Thanx Gbathat -
About a dozen iHub posters were given an opportunity to see SpoozTools in May. I was one of them. Since then, according to fedfunz, a lot of Chicago-land traders have also seen it, up close and personal. Since May, I've not been given another SpoozToolz demo, so I will have to wait for January to roll around, but I doubt it has remained static. We will just have to wait and see what changes have been made since then. However, if the released version does not still contain functionality for outputting generated code snippets that can be included in external C/C++ projects, I will be disappointed, to say the least.
And to be clear, not only have I not been given another demo of SpoozToolz, I also have not bought, been loaned, or licensed a copy of SpoozToolz either. I've had no access to SpoozToolz whatsoever, and I continue to have none.
What will the released version look like? I can speculate, so here are a few ideas. I could very well be wrong. IMHO, the "yet-to-be-released" Phase 2 version for stocks will need features the "yet-to-be-released" Phase 1 version (futures) will not need, such as a real-time scanner to find candidated stocks on a real time basis. I do not know if such a scanner will be present in the stock version, but I do know that it is not necessary in the non-stock version. People do not need such a scanner in the futures version because the universe of futures symbols is miniscule in comparison to the universe of stock symbols.
The way my "bot" (automated trading robot = bot) worked before I lost use of the product in which it was developed on June 1st, was that it scanned the Russell 2000 in real time looking for patterns. You have no need to actively scan for pattern matching in as large a universe as the Russell 2000 in the SpoozToolz version intended for the futures market. My point is that I expect there to be differences between the "yet-to-be-released" Phase 2 version (stocks) and the "yet-to-be-released" Phase 1 version (futures).
Now that I've speculated a bit, let me say this about the scripting features which I was told about in my demo. I expect internally running scripting to be a feature of both the Phase 1 & Phase 2 versions AND I expect that both versions will feature something that you can click on that allows the generation of snippets of C/C++ code that can be exported as text that can be incorporated into external C/C++ programming projects. The version I had demoed included this scripting language. I was not shown it working, but I was shown its existence and shown its access points within the program. I was told that the scripting language is used to augment functionality that comes "shrink-wrapped" and to empower non-coder types to be productive without the need for higher-level programming skills.
What I was told was that the scripts run within the software itself as interpreted scripts in their own right, and they can be constructed point-n-click or edited as text. As a separate matter, they can generate C/C++ code external to SpoozToolz. Please note that I was not shown these features actually working. I was shown where they were in the software and told what the features and functionalities were. So what actually gets released may differ from what I was told in late spring 2007, but I'm comfortable that this is, as they used to say in these parts, "close enough for government work".
Now lets think about what is possible if these features are in the releases as explained when demoed. The idea is to have SpoozToolz output snippets of usable code that are converted from the internal script syntax into syntax usable in C/C++ programs. This is a pretty cool idea for people involved in development of their own trading "bots", if for no other reason than these types of folks need the speed available from projects compliled in C/C++ code. Non-coders can create complete custom systems quickly and code jockeys can "template" and test, using SpoozTools to develop freestanding external black box systems. Pretty cool idea.
I can recall my years as MIS director of a tax firm and how we employed what were loosely referred to as "code generators" to create C code in "the old days". My basic expectation is that, in general, Spooz's idea tracks pretty much along those lines. Having personally written or overseen the creation of millions of lines of code since I started in the programming business in 1980, I have taken what I was shown and I have "explained" it to myself through the the filter of my own experiences. In specific detail, I may be wrong, but I was shown enough to have constructed a mental model, which I've tried to explain.
Now pay close attention to this disclaimer: as I have not been given/licensed/bought/loaned an actual copy of SpoozToolz and because it is possible that the versions yet-to-be-released may differ from what I was told in my demo, I am not doing anything other than reporting to the baord what was the state of affairs at that time. Do your own DD.
I have told everybody to watch volumes and price action. Don't pump. Don't bash. Watch the volume price behavior and refuse to trade on feelings. I will loose money bigtime if there is some event that causes a volume increase that correcponds to a drastic price decline. This is known as risk. You can't denature risk. Stinky pinkies are inherently risky. So buyer beware.
However, IMHO, if what I saw demoed is true, apart from the unpredictable, 2008 should see my risky position in SPZI pay off big-time. If we have a major stock market crash or a cataclysmic event such as a California earthquake or a war with Iran, I may loose my ass. Thats the nature of risk. I trade for a living. Taking calculated risks is the nature of the game. As to SPZI, I have bet my money and am taking my chance because everything I have seen tends to tell me that this stinky pinky will not be stinky much longer. But, everybody should do their own DD and make up their own minds.
So, that what I know and what I have guessed about the scripting. Now I'm out of here. Spooz is but one of the companies I'm holding and I'm not making money when I'm pointing stuff like this out. And I'm just an average joe. I don't care if people think me a fool. Maybe I am. I put my trousers on one leg at a time just like everyone else. I'm too busy stripping feeling out of my system to be bothered about whether a guy who has been wrong every time he has criticized me before likes my posts, especially given that he told the board he develops systems in Chicagoland for another trading solution. Under those circumstance, you couldn't expect him to like Spooz. I have no axe to grind. I call them like I see them, so I expect the scripting to be pretty much the tool I was told about in my demo. Its as simple as that.
So peace, folks, and have a happy Thanksgiving. Be thankful you live in a land that fostered the existence of iHub, where ideas can be discussed in the open and we aren't imprisoned for having differing views.
Imperial Whazoo
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