
                                    DOS Midas
                                   Version 1.32
                                      1/2/97


    Copyright (c) 1996 by Ugur BOSTANCI -- All Rights Reserved

        Istanbul Universitesi Avcilar Kampusu
        Elektronik Muhendisligi Bolumu
        34850 Avcilar - Istanbul / TURKEY

    Internet e-mail: ugur@myself.com
                     or
                     ugur@geocities.com
                     or
                     akan@executioner.ee.pitt.edu
    World Wide Web : http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/2006

                     (please write 'DOS Midas' in subject)
 

  This program is Shareware.  You may copy the unregistered version, use it,
 give it to your friends, upload it to a BBS or something similar, under the
 following conditions:

 * Don't charge any money for it.  If you upload it to a BBS, make sure that
   it can be downloaded free (without paying for downloading it, except
   for usage fees that have to be paid anyway).
 * Only distribute the whole original package, with all the files included.
 * Don't change the files in any way, except:
   You may change the MIDAS.CFG file for private purposes.
   Don't distribute modified versions of these files to others without
   prior permission of the author of DOS Midas.

  Distribution of the unregistered shareware version is explicitly desired,
 provided that the above conditions are accepted.

  DOS Midas is inexpensive shareware.  If you continue using it
 after a trial period of 30 days, you are encouraged to pay a small
 registration fee.

  By supporting the shareware concept you are helping to ensure its
 continuation, which, I think you'll agree, will benefit us all.

  To become a registered user, please send me an AMEX Traveller's cheque or
 a Money Order for amount of your choice.



 Requirements:
 

 - 80386 or better CPU (33 MHz minimum recommended), 386SX is boring.
 - VGA graphics card (SuperVGA not needed but it will be used in succeded
   versions)
 - about 500K of free conventional memory
 - MS-DOS 5.0 or compatible operating system
 - A mouse (of course)
 - Math Coprocessor is required


 What is DOS Midas
 

  DOS Midas is a program to apply the astonishing, miraculous MIDAS
 method which discovered by Paul Levine. MIDAS method so impressed me that
 I had to write a computer program for myself. After that, the program
 has become mature and I want to share this program with the others.

  If you want more information about MIDAS method you can go to
 http://www.thegroup.net/invest/ichome.html or write to Paul Levine at
 midas@thegroup.net. Or if you don't like DOS Midas, you can obtain
 windows version called WINMIDAS written by Stokes Fishburne (You can reach
 to Dr.Fishburne at winmidas@aol.com).


 History :
 

*DOS MIDAS 1.1 :
  In DOS Midas 1.0, when you tried to draw a TopFinder curve in the first 300
  days, the program used to give an error message and quit. This bug is now
  fixed.

*DOS MIDAS 1.2 :
  It was not possible to load files having "open" and "open interest" fields.
  Now, you can load such files.

  There was no control on number of ticks to be loaded. Therefore, when you
  try to load a file larger than the program can handle, the program used to
  crash. Now, in the same situation, the program loads the data from beginning
  to the number of ticks that it can handle. Currently, this limit is 3500
  ticks. I hope the next release of the program, you can load the ticks between
  given dates.

*DOS MIDAS 1.3 :
  Now, it is possible to load the ticks between given dates.

  The ASCII file handling is improved. You can load the files exported by
  SuperCharts. It's explained below.

*DOS MIDAS 1.31 :
  The TopFinder curve was drawn lower than where it should be in previous 
  versions of DOS MIDAS. This bug is now fixed.

*DOS MIDAS 1.32 : 
  Sometimes an unexpected runtime error was appeared. This bug is fixed.

 Using DOS Midas :
 

  DOS Midas is a very undemanding program. It takes about 50KB disk
 space and does not need a specific installation. You can just run after
 copying to a directory and (of course) change the configuration file
 MIDAS.CFG. (If your data directories  and your preferences are same as mine,
 no problem!). Not so much changes are needed. When you run the DOS Midas,
 it asks you which type of data you want to use. Afterwards a screen which you
 can select the name of commodity appears. When you press Enter, the chart you
 choose will be drawn. You can zoom in, zoom out, left or right scroll, etc.
 But, more important you can draw S/R or TopFinder curves by using mouse
 buttons and change the parameters to these curves. After loading a chart,
 when you press the left mouse button, a launch point is set and an S/R curve
 is drawn. To change the launch point  simply drag the mouse pointer without
 releasing the button. The launch point will be changed. If you decide the
 position of the S/R curve, release the left button. If you want launch a
 TopFinder curve from this point, you may press the right mouse button. On the
 other hand, it is possible to change the launch point later. To do this,
 simply press M key. If there are more than one S/R curves, the program will
 ask you to choose the S/R curve you want to reposition. Selection is done by
 spacebar. To make your selection press Enter. After that, the program will
 ask you to move the launch point wherever you want. The moving process is
 done by Left and Right cursor keys. If you want to confirm the new launch
 point press Enter, otherwise press Escape (Cancel). If you want to change the
 D parameter (which is discussed in Paul Levine's articles described above)
 press D (if there are more than one TopFinder curve, you should choose a
 curve as described above) and write the number you desire. You can also change
 the D parameter by Q and W keys easily. To clear an S/R line press backspace.
 The program will prompt the selected S/R line, if you want to clear a
 different S/R line press space. This will change the selection. After you
 choose, press Enter. This line will be removed. These manipulations are
 available for TopFinder curves (by pressing Delete key).

  At the upper left of the screen you'll see a "thermometer type icon". It
 displays the amount of used memory.

  All studies (S/R or TopFinder curves, Zoom in, Zoom out) applied to a
 commodity are store in a file. When you reopen this commodity all studies will
 be loaded.

  After drawing TopFinder curve you can view how many days remained to
 turning point by pressing 'V'. Or you can view both how many days and
 amount of volume remained by '?'. This is the most exciting property of
 the MIDAS method.

  By the way, remember that, by the nature of the MIDAS method the
 X-axis is in the cumulative volume units.

  Currently DOS Midas supports ASCII and MetaStock formats.

  The below example shows the first two rows of an ASCII file (with .PRN
 extension). The order of columns is Date, Open, High, Low, Close, Volume and Open
 Interest.

 940122,337.12,350.10,335.52,348.78,1893234,10000
 940123,352.77,365.22,345.12,355.30,2503743,20000

 If you want to use another order, either you should put a header which
 looks like this;

  D,O,H,L,C,V,I

 or, put the header format (such as DOHLCVI or DHLCV, etc - note that no
 space and no commas) in MIDAS.CFG. For example, a MIDAS.CFG file looks
 like this;

  ORDER=DOHLCVI

  If the file already has a header in single letter with commas format,
 the program will use it as data order  (i.e. D,O,H,L,C,V,I or D,L,H,C,V,
 etc). Note that, if you use "O" (open), you should put "I" (Open Interest).

  To loading the files exported by SuperCharts, the file format should like
 this:

  "Date","High","Low","Close","Volume"
  01/31/96,1.45,1.30,1.40,45000

  The files that start with quotation mark are accepted as SuperCharts ASCII
 file. As I know, the SuperCharts exports ASCII files with this convention,
 so it seems, there will be no problem. If you remove the header, the ORDER
 in MIDAS.CFG won't work for SuperCharts files.

  By the MIDAS.CFG you can configure drawing colors and data directories.
 The parameters you can use in MIDAS.CFG are:

  MSDIR		 : Location of your MetaStock files
  ASCDIR         : Location of your ASCII (.PRN) files
  TRAIL          : Number of zeroes added to end of the volume data
  ORDER          : The order of data columns in ASCII file (i.e. DOHLCVI stands
                   for Date,Open,High,Low,Close,Volume,Open Interest order,
		   respectively)
  T_COLOR        : TopFinder curve color
  BAR_COLOR      : High-Low chart's bar color
  DOT_COLOR      : High-Low chart's close color
  SR_COLOR       : S/R curve color
  GENERAL_COLOR  : Some background object's color
  MEM_DISP_COLOR : Memory display's color shown on the top left.
  TPOINT_COLOR	 : Turning Point's line color
  DATE_COLOR	 : Date Information color on bottom
  PRICE_COLOR	 : Price Information color on left
  FRAME_COLOR	 : Price Window's frame color
  NAME_COLOR	 : Color of the commodity's name
  OBV_COLOR	 : OBV Line color, if displayed
  OBV_FRAME_COLOR: OBV graph's frame color, if displayed


 Color Constants in MIDAS.CFG
 

 Black        :  0
 DarkBlue     :  1
 DarkGreen    :  2
 DarkCyan     :  3
 DarkRed      :  4
 DarkMagenta  :  5
 DarkBrown    :  6
 LightGray    :  7
 DarkGray     :  8
 LightBlue    :  9
 LightGreen   : 10
 LightCyan    : 11
 LightRed     : 12
 LightMagenta : 13
 Yellow       : 14
 White        : 15


 Key meanings:
 

  |    : Changes the graphics type (bar or line)
  +    : Zoom In
  -    : Zoom Out
  P    : Changes the calculation of price (daily mean or close)
  O    : Displays the On Balance Volume (OBV) chart
  L    : Loads a new chart
  M    : Modifies the launch point of an S/R curve (left or right)
  Esc  : Exit or Cancel
  Right Arrow   : Moves the graphics to the left for 10 days
  Left Arrow    : Moves the graphics to the right for 10 days
  Right Tab     : Moves the graphics to the left for one day
  Left Tab      : Moves the graphics to the right for one day
  Home Key      : Moves the graphics to the begining
  End Key       : Moves the graphics to the end
  Spacebar      : Refreshes the screen or uses to choose a curve

  Left Mouse    : Draws an S/R curve by supposing pointed day as launch point
  Right Mouse   : Draws a TopFinder line from the last pointed launch point
  Backspace     : Clears the S/R curve
  Del           : Clears a TopFinder curve
  C    : Clears all studies
  D    : To change the D value used in calculation of TopFinder
  Q    : Increases the D value by 10 units
  W    : Decreases the D value by 10 units
  ?    : Shows remained days and remained volume to turning point in window
  V    : Shows remained days as graphics

