UA FAQ

Question: I am getting “Your option history delivery request starts before your allowed account date: 20090801.” What should I do?
Answer: This message appears when you request a delivery months that start before your purchased history. To get rid of the message you can either delete the contract from your portfolio or edit the start date of the contract.

Question: I’m trying to download data and it won’t let me. It displays a message at the bottom of the Internet Download window “Release not ready, retrying every minute”. What can I do to get my data?
Answer: Apparently the automated Release Schedule Distribution changed and Unfair Advantage will wait, until the available data download is ready.
Please launch Unfair Advantage by double clicking the ‘Launch UA’ icon on your Windows Desktop, navigate to ‘DATABASE’ along the top, and choose Schedule Download/Distribution. Change the box to the left of the ‘Run’ button to ‘Download Now’. Click the ‘Download Data’ button to update the data.

Question: After running a data download/update last night, I noticed that I don’t have data for 6/22/2010 and 6/23/2010. What should I do?
Answer:  Force Unfair Advantage to redownload the distribution files for the missing date(s). Note: The missing date shouldn’t be older than 6 weeks.

01. Double click ‘Launch UA’ on your Windows Desktop,
02. select PREFERENCES from the main menu,
03. click DOWNLOAD PREFERENCES on the left hand side,
04. change the ‘General Collection Date’ to 20100622 ,
05. click the OK button and do a daily download.

Question: How can I set up a portfolio in Unfair Advantage?
Answer: To set up a portfolio follow the easy steps below.

01. Click the “Portfolio” menu at the top of your UA screen, and choose “Create new Portfolio”.

02. A “Edit Portfolio” screen will appear.

The first thing you’ll do is name your new portfolio. Simply type a description or whatever nomenclature you prefer into the “Name” text box. (We used
“Portfolio” in the example above). The default location is a directory whose name matches the portfolio name within the C:\UA\Files subdirectory.

03. The Selecting Data Series screen appears (in this example we used Symbol C2, Nth Nearest, CSI File Format).
Of special interest will be the available Contract Selection tabs. (Futures, IFG, Nth Nearest, Back-Adjusted, Gann, Cash, Option)
You could also click the “Markets” button (near the Symbols field) to display a list for market selection.

04. Accept to build the hard disk files.

You’ll find the created/exported files within the \UA\Files\<named portfolio>\.

05. You should be able to see your created portfolio, and also the created contract.
At the bottom of your UA chart is a pair of tabs offering “Chart” and “Table”.
The default presentation is of a chart, but you can easily view a numerical table of the data on your screen by clicking the “Table” tab.

06. To add more symbols to an existing portfolio first open the “Select Portfolio” drop down menu and choose the portfolio.
Click “Add File to Portfolio” in the Portfolio Manager panel, or click the “Add Market” button on the UA toolbar to get to the Selecting Data Series screen.

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Question: How long does it take to download every market and distribute to my complete data base?
Answer: It takes two to four minutes to download over 4,000 futures contracts and 27,000 stocks per day. It takes an additional minute or two per day to distribute the data.

Question: How can I get the Fast Studies?
Answer: In order to get the fast studies you need to get our latest Unfair Advantage version. Click here to download the latest version.

Question: Why does the Back Adjusted contract skip one (or more) contract month?
Answer: In some cases the Back Adjuster can’t consider one (or more) individual contracts because of the low contract weight.

Example: The Back Adjuster (Roll Trigger: Open Interest) can’t take the September contract in consideration, because the September’s Open Interest is lower than December’s Open Interest.

The OI value in in the July contract on 20090605 is 336605, the OI value in the September contract is 169410, and the OI value in the December contract is 336693. The switch happened on 20090605.

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Question: Why is historical data stored on the user’s own hard drive after delivery on CD?
Answer: Competitive CD ROMs cannot be updated, requiring that you store new updates on your hard drive and purchase new history CDs quarterly or semi-annually. This is not the case with Unfair Advantage. Our software squeezes a copy of the ENTIRE commodity, stock, and/or option database on your hard drive, updating and correcting errors daily using minimal space. This compression allows the 50-year futures database to reside in about 30 Mb of hard disk space.

Question: What will happen if I don’t update my files for a while?
Question: I get a message ‘Only two month of update are kept on the CSI servers’. What should I do?
Answer: When you begin accessing again, Unfair Advantage will automatically pick up all the days you missed for up to eight weeks in the recent past. This product requires that all users maintain their files in intervals of eight weeks or less. If you ignore this requirement, you will need to reinstall Unfair Advantage.
To reinstall the software click here and check the Reinstall section.
Please note that since this is a licensing agreement, data will not be accessible with Unfair Advantage if you discontinue daily updates for more than the eight-week reserve period. For best results, we recommend daily updates

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Question: Is there another way to get my data?
Question: What can I do if I can’t get my data through the firewall?
Answer: There is another download method to get the data, also you may try to troubleshoot the issue.

A new Firewall/Anti-Virus software, or a Windows Security Update could block Unfair Advantage from getting its updates.
If you are not able to configure your Firewall/Anti-Virus to work with Unfair Advantage, there is another way of getting the data.

01. Click “Launch UA” on your desktop and select “Preferences” from the main menu.

02. Select “Download Preferences” from the menu, and choose “Browser” from the Download Method drop down menu. Click the “OK” button.

03. Start a daily distribution by clicking the icon “Download Data”.

04. Click the “OK” button.

05. Click the “Save” button.

06. Choose the Unfair Advantage folder (default C:\ua). Click the “Save” button.

07. After the download is complete return to the Unfair Advantage program and click the “OK” button.

08. You should see Unfair Advantage updating the data.

Troubleshoot the download issue

– Disable the Firewall/Anti-Virus software and try a data distribution. Configure the the Security Suite to by adding Unfair Advantage to the permitted/trusted programs.
In some cases it is not possible to deactivate the Anti-Virus/Firewall application, because the protections still applies.

– A slow wireless connection could also cause an unsuccessful download, or drop of the download.
Extend your wireless range, or move your Access Point closer to your PC.

– Disable the Windows Firewall. (Start | Control Panel | Security Center)

– A new Windows Security Update may also cause a download issue. (Disable the Windows Firewall).

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Question: How can I create a historical spread chart?
Answer: To build a historical spread chart follow the easy steps below.

01. Go to your Desktop and double click the icon “Launch UA”.

02. Select “Portfolio” from the main menu bar. Select “Create New Portfolio” from the “Portfolio” menu.

03. Type in a name for your portfolio (i.e. Spread) and click the “OK” button.

04. Choose your symbols (i.e C2 for Corn combined session, and W2 for Wheat combined session).
Select the tab “Back Adjusting” or “Nth Nearest” (i.e. Back Adjusting) and choose your settings. Click the “OK” button.

05. Click the “Yes” button to create the hard disk files.

06. Open each symbol as a chart.

07. Select “Chart” from the main menu. Select “Overlay Data Chart” from the “Chart” menu.

08. Select “Chart” from the main menu again. Select “Study Toolbar” from the “Chart” menu.
Click the “Add Study” button in the Study Toolbar window.

09. Select “Spread” from the drop down menu and click the “OK” button.

10. Drag the study over to the chart.

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Question: How do I find my user ID and user number in Unfair Advantage?
Question: How can I unlock my Unfair Advantage software?

Answer: There are two ways of finding/inserting the Unfair Advantage User ID and User Number.

01. Click the icon “UA EzDownloader” on your desktop.
If you do not have the icon on your desktop click the “Start” button, navigate to “(All)” “Programs”, choose the “CSI Unfair Advantage” folder and
click “UA EzDownloader”
Insert your permanent User ID and Number, and tick the “Download Now” button to unlock the software.

02. Click the icon “Launch UA” on your desktop.
If you do not have the icon on your desktop click the “Start” button, navigate to (ALL) Programs,  choose the “CSI Unfair Advantage folder” and
click Launch UA.
Navigate to “Preferences” along the top, select “Account” from the list, insert your permanent User ID and Number, and tick the “OK” button.
Click the “Download Data” button to unlock the software.

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Question: How do I apply a study to a chart?
Answer: To apply a study to a chart follow the easy steps.

01. Double click “LAUNCH UA” on your desktop.

02. Create a portfolio, by selecting “Portfolio” and “Create New Portfolio”. Enter a new for the portfolio and click the “OK” button.

03. Choose a symbol from the portfolio, and click the chart button. Navigate to the Library section, and open the drop down list. Select a study.

04. Apply your settings. Click the “Apply” button to apply your settings. Click the “OK” button to close the window.

05. You should see the chart with the applied study.

06. To clear the study click the “x” button in the upper left hand corner of the chart.
To edit the study click the “e” button in the upper left hand corner of the chart.

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Question: How to move a portfolio from one version to another?
Answer: To move a portfolio follow the easy steps below.

01. Navigate to the “Start” button and select “My Computer” (Windows XP) or “Computer” (Windows Vista/7).

02. Select the drive where you installed Unfair Advantage.

03. Navigate to the folder \ua\archives.

04. Backup the file “Portfile.adm” to your desktop.
You could also make a backup of the files portfile.b1 …, portfile.d1 …, portfile.m1 …
These files are backup files which Unfaire Advantage creates.
(Right click the mouse button, and select “Copy” | go to your desktop | right click the mouse button again, and select “Paste”)

05. Uninstall your current Unfair Advantage version via Control Panel.
(Start | Control Panel | Add or Remove Programs (Windows XP) or Program Features (Windows Vista/7)

06. Delete the \ua folder manually.

07. Install the new version of Unfair Advantage.

08. Do a daily download.

09. Copy the file “Portfile.adm” back to the folder \ua\archives.

Question: How to restore a portfolio from a backup file?
Answer: To restore a portfolio follow the easy steps below.

Steps if are able to launch Unfair Advantage:

01. Double click the Launch UA icon on your desktop.

02. Click “Portfolio” along the top.

03. Select “Overwrite Portfolio with Backup Copy”.

04. Choose the most recent date with the biggest file size, and click the “OK” button.

Steps if are NOT able to launch Unfair Advantage:

01. Navigate to the START button and select “My Computer” (Windows XP) or “Computer” (Windows Vista/7).

02. Select the drive where you installed Unfair Advantage.

03. Navigate to the folder \ua\archives.

04. Click the “Views” icon in the Windows Explorer and choose “Details”.
Navigate to the “Size” column and click it until you get the highest to the lowest file size.
Look for the “Portfile.adm” file.
Choose a backup file (i.e portfile.r1 …, portfile.b1 …, portfile.d1 …, portfile.m1 …) which compares to the size of the “Portfile.adm” file.

05. Delete the “Portfile.adm” file and rename the backup file (i.e portfile.r1) to “Portfile.adm”.

06. Go back to your desktop and double click Launch UA.

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Question: How to invert a unit?
Answer: To invert a symbol follow the easy steps below

01. Add a symbol to your portfolio, or edit the existing symbol in the portfolio.

02. To edit the existing symbol in the portfolio (in this case symbol QF1spot), right click the file and select “Edit File Settings”.

03. Click the “Advanced” button, and check the “Invert” box.

Hit the “OK” button to save the changes and return to your portfolio overview.

04. You’ll get the inverted data.

(In this case we used SEK/USD and inverted to USD/SEK)

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Question: What does each contract acronym stand for?
Answer: Find each tab explained below.

Back Adjusted tab

SYMBOL

• “AD” stands for symbol AD = Australian Dollar (limit of 3 characters).
•  “_” is a place holder (fills the third character of the symbol).

ROLL TIMING

• “_” stands for “Aligned with Price Data (Close to Open)”.
• “@” stands for “When Known (Close to Open)”.
• “%” stands for “When Lagged 2 Days (Close to Open)”.

ROLL TRIGGER

• “0” changes only if you choose “Date” than:
• “5” stands for “Month Prior”.
• “10” stands for “Days from Start of Month”.
• choose “Days from End of Month” will add a “4” between “Month Prior” and “Days From End of Month” (i.e. 5410).

• “I” stands for “Open Interest”.
• “V” stands for “Volume”.
• “&” stands for “Open Interest and Volume”.
• “E” stands for “Open Interest or Volume”.

REPRESENTATIVE PRICES

• “0” stands for “Close Old Contract, Close New Contract”.
• “1” stands for “Open Old Contract, Open New Contract”.
• “2” stands for “Close Old Contract, Open New Contract”.
• “3” stands for “Close-Open with Old Gap Reintroduce”.
• “4” stands for “Close-Open with New Gap Reintroduce”.

ACCUMULATION METHOD

• “B” stands for “Back Adjusted”.
• “F” stands for “Forward Adjusted”.

ROLL BY DAYS BEFORE EXPIRATION

• Check of the box will not appear in the Symbol Description.

GENERATE FORWARD

• Check of the box will gray out ROLL TRIGGER “Volume” and “Open Interest Or Volume”, but will not appear in the Symbol Description.

Futures tab

SYMBOL

• “AD” stands for symbol AD = Australian Dollar (limit of 3 characters).
• “_” is a place holder (fills the third character of the symbol).

PERIOD

• “2010” stands for the year.
• “F” – January
• “G” – February
• “H” – March
• “J” – April
• “K” – May
• “M” – June
• “N” – July
• “Q” – August
• “U” – September
• “V” – October
• “X” – November
• “Z” – December

Nth Nearest tab

SYMBOL

• “AD” stands for symbol AD = Australian Dollar (limit of 3 characters).
• “_” is a place holder (fills the third character of the symbol).

ROLL TIMING

• “_” stands for “Aligned with Price Data (Close to Open)”.
• “@” stands for “When Known (Close to Open)”.
• “%” stands for “When Lagged 2 Days (Close to Open)”.

ROLL TRIGGER

• “0” changes only if you choose “Date” than:
• “05” stands for “Month Prior”,
• “A” stands for “Days from Start of Month” –> (B=11, C=12, D=13, E=14, F=15),

• “I” stands for “Open Interest”.
• “V” stands for “Volume”.
•  “&” stands for “Open Interest and Volume”.
• “E” stands for “Open Interest or Volume”.

HOW MANY CONTRACTS OUT

• “8” stands for 8 conracts out.

CONFIRMATION SIGNALS

• Any changes will not appear in the Symbol Description.

Perpetual tab

SYMBOL

• “AD” stands for symbol AD = Australian Dollar (limit of 3 characters).
• “_” is a place holder (fills the third character of the symbol).
• “P” stands for Perpetual.

WEIGHTING

• “0” stands for “Time”.
• “_OI0” stands for “Open Interest”.

DATE

• “5” stands for “5 Month Prior”.
• “20” stands for “20 Day From Start Of Month”.

MONTH FORWARD TO VIEW MARKETS

• “3” stands for Month to Forward

Gann tab

SYMBOL

• “AD” stands for symbol AD = Australian Dollar (limit of 3 characters).
• “_” is a place holder (fills the third character of the symbol).
• “G” stands for Perpetual.

DATE

• “3” stands for “5 Month Prior”.
• “15” stands for “20 Day From Start Of Month”.

PERIOD

• “F” – January
• “G” – February
• “H” – March
• “J” – April
• “K” – May
• “M” – June
• “N” – July
• “Q” – August
• “U” – September
• “V” – October
• “X” – November
• “Z” – December

Cash tab

SYMBOL

• “AD” – stands for symbol AD = Australian Dollar (limit of 3 characters).
• “_” – is a place holder (fills the third character of the symbol).
• “_54” – stands for the Cash contract.

Option tab

FUTURES

• “AD” – stands for symbol AD = Australian Dollar (limit of 3 characters).
• “_” – is a place holder (fills the third character of the symbol).
• “2010”- is year of the contract.
• “03” – is month of the contract.
• “C” – stands for Call.
• “00”- is a place holder.
• “9100” – is the contract number.
• “_PC” – check box “ALSO PUT/CALL TOTALS.
• “_OI” – check box “INCLUDE CSI OPTION INDEX”.

CSI Technical Support Info
Back Adjuster (Fortran) and symbol NG issue

Issue:
– download stops on the symbol NG or NG2
– error message: unable to create intermediate file C:\ua\INPUT
– computer locks up, UA not responding

Versions affected:
– all Unfair Advantage versions (fix only for v2.7.6 – v2.9.3 and v2.10.6 – v2.10.7)

Solution:
– upgrade to the latest build for UA v2.9.3 or v2.10.6. Verify your UA version before upgrading:
click Launch UA | select “Help” | choose  “About Unfair Advantage”.

• download latest build for UA v2.10.6 – v2.10.7.
• download latest build for UA v2.7.6 – v2.9.3.

– workaround in older versions: switch over to the C++ Back Adjuster.