FFcal - Plot News indicator

Attached is a ZIP containing the full FF calendar of news events dated between Jan 1,2007 and July 3,2009, in CSV format, with all events time-stamped with New York date/time. News events for 2006 are no longer available from FF calendar. The CSV file contains all 9,711 entries in FF calendar up to July 3, 2009.

Hi Hanover,

Thanks for this great indi. Really love it .... works like a charm.

Just a quick questions ... sorry if I missed this points somewhere in this thread.

Currently I've installed this indicator in 1 MT4. If I want to install it to another MT4 ( in the same pc ), what step should I follow ? Do I need to run again the FFcstart.bat ... and specify another location ? Are there any conflict if installed in more than 1 MT4 ?

AFX

Plot_News is not really designed to run on multiple MT4s. However, it can be done:

1. Copies of the Plot_News.MQ4 indicator (and any other .MQ4s that you wish to use) would need to reside in every ......<MT4 installation folder name>/experts/indicators/ folder.

2. If the MT4 brokers operate in different time zones, then you'll need to have multiple versions of the FFcal.EXE software, and all associated files, installed (unzipped into) in different folders, and you'll need to run each application separately. That's because (i) the news event date/times stored in the Event History database will be different, and FFcal.EXE expects to find the database (CALENDAR.* files) in the same folder as itself; and (ii) the time offset parameters (AREAS #2 in screenshot) in FFcal.EXE will need to be different for each broker.

If the MT4 brokers all share the same time zone, you can get away with one copy of FFcal.EXE and the Event History database, if you wish. However, you'll need to set the output file name (see AREA #1 in screenshot) to the correct path, to output data to the correct News.CSV file, each time you want the news plots in that broker's MT4 charts to be updated. Perhaps the simplest way to do this is to create different profiles (see AREA #3 in screenshot). When you have all the parameters set as desired, enter a suitable name and click SAVE to save them. Do the same for each MT4 version. Then to recall a parameter set, enter the relevant name and click the LOAD button.

Hi Hanover,

Thanks for the detail explainations. I'll try it today.

TQVM

Apparently FF calendar now has news items for currency type CNY (which I assume is China). This is causing significant problems for Plot_News, including the splattering of these events as 'raw text' on the MT4 charts.

I will eventually implement a fix that will cause CNY items in the calendar to be excluded from the download. In the meantime, press F9 in FFcal.EXE and delete all events with currency CNY. You will need to do this every time you run the "F5" download process. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I can't possibly anticipate all of the modifications that the FF admins/developers will implement in the future.

Dear hanover,

Indeed, FF calendar changed, but I think FFcal.EXE should set a Wingding code (e.g. 149) not only for CNY, but also for all undefined currencies.

Moreover, Plot_News.mq4 has problems too.The present version FFcal.EXE sets 0 for undefined currencies, so Plot_News.mq4 converts the data not to Arrow objects but to Text objects, and function delete_objects() does not delete these Text objects.

I temporarily insert 1 line in the Plot_News.mq4 function read_data() like this.

if (eWingding[eCount] == 0) eWingding[eCount] = 149;

I know this is not the best solution, only temporary and convenient one.

Thanks,

Micky

Micky, many thanks for posting. Your edit to Plot_News.MQ4 is a much better interim solution than mine. I've included it in the attached file below. This version should also correctly remove any CNY events from the chart, when the indicator is removed.

However, I've also attached a ZIP with a new version (1.36) of FFcal.EXE, for anybody who wants to have the CNY events excluded completely from the download.

In other words, users can choose between downloading one file, or the other.

I agree that FFcal.EXE should ideally assign a value for 'undefined' currencies, but there would be a lot of work implementing this. All of the filters, exports, and other facilities (Effect Analysis reporting etc) would also need to be modified. Also, the conversion of non-economic to low impact events ideally needs to be properly sorted out. Currently I don't have time to do all of this.

Hanover, if we want to remove CNY objects correctly, we need to change one more line in the Plot_News.MQ4 function delete_objects() like this.

// && StringFind(" ALL USD CAD EUR GBP CHF JPY AUD NZD",StringSubstr(objname,5,4)) > 0
&& StringFind(" ALL USD CAD EUR GBP CHF JPY AUD NZD CNY",StringSubstr(objname,5,4)) > 0

Version 1.37 can be downloaded from post #1. See instructions there also.

This version allows the downloading, filtering, plotting and exporting of news events pertaining to 'other' (i.e. non USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, CHF, JPY, AUD, NZD) currencies. This is now necessary because Chinese CNY events are henceforth being included in FF calendar.

These 'other' events will be downloaded into the Events History database just like all other events. However, you can filter them out of plots and exports by entering a zero in field #1 (see screenshot below). You can also change the default Winding character 148 (which causes a numbered circle "9" to be plotted on MT4 charts) to whatever Wingding character you wish. Simply type its number into field #1. Click the "W" button to see a Wingdings map.

NCI implications:
CNY events will be output to NCI files as a matter of course. You can have the NCI plots ignore them by entering a 0 in their NCI value.

Usual disclaimers apply: download and use this software at your own risk.

Already fixed in the version I provided in post #630, and also in v 1.37.

But thanks for pointing it out.

Hi David,

I made a few changes to Plot_News.mq4 which is attached.
("P4L Plot_News.mq4" is based on v1.37)

It would be my preference that if you agree with the changes
that you just rename it and provide it as your official
Plot_News.mq4 file, but that is up to you...

Because you run FFcal.exe daily, and so many times, you would
not really benefit from the "RemindToRunFFcal = True" setting,
but for folks like me who run it once or twice per week, that feature
is very handy and works great as a weekly reminder.

I had put in some code before that ensures that an entire line of the
database is read, and while you already fixed the major problem for
which I wrote that section, it doesn't hurt to keep it in there just in case
a glitch occurs. No biggie...

I put in variable "Display_CNY_OTHERS = True" to show the CNY
events and others, but of course to see them, a person must change the
default when running FFcal.exe, and enter "148" (instead of "0").

I replaced "Point" with a custom routine of mine, "getPoint(true)" which
automatically detects 5-digit brokers which should keep the arrows
spaced consistently regardless of broker digits.


Thanks for providing this great tool David!
Kent

Thanks, Kent.

Re the vertical spacing ("Point"), it could be adjusted with something like

if (Digits==3 || Digits==5) VertSpacing *= 10;

which should be broker independent. I'm not sure what a 'pip' represents when it comes to the exotic pairs and metals, though.

Let me know if you want to modify your code to something along those lines. I'll await your reply before I include your MQ4/EX4 files in post #1's ZIP.

David

David, while I'm thinking about it...

Does FFcal.exe read the actual FF calendar page, or is there some other page that you parse to get the data? The details don't actually matter to me, but what I'm wondering is do you have access to whether the "Actual" or "Revised" data are currency-positive (green), or currency-negative (red), or neutral?

Of course we have the actual numbers, but it's very hard to keep straight in one's mind whether a result is fundamentally positive or negative for a currency. I like how the FF Calendar page shows the green/red colors and am wondering if you have access to the same interpretation on their page? I'm NOT asking you to figure out red/green by comparing the actual numbers because that is way too complex and tedious to keep track of... but since FF is already doing that, maybe you can access that same info.

On the FF Calendar page, the HTML page source shows a tag like:
span class="better"
span clase="worse"

If you are reading THIS page, then perhaps you can parse for those tags. If instead you are accessing a much more limited database page (which I know is in HTML since you are parsing away some of those weird characters) then perhaps you could get the same information (red/green) from it. If FF does not presently indicate the positive/negative interpretation in the file you are parsing, perhaps you could ask FF to enhance the file to get that information.

In terms of value, what does it provide and how would it be indicated on a chart?

Today, the news results are displayed on the arrow as:
A: 10 | F: 9 | P: 8 | R:7

Supposing that bigger is better for these numbers, so a new way to annotate the information with a suffix "+" or "-" could be like:
A+: 10 | F: 9 | P: 8 | R-: 7

We know instantly that the Actual was currency-positive but the Revised was currency-negative.

In addition to having the arrow text change, one could also implement a more readily visual indication. There are many possibilities:

Display the past arrow on top if "A-" (meaning it SHOULD have been negative and made a top), or display the arrow on the bottom if "A+".

Change the color of the arrow. For presently high impact Red arrows, use a lighter red color if positive, and darker red color if negative. Use a similar color strategy for Medium and Low arrows.

Change arrow codes where present codes are neutral but have a new code for positive and yet another for negative. (This of course requires there to be enough suitable arrow codes that have obvious visual differences but still show a number to indicate USD, EUR, etc.).

Change the arrow size. Bigger is positive, smaller is negative.

These details could be worked out later but you get the point.


I just happen to think that it would be really helpful to be able to look at a chart with past news events and with a mere glance on the chart, know whether the news event came out supposedly currency positive or currency negative.

Thanks for thinking about this idea... comments welcome.

Kent

Hi David,

I considered exactly this approach before but there were always exceptions and so I wrote the custom getPoint routine to more universally handle any currency, exotic pair, metal, index, etc. I'm not saying I've tested it completely and it works for everything but it does seem to work more universally than just looking for "3" or "5" digits. For Plot_News, however, it may not need a "universal" solution as much as some other tools for which I wrote getPoint. You're welcome to use either method but mine does appear to work on several brokers feeds which I tested just now. (Broco, IKON, MBT).

Kent

Kent, thanks again, this is a very interesting idea.

If you look in the folder where FFcal.EXE resides, you'll find a file called ffcalout (no extension). That is the HTML that WGET.EXE grabs direct from FF calendar's URL, and subsequently gets parsed. It appears to contain the data in its rawest possible form, and includes the
span class="better"
span clase="worse"
tokens that you describe.

Hence I could potentially scan for this text string. All I'd need to do is determine whether it applies to the Actual or the Revised From value (not too difficult). However, I would need to change the structure of my database to add these extra fields - not a difficult job, but a fair amount of work involved, changing every form that references the database (including NCI).

Then we come to your next point: how to represent it on the chart. Supposing we were to use different colors or symbols. If the Actual was better than expected (green), but the Revised from worse (red), for example, then what would we do? We'd need several different colors or symbols to represent every possible eventuality. Even if we prioritized (e.g. Actual overrides Revised From), that would still mean using additional colors or symbols, and hence changing the already cluttered 'F5 screen' to allow an extra set of symbols or colors to be user-customized. I like the simplicity of the existing red/orange/yellow system, esp as it matches the FF calendar colors. There is an alternate set of numbered circles among the Wingding symbols(codes 128 thru 138) - that could be a way to do it. See here for the full Wingdings table.

Personally, I don't like the idea of putting addtional arrows/symbols on the chart - too much clutter.

However, your idea of using something like
A+: 10 | F: 9 | P: 8 | R-: 7
is perhaps the least confusing, and least obtrusive. But obviously it's not going to stand out like different symbols/colors would.

The fact that I could obtain the better/worse flag from the HTML also has beneficial implications for the way in which the NCI values are auto-calculated.

I will give all of this further thought.

Thanks,
David
__________________________

[EDIT]
Gave this some more thought while walking my dogs. I now think something like
A+: 10 | F: 9 | P: 8 | R-: 7
is the most viable option, at least as a starting point.

Given that there are actually 3 possible conditions (i.e. colored black, green, red on FF calendar) and two variables (Actual, Revised From), that makes 3x3=9 variations. Nine different colors or symbols is too complex, IMO, from both viewing and parameter maintenance standpoints. This option has the added bonus that the basic Plot_News.MQ4 would not need to be modified.

The
A+: 10 | F: 9 | P: 8 | R-: 7
would be immediately visible (i.e. no need to move the mouse over the help bubble) if Plot_News.MQ4's DisplayPrior/DisplayNext parameters are set to non-zero values.

With this framework in place, if anybody really wanted to change symbols/colors, or add additional symbols, another version of Plot_News.MQ4 could easily be created, to search for tokens like "A+:" or "R-:" in the description field, and modify the object output accordingly. Or it could be added as an option (parameter) to the existing version(s).

Anyway, it goes without saying that I'm still open to suggestions.

I'd like to retain my version of Plot_News.MQ4 for my own use, and also for support reasons. I'm perfectly happy for there to be two or more versions in post #1's ZIP file, just like there are several versions of other indys out there. Please confirm that you're ready for me to add it to the ZIP.

Hi David,

Regarding my version of "P4L Plot_News.mq4", you can provide it separately if you don't prefer the changes I made. It just occurred to me that I compare versions trivially and I wonder if you have a similar method.

I use the freeware ExamDiff (v1.8 or later). It is very simple to specify two ascii files and compare differences side-by-side. I use an option to ignore all white space differences, and I prefer to suppress matching lines but you have the choice. A simple Google search for "ExamDiff download" will find it in case you're interested. Perhaps if you saw the exact differences side-by-side it would make you more comfortable to adopt my version.


I'm glad you're considering the A+/A- idea and that you think it's doable. I think it would be valuable for analyzing historical data. And you're right that Plot_News would be the tool which could implement the various visual methods so it could be
enhanced any time in the future to fine tune the display.

There is no perfect display method here... on some events the Revised information is
released the same instant as the new "Actual" number, but for other events the
Revised information comes out well before. There is no way to know just by
looking at the numbers. However, if you do decide to extract the information
then it opens the door to further exploration and analysis.

Thanks again,
Kent

hi
Is there a way to automate the update ?
like a command line to send to ffcal to run and automatically update the calendar ?

thanks

Everybody asks this question! I guess this is because many people want to be able to link news analysis to an automated process like an EA.

Anyway, sorry, there is no automated facility to run FFcal.EXE
This is partly because an automated process repeatedly polling the FF calendar, being run simultaneously by a large number of users, would likely overload the Forex Factory servers.

Hi Hanover,

Thanks so much for the work on this indicator! I really appreciate it and don't know what I'd do without it!

Lately, there seems to be an issue I cannot figure out. There are now new CNY (Chinese Yuan events) posted on the calendar. Because of this I get text on my chart display on these events with no 'cue balls'. Is there a way to filter these things out?

Thanks again,
Steve

Sorry to repost a duplicate question from earlier...I missed it in the thread.

But - it was a great opportunity to say to say thanks to Hanover for this great indicator!

Steve