The Big Picture WELCOME TO ESIGNAL

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Roderick Ryan
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1 2 The Big Picture HERE S SOME GOOD NEWS. You don t have to be a rocket scientist to harness the power of esigna. That s exciting because we re certain that most of you view your PC and esigna as toos for coecting and organizing market and financia information and not as some a-consuming new hobby. The first time you start esigna, you may be somewhat overwhemed. It s not unike your first foray into a busy city. Instead of buidings, streets, and heavy traffic, you re presented with an array of windows dispaying ots of information, much of which is constanty changing. As shown in Figure 2-1, esigna dispays a huge seection of financia data that can be organized and presented in different ways. Don t et this put you off. As you read on, you find that getting around town is not that difficut. In fact, unike most paces you visit, you be abe to redesign the esigna ayout to suit your own needs. esigna 2-1

Figure 2-1. esigna Defaut Layout esigna Windows esigna dispays information in a variety of different windows designed to present particuar kinds of data.

2 Figure 2-1. esigna Defaut Layout esigna Windows esigna dispays information in a variety of different windows designed to present particuar kinds of data. The next section provides a brief overview of the different window types. Each window aso has its own chapter ater in the book. esigna provides thirteen different types of data windows and three text windows for you to work with. Here is a brief description of each esigna window type. Quote window. The Quote window is the most versatie window. It ooks ike a spreadsheet and can dispay data for equities, indices, futures, options, and mutua funds. You get to choose which issues and data types to incude. Advanced Chart window. Advanced Chart windows enabe you to chart seected studies, seect from preset charting tempates, offer advanced scaing options, and 2-2 esigna

3 WELCOME TO esignal aow you to create and appy custom formuas. See Chapter 8 for more in-depth information on using Advanced Charts. Chart window. Chart windows dispay data for a singe issue in a graphica or tabuar form. There are severa different chart types to choose from. Daiy charts dispay historica data, whereas intraday charts dispay data for the current day. Detai window. As you d guess from its name, a Detai window provides detaied information about a particuar issue. It can dispay both quote and fundamenta (e.g., P/E ratio, earnings per share, dividends) data. Summary window. Summary windows et you dispay a few key fieds for each symbo so that you can see many more symbos at a gance. You can enter mutipe symbo coumn headings so that you can dispay many more symbos in a summary format. Ticker window. Ticker windows dispay headines and quote information in a space-saving scroing format. You can choose to have the window scro horizontay or verticay. Options window. Options windows dispay data for a trading options for a root symbo (e.g., IBM is the root symbo for IBM options). Portfoio window. Portfoio windows make it easy to track your current hodings. A you do is enter the number of shares or contracts and the purchase or sae price, and esigna takes care of the rest. Leve II window. Leve II windows present data such as market maker prices and voumes for a NASDAQ issue. Leve II windows aso dispay regiona stock quotes for NYSE and AMEX issues. esigna 2-3

4 Leaders window. The Leaders window automaticay dispays voume eaders and the best and worst performers in various categories and markets for the current day s trading. Browser window. Browser windows provide access to esigna Internet services and the Internet at arge without having to eave the appication. Headines and Reports windows. Headines and Reports windows are Text Manager windows that ook and operate much the same. These windows dispay a ist of headines or reports which are updated on a rea-time basis. In many instances, you can view the news story behind a headine or view a report by cicking on a headine or report name. You can ist a headines or reports or a subset based on criteria such as an issue or source. Communications Text windows. Text windows are Text Manager windows that contain news stories or reports. You can open a Text window and view a news story or report by cicking on a headine in a Headines or Reports window, or from a News Ticker. esigna s communications are controed by the Data Manager. The Data Manager gathers information from the Internet. It then funnes that information to esigna to popuate and update the windows you see on your screen. Once you get esigna instaed and running, you have very itte interaction with the Data Manager. It s designed to work in the background. 2-4 esigna

5 WELCOME TO esignal About This Book This book is intended to get you up and productivey using esigna. In the chapters that foow, we describe important features and wak you through the most common tasks. Here s a quick ook at how the book is organized: Chapter 1, esigna Quick Start provides the experienced user with instaation requirements and instructions. It aso incudes a quick reference to the defaut ayout, as we as toobar and right-cick functions., Wecome to esigna is the chapter you re reading now. It provides a brief introduction and describes how to use the guidebook and where to go for more information. Chapter 3, Getting Ready to Use esigna covers what you need to know and do before you can start esigna. You earn about hardware and software requirements and instaing esigna. If esigna is aready up and running, you may want to skip this chapter. Chapter 4, Connecting to the Internet ooks into setting up an Internet connection, seecting an Internet Service Provider, and connecting to the Internet. Chapter 5, esigna Basics and Chapter 6, Using Symbos cover the basics. Chapter 5 is the boot camp chapter. You earn about fies, windows, and ayouts and how to get work done using the mouse, menus, toobar, and other commony-used features. Chapter 6 covers symbo formats and some of the features that make working with symbos easier. Chapters 7 through 17 focus on the esigna windows. You earn what each window does and how to use it to dispay the information you want, the way you want it. Chapter 8 introduces esigna s new Advanced Charting capabiities. Chapter 18, Internet Features describes the Browser window and the esigna Internet services avaiabe to you. esigna 2-5

6 Conventions Chapter 19, Using Integrated Trading Features ooks at how to execute trades with esigna integrated trading partners. 0, Working with Text Information shows you how to use the Text Manager to dispay current or historica headines, news stories, and reports. You be abe to view a compete isting of what s avaiabe or a subset based on a particuar issue, keyword, or source. Appendix A, Advanced Charting Formuas and Studies shows you how to use esigna s Formuas menu to access and create your own formuas that you can appy to Advanced Charts. It aso provides detais on the Advanced charting studies that you can appy to your charts. Appendix B, esigna Financia Gossary provides basic terminoogy and definitions that you may find usefu in your trading To make the best use of your time, you shoud know about the foowing conventions. NOTE: Notes that point out specia circumstances or other important information wi ook ike this. This is how we present references to onine hep. We try to put these pointers wherever we think more information may be usefu. Sidebars We use sidebars that are formatted ike this to define terminoogy or discuss a topic that is hepfu to know but not essentia. 2-6 esigna

7 WELCOME TO esignal Keystroke aternatives. Most descriptions of how to move around and get work done in esigna are mouse oriented (Cick this, cick that). Often, you can use a combination of keystrokes as an aternative to the mouse. When you see a statement such as (At-D, T) foowing an instruction, it means you can aso compete that step using the keystroke combination encosed in the parentheses. In the case of (At-D, T), you woud press the D key whie hoding down the At key, reease those, and then press T. To do a task Throughout the book, you find stepwise task instructions. They aways begin with a header ike the one above foowed by numbered steps. Getting More Information Athough this book covers esigna s most important features and tasks, it may not address a your needs. If this is the case, here are some additiona sources for answering your questions and getting more information. esigna Tutoria. To get up and running in a minimum amount of time, try the esigna Tutoria. You can access this vauabe earning resource by cicking the Toobox icon on the esigna toobar or by seecting Trader s Toobox from the view menu. Once you re at the Trader s Toobox site, foow the ink to the esigna Tutoria to access the most current esigna Tutoria. Onine Hep. For a reminder about something you ve forgotten or to get information about an advanced feature not covered here, use the esigna Hep system. Wherever you are in esigna, Hep is just a keystroke away. See the next section for instructions. esigna 2-7

8 Using the Hep System Using Context Hep The esigna Hep system provides information about a features, windows, diaog boxes, and menu commands. It s easy to find what you need because there are severa different ways to open and use Hep. You find more information about how to use Hep by choosing the Using Hep command from the Hep menu in esigna, Text Manager, or Data Manager. You can aso get hep for the active window or diaog box by pressing the F1 key. Context Hep gives you information about the window, diaog box, or other feature you re using at the moment. Here are some ideas about getting information via context-sensitive Hep. You can press the F1 key to see Hep for the current window (the window that s on top or has its tite bar highighted). For exampe, say you re working in a Quote window and want to know how to set aerts. You press F1 to see the Quote win- 2-8 esigna

WELCOME TO esignal dow Hep screen (Figure 2-2), then foow the inks to specific information. Cick a heading to see a ist of individua topics Cick a topic tite to see specific instructions Figure 2-2.

9 WELCOME TO esignal dow Hep screen (Figure 2-2), then foow the inks to specific information. Cick a heading to see a ist of individua topics Cick a topic tite to see specific instructions Figure 2-2. Context-Sensitive Hep for the Current Window You can aso press the F1 key or cick the Hep button in a diaog box to see a reference screen, incuding information about each fied in the diaog box. For exampe, imagine that you re entering a new position into a Portfoio window. If you have a question about a fied in the Position diaog box, press F1 or cick the Hep button. As shown in Figure 2-3, a Hep screen for the Position diaog box appears. esigna 2-9

10 Figure 2-3. Context-Sensitive Hep for a diaog box Contents Hep If you re not sure about the purpose of a toobar icon, a pu-down ist, or another feature, you can cick the Context Hep toobar icon or press Shift-F1, then cick the feature with the question mark cursor. You can even get hep for menu commands. Position the cursor over the menu command, but don t cick. (If you cick, of course, you execute the command.) Press the F1 key to open a Hep screen with a short description of the command and any shortcuts it might have. If you prefer, you can use the Hep system in very much the same way you d use a book. There s a tabe of contents, an index, and a feature that you won t find in any book the abiity to search for any word in the Hep system. If you want to browse through the tabe of contents to find the information you need, choose Contents from the Hep menu. In the Hep window, the Contents tab 2-10 esigna

WELCOME TO esignal dispays a series of headings. Let s say you want to find out how to switch between horizonta and vertica scroing in a Ticker window.

11 WELCOME TO esignal dispays a series of headings. Let s say you want to find out how to switch between horizonta and vertica scroing in a Ticker window. Doube-cick the Using Ticker windows heading (as shown in Figure 2-4), then the Choosing Ticker Window Data heading, then the Choosing Horizonta or Vertica Scroing topic. Doube-cick a heading to see its contents Doube-cick a topic tite to see specific instructions Figure 2-4. Using Hep Contents to Find a Topic esigna 2-11

If you re ooking for specific information, you can use the Index feature. As shown in Figure 2-5, the Index tab in the Hep window contains an aphabetized scroing ist of keywords.

12 If you re ooking for specific information, you can use the Index feature. As shown in Figure 2-5, the Index tab in the Hep window contains an aphabetized scroing ist of keywords. When you doube-cick a keyword (or seect it and cick Dispay), you go directy to the Hep topic that contains the keyword or (if the keyword appears in more than one screen) a ist of topics containing the keyword from which you can seect. Enter the first few characters of a keyword to scro to its ocation Doube-cick a keyword to see a topic or ist of options Figure 2-5. Hep Index to Find a Topic If you re ooking for a particuar word or phrase that doesn t appear as a keyword in the Index, you can use the Find feature (shown in Figure 2-6). The first time you use Find, the Hep appication dispays a wizard that guides you through buiding the ist of words. After that, you go directy to the ist when you cick the Find tab. Using Find is a three-step process. First, you enter the word you re ooking for (or at east the first few characters). Next, if the word appears in the ist, you seect it. Finay, you doube-cick the Hep topic you want from the ist of topics that contain the word esigna

13 WELCOME TO esignal Enter the first few characters of a word Seect the word you want Seect the Hep topic you want Figure 2-6. Hep Keyword Find to Find a Topic Contacting esigna esigna provides a number of avenues for answering your questions or resoving probems. It s aways a good idea to start with the esigna web site at for onine users. Here you find information that ranges from our atest software downoads to biing statements and pricing to product tips and hints. esigna 2-13

14 Customer Support Menu esigna incudes a Customer Support menu that provides vauabe support information and assistance. You can cick on the esigna Customer Support menu to access a variety of comprehensive support and service resources. The esigna Customer Support menu is pictured beow. The Customer Support menu changes periodicay to better suit subscriber needs. New Accounts If you have a question or probem that you need hep resoving, you can contact customer service by seecting LiveRep from the Customer Support menu or by using the additiona service and support contacts provided beow. Most questions or issues surface during the first month of service. For this reason, we have a specia emai address and teephone number that new subscribers can use as they are coming up to speed during their first 30 days of service: Emai: newaccounts@esigna.com Teephone: esigna

15 WELCOME TO esignal esigna Cient Services For customer support (changing or adding services, biing questions), emai us at For technica support (probems with the data feed, bad reception, probems with the software), go to and cick on the esigna ink. Cick on Basic Operations or Troubeshooting to find the answers to most common probems. If you don t find what you need, then cick the Support ink or emai us at techonine@esigna.com. For emergencies, you can reach us by phone from within the United States or Canada: S-MARKET ( ) Press 1 for interactive response system. Press 2 for customer support. Press 3 for technica service. Fax: Outside the U.S. and Canada: European Support: Voice: +44 (0) Fax esigna: +44 (0) EMai: eurosupport@esigna.com esigna 2-15

16 Contacting Technica Support Before contacting Technica Support, you need to gather some basic information to hep the Support Representative resove your probem. Here s the information you shoud have avaiabe: Your user name and password Operating system and version (e.g., Windows 98 version 4.10) esigna version (e.g., version 7.0) The text and number of any error messages you received A description of the probem, incuding when it occurs To access your esigna version number Choose About from the esigna Hep menu. A box wi appear that ists the esigna version you are using esigna

17 WELCOME TO esignal Troubeshooting esigna The foowing ist of common probems and soutions was compied by esigna s technica support staff. Pease review these common questions and answers to see if they hep to resove any probems you may be experiencing. If you do not see a soution to your probem in the foowing ist, you may want to go to support/faq for updates on common probems and soutions that have been updated since the pubication of this manua. Q: I am experiencing probems such as frequent disconnects, sow data and genera connection probems. A: Many probems of this type have been associated with particuar Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or ack of sufficient memory. There are a coupe of steps you can take: First, try shutting down your computer for a coupe of minutes, then reboot. This wi reease any ocked-up memory. After you reboot, make sure that your Internet connection and esigna are the ony programs you open. esigna 2-17

18 To check if your Internet connection is part of the cause, try connecting to web sites that you have never visited before. You can aso try to connect with a different ISP. Q: Why do my 2 green indicators at the bottom of the screen turn Red but I'm sti abe to surf the web? A: When the 2 green OK indicators turn red, it means there is something wrong with your connection. It can indicate that someone ese is using your account, a bad user name and/or password, or that your Internet connection is down. In some cases your Internet connection may not go down, you can keep surfing the web, but our data stops. It means that the route your Internet Service uses to get to us is either timing out (heavy Internet traffic), or cannot find the right path. Aso, your Internet connection may have kicked you off. To rectify the probem, you need to reestabish your Internet connection by ogging off esigna, and your Internet connection, wait a few seconds, then sign back on esigna

19 WELCOME TO esignal Q: What does NO DM in esigna indicate? A: This indicates that your esigna program cannot find/recognize the Data Manager. There are a coupe of possibe causes for this: The first may be that you are running a firewa/proxy program on the same computer that is running esigna. This wi not work in most cases. For more information on this subject go to Your Data Manager may have been cosed. Make sure that it is sti open. You can reopen it by cicking Start, Programs, esigna, Data Manager. Your program may have ost the IP address in the Data Manager. To put it back, first bring up the Data Manager, then cick on Receiver, then Communications. Enter the foowing IP Address box: CM*.esigna.Com, then cick OK esigna 2-19

20 Q: My Traders Toobox says "Unabe to dispay," why is this happening? A: Pease check your Internet Exporer version.you can easiy do this in esigna by cicking Hep then About Internet Exporer. Make sure that you are using the atest version. If you are using esigna 6.0 or higher esigna recommends that you use Internet Exporer 5.5. If you are not using at east Internet Exporer 5.0 you wi need to upgrade esigna

Chapter 3: Introduction to the Flash Workspace

Chapter 3: Introduction to the Fash Workspace Page 1 of 10 Chapter 3: Introduction to the Fash Workspace In This Chapter Features and Functionaity of the Timeine Features and Functionaity of the Stage