you’ll be analyzing this data with another software program when you’re finished with UA, chances are good that you’ll need to export the files into CSI format.
You’ll see the choices at the right side of the data selection screen. Check all desired formats by clicking the appropriate boxes.
Click [OK] and your quick-and-easy portfolio will be created, with the contents listed in the Portfolio Manager panel.
The following instruction will help you to open Unfair Advantage data files with Trade Station after you set up and write the files through Unfair Advantage.
01. Run Omega Research Trade Station.
02. Select "Open New Workspace".
03. Select the "Create a Trade Station Chart Window".
04. Select the 3rd Party Directory.
05. Click "New Dir".
06. In the Data Type list, select the format in which the data is stored.
07. In the Directory box, enter the exact path for the directory.
08. To select the directory, click Browse. Navigate through the data tree by clicking on the appropriate path until you find your directory.
Click the "OK" button. The specified directory is placed in the Directory box.
If you don't know the path, or you want to add multiple directories at once, you can use the Scan feature. See the instructions below.
01. Click the "OK" button.
02. The directory is added to the drop-down list.
03. Select the commodity or stock and click the "Plot" button.
To add multiple directories at once using the Scan feature:
01. Select the 3rd Party Directory.
02. Click "New Dir".
03. In the Data Type list select the format in which the data is stored. CSI Format.
04. Click "Scan".
05. Enter the drive letter you want to scan for data directories (e.g., C:\).
06. Click the "OK" button. Once the scan process is finished, any directories containing data in the specified format will be listed in the Directory drop-down list.
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage software,
- Trade Station software.
Trade Station info:
Let’s say you’re a spread trader with positions in multiple commodity markets: March and May corn, March and May soybeans, and February and April gold, for example.
Follow these simple steps to create such a portfolio:
01. Click UA’s Portfolio Menu and then click “Create New Portfolio.” Type a portfolio name, such as, “MyFutures” and click [OK].
Unfair Advantage will proceed to the market selection screen.
02. At the “Selecting Data Series” screen, make sure the “Market Type” says “Futures.” In the “Symbols” box to the right of market type, enter the symbols
for each of these commodities. For our example, the input would be “C, S, GC.” (If you prefer to use CSI numbers, go ahead and enter them as 9, 17, 30.)
Or, if you don’t know either, you can choose from a list by clicking the [Mkts] button next to the “Symbols” box.
03. Since the delivery months you trade are fairly nearby, it would be easy to view them as part of an “Individual Futures Group” (IFG).
Simply click the “IFG” tab in the center section of the screen where contract types are selected. Click [OK] to accept that the nearest three contracts
will be included for each of your markets. (This will encompass the required contracts, plus a few more).
04. If you’ll be analyzing this data with another software program when you’re finished with UA, chances are good that you’ll need to export the files into CSI format.
You’ll see the choices at the right side of the data selection screen. Check all desired formats by clicking the appropriate boxes.
Click [OK] and your quick-and-easy portfolio will be created, with the contents listed in the Portfolio Manager panel.
The following instruction will help you to open Unfair Advantage data files with Trade Station after you set up and write the files through Unfair Advantage.
01. Run Omega Research Trade Station.
02. Select "Open New Workspace".
03. Select the "Create a Trade Station Chart Window".
04. Select the 3rd Party Directory.
05. Click "New Dir".
06. In the Data Type list, select the format in which the data is stored.
07. In the Directory box, enter the exact path for the directory.
08. To select the directory, click Browse. Navigate through the data tree by clicking on the appropriate path until you find your directory.
Click the "OK" button. The specified directory is placed in the Directory box.
If you don't know the path, or you want to add multiple directories at once, you can use the Scan feature. See the instructions below.
01. Click the "OK" button.
02. The directory is added to the drop-down list.
03. Select the commodity or stock and click the "Plot" button.
To add multiple directories at once using the Scan feature:
01. Select the 3rd Party Directory.
02. Click "New Dir".
03. In the Data Type list select the format in which the data is stored. CSI Format.
04. Click "Scan".
05. Enter the drive letter you want to scan for data directories (e.g., C:\).
06. Click the "OK" button. Once the scan process is finished, any directories containing data in the specified format will be listed in the Directory drop-down list.
AMIBROKER
Set up CSI's Unfair Advantage with Amibroker.
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage version 2.10.7
- Amibroker version 4.8 - 5.3
Amibroker Info:
If AmiBroker doesn't open, it is probably because you are not running in an Administrator account.
AmiBroker must be run at least one time in an Administrator account in order for UA to find it.
Doing this may require rebooting in Safe Mode. Please contact AmiBroker's Technical Support if you need assistance.
Instructions:
01. Click on "My Computer" on your desktop and go the folder C:\ua.
Select the "broker.markets" file.
[Note: If you can't locate the "broker.markets" file on your hard drive, right click here and choose "Save Link/Target as..." to save the file to your hard drive.]
Right click the file and select "Copy" from the menu.
Requirements:
- CSI's Unfair Advantage version 2.10.7
- Amibroker version 4.8 - 5.3
Amibroker Info:
If AmiBroker doesn't open, it is probably because you are not running in an Administrator account.
AmiBroker must be run at least one time in an Administrator account in order for UA to find it.
Doing this may require rebooting in Safe Mode. Please contact AmiBroker's Technical Support if you need assistance.
Instructions:
01. Click on "My Computer" on your desktop and go the folder C:\ua.
Select the "broker.markets" file.
[Note: If you can't locate the "broker.markets" file on your hard drive, right click here and choose "Save Link/Target as..." to save the file to your hard drive.]
Right click the file and select "Copy" from the menu.
02. Go to the default folder of Amibroker (i.e. C:\Amibroker).
Right click into the folder and select "Paste" from the menu.
Right click into the folder and select "Paste" from the menu.
03. Go to your Desktop and double click Amibroker.
Select "File" from the main menu and go down to "New database...".
Select "File" from the main menu and go down to "New database...".
04. To create a Database Folder, type in a folder location (i.e. C:\Amibroker\CSIdata) and click the "Create" button.
05. Change the 'Number or bars' and click the "OK" button
06. Minimize the Amibroker window.
Go to your Desktop and double click "Launch UA".
Select "Preferences" from the main menu.
Go to your Desktop and double click "Launch UA".
Select "Preferences" from the main menu.
07. Select "Amibroker" from the left hand side menu.
Check the box "Export daily updates to Amibroker".
Select the created Database Folder (step 8).
Check the box "Portfolio ( stocks & futures).
Click on the "OK" button.
Check the box "Export daily updates to Amibroker".
Select the created Database Folder (step 8).
Check the box "Portfolio ( stocks & futures).
Click on the "OK" button.
08. Click in the Unfair Advantage interface on "Download Data".
You should see UA exporting the data to Amibroker.
You should see UA exporting the data to Amibroker.
09. Amibroker displays the charts.
ADVANCED GET
Step One
Download, configure, and create a portfolio in Unfair Advantage.
Step Two
Launch Advanced GET and click on the File menu and select the Data Paths menu option.
Download, configure, and create a portfolio in Unfair Advantage.
Step Two
Launch Advanced GET and click on the File menu and select the Data Paths menu option.
Step Three
Click on the Add button and then select Metastock File Library, click OK.
Click on the Add button and then select Metastock File Library, click OK.
Step Four
Click on Properties and then the browse button, select where your Metastock Database is located on your computer. eg. C:\Data\NYSE and then click OK. Click OK until you are back to the main screen.
Click on Properties and then the browse button, select where your Metastock Database is located on your computer. eg. C:\Data\NYSE and then click OK. Click OK until you are back to the main screen.
Step Five
Click on the File Menu and then New Chart.
Click on the File Menu and then New Chart.
Step Six
Display a chart by double clicking on a symbol.
Display a chart by double clicking on a symbol.
A chart should be displayed like this.
