Bid and Ask on Seconds Charts

[Lancer]

Tick charts have settings for the display of bid and ask data (dots and lines) via Study Properties; "Tick Settings (only valid on Tick Charts)". Does anyone have an EFS formula to display the bid and ask on a sub-minute (seconds) chart?

I'm looking for two bid/ask formulas that can be applied to a seconds chart:

1. Display bid/ask data just as it can be displayed on a tick chart. (dots, connect dots, and square wave).

2. Display bid/ask data for the current period as a dot located two periods ahead of the current price period. Display no bid/ask data for any historical period.

Also, which build is it that first started supporting bid/ask on seconds charts?

Thanks in advance.

[Lancer]

Bump.

[eSignal_JasonK]

Hello Lancer,

Try the attached formula. Keep in mind that it will work in real time, but if you reload the formula the historical lines will be redrawn at the value of the most recent bid/ask. Your build number must also be 564 or greater.

[Lancer]

Thanks Jason.

Anyone interested in the formula bidask.efs, note that it plots bid/ask lines only. It doesn't display in the style of tick charts; no dots, connected dots, or square wave.

Any referral to documentation re. how to get bid/ask to display as described in #1, and #2 below?

Ideally, instead of using an efs file, the display of bid/ask on seconds charts would be a builtin function in Edit Studies like it is for tick charts.

[eSignal_JasonK]

Hi Lancer,

Here is the other bid/ask formula as you described in your private message.

BidAsk2.efs

[Lancer]

Great, thanks for that! Been wanting that one for quite a while.

Useful when shorting Nasdaq stocks, a variation is to have the bid circle and label display in green when the bid is on an uptick. For that purpose, is it possible to identify the last bid vs. the current bid in the same period? If so, how is the "if" argument written?

In edit: With this new bid/ask function, is it also possible to display the bid/ask size? (e.g. display size in the label instead of price) If so, then how is the drawTextRelative line changed to display bid/ask size?

[eSignal_JasonK]

Hello Lancer,

Do you want the bid label and dot to be a neutral color and then change on an up tick to green and vise versa for the ask using red?

As for size, we don't have access to that in EFS currently.

[Lancer]

In the uptick variation, the Ask is not affected; only the Bid changes color when the Bid is on an uptick. A red bid changing to green on an uptick works for me as a default. Anyone using the formula will probably further tweak from there depending on their own chart colors.

Also, thanks for the info re. bid volume.

[eSignal_JasonK]

Hi Lancer,

Try the new version. The bid and ask labels will be grey by default and will change to green on up ticks, red on down ticks and grey when unchanged.

BidAsk2.efs

[Lancer]

OK, I see what you're doing. Really, all that's needed is an uptick and downtick color (no grey). If the bid or ask is up from a lower price level, it's green. If down from a higher price level, it's red. The bid/ask might stay at a certain level for a while, but it came from somewhere, and that's the color it should stay until moving again to another level. Also, if the bid == ask, then the ask should not be displayed.

Here are the issues:

1. So long as the bid is an uptick from the prior bid price, no matter how many trades ago that uptick occurred, or how many periods ago, the bid color needs to remain showing an uptick. As it is now, the change to green or red signifying an uptick or downtick only lasts until the next trade within the same bid/ask spread, then the color goes to the default grey. In case you're curious, driving this bid uptick color thing is an uptick rule that only allows shorting of Nasdaq stocks at the bid or less when the bid is on an uptick. So, the objective in a Nasdaq stocks bid/ask EFS formula is to express the bid uptick condition in a way consistent with the uptick rule so it's useful to traders. For listed stocks (NYSE, etc.), the rule is different. For listed stocks, an uptick is an uptick in last trade price, and not the bid.

2. The bid/ask display on the chart does not update with every change of the actual bid/ask price on the T&S. The EFS bid/ask display only updates when there is a trade at the new bid or ask price within a new bid/ask spread. So, the T&S bid/ask may rise or drop, but that would not be displayed on the chart until a trade occurred at the new bid/ask price. Is that the way bid/ask data is updated using EFS and advanced charts, or is that behavior specific to this particular formula?

3. I saw a few instances when one or the other bid/ask does not display at all; (no circle, line, or text). I went through the formula to see if there was a logic problem causing it, but I'm not seeing a circumstance where the formula should return blank. I'll have to watch it more to give you more specific info.

Considering that bid/ask is a new function in EFS and may not be real evolved yet, is any of this fixable?

[eSignal_JasonK]

Hello Lancer,

1. Correction made.

2. You have the correct understanding of how theses functions work. The formula only executes with a trade. EFS does not execute if the bid/ask changes when no trade occurred.

3. I haven't seen this occur yet. The only thing I could think of was that the function returned null for some reason, which would erase the label essentially. I added some null checks to prevent this scenario. Let me know if you see the bid or ask disappear again.

BidAsk2.efs

[Lancer]

Thanks for the update Jason. Tried it out, but it's just not working right. It favors green, and doesn't hold red when either the bid or the ask is on a downtick. The bid will tick down, with trades going off at the bid, but the circle remains green or changes from red to green immediately. I don't know. I checked it with the eSignal T&S, and I checked it with RealTick, and the formula just isn't properly representing the status of the bid and ask direction, even with trades going off at the new bid/ask price. Maybe it just isn't possible. It would be nice though. Anyway, that's how it tests out.

[eSignal_JasonK]

Hi Lancer,

I understand what the problem is. Here's a summary of the new logic.

if bid > previous bid then green
if bid < previous bid then red

if ask > previous ask then green
if ask < previous ask then red

If the bid/ask is equal to the previous bid/ask there will be not color change. Whatever the last color change was will remain. This should fix your problem. Try the new version out and let me know.

BidAsk2.efs

[Bob A.]

B/A on seconds charts

Hi Jason,

Really interested in this: BidAsk2.efs optimized for eminis in particular. I've begged to be admitted to the JASONK file share Group but I'm still "pending". I promise to behave. Please let me in.

Thanks,
Bob A.

[fabrizio]

Help

Bid & Ask2 efs works perfectly weel on dax
when I try to put it on ES #F, D or lower TF i got this warn:
BidAsk\BidAdsk2.efs, line 40: Parametere Number 5 offunction drawShapeRelative is invalid.

What's the meaning?

Tks a lot