My book, Ask Mr. EasyLanguage (Traders Press), targets both the aspiring EasyLanguage programmer and those who will hire a programming consultant. Anyone can learn the syntax and components of a language, but to actually write complex code requires a certain type of thought process, "mind" if you will, that is not at all common. However, by becoming more familiar with the basics of the language you can save yourself time communicating with your consultant, and we all know that time equates to money.

With that said, Ask Mr. EasyLanguage breaks the language down into it's smallest components, then builds them back up into expressions and eventually to statements. It contains lists of keywords and built-in functions to act as an easy reference, kind of a "one stop shop" for EasyLanguage! The last two sections contain real world problems including actual questions I have fielded from my clients, a description of the solution and the coded example demonstrating the solution. The book is helpful as well as informative, and the reviews have proven this to be true!

Please allow me to mention that anyone who has purchased the book can receive the source code simply by sending me an email sktennis@vista-research.com with your contact information (name, address, phone and fax). If you recall how you heard of the book and where you purchased it, you could satisfy my curiosity as well!

Can you tell us a little bit about Vista-Research and why you started the company?

In May of 1994 I left Omega to join Patrick M. Raffalovich with the intention of starting not one, but two companies. Ambitious [overly?], I realize now. Vista Research and Trading was our consulting firm and brain trust, our one true love. More on that later.

TradeWind Publishing was a software publishing company, which we envisioned selling off after we got it well started, pretty much guaranteeing us a continuing income stream, as we would surely be needed to provide programming services to the new owner.

Well, to put it bluntly, we bit off more than we could chew. Our initial success in finding Names in the industry (Neal T. Weintraub, Tushar Chande, Chris Cadbury, Thomas R. DeMark, Greg Morris, Mark Douglas and a few others right off the bat!) willing to have their software made available to the lucrative Omega client base totally overshadowed our consulting business. The workload generated a level of stress that caused the flare up of a preexisting but undiagnosed fault in Mr. Raffalovich's neck. Eventually, he had to drop out of the business for health reasons. Left without the considerable skills he offered (sales, copy writing and managerial) I restructured under the simplified Vista-Research plan, a largely one man consulting shop.

Are there any projects or new ventures with which Vista-Research is involved that you would like to share with our readers?

Yes, many, and I will share a few here.

I am currently working on a complete rewrite of my web site http://www.vista-research.com, which should be available by the time your readers see this interview. I will be focusing in part on new products that have sprung from the strategic alliance I have formed over the years with Mr. Brad Matheny of Matheny Enterprises.

Also, my clients have expressed a renewed interest in training workshops. Workshops will be scheduled monthly, held locally in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. By keeping my expenses down, it removes the pressure of filling a class, which will allow the attendees the one-on-one attention they require. The workshop is focused on EasyLanguage but I cover day trading the stock options, trading psychology, how to use multiple time frames and data streams, money management techniques and loads of tips on using your Omega product better / faster / safer.

How do you see Vista-Research evolving in the future?

With the revised business plan demonstrated by Omega Research (now TradeStation Technologies) I imagine that I will branch out to support more of the "competing" (if you can still see Omega as competitive in the marketplace) products coming on the market.

Do you have any general suggestions for those who are interested in enhancing their own programming skills? How do you go about attacking a trading system programming project?

This question is two fold. Allow me to digress and then I will answer your questions.

I believe there is a certain investment required to become a trader. The traditional course to follow is to open your first trading account and watch the equity disappear in drawdowns. Alternately, you can attend the seminars, buy the video tapes, trading books and proprietary trading methodologies. The choice few (kind of my personal favorites), sit in a garret apartment [bad lighting is a prerequisite!] and pound away at EasyLanguage code for a year or two. One way or another, you have to pay your dues to learn the lessons that allow you to become a viable trader.

My best advice, if you want to learn to program, is to take a programming class or three from the local community college. But I suspect (actually, I know) that this advice is for the few, not the many.

General advise for the established trader? Hire a consultant, period, no questions asked! If you are a trader, then your time is valuable, and best spent trading, or researching and testing your strategy, not trying to learn to program. It is all a matter of efficiency, where your time and money are best spent. Think of it as an investment. Why spend countless hours "rediscovering the wheel" when I have "been there, done that" many times before.

How do I attack developing a trading system? I start with the entries. There has to be some reason to get into the market, some "secret edge" you have over the other traders you are doing battle against. Once the system generates entries, and you are sure they are occurring where you want them to, now it is time to make it profitable. There is no reason to expect a profitable system at this stage of the game, just correct entries. Now it is time to apply some exits. There are a wide variety of exit techniques to employ, so test a number of them. While researching your exits, and the losing trades they generate, you can reevaluate your entries, perhaps an additional filter (or two) can take out some of the losing trades, before they are ever generated. Then go back and redo your work on exit techniques, because reducing or filtering the entries may have changed the exit profile. And then comes the Money Management, another can or worms entirely. You can experiment with scaling into the market, reducing the position incrementally with targets, basing the bet size on volatility, adjusting stops based on volatility, and much more.

Could you describe why TradeStationZone visitors might want to consider using consulting and custom programming skills versus products and services offered by your competitors?

Well, now we are on to one of my pet peeves, and I may lose [more] friends here... Why would anyone sell a winning system?

1. To raise trading capital - [Sell a copy for a quarter million and start trading.]

2. Because you can research but not trade - [Hire a trader.]

3. For reasons of ego alone, you want to be known as the best system developer in the world. [Possible, yes I imagine it is a possible motivation...]

So, this leaves the question, are the systems being sold "winning" systems. Or, more precisely, are they what your trading capital deserves? Can't you do better? That is where my services come in.

And one thing that not enough people realize, investing in the creation and testing of a system that does prove to be [sufficiently] profitable is not an inherently bad thing. It is better to realize an idea does not work than to trade it and lose the equity. There will always be brokers available, they don't need your round turns, but you do have a vested interest in discovering the potential of your system without risking the losses - that is where I come in! I have coded more systems than most anyone around. I can not tell you proprietary secrets, but I can sure share my experience and tell you when I see you going down a path fraught with disaster.

I know EasyLanguage like no other. I should, I designed the language. I write code fast, use descriptive input and variable names, comment my code well and every EasyLanguage module I turn out is, I hope, a teaching document. One advantage this offers is it is easy for the client, or a second consultant, to understand what I did, and why, and to make the next set of revisions.

Please describe the most common problems your clients typically encounter.

First and foremost? Omega is no longer updating and supporting their software!

Second? The time and effort of getting satisfactory support from Omega. The technicians at Omega try hard, I know, and give them due credit. However, the active trader often needs answers now, not later. That is a service I provide. I offer technical support by fax or email for the low cost of $90 per quarter. I can sometimes help with data problems, but not always. But I will try.

Often clients will invest considerable time learning an Indicator, whether a commercially available package or something from the public domain, but be totally unable to convert the studies they are visually examining into a set of rules for systematic back testing. Due to my ethical reputation in the industry, I am often able to gain from vendors, password access to their proprietary indicator packages on behalf of my clients, and modify them to become full trading methodologies.

What other interests keep you busy besides custom programming and consulting? Obviously you are well known for being "Mr. EasyLanguage". What other aspects of Samuel K. Tennis would you like to communicate to our readers?

Well, I love meeting the people whom I have spoken to, and communicated with by email over the years. Getting out to trade shows and speaking events gives me great pleasure. I guess, through inference, I do enjoy to travel.

I like helping people and providing support. I have great experience supporting both individuals and firms as well as developing specialized systems. This, I feel, is my strength and real value.

I read whenever time allows, mostly fiction. I read too much non-fiction while learning to program and then learning the markets. Currently I read spy novels, science fiction and mysteries. I love the water, swimming, sailing and fishing, though I do far too little of all three. Trixie, my African Grey Parrot keeps me company on the cold winter nights. On those hot summer days as well, now that I think of it.

I play EverQuest (an on-line multi-user role playing game) in the evenings with my kids.

Any parting words?