April 2007 Archives

[Yahoo documentation of quote fields]

[External documentation of fields]

Purpose	Value
Symbol	s
Name	n
Last Trade (With Time)	l
Last Trade (Price Only)	l1
Last Trade Date	d1
Last Trade Time	t1
Last Trade Size	k3
Change and Percent Change	c
Change	c1
Change in Percent	p2
Ticker Trend	t7
Volume	v
Average Daily Volume	a2
More Info	i
Trade Links	t6
Bid	b
Bid Size	b6
Ask	a
Ask Size	a5
Previous Close	p
Open	o
Day's Range	m
52-week Range	w
Change From 52-wk Low	j5
Pct Chg From 52-wk Low	j6
Change From 52-wk High	k4
Pct Chg From 52-wk High	k5
Earnings/Share	e
P/E Ratio	r
Short Ratio	s7
Dividend Pay Date	r1
Ex-Dividend Date	q
Dividend/Share	d
Dividend Yield	y
Float Shares	f6
Market Capitalization	j1
1yr Target Price	t8
EPS Est. Current Yr	e7
EPS Est. Next Year	e8
EPS Est. Next Quarter	e9
Price/EPS Est. Current Yr	r6
Price/EPS Est. Next Yr	r7
PEG Ratio	r5
Book Value	b4
Price/Book	p6
Price/Sales	p5
EBITDA	j4
50-day Moving Avg	m3
Change From 50-day Moving Avg	m7
Pct Chg From 50-day Moving Avg	m8
200-day Moving Avg	m4
Change From 200-day Moving Avg	m5
Pct Chg From 200-day Moving Avg	m6
Shares Owned	s1
Price Paid	p1
Commission	c3
Holdings Value	v1
Day's Value Change	w1,
Holdings Gain Percent	g1
Holdings Gain	g4
Trade Date	d2
Annualized Gain	g3
High Limit	l2
Low Limit	l3
Notes	n4
Last Trade (Real-time) with Time	k1
Bid (Real-time)	b3
Ask (Real-time)	b2
Change Percent (Real-time)	k2
Change (Real-time)	c6
Holdings Value (Real-time)	v7
Day's Value Change (Real-time)	w4
Holdings Gain Pct (Real-time)	g5
Holdings Gain (Real-time)	g6
Day's Range (Real-time)	m2
Market Cap (Real-time)	j3
P/E (Real-time)	r2
After Hours Change (Real-time)	c8
Order Book (Real-time)	i5
Stock Exchange	x

[Zazzle (integrates nicely with Flickr)]
[Canada Post Picture Postage]
[U.K. Postage: Royal Mail Smilers]
[Australia Post Personalised Stamps]
[New Zealand Personalised Stamps]

*Third party python packages http://cheeseshop.python.org/pypi/

These use the numpy library, I believe. I adapted them to work in a more vanilla python way as I could not get my head around numpy.

Exponential moving average

def ema(s, n):
    """
    returns an n period exponential moving average for
    the time series s

    s is a list ordered from oldest (index 0) to most recent
    (index -1) n is an integer

    returns a numeric array of the exponential moving average
    """
    s = array(s)
    ema = []
    j = 1
    #get n sma first and calculate the next n period ema
    sma = sum(s[:n]) / n
    multiplier = 2 / float(1 + n)
    ema.append(sma)
    #EMA(current) = ( (Price(current) - EMA(prev) ) xMultiplier) + EMA(prev)
    ema.append(( (s[n] - sma) * multiplier) + sma)
    #now calculate the rest of the values
    for i in s[n+1:]:
        tmp = ( (i - ema[j]) * multiplier) + ema[j]
        j = j + 1
        ema.append(tmp)
    return ema

Simple moving average

def movavg(s, n):
    """
    returns an n period moving average for the time series s
       
    s is a list ordered from oldest (index 0) to most recent (index -1)
    n is an integer

        returns a numeric array of the moving average

    See also ema in this module for the exponential moving average.
    """
    s = array(s)
    c = cumsum(s)
    return (c[n-1:] - c[:-n+1]) / float(n-1)

Excel: Find unique values in column

Sub FindUniqueValues()
    Call Rows("1:1").Insert(Shift:=xlDown)
    Range("A1").Value = "Email"
    Range("B1").Value = "Unique"
    Call Columns("A:B").Sort(Key1:=Range("A2"), _
        Order1:=xlAscending, Header:=xlYes, _
        OrderCustom:=1, MatchCase:=False, _
        Orientation:=xlTopToBottom, _
        DataOption1:=xlSortNormal)
        
    Dim wks As Worksheet
    Set wks = ThisWorkbook.ActiveSheet
    Dim startCell As Range, endCell As Range:
    Set startCell = Range("B2")
    Set endCell = wks.Cells.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeLastCell)
    startCell.FormulaR1C1 = "=RC[-1]<>R[1]C[-1]"
    Dim r As Range
    Set r = Range(startCell, endCell)
    Call startCell.AutoFill(Destination:=r)
    Call wks.Calculate
    Set r = Columns("A:B")
    Call r.AutoFilter
    Call r.AutoFilter(Field:=2, Criteria1:="TRUE")
End Sub

"Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer," says English jurist William Blackstone.  The ratio 10:1 has become known as the "Blackstone ratio." Lawyers "are indoctrinated" with it "early in law school." "Schoolboys are taught" it. In the fantasies of legal academics, jurors think about Blackstone routinely.

[n Guilty Men]

*Python libraries for scientific and numerical work numpy (numpy.scipy.org) provides the underlying data structures (array and matrices among other things) you require. This will handle all your vector stuff, reading/writing to and from files, "loop macros", etc. scipy (www.scipy.org) provides a set of scientific programming libraries, including stats, fft and many other things. Have a look around and see if it already does what you want. matplotlib (http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/) takes care of all your plotting needs, and plays nice with numpy and scipy.

*Doom as a tool for system administration http://www.cs.unm.edu/~dlchao/flake/doom/

*Import Excel Spreadsheet Data into SQL Server Database Table Using SqlBulkCopy http://davidhayden.com/blog/dave/archive/2006/05/31/2976.aspx

Add a COM reference to:
Microsoft OLE DB Service Component 1.0 Type Library
Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.7 // any 2.5 or higher version is fine

You can then write code like:

//
// Prompt for a totally new connection string
//
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    bool Cancelled = false;
    string ConnectionString = string.Empty;

    MSDASC.DataLinks d = new MSDASC.DataLinks();
    d.hWnd = (int)this.Handle;
    ADODB._Connection c = (ADODB._Connection)d.PromptNew();
    if (c == null)
        Cancelled = true;
    else
    {
        Cancelled = false;
        ConnectionString = c.ConnectionString;
    }
}

//
// Edit a connection string
//
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    bool Saved = false;
    string ConnectionString = "Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Integrated
Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=sa;Initial
Catalog=Northwind;Data Source=.";

    MSDASC.DataLinks d = new MSDASC.DataLinks();
    d.hWnd = (int)this.Handle;
    object c = new ADODB.Connection();
    ((ADODB._Connection)c).ConnectionString = ConnectionString;
    Saved = d.PromptEdit(ref c);
    if (Saved)
    {
        ConnectionString = ((ADODB._Connection)c).
          ConnectionString;
    }
}

*Using the Visual Studio Connection String Dialog http://adoguy.com/2007/01/29/Using_the_Visual_Studio_Connection_String_Dialog.aspx http://adoguy.com/downloads/TestDataConnectionUI.zip

*SQL Server 2005 GUID primary keys
CREATE TABLE Employee (EmployeeID uniqueidentifier DEFAULT NEWSEQUENTIALID())

*How books work: Gutenberg explains http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/introducing-the-book-p1.php

*If you have to ask, you're probably doing something wrong http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2007/03/01/1775759.aspx

*Screen: overhead volume breakout (1) Search for last down day with a large range and high volume (2x 20-day MA volume) (2) Watch point is that day's open (3) Wait for stock to clear that point

*Microsoft communities http://www.microsoft.com/communities/default.mspx *Custom molds for earphones and headsets http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/cusfitearmol1.html

The annual Pop Concert was a beloved institution at Dondero High School from 1971-2006. It was directed by music instructor Rick Hartsoe for 35 years, assisted by Jan Stewart since 1983. The A Capella Choir and student instrumentalists traditionally presented 20 popular songs per concert: ten full choir pieces chosen for their harmonic and instrumental interest, and ten solos of the students' choosing. The nine soloists were student-selected via an audition process, and the top soloist each year was obliged to perform an encore.

[Dondero High School music]

[Part 1]
[Part 2]
[Part 3]
[Part 4]

[The essentials of trading]

[Trade with form]

Is it better to rent or buy?
Calculator compares renting and buying for a specific rental versus a specific home purchase.

*Yahoo Canada http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/?u

*Python and sqlite package http://initd.org/tracker/pysqlite/wiki/pysqlite http://www.sqlite.org/ http://www.pysqlite.org/

[HDB 2008-06-04] This seems to have moved to an unidentified location. Or, more likely, it has been removed from the internet. It's really useful. I wish I'd downloaded it when I had the chance.

[Moby Word list]

[StockDigg]

tradingmarkets.com - Lots of good info.
hardrightedge.com - good resource
realitytrader.com - scalping techniques
tradethenews.com - It would be nice to have a spare pc to run the news via audio
briefing.com - subscription based news
advfn.com - charts and much more free stuff
investorflix.com- rent trading DVD's
wealth-lab.com - shared trading strategies
invest-store.com/activetradermag/bookstore/ - low cost tapes
activetradermag.com - good magazine
gndt.com - best trading platform around

[USB phone recorder]

[iPod DJ mixing console]

[Lehman's Roller Mill (elegant little Italian grain grinder)]

*Python and databases http://dmoz.org/Computers/Programming/Languages/Python/Modules/Databases_and_Persistence/ http://adodbapi.sourceforge.net/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/adodbapi

[PowerPoint presentations]

[Code smells]

[The Last Configuration Section Handler.. Revisited]

PathCompactPathEx()

[DllImport("shlwapi.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
static extern bool PathCompactPathEx(
    [Out] StringBuilder pszOut, 
    string szPath, int cchMax,
    int dwFlags);

static string PathShortener(string path, int length)
{
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    PathCompactPathEx(sb, path, length, 0);
    return sb.ToString();
}

Benefits of writing unit tests first

1. Unit tests prove that your code actually works
2. You get a low-level regression-test suite
3. You can improve the design without breaking it
4. It's more fun to code with them than without
5. They demonstrate concrete progress
6. Unit tests are a form of sample code
7. It forces you to plan before you code
8. It reduces the cost of bugs
9. It's even better than code inspections
10. It virtually eliminates coder's block
11. Unit tests make better designs
12. It's faster than writing code without tests

[Using Fiddler with Firefox]

All you need to do is:

• Open FireFox options
• Go to General | Connection Settings
• Use the Manual proxy configuration option
• Set t 127.0.0.1 Port 8888

Who Is This Person? [Firefox Add-ons]

With the Who Is This Person? Firefox extension, highlight a name on a web page and with a click look up someone's personal details in LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Technorati, Yahoo Person Search, Google News, TailRank and more. Useful!

[Reducing Your Website's Bandwidth Usage]
[Curly's Law: Do One Thing]

S3Fox Organizer for FireFox

S3Fox Organizer for Amazon(S3Fox) v0.4: (NEW!) This firefox extension(browser plugin) provides an user friendly interface for Amazon's S3 (Simple Storage Service) . Its interface is very much similar to the FTP interface that lists local folders in the left panel and S3 buckets/files/folders in the right panel. Files/folders can be moved from the local computer to Amazon's storage space and vice versa.

S3Fox

[Mouseless FireFox]
[FireFox thumbnails in sidebar]

[IPCop]
[TcpView]
[WinBackup]
[SqlAssist Intellisense for SQL in Visual Studio]
[.NET Pet Shop 4: Migrating an ASP.NET 1.1 Application to 2.0]
[High power lawn mower]

Firefox addin for stock charts. Selection symbols from text of web page, right-click, select 'Open Stock Charts', and you get stock charts of the selected symbols.

[Description]
[Download from stocktickr.com]

[Speeding up FireFox the right way]
[FireFox tweaks]

Financial blogs

• [etfconnect.com]
• [Inventing money]
• [calculated risk]
• [Bill Burnham]

[Technical trading strategies]
[Reuters stock screener]
[Barcharts top 100]
[John Murphy's Ten Laws of Technical Trading]

[Stock Charts Firefox Extension]

*FireFox secrets http://windowssecrets.com/041202/#top1

[Keyboard equivalents of Remote Desktop]
[MetaCritics books]
[Year end quizzes]
[MetaFilter on smart women don't marry]
[Bell curve for doctors]
[Frictionless Testing with TestDriven.NET]
[Fixing/locking down a user PC]
[The graphing calculator story]
[Death and taxes: USA Congress discretionary spending]
[.NET Passport 2.5 Software Development Kit: Software and Documentation]

[Speed up FireFox]

http://www.thekirkreport.com - lots of news and links, updates everyday, posts his trades http://www.traderxblog.com - posts his trades, shows charts, educates, very good active trader
http://www.tradermike.net - posts some trades, free chart analysis
http://www.slytrader.net - posts his trades and charts, very good active trader http://www.tradediary.net - posts his trades
http://nasdaqtrader.blogspot.com http://stocktradingguy.blogspot.com http://traderjamie.blogspot.com
http://stockcoach.blogspot.com
http://tapeworm.typepad.com
http://slovakchart.typepad.com
http://activetrade.blogspot.com
http://englishmantrader.blogspot.com

*FireFox fetch text extension http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jchien/code/ftu.html

*Faster fox (performance and network tweaks for Firefox) http://fasterfox.mozdev.org/ - Prefetching - Fasterfox uses idle bandwidth times to pre-fetch and cache the links on your current page. - Network Tweaks - You set how Fasterfox controls simultaneous connections, pipelining, caching and more. - Pop-up Blocker - It blocks Flash plug-in pop-ups now. - Page Load Timer - Shown here, this tests the effectiveness of your settings. After all, it's called Fasterfox, not Moderatelyslowfox.

FireFox addin to download files from web page. DownThemAll lets you download all the links or images contained in a webpage.

[LifeHacker description]
[Mozilla download link]

[Mozilla addons]

*Secrets of Firefox 1.0 http://windowssecrets.com/041202/#top1

*Top 15 Firefox Extensions http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1758849,00.asp

FireFox addin for showing file type of link, such as PDF, RSS feed, XML, mailto link, Word doc, Excel doc,  ZIP file, etc., all cued with an icon inline.

[Description at bolinfest.com]

FireFox addins for passwords

• [Magic Password Generator]
• [Password Hasher]
• [SecurePassword Generator]
• [PasswordMaker]
• [Password Composer]

Websites for definitons and neologisms

• [urbandictionary.com]
• [doubletongued.org]
• [wordspy.com]

*Python APIs for database http://dmoz.org/Computers/Programming/Languages/Python/Modules/Databases_and_Persistence/ http://adodbapi.sourceforge.net/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/adodbapi

*Alphabetize procedures/subs The only thing I've seen (but haven't tried) is http://www.modelmakertools.com/code-explorer-vs/features.html Also, you might be interested something to sort imports/using's: http://www.visualstudiohacks.com/importsorter