1)   Introduction

Welcome to X_DEV - Extreme Deviation Automatic Price Targeting System.  X_DEV is a new and unique trading system whose primary goal is to help you find and react to the best trading opportunities in the life of a stock's trend. X_DEV is designed to help you profit by taking advantage of extreme moves in price.   It is for those that feel that investing for the long term is best achieved through a series of shorter term trades. 

X_DEV will target and recommend the next best buying and selling prices based on the amount of your initial investment and trading set up.  X_DEV's money management feature advises you to purchase or sell in partial amounts for optimum safety and performance, so that over time your return relative to a "buy & hold" method is greatly enhanced.

X_DEV's primary function is to help the user make better decisions regarding their investments.  It is not meant to be used as a substitute for decision making. 

2)   Getting Started

Step 1 - Input the Symbol and Start Date and End Date in ths boxes provided (see example below) and then input the total amount you will be committing to the investment in the Cash Reserved box, and the commission cost per transaction that your current broker charges in the Commission box.  The % amount in the Initial Buy box is how much of the "Cash Reserved" that will be allocated towards your first buy.  The rest of the cash will stay in the  cash reserve.  X_DEV recommends using either 50%, 66%, or 75% of the total investment towards the first buy.  Remember, X_DEV's goal is to provide a measure of safety by investing in partial amounts rather than an "all-in" and "all-out" methodology which can be much riskier.

Step 2 - When inputting the dates in the Trading Set Up section  X_DEV recommends at least a  4 to 5 month historical time frame, or enough time to generate at least 2 or 3 buys at different times and 2 or 3 sells at different times. (example below)

Step 3 - Input the Upper Band Offset and Lower Band Offset numbers.  You will see the bands moving on the chart each time you change the number. The idea is to space the bands until they capture the right amount of buy and sell signals.  The "right amount" will be the number of signals that yields the highest possible return as indicated in the Profit/Loss box in the Portfolio Summary section.   X_DEV recommends starting at the 1 for the Upper Band (%) and -1 for the Lower Band (%) and then adjusting higher or lower in 1% increments. Keep adjusting until you've maximized the return and can't get it any higher.  Note:  Sometimes,  a properly optimized X_DEV chart will have both positive or both negative Band (%) numbers. See the following link for more tips on this procedure: (http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=398763)

Step 4 - Input the amount of shares you are comfortable trading in the Min Buy Shares, and Min Sell Shares boxes.  Keep in mind the commission structure you currently have, but also keep in mind balancing these numbers with your style of trade.  For example, lower numbers may initiate more signals which is fine for an active trader.  If you like to trade only a few trades per year, a higher number in these boxes will be more accommodative.  However, changes to these numbers will also effect your return in the Profit/Loss box. 

Step 5 - Input the Buy Multiple and the Sell Multiple.  X_DEV recommends starting at 1 or 2 for these boxes and then raising or lowering the number in increments of 1.  Small changes here can dramatically effect performance.  Higher numbers will sell your shares quicker or deplete your cash reserve quicker, so it's important to balance these numbers with the current trend of the stock. 

Hint:  If the stock's chart is showing a downtrend the Sell Multiple should be larger than the Buy Multiple.  Vice versa in an uptrend.  

The flexibility of this feature as well as the other parameters you set will determine your degree of success going forward.  X_DEV can determine the optimal parameters for a historic time frame and will keep you near to optimal conditions going forward,  but each individual should still use there own judgment and set the parameters to meet their own trading style in the time frame of their choice, and then monitor their settings on a regular basis.  

Initial Amount - The total amount of the investment that will be used.

Commission - The amount your broker charges per transaction.  (1 buy or 1 sell) 

Initial Purchase % - The percentage of the Initial Amount that will be used for the first purchase. The balance of the Initial Amount will go into a cash reserve.

Symbol - Any listed stock symbol can be used including OTC bb's and many mutual funds.  Some mutual funds have data reporting problems however, so the charts on those funds will be inaccurate and unusable.  Comment: X_DEV charts of mutual funds will be different from regular stock charts due to the fact that only closing prices are available on them.  

Start Date -  The beginning date of the backtested study.  

End Date - The ending date of the backtested study.

Buy/Sell Deviation Multiples - The X_DEV program automatically calculates a buy or sell deviation %, which is multiplied by the total portfolio value to come up with a buy or sell dollar ($) amount. The Buy/Sell Deviation Multiple number multiplies the buy or sell deviation % resulting in bigger buys or sells.   

Minimum Buy/Sell Shares - The minimum amount of shares you allow the X_DEV system to generate a buy or sell signal. 
  

4)   Using X_DEV

After you have selected a stock and adjusted the parameters to optimize the historical backtested study, save your settings using the File/Save As  feature.  X_DEV will save your file as an .xdv file. 

Your optimized settings will enable X_DEV to give you the next best buy and sell targets. 

X_DEV recommends waiting for price to reach the Next Buy price when first initiating your investment.   Then purchase the stock using 66% of your total committed funds to the investment.  Put the remaining cash in a cash reserve fund.  After your initial investment, continue to monitor your X_DEV chart daily for the next buy or sell signal.  The daily price data will update overnight, so you should check your chart in the morning before the market opens.  Then just set a regular (not a GTC) limit order at the price and shares that X_DEV recommends and that's it,  you're done!  After your initial purchase and after any buy or sell, X_DEV recommends you do not change your settings for at least 3 weeks.   The only time X_DEV recommends  a settings change is if a noticeable trend reversal has occurred in either the major market's (Dow, S&P, Nasdaq), or in your individual stock..  If you feel uncomfortable determining if a major trend reversal has occurred, then periodically perform the optimization procedure on a regular basis.  X_DEV recommends a minimum period of every 3 weeks between optimizations.  This will assure you that your stock is getting the most accurate signals available from X_DEV in your time frame. 

After you have completed your optimization procedure and are happy with the band settings and trading set up parameters you can now begin your X_DEV investment.  Visit here: Starting an X_DEV Investment for instructions.

4)   Portfolio Summary

Stock Value - The current value of your stock holding and the percentage of your overall stock holding to your total investment.

Cash - The amount of cash available in your cash reserve, and the percentage of cash to your total investment.

Portfolio Value - The current portfolio value.

Profit/Loss - The current % return generated utilizing the X_DEV system.

Buy&Hold Profit/Loss - The comparison Buy and Hold % figure is calculated from the first buy signal generated by X_DEV in the time frame you have chosen.  Note:  if you change your settings you may change the first buy signal on your chart.  If the first buy signal is changed, the Buy&Hold Profit/Loss amount will also change.

Price - The daily price close on the End Date you have chosen. Note: The daily price data is not updated until after midnight eastern standard time, so today's price close will not be displayed until tomorrow.

Shares - The current amount of shares being held in the account.