The new features and miscellaneous enhancements outlined below were introduced in the 4.5 Version.

Product Enhancements for Version 4.5:
Release Date: May 25, 2000

• Using Scans, Trading Signals and Custom Indicators Within a Scan or Trading Signal
• Charting Preferences Consolidated/Reorganized
• Scan Statistics (STAT) Token Enhanced
• User Variables V#1 Through V#20 Now Available
• RTL Token YRCL (Prior Year Closing Price) Added
• RTL SET Command Enhanced to Support Setting of More Tokens
• Line Color Control Improved
• Rectangles Can Be Moved and Copied in Charts
• Raw Tick Chart: Tick Bar Option Added
• Chart Printing Improved
• Creating QuotePages from Custom Profiles
• New RTL Token for Testing Date/Time Specific Values
• Hollow Volume Bars and MACD Histograms
• What's New in Version 4.4

• Using Scans, Trading Signals and Custom Indicators Within a Scan or Trading Signal
  The expressive power and ease of use of the RTL language has been improved substantially in Version 4.5 by the capability of referencing other scans, trading signals, and custom indicators when formulating an RTL expression for a scan or trading signal. New tokens have been introduced into RTL to enable the user to embed an existing scan (token SCAN), custom indicator (token CI), or trading signal (token SIGNAL) into the RTL expression. Multiple SCAN, CI, and SIGNAL tokens can be incorporated into a scan or trading signal just like multiple moving average (MA) tokens. When multiples are used, the user must rename the token(s) to distinguish them from one another. 
  
  Here is an example of using a custom indicator inside a scan. First create a custom indicator called "MA_Oscillator" with the RTL formula:
  
  MA_ST - MA_LT 
  
  Where MA_ST is a simple short term moving average and MA_LT is a simple long term moving average. This custom indicator when added to a chart window oscillates around the zero line, crossing the zero line whenever the moving average lines cross over. 
  
  Now, we can use this custom indicator in a scan to look for moving average crossovers. Create a new scan. From the token list on the left choose CI:Custom Indicator and add it to the list on the right. When you do this Investor/RT will ask which custom indicator you want to use. Choose "MA_Oscillator" from the list of custom indicators. The token list on the right will now contain only one entry with a token of CI. Complete the scan definition using the RTL formula:
  
  (CI.1 < 0 and CI >= 0) or (CI.1 > 0 and CI <= 0) 
  
  This scan tests for moving average crossovers from either direction. CI.1 can also be written CI1 (without the period). We use the optional period to separate the token from the historical qualifier to improve readability. Save the scan and run it to find all issues displaying either a bullish or bearish moving average cross over in the current time frame. Add this scan as a "Scan Marker" indicator to a chart. Investor/RT will then mark each bar in the chart for which there is a moving average cross over. Note that the terms of the moving average involved in this analysis are part of the definition of the "MA_Oscillator" custom indicator, not the scan itself, which only references this indicator using the token CI. You can call up the definition of "MA_Oscillator", edit the terms or moving average type preferences of the indicator and save the indicator and Investor/RT will redraw the scan markers accordingly. 
  
  In the same way, a scan or trading signal can include other scans and/or trading signals. For example, if you have already created scans called "MACD_Bullish" and "Stochastic_Bullish", you can easily create another scan testing for either of these conditions. Create a new scan, choosing the SCAN token from the list on the left, and choosing "MACD_Bullish" when the list of scans appears. The token in the right side list will initially be called "SCAN". Rename the token to read "MACD_BU". Then add the SCAN token a second time, choosing "Stochastic Bullish" and renaming its token "STOC_BU". Then complete the scan definition with the RTL formula: 
  
  MACD_BU or STOC_BU 
  
  The scan above will test for either of the referenced scans being true. Similarly,
  
  MACD_BU and STOC_BU 
  
  tests for both referenced scans being true. 
  
  Sometimes it is useful to see if both conditions have been true within the last few bars since you may miss signals if you look only for both conditions happening on exactly the same bar. The MAX function can be used to test any condition within some specified time in the past. For example: 
  
  MAX(MACD_BU, 3) > 0 and MAX(STOC_BU, 5) > 0 
  
  tests for a MACD buy signal occurring within the last three bars accompanied by a stochastic buy signal any time within the preceding five bars. Scan, custom indicator and trading signal token can be qualified historical by appending a period and a number to the token. So another way to test to see if MACD_BU has been true during the preceding three bars is to use the formula: 
  
  MACD_BU OR MACD_BU.1 OR MACD_BU.2 
  
  Whenever a language includes "self-referencing" capabilities, the expressions of the language become eligible for endless loops. In natural languages these are called paradoxes; in computer programming languages they can become infinite loops. Now that RTL contains self-referencing tokens, Investor/RT must guard against such uses of the language to prevent infinite loops. For example, SCAN_A may reference SCAN_B, which in turn makes reference to SCAN_C. If SCAN_C happens to include a test for SCAN_A, the evaluation cycle would repeat forever if left unchecked. Before evaluating scans and trading signals, Investor/RT performs an "endless loop" test. If an illegal scan reference is detected, an error message is displayed and the scan or trading signal is not evaluated. 
• Charting Preferences Consolidated/Reorganized
  Preferences windows for traditional (time-based) charts have been consolidated into a single window. Under Setup: Preferences, the new preference window is called "Traditional Chart". We now use the term "Traditional Chart" to refer to price-time charts having a precise time-based horizontal axis. Traditional charts can be viewed in various "styles": bar, candlestick, line (continuous or connected), or histogram. Notice that bar, candle, etc. are no longer listed as chart "types", but as chart styles within the traditional chart type. 
  
  "Setup: Preferences: Charting: General" opens a window for setting global charting preferences. This is where you specify your "default chart". The default chart can be a traditional chart or one of the specialized chart types: day bar, market profile, volume profile, point and figure, three-line break, or raw tick chart. There is also a new preference setting in this window for specifying what action Investor/RT should take when the user double-clicks on a ticker symbol in a quote page. The two choices are (1) open a new default chart or (2) substitute the ticker into the front chart. This preference also applies whenever the user requests a default chart from the popup menu in quote pages, portfolios, or instruction selection controls.
  
  Related changes have been made in other windows or menus where "chart type" is an option. For example, in File: New: Chart (the Create New Chart window), the type menu shows Traditional along with five other chart types. When "Traditional" is chosen, another list box titled "Style" gives you the choice of bar, candle, etc. 
  
  Clicking the "Chart Preferences" button on the traditional chart toolbar immediately opens the consolidated chart preferences window instead of displaying a list of preference windows. Double-clicking in the time axis area or the chart name in the lower left corner of the chart is a shortcut for opening the chart preferences window.
• Scan Statistics (STAT) Token Enhanced
  When the STAT token is used to calculate the minimum or maximum price during some number of periods, the result of the calculation can now be either the actual minimum or maximum value encountered or the number of periods back that the minimum or maximum value occurred. For example, setup a scan, add the STAT token, defining it as the Max High in 50 periods. In the STAT setup box you will see a new set of radio buttons. Choose the radio button titled "the no. of periods since the maximum". Run the scan with the RTL formula: 
  
  STAT < 5
  
  to find issues whose 50 period high has occurred within the last 5 periods. 
• User Variables V#1 Through V#20 Now Available
  The number of user V# variables has been increased (again) to twenty. See item 1 above. Variables V#7 through V#20 are temporary variables. Their values are reset to zero each time Investor/RT is started. Variables V#1 through V#6 are persistent. Their values are retained on the database just like open, high, low, close and other market data. 
• RTL Token YRCL (Prior Year Closing Price) Added
  The token YRCL has been added to RTL to provide a means to scan on the year-to-date percentage change in price. Use the RTL expression: 
  
  ((CL - YRCL)/YRCL)*100 
  
  to calculate the year-to-date percentage change. (10.5 means 10.5%). At present, the prior year's closing price is a data value transmitted only over the DTN data service. The close price of an issue on Dec. 31, 1999 is usually available in the historical record on the database. See item 16. below for a new technique for recording the prior year closing price using a scan. 
• RTL SET Command Enhanced to Support Setting of More Tokens
  The 52 week high, the 52 week low and the prior year closing price can now be set for a list of instruments using a scan. This may be desirable, for example, if the data service used with Investor/RT does not update these data columns directly but you have historical data on file to obtain the appropriate price. Run a daily periodicity scan on the .All Symbols quote page using the RTL formula: 
  
  SET(YRHI, MAX(CL,225)) and SET(YRLO, MIN(CL,225)) and SET(YRCL, CL.N) 
  
  N is a number representing the number of trading days thus far this year. You can combine all three SET commands above into one scan or run each SET command individually. 
• Line Color Control Improved
  Various setup windows in Investor/RT contain "line color controls", a rectangle showing the selected line color in a small box at the left size. A popup menu has been added to this control for setting the line style (solid, dotted, dashed) and the line width (thickness). Prior to Version 4.5. Line widths of 1, 2, or 3 were permitted. Now, the line width can be set from 1 to 10 pixels. The popup menu also has selections for common colors and a "Color Picker..." menu choice. Choosing Color Picker opens the standard color selection window for the computer operating system you are using (Windows, Macintosh). Note that on the Windows platform, the dotted and dashed line styles only apply if the line width is one pixels. Lines thicker than one pixel always display as solid lines in the selected color on the Windows platform. On the Macintosh, dotted and dashed lines do have a visible effect at point sizes greater than one. Click the mouse in the color square at the left side of the control opens a pallet of 256 colors. Either click on a color to select it, or press the esc key to dismiss the pallet without changing the current color selection. A right + click on the color rectangle accesses the operating system standard color selector for your platform just like the "Color Picker" menu choice. On Macintosh, ctrl + click or command + click instead of "right + click". 
• Rectangles Can Be Moved and Copied in Charts
  After a rectangle has been drawn into a window, it can be relocated at another position by dragging and dropping it at the starting location of the new position. The rectangle will retain the same horizontal size in bars at the new location. Its vertical size will encompass the trading range of prices during the revised periods. Holding down the ctrl key (option key if Macintosh) while dragging and dropping the rectangle causes a new rectangle of the same width (time) to be added at the new position.
• Raw Tick Chart: Tick Bar Option Added
  Raw Tick Charts can be setup to show "tick bars", i.e. open, high, low, close bars depicting the trading range of a fixed number of consecutive ticks. A "ticks per bar" setting has been added to the raw chart preferences. Set this value to one to see every tick individually. Tick bars can also be displayed in traditional charts, however the raw tick chart time access is better suited to displaying tick bars compactly than the traditional chart fixed time unit axis. 
• Chart Printing Improved
  Refinements were made to printing of all non-traditional chart types: daybar, market profile, volume profile, raw tick, point and figure, three-line break, and custom profile charts. Printing of raw tick (or tick bar) charts is a new feature in version 4.5. 
• Creating QuotePages from Custom Profiles
  A "Create Quote Page" menu item has been added to the Custom Profile popup menu. This command creates a new quote page consisting of the instruments listed in the custom profile window. When the custom profile chart is used to rank and select the top issues from a larger list of instruments, this new command makes it easy to quickly create a quote page of the top ranked issues. The quote page created will have the same name as the custom profile. 
• New RTL Token for Testing Date/Time Specific Values
  A new token, DV, has been added to the RTL Language. DV allows you to refer to a price point at some time in the past using a specific date/time. For example, suppose you are running a scan and wish to compare the current closing price with the price of the issue at the close of last year. Simply add the token DV to your scan token list. A dialog box will appear in which you specify the date as 12/31/99 and the price point as "Close". Then use DV in your scan formula to refer to the 12/31/99 closing price. For example, try this scan:
  
  CL/DV > 1.2; scan for issues up 20% of more this year
  
  The DV token can be added multiple times to the token list to reference variable date/time specific prices in the past. The DV token name must be changed to some other name to distinguish different DV price points. For example, you could set up DV_YEAR_END as the "close" on 12/31/99 and DV_QTR_END as the close March 31, 2000. Then use this follow scan to find issues up more than 30% year to date that were up less than 10% at the end of the last quarter. 
  
  CL/DV_YEAR_END > 1.3 AND DV_QTR_END/DV_YEAR_END < 1.1 
  
  The DV indicate can also be used in intra-day scans to test a time specific value. For example, you could setup DV to mean the "(Hi + Lo)/2" of the current days bar at 9:35, and use DV in an auto-scan running on five-minute bars throughout out the trading day. The DV value in this case refers to the high/low average for the first bar of the trading day. The DV can be used to refer to the open, high, low, close, volume, and various other calculated price points at any specific point in time.
• Hollow Volume Bars and MACD Histograms
  New drawing options are available when charting volume, open interest histograms, MACD histograms, and histogram style traditional charts. To see the effect, check the "Hollow Bars" or "Hollow Histogram" checkboxes. Drawing volume histograms hollow make it possible to overlay volume histograms inside the same pane as the instrument bars (or candles).