Optuma Blog

Market insights, product updates, tips, and tricks

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How to Create a Custom Index

An easy way to create a custom index of a basket of stocks, or portfolio, is to simply add them together in what is called a price-weighted index.

How to
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CMT Association Summit - Dubai 2024

Last week, Mathew, Darren and Jairus attended the CMT Association Summit in Dubai, the first held outside of New York.

General
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Catching a Falling Knife

So far in this series, we’ve been looking at long term general market conditions with an overall bullish sentiment coming through.

General
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Low Vix Analysis

Despite all that is going on in the world (wars, inflation, natural disasters, & Taylor Swift’s latest album), Stock Markets around the world have just continued on their merry way seemingly oblivious to everything.

Optuma Labs
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Presidential Cycles

The Presidential Cycle is a four-year cycle where the US Stock Market seems to make similar returns in each of the four years. I.e. We compare all the years of the election (2020, 2016, 2012…) and the results seem to align.

Optuma Labs
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Want to know a better way to determine Trend?

A few years ago I picked up an old copy of a book by Michael Gur called The Symmetry Wave Trading Method. Gur introduced the concept of using a series of swings based on the Average True Range of a chart, or the ATR.

Optuma Labs
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GoNoGo Evidence-Based Investing - Part 6

This sixth and final video in the GoNoGo Charts educational series brings all the concepts together into a practical approach to market analysis and trading decisions.

How to
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GoNoGo Trend Re-Entry - Part 4

Alex and Tyler explain how using the GoNoGo Oscillator® can provide investors with a rules-based approach to entering trends.

How to
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Scripting and Anchored VWAPs

Learn how to create scans and tools based on the Anchored Volume-Weighted Average Price (AVWAP) tool.

How to
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Optuma on the Cloud

In this week’s blog article Matthew Humphreys discusses the do's and don'ts when using Optuma with the cloud.

Product
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Pressure is on the January Barometer

The January Barometer is an investing theory that suggests that the performance of the stock market in the month of January can be used to predict the performance of the stock market for the rest of the year. According to the theory – first posited by Yale Hirsch in 1972 - if the stock market rises in January, then it is likely to rise for the rest of the year.

Optuma Labs
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IPO Performance

A quick look at the performance of this year's IPOs on the Australian and US markets. Optuma clients can download and open the workbook and add their own analyses.

Commentary
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S&P Indices - Quarterly Rebalancing

Details on the latest quarterly rebalance of the ASX200 ($XJO) and S&P500 ($SPX) indices. How do stocks perform after joining the index?

Commentary
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ETF Net Fund Flows

Following on from the additional ETF data that was recently added to our database, we're pleased to announce that we are now able to provide net fund flow data for ETFs listed on a number of exchanges.

Product
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Taking your custom technical ranking system further

Last time we looked at ways to create a custom ranking system using simple scripting formulas based on a number of technical conditions, and in this article we'll look to take it a step further by calculating breadth measures on a universe of stocks, and also adjusting the weightings.

How to
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How to create a custom technical ranking system

In your studies you may have come across the ‘weight of evidence’ approach to investing which looks at prices and various indicators to help identify potential trading opportunities.

How to
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Now available: US ETF Fundamental Data

We are always looking at ways to improve Optuma, and ahead of the upcoming version 2.1 release (we’ll be looking for beta testers very soon!) we’ve added more ETF data to our US Fundamental database.

Product
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ASX and S&P500 Sector Workbooks

Optuma clients can download and open workbooks for the ASX and S&P500 sectors, which includes the current list of the companies within each sector, along with example charts and watchlists, plus a 6 month high / low scan.

Product
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An easy way to find breakouts

As you may know, Optuma has several tools to help identify significant turning points, such as the various swing overlays, but one tool I’ve started to use more and more is the Pivot Label tool.

How to
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Optuma - 25 Years and a look at what's next

With the imminent release of Optuma 2 - most likely the largest single upgrade we have ever done - now is a great opportunity for me to take time to reveal the major directions we are taking with Optuma.

Product
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Improve Optuma’s Performance with These Few Easy Tweaks

We are always working on improving Optuma’s performance with every update we release. Whether it be faster processing, using fewer system resources, or improved memory management, we know the leaner we make Optuma, the harder our clients can push its capabilities. Over the years we’ve seen clients take Optuma to the very extreme!

How to
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Using Optuma on a cloud-based PC

Access your copy of Optuma from any computer using a cloud-based PC - a great option for Mac users or for clients working behind corporate firewalls.

How to
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How Professional Technical Analysts Handled the Covid-19 Crash

For the last few weeks global markets have seen periods of greater than average volatility resulting from several factors including the rise of the Covid-19 virus, stimulus packages in response to the economic impacts of the virus, and an oil war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Commentary
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The Mid-Cycle Slow Down - What Comes Next?

Did Covid-19 cause this mess? What comes next? Phil Anderson explores this in terms of the 18.6 year Real Estate Cycle. This could be one of the most important posts you read in these volatile times.

Optuma Labs
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Recovery Planning

The last couple of weeks has been tough (unless you’re short S&P futures!). In this article we look back at previous crashes to see what we can expect to happen next.

Optuma Labs
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Optuma Swing Charts and Scripting

Scripting for swing patterns can be difficult and there are a few important nuances to be aware of. In this article Mathew explains some of the complexities involved.

How to
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Identifying Divergences

Optuma’s scripting language allows you to create any number of scans and tests on any number of tools and values. But when we were asked if we could create a scan to identify divergences between price and a momentum indicator, such as the RSI, I wasn’t sure how this could be done.

How to
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Being overbought does not mean sell!

Since the recovery from the lows in December 2018 the market has been \"overbought\" - which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Optuma Labs
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Optuma Testing Errors

This post is an update on some errors we have found with our testing tools. Being open about issues like this is very important to us.

Product
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I'm a Survivor

For the last couple of years I’ve routinely stated how important dealing with survivorship bias is in testing. I hope you agree with me that it’s a critical issue that makes it nearly impossible to run a historical test and then being able to repeat those results in the future.

Optuma Labs
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Correlation Cycles

Correlations are an important tool in portfolio construction. But are you aware of the dangers that nearly every analyst ignores? In this post we will review what correlations are, how it can be used to diversify risk and what the dangers are that you have to be aware of.

Optuma Labs
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Relative Rotation Graphs® and Asset Allocation

As you have seen in other articles and blogs, Relative Rotation Graphs® (RRGs) are a great tool to determine relative strength of a basket of stocks or currencies against a benchmark, but one question we often get is 'can RRGs be used for asset allocation purposes?' The answer is YES!

How to
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Bitcoin - The perfect technical market

I am the first to admit that I ignored Bitcoin (and other crypto-currencies) for too long. The first time I really paid any attention was back in October 2017 when Bitcoin just broke $5,000.

Optuma Labs
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Introducing the DVAN SmartLines Tool Module

The DVAN SmartLines module for Optuma is a suite of market tools that gives an investor access to Divergence Analysis’ 27-year moneyflow methodology.

Product
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Real (Good) News

However “real” the news may be perceived, rarely is news “breaking.” However, in light of all the annoying, repetitive press these days, I thought I’d share some good news that – as a matter of fact – is somewhat ground-breaking.

Commentary
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Entry Triggers for Successful Trading

Although this article is focused on Entry Triggers for trade initiation, the successful trader knows that Entry Triggers are just one component of success.

Optuma Labs
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Optex Bands Part 2

Last week I wrote about the journey I took with the Dynamic Market Profile tool and how it showed some promise as a mean reverting strategy. I performed a number of “back tests” (getting the computer to run the simulation with a model portfolio), but could never get the consistent results I was seeing by observing charts.

How to
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Buying Out Performers is Too Late

In this paper we test the results of buying securities that have been outperforming the market. We are told two rules in finance: “Buy Low and Sell High” and also “Past Performance is not a guarantee of Future Returns”.

Optuma Labs Download
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Optex Bands Part 1

Optex Bands is a new tool we created to measure potential extremes away from the “consensus” price. To explain the how and why of Optex Bands, we have to first take a journey through the evolution of this tool. In this post, we cover Market Profiles and POC's.

How to
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Gann-Based Market Breadth

The subjective works of WD Gann from the early part of the twentieth century are not normally associated with one of the modern pillars of twenty first century Technical Analysis, Market Breadth.

Optuma Labs Download
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Volatility Based Support and Resistance

Favorable risk-adjusted returns can be, at times, as difficult to attain as a porcupine in a balloon factory. Forces are constantly at work to ensure that neither of these occurs. What follows will outline an emerging solution for forecasting technical price and volatility value levels.

Optuma Labs Download
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Dow's Theory of Confirmation Modernized

Charles Dow was concerned with managing returns in a context of risk. His process required identifying and confirming trends. He was aware the market trends were influenced by economics as well as behavioral biases.

Optuma Labs Download
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RRG Weights

In this paper, we explore if a set of securities on the RRG, which is benchmarked against an index that is made up of only those securities can be balanced on the X and Y axis. The results once we include Market Capitalisation are amazing.

Optuma Labs Download
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