Getting Started with Alerts 2011

Zignals.com November 2011

Getting Started with Alerts 2011 What's in an Alert? Create a Price Alert Create a Stock List Create an Alert on a Stock List What is a Volume Alert? What is a Fundamental Alert? How does filtering work? How do I Edit an Alert? Can I view the history of an Alert? What is an Historical Test? What can Notes be used for? Which Alerts trigger intraday and which are end-of-day? Set up Alert Delivery

Zignals.com November 2011

Getting Started with Alerts 2011

What's in an Alert?

Create a Price Alert

To create your first Alerts select [New] from the Alerts menu.

There is a choice between creating an Alert on an individual stock or a stocklist. The default choice is to create an alert on a single stock, but to set an alert for a list of stocks, check the "Select Stocklist" radio button.

Next select the Alert Condition. The Alert condition may offer parameters which need to be defined.

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Getting Started with Alerts 2011

Up to two Alert parameters can be defined.

An Alert can be tagged which allows you to manage large number of Alerts; when entering an Alert it's necessary to hit Return to ensure the Tag is defined (an accepted Tag will appear with a blue background)

The final step is to Save the Alert. Your Alert will appear in the Alerts interface.

Create a Stock List

To create a Stock List select [Manage Stocklists]

Create a [New] Stock List from the button options

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Getting Started with Alerts 2011

Once your Stock List has a name you can then populate it with stocks. While Stock Lists can be filled with stocks from different exchanges and Forex, it's better to create single format Stock Lists which can be used across different applications.

When your list is complete, [Save] and it will be selectable from the Stock List drop-down menu. To remove a stock from a Stock List, click the [-] icon next to the stock you wish to remove.

To Delete a list, select it first, then hit [Delete].

Create an Alert on a Stock List

When creating a New Alert, check the box for Select Stocklist Zignals.com November 2011 5

Getting Started with Alerts 2011

Select your Alert type and Save as for a single stock or Forex alert

Note: Certain Alerts are not supported for Stock Lists; for example, a price crosses above or below [x]. Only generic, non-stock-specific alerts can be applied to Stock Lists.

What is a Volume Alert?

A volume alert triggers when the daily volume approaches a percentage of a moving average of volume; for example, an alert to trigger when a stock trades 3x the 60-day moving average of volume is defined as [x] = 300 and [y] = 60:

An alert which triggers when Daily Volume is equal to a Moving Average of Volume would use 100%

What is a Fundamental Alert?

A Fundamental Alert covers two key types: Zignals.com November 2011 6

Getting Started with Alerts 2011

1. Informational 2. Conditional An Informational Alert offers no Parameters and triggers when the underlying value is updated; for example, % Change EPS Quarter to Last Year Quarter

Whereas a Conditional Fundamental Alert will trigger when the event is true (note: the underlying value updates AND is true before the Alert is delivered)

How does filtering work?

Tags allow you to manage large number of Alerts. When you tag an alert it joins the list of Filters available from the dropdown menu. Select one of the Filter choices to view Alerts tagged with that filter. To add a [Tag] to an Alert, first ensure the Alert is selected in the interface. Alerts with a Tag will show a small blue tag icon next to the asset's name.

A tag name is accepted by using the Return key. This will highlight it in Blue before saving.

How do I Edit an Alert?

To edit an Alert it must first be selected. A selected alert will have a yellow background.

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Getting Started with Alerts 2011

When an Alert is selected the menu options to [Edit], [Delete], run an [Historical Test], [Edit Note] and [Tag] will be available. Clicking [Edit] will reopen the Alert dialog, allowing you to change the conditions of the Alert.

Can I view the history of an Alert?

Each Alert displays the date of the most recent trigger for the Alert. Alerts which have triggered since the last login will display an Acknowledge button and the date of the trigger in bold.

It's possible to view all of the prior occurrences of an Alert by clicking the magnifying icon in the Alert box. This will display the date and time for each prior alert event trigger. In the case of an alert built on a Stock List, the Alert History will show all the triggers for each symbol in the Stock List.

Zignals.com November 2011

Getting Started with Alerts 2011

What is an Historical Test?
When building an Alert it's possible to examine how that particular Alert performed in the past by running an Historical Test. An Historical Test looks at the prior 6-months of data (although the look back period can be extended to 10 years) and highlights every past alert trigger and returns the performance of the stock 1-, 2- and 3-months from the time it happened. The Historical Test displays the Return at the close of trade for the selected time period. The Max Gain and Max Loss show the best and worst performance for the Alert over the 1-, 2- or 3-Month period.

Note: Historical Tests only work for Price and Volume Alerts. There is no historical record of Fundamental Data available to back test against.

What can Notes be used for?

Notes allow you to add a comment to an alert which is sent as part of the email trigger (but the Note is not part of an SMS trigger). Again, an Alert must be selected before a Note can be added to it.

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Getting Started with Alerts 2011

Alerts with Notes attached will show an yellow tag icon next to the asset name.

Which Alerts trigger intraday and which are end-of-day?

Alerts can be triggered either intraday, end-of-day or both. The following table gives the expected frequency for delivery

Alert Type
Volume alerts Fundamental Alerts Moving average x Moving Average Price makes new high / low Price crosses Moving Average Price Gap 1-day Price gain/loss Price within range of a Moving Average Price crosses [x] (Yes) No No Yes Yes

Intraday
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes

End-of-day

Yes (morning) Yes Yes Yes

Yes (based on close)

Set up Alert Delivery

Alert delivery is configured from the Settings menu. Default delivery is to email, but there is an option to add SMS delivery too. There is an unofficial limit of 200 SMS texts a month to limit abuse. The email used for delivery can be different to the email used to register with, but Alert delivery is restricted to a single email address. SMS delivery is handled by a third party. Ensure the correct country flag is selected when entering your number. SMS delivery is dependent on correct configuration of Timezone and SMS Availability. Green blocks reflect times (set by selected Timezone) when SMS Alerts can be received; red blocks are times Zignals.com November 2011 10

Getting Started with Alerts 2011

when Alerts are not sent - but are instead sent at the next available green block. When setting SMS Availability it's important to set the delivery to match the hours the market trades in local time.

Delivery settings can also be configured from Account Management settings; click on the link of your user id.

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