Figure 1.
Step 1. Run the software. Press "Strategy Designer" button on the toolbar of "Equity Analyzer" software. A "Strategy Designer" frame will appear. This frame allows you to design multiple trading strategies and compare them in the same chart area. Multiple "Strategy Designer" frames can be created by pressing "Strategy Designer" button multiple times.
Step 2. Design a strategy. A trading strategy consists of one or more legs. The six legs defined in the "Legs" comboBox are: "Buy stock". "Short stock" (sell), "Buy call", "Buy put", "Write call" (sell), and "Write put" (sell). A "buy straddle" strategy consists of a "Buy call" leg and a "Buy put" leg of the same strike price. A "Butterfly" strategy consists of 4 legs: "Write call" leg, "Write put" leg, "Buy call" leg at higher strike price, and "Buy put" leg at lower strike price. With the "Strategy Designer", a user can bundle a set of legs to form a new strategy and evaluate its gain (loss) at different stock price level by examining the strategy's P/L (Profit/Loss) chart. Further, the user can add multiple strategies and draw corresponding P/L charts in the same charting area for comparison purposes.
Step 3. Add a leg. Select a leg item of "Legs" comboBox, fill in the "Quantity", "Strike", "Unit price" fields with the number of shares or contracts, the strike prices, and the price per share (per contract for option trading) respectively. Then press "Add" button will add a leg to the strategy in design. The added leg will be shown in both the list box and the chart. Repeat this step to add as many legs as you want to. Figure 1 shows a strategy with two legs: "Buy stock" and "Buy put".
Step 4. Delete a leg. Select a leg shown in the list box. Press "Remove" button will delete the selected leg.
Step 5. Edit a leg. Select a leg in the list box. Press "Edit" button. Change the numbers in the fields and press "Add" button. The new leg are displayed at the tail of the list. Select the leg you selected for editing, and press "Remove" button. The old one are then removed.
Step 6. Complete a strategy. Fill in the symbol and expiry fields with stock symbol and option expiry date. Press "Complete" button. An "Input" dialog will pop up asking for a name for the strategy in design. Enter a name and press "Ok" button closes the dialog and completes the strategy design. The entered strategy name are added to the list of the "Strategies" comboBox. Repeat steps 2-5 will add more strategies.
Step 7. Display a strategy. Select an item of the "Strategies" comboBox. The chart of that strategy will be displayed and the legs are displayed in the list box below the chart.
Step 8. Display all strategies. Select the "All strategies" item in the comboBox will display the charts of all strategies in the list of "Strategies" comboBox.
Step 9. Delete a strategy. Select a strategy in the "Strategies" comboBox, and then press "Del" button next to it.
Step 10. Save strategies. Press "Save" button in the toolbar will save all the strategies in the active "Strategy Designer" frame. The file will be stored with a name of extension "str", and in a directory as you locate with the popup file chooser dialog. The extension of a strategy file is "str".
Step 11. Open a file. Press "Open" button in the toolbar. Locate with the file chooser the strategy file you want to open and press the "Open" button in the file chooser dialog. A "Strategy Designer" frame will appear with charts of "All strategies" displayed in the charting area.
Step 12. Customize display. The "Zoom in", "Zoom out", and "Cross" buttons at the top of "Strategy Designer" frame allow you to customize the display of charts and assist you to read the numbers in the P/L chart. The "Cash spent" display the amount of cash you need to fulfull a specific strategy.
Step 13. Print. Click on the frame you want to print, and then press "Print" button.
Step 14. Close a frame. Press the small "X" button at the right-top corner of the frame to close the "Strategy Designer" frame.
Step 15. An example. Figure 2 shows an example in which two "Strategy Designer" frames are displayed. One of the "Strategy Designer" frames displays in its charting area six possible trading strategies for comparison purposes.