For instance, the formula for Beta, which measures a stock's volatility relative to an index (like the S&P 500), is as follows. A value greater than one indicates the stock is more volatile than the market.
For many traders, is the most valuable tool in the MetaStock arsenal. This is where the formula language truly shines, allowing you to screen the entire market universe to find "needles in the haystack"—the high-potential setups that match your trading rules.
The latest versions, including , have introduced performance enhancements and refinements that allow for more complex calculations without slowing down your charts.
Volatility Filter Vol_Check := ATR(14) > Ref(ATR(14), -5); metastock formulas new
To create effective , you must master these essential functions:
For those looking for even more advanced structured programming, third-party extensions like offer a significant enhancement. Vitamin-C is a development environment that augments the MetaStock Formula Language, introducing support for loops ( for , while , do-while ), conditional breaks, switch-case statements, and complex object-oriented structures. With Vitamin-C, you can perform calculations on price and volume data that are simply not possible with standard MSFL alone, and then use those custom functions within your indicators and system tests.
Alert = RSI(CLOSE, 14) < 30
Name: Adaptive Dual-Zone Momentum Index Price := Cl; Length := 14; VolRatio := ATR(10) / Mov(ATR(10), 50, S); DynamicLen := Max(5, Min(30, Int(Length / VolRatio))); RawMom := Price - Ref(Price, -DynamicLen); SmoothMom := Mov(RawMom, 9, E); SmoothMom; Use code with caution. Breakdown of the Logic
Use ... to comment on your formula logic. It helps when debugging complex scripts.
Furthermore, you can pass functions directly into other functions—a practice known as . For example, taking a Moving Average of a Relative Strength Index is written as: Custom Formula Collection - MetaStock For instance, the formula for Beta, which measures
Essential for defining breakout levels, especially when combined with dynamic periods.
Name: VWAP Dev Bands TypicalPrice:= (H + L + C) / 3; CumVolume:= Cum(V); VWAPCore:= Cum(TypicalPrice * V) / CumVolume; StandardDev:= Std(TypicalPrice, 20); UpperBand:= VWAPCore + (2 * StandardDev); LowerBand:= VWAPCore - (2 * StandardDev); VWAPCore; UpperBand; LowerBand; Use code with caution. Modern Exploration Filters for MetaStock Explorer
Intraday traders rely heavily on VWAP. This formula establishes custom boundaries surrounding a core transaction-weighted price anchor. This is where the formula language truly shines,
3. Normalized Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) Deviation Band
Users can now drag and drop existing formula plots directly into the formula window to instantly incorporate formulas within formulas, such as fml() or extfml() functions. 2. Developing "New" Formulas: Core Concepts