This figure artificially adjusted the system's results by removing all positive and negative outlier trades. The final figure presents a net profit devoid of aberration trades. Systems that are heavily dependant upon outlier trades will have dramatically different select net profit results than the systems that do not. A trade is considered to be an outlier if it's profit/loss is greater than three standard deviations away from the average. A trader may also want to pay attention to weather he model is attempting to systematically capture returns from "outlier" or rare events when using this information to make value judgements about systems.


1.12 RINA Index.

This Proprietary index combines select net profit, time in the market, and drawdown calculations into a single reward risk ratio. The larger the number, the more efficient the system. This performance measure is a trade-based statistic as opposed to equity based measures of performance such as the Sharpe Ratio.
RINA Index = (Select Net Profit)/((Average Drawdown) x (Percent Time in the market))


1.13 Sharpe Ratio.

Average Annualized monthly returns (in %) minus the risk-free rate (interest rate setting) divided by the standard deviation of monthly returns. The higher the number, the greater the return in relation to the variability of returns. Typically Sharpe Ratios above one are considered to be indicative of good performance.


1.14 Return Retracement Ratio.

This reward risk ratio is an alternative to the Sharpe Ratio that has been introduced by Jack Schwager. Unlike the Sharpe Ration it distinguishes between the upside and downside of return variability. The higher the ratio, the greater the return in relation to risk. For more complete information please refer to Jack Schwager's book "Schwager on Futures: Technical Analysis".


1.15 K-Ratio.

Lars Kestner created a ratio that gauges performance by examining the consistency of returns with respect to time. Calculations for return and risk are derived from VAMI (value added monthly index). VAMI is a monthly plot of the progress of a hypothetical $1000 initial investment. Because the consistency of returns is examined with respect to time, the K-Ratio provides a good evaluation of equity performance.
Running a linear regression on the log-VAMI curve reveals several details about performance. The slope of the regression line (the numerator of the K-Ratio) characterizes the return. The steeper the slope the faster the money has been made. Risk in the K-Ratio is measured by the standard error of the slope, a value calculated from the regression. The standard error measures the smoothness of the regression line of the log-VAMI. The higher the standard error the higher volatility of returns which is usually viewed as an equivalent of risk. The denominator of the K-Ratio is multiplied by the square root of observations to normalize the measure across different time frames.
K-Ratio = (Slope of Log VAMI Regression line) / (( Standard Error of Slope)*(Number of Period in Log VAMI))
For more information please see Futures Magazine, January, 1996.

Yes both program share the same database that contains the saved strategy performance reports and portfolios so you can back up and edit the database in Money Manager the same way as mentioned above for Portfolio Evaluator.



3.01 How do I setup 3DSmartView for Tradestation 2000i?

In Tradestation 2000i select the View menu, then select Chart Options, and then click on the Strategy Tab. The Save the Best ... Tests field is set to 200 by default. You need to change that number to 5000 or higher.
Next select View, then Optimization Report, then click on the Large S icon. The menu screen listed below will allow you to add and or delete variable fields that will appear in the optimization report. Note: The first three selected fields MUST BE "Input/Stop values for this test", "Test number" and "All: Total Net Profit."
It should end up looking like this:

In Tradestation 4.0 select the View menu, then select Chart Options, and then click on the System Tab. The Save the Best ... Tests field is set to 200 by default. You need to change that number to 5000 or higher.
Next select View, then Optimization Report, then click on the Large S icon. The menu screen listed below will allow you to add and or delete variable fields that will appear in the optimization report. Note: The first three selected fields MUST BE "Input/Stop values for this test", "Test number" and "All: Total Net Profit." An error occurs in 3D SmartView 2000 if these fields do not appear.


3.03 What is the spread?

The spread determines the amount of surrounding points to take into consideration for calculating robustness. We recommend leaving the spread at 3.


3.04 What is a good Robustness number?

The chart is colored to display robustness, blue being the best and red being the worst. The robustness number itself is dependant of the spread and the values of the Z axis within that spread. Knowing this, the Robustness number can only be compared to other Robustness numbers in the same chart. Higher numbers are better.


3.05 I cannot see my saved optimization report.

Make sure the saved optimization file has the extension .TXT.
Also, Tradestation should save the file to the Export folder inside its install path. You can force the file to be saved where you want by typing in the full path name, like "C:\MyData\OptData01.TXT" just make sure that the folder MyData really exists.

First make sure that PorfolioStream is Registered.
If it is registered then try going to the Information and Resources page and follow the PortfolioStream Quick Start Guide. Contact support@rinasystems.com for a download password.
Currently PortfolioStream works with TradeStation 2000i, 7, and 8. It does not work with TradeStation 4.0 or Supercharts.


4.02 I did all that an I still have problems, now what?

Make sure the Symbol tab is selected in the Format Symbol window.
Make sure the Inputs tab is selected in the Format Analysis Techniques window.
Make sure that you have only a strategy applied to the chart, as PortfolioStream will only alter the inputs of the top-most item in the Format Anaysis Techniques window.
Try slowing down the speed of the keystrokes to see if you see anything that might make the problem clear. Select File->Test Computer Speed and change the speed from the default setting of 6 to a slower speed like 4.
If you are using your own ASCII data (the files end in .txt or .csv or .asc for instance) make sure that you plot the data in the chart from a 3rd Party Directory Symbol List. TradeStation will prompt you for the market information (session start and end times) when you insert ASCII data into a chart, but by creating a 3rd Party Directory Symbol List you only have to enter this information once.
If you have 3rd Party Data that does not prompt you for this information then you may plot it as the 3rd Party Data.


4.03 The data is not using the dates I specified in the chart, why?

PortfolioStream inserts symbols into the chart and then extracts the data from the strategy performance report. In order to set the amount of days back that should appear in this chart when a new symbol is inserted you need to, for TradeStation 2000i, go to the View menu and select Chart Options, and for TradeStation 7 or 8, to the View menu and select Chart Analysis Preferences. On the Symbol tab you will see a Compression setting and a Default Days Back setting. Change the compression to whatever compression you are using in your chart and then change the default number of days back that you want. The next time you insert a symbol into a chart it will use the new setting to determine how many days of data to plot in the chart. Not all compression settings are present in the drop down box, but by selecting the next lowest settings you can set the setting for your compression. IE the 1 minute setting is used for all compressions between 1 minute and 5 minutes.

This error is generated when PortoflioStream does not receive results from the Strategy Performance report, and this is usually becasue something prevented the Strategy Performance Report from running. Disable any alerts you may be using to prevent windows from poping up and intercepting the keystrokes meant for TradeStaiton. You may have an indicator or something other than your strategy on your chart which PortoflioStream is interacting with instead of the strategy. PortfolioStream changes the inputs of the first item in the strategy list, so if you have something listed prior to your strategy the above error will be generated in some similarly phrased form. You should also check to make sure the Input tab is selected in the Format Analysis Techniques window and that the symbol tab is selected in the Format Symbol window. This error might also be resolved by going to the File menu and selecting Set Run Mode, and either checking or unchecking Telerate TradeStation.

4.05 Why does PortfolioStream keep getting stuck in the Format Symbol window?

If during your optimization the format symbol window gets stuck, and you notice that the symbol setting is on Description instead of Symbol then odds are that your Custom Symbol List in PortoflioStream contains a symbol that you cannot access from that chart in TradeStation. The symbols in your custom sumbol list must exactly match the symbol accessible from the chart in TradeStation. If your symbol in TradeStation is "C 63/00" then your symbol in the custom symbol list in PortfolioStream must be "C 63/00". If your symbol in TradeStation is "Emini.txt" then your symbol in the custom symbol list in PortfolioStream must be "Emini.txt". You can verify the symbol list in PortfolioStream by selecting your Template and Custom Symbol List and then clicking the Verify CSL button. When PortfolioStream gets stuck on the Format Symbol window again it will, after a short pause, prompt you for action with the options of Deleting or Editing the symbol that could not be accessed by the chart in TradeStation. Please remember to close the format windows before selecting an option or you may inadvertantly casue false positive invalid symbol errors.

4.06 Why do my trades in Portofliostream not match up with my trades in TradeStation Strategy Performance Report?

Trades that take place on the close of the bar will not be written out to the XML files, and will therefore not appear in PortfolioStream after importing. In EasyLanguage you cannot access any trade that takes place on the close of the bar until the next bar. This will result in many open trades in PortfolioStream that were closed in TradeStation. If you system enters or exits on the close of the bar it will not work properly with PortfolioStream if you are using TradeStation 6 or Pro. Multiple entries in the same direction will also not be written out to the XML files, and will therefore not appear in PortfolioStream after importing. You will likely receive an error message informing you that you have more exits than entries, or more contracts/shares in your exits than inyour entries.

4.07 Why do I get an error informing me that I have more exits than entries?

Multiple entries in the same direction will also not be written out to the XML files, and will therefore not appear in PortfolioStream after importing. You will likely receive an error message informing you that you have more exits than entries, or more contracts/shares in your exits than inyour entries.

When Easylanguage calls the RinaSave.DLL it references it from a virtual path. This virtual path is determined by what TradeStation considers its working directory. The majority of the time this working directory should be c:\Program Files\Omega Reasearch\Program\ (for tradestation 2000i) and the RinaSave.DLL should be found there. With some operating systems the working directory can be different. To fix the problem copy the RinaSave.DLL to the root of your C drive, open the easylanguage code that references the DLL, and replace all references to the dll "RinaSave.DLL" with "C:\RinaSave.DLL".

Closing the workspace before running the import from OptiLogix should resolve this problem. The problem seems to occur when TradeStation, through easylanguage, accesses a dll which writes out to a file at the same time that OptiLogix is importing that file.

When Easylanguage calls the RinaSave.DLL is references it from a virtual path. This virtual path is determined by what TradeStation considers its working directory. The majority of the time this working directory should be c:\Program Files\Omega Reasearch\Program\ (for tradestation 2000i) and the RinaSave.DLL should be found there. With some operating systems the working directory can be different. To fix the problem copy the RinaSave.DLL to the root of your C drive, open the easylanguage code that references the DLL, and replace all references to the dll "RinaSave.DLL" with "C:\RinaSave.DLL".

When Easylanguage calls the RinaSave.DLL it references an INI file which tells the DLL where to store data on the hard drive. Easylanguage references the INI file in a virtual path. This virtual path is determined by what TradeStation considers its working directory. The majority of the time this working directory should be c:\Program Files\Omega Reasearch\Program\ (for tradestation 2000i) and the Rinadll.ini should be found there. With some operating systems (95, 98, and ME) the working directory can be different. To fix the problem copy the Rinadll.ini from c:\Program Files\Omega Research\Program\ to the directory which the error message says it cannot find it. You may need to repeat this procedure as the virtual directory may change.

This error is always a result of having installed unpaired builds of our software. Due to the nature of the programs several controls are shared by both Money Manager and Portfolio Evaluator. Changes are made from build to build which prevent builds of Money Manager from interacting with just any build of Portfolio Evaluator. Some examples of paired build would be Money Manager build 75 with Portfolio Evaluator build 125, or Money Manager 102 with Portfolio Evaluator build 148. Try installing Portfolio Evaluator again. If the error message remains then contact RINA Systems at (513) 469-7462 or e-mail support@rinasystems.com for information on obtaining the right builds.

This error occurs during installation. Some program previously installed has altered the path of the Microsoft Shared Dao Tools. Download DAOfix.reg and run the script to reset the path to its correct entry. Then run the Setup file again.

This error occurs when your initial capital is set to 0 and you click on a tab that contains a calculation in which initial capital is the denominator. To correct your initial capital setting view the Strategy Performance Report and click the far left icon.

This error only happens with a specific build of Portfolio Evaluator when you attempt to create a portfolio. Download and run MSSTDFMT.EXE which will install and register the DLL so that you can create portfolios.

This occurs when you are using a Matrox Multi-Video card with the default settings in Matrox Power Desk. In order to resolve this problem, open the Matrox Power Desk, navigate to the Multi-Display Controls, and uncheck the "Save/Restore window positions..." option. You may need to reboot for the changes to take affect.