Determine which entry signals work best in specific markets. Creating a Trading System

Naming the Trade System Defining the Entry Signal Defining the Exit Signals Displaying a Trade System on a Chart Editing Bar Range and Changing Trade Colors Exporting Results Trading System Alerts Creating a Trading System

Naming the Trade System Set parameters and characteristics on the Define User Formulas window. The Define User Formulas window allows you to: Label the trades Define parameters for the entry signal Define characteristics for the exit signal Add commissions Define slippage Trade names can only contain letters, numbers, and underscores. Spaces and special characters are not supported.

Creating Trades On the Use As drop-down menu, identify trades as Long or Short. To create a new trade from the Define User Formulas window: 1.Click the Trade Systems tab. 2.Click New. 3.Type the name for the trade. 4.Click OK. You can also disable a trade by selecting Off from the Use As drop-down menu. Selecting Off can be useful when troubleshooting.

Defining the Entry Signal Set entries and order types. On the Entry tab, the options include: Allow multiple entries before exits (Pyramids): Positions can accumulate without being closed until the exit signal is true. Allow entry on exit: Entries and exits can occur on the same bar (used for stop and reversal systems). The Order Types options include: Market: The order is executed at the prevailing market price the time it is received on the trading floor. Stop: When the stop price is reached, the order becomes a market order. Limit: The order will not be executed until the inserted price is reached. S/L: A limit price can be set for the stop.

Defining the Entry Signal (continued) Create the entry signal directly from the Define User Formulas window. The bottom tabs on the Define User Formulas window include: Signal: Allows traders to create the entry signal directly on the Signal tab. You can also create the entry signal by clicking Toolbox. Price: Identifies where to execute the order when the signal becomes true. It also reflects the type of order selected. The default is Close Size: Reveals the number of contracts to trade.

Defining Exit Signals To create a new trade, click New on the Define User Formulas window. Options on the Create a New Exit window include: Custom: Allows traders to customize exit formulas and create the exit signal, price, slippage, and quantity. Money management (stop order): Defines the maximum acceptable loss per trade. Break even (stop order): Identifies the profit level for the stop to activate. Once the profit level is reached, the stop order is activated at the entry price. The trade breaks even and the floor is reached. Dollar risk trailing (stop order): Represents the amount the trader is willing to give back. As profits rise, the stop will rise. Percent risk trailing (stop order): Identifies a minimum level of profit, such as floor, that activates the stop order and a retracement percentage level to set the stop. Profit target (limit order): Allows traders to specify the profit amount. Entry stop: Sets a stop order set to the high price when a trade is entered.

Displaying the Trade System on a Chart Monitor your results on a CQG Chart. CQG considers the trading system as a study. To save the trading systems on the Define User Formulas window, click Apply. You can then close the window. You can create the trading system button on the Add Study window. To do this: 1.Click the TradeSys tab. 2.Click Add. 3.Close the Add Study window. 4.Right-click a CQG Chart and select Add Study. A new window opens. 5.Select TradeSys from the Categories of Studies drop-down menu. 6.Select the study you wish to have plotted on the chart. 7.Click Add.

Editing Bar Range & Changing Colors Customize the data format and access historical data charts. By default, CQG tests 1,000 bars. By selecting specific dates, it allows traders to maximize their backtesting abilities. Two improvements can benefit the trading systems: Data caching: Improves performance by building bars in CQG. Extension of intraday data: Allows traders to access extensive historical data charts. For futures contracts, traders can access up to eighteen months of data in a five-minute-base data format. Traders may also request up to five years of intraday data as an add-on.

Editing Bar Range & Changing Colors (continued) Adjust the parameters to view specific order types. To change the colors of long and short trades, click >>> on the Setup Study Parameters on the Display field. A new Setup Study Parameters window opens. Traders can select the check boxes to view specific order types.

Charting Signals Identify trades and enhancements on CQG Charts. To adjust the colors of entries on a CQG Chart, click the color on the Color field. The color palette opens. Select your desired color. Trades can be identified by: Up or down arrows showing the opening of the trade Horizontal lines linking the opening price with the exit bar Crosses showing the exit bar Ovals standing for the exiting price Version enhancements include dashed lines which show the following entries: Exits Limits Stop Orders

Exporting Results View open and closed trades, total net profits, and more in an Excel® spreadsheet. There are two kinds of information traders can export or print when the trading system is applied on the CQG Chart: Trading Systems Statistics per Bar: Taking as reference point the total net profit values. Analysis of Closed trades: Identifying how many trades have been opened and closed, which exit has been used, and the entry and exit price, time, etc. CQG allows you to export your results to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet: 1.Right-click the Printer button. 2.Select Tabular Display. 3.Highlight all the data in the table and then press CTRL + C to copy the data into the clipboard. 4.Open a spreadsheet. 5.Press CTRL + V to paste the data into the spreadsheet.

Trading System Alerts To set up CQG Alerts, click Alerts and select Trading System. Alerts include: Trading System: The list of trade systems to be activated. Issue: The contract symbol you wish to apply. Interval: The time frame of the alert. Position: The number of contracts. Action: The way a CQG Alert is triggered, such as or displaying a chart. The trading systems and the alerts will appear on the Trading System Alerts window. Traders can check the boxes under the On field to activate the CQG Alert. Like other CQG Alerts, trade alerts work in the background. After the alerts have been set, close the Trading System Alerts window. The system should then function.

Contact Us CQG, Inc. is the industrys highest-performing solution for integrated trade routing, global market data, and advanced technical analysis. CQG partners with more than thirty-five futures clearing merchants and provides Direct Market Access to more than thirty-five exchanges through its worldwide network of collocated CQG Hosted Exchange Gateways. CQG's market data feed consolidates over a hundred sources, including exchanges worldwide for futures, options, fixed income, foreign exchange, and equities as well as data on debt securities, industry reports, and financial indices. CQG is headquartered in Denver, Colorado with sales and support offices worldwide. For more information about CQG, please call or visit Customer Support: US: UK: +44 (0) Australia: +61 (0) France: +33 (0) Germany: +49 (0) Japan: +81 (0) Russia: Singapore:

Disclaimer Trading and investment carry a high level of risk, and CQG, Inc. does not make any recommendations for buying or selling any financial instruments. We offer educational information on ways to use our sophisticated CQG trading tools, but it is up to our customers and other readers to make their own trading and investment decisions or to consult with a registered investment advisor. © 2009 CQG, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. CQG®, DOMTrader®, SnapTrader®, TFOBV®, TFOBVO®, TFVOL®, TradeFlow TM, and TFlow TM are trademarks of CQG, Inc.