Whether you purchased Track ‘n Trade 5.0 by downloading it from the internet or to be installed by CD-ROM, your installation process will be the same. The installer will guide you through the steps required to install Track ‘n Trade 5.0 on your computer.

Please read through the End-User License Agreement. If you agree to the terms of use, select the circle next to "I Agree" and you will be able to click Next to view the next window.

Read the instructions and select which installation process you would like to follow, and where to install it on your computer’s hard drive if that is your choice. Then select the shortcuts you would also like to install. Click the Next button when you are finished.

The Welcome window will appear the first time you open Track ‘n Trade 5.0. Select whether you own Track ‘n Trade 5.0 or if you are using a trial version. Enter your username and password on the next page.

The option to save your username and password is available in Track ‘n Trade 5.0. Remember, logging in gives you access to your financial information through Track ‘n Trade 5.0, and others may use these saved passwords to access this information.

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The Account Manager was created to give Gecko Software customers a convenient resource to update their personal information with us, such as your billing, shipping, and payment information.

To access the Account Manager, log-in to Track ‘n Trade 5.0, click on the Help Menu, and select Account Manager. The Account Manager will open in your default browser. (You will not need to enter your email address and password if you are already logged-in to the program.)

This section will introduce you to the basic functions and features of Track ‘n Trade 5.0. First we’ll take a look at your workspace. The screenshot below is what you will see when you open Track ‘n Trade 5.0. Use this as a reference for the rest of the manual. The following pages will explain each Toolbar and Menu labeled here and their functions.

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New: Closes your current chartbook and opens a new blank chartbook.

Open: Closes your current chartbook and opens a window for you to choose a previously saved chartbook.

Save: Saves your open charts as a chartbook.

Screen Capture: Saves your open chart as an image. Shift-click saves your chart window plus your control panel. (Ctrl-click copies the screenshot to your clipboard and makes it ready to paste. Shift-Ctrl will copy your chart window plus your control panel.)

Print: Prints the chart window.

Print Preview: Opens a window showing what the chart will look like when its printed.

Commodity Chooser: Opens the Commodity Chooser window.

Data Update: Opens the Data Download window in your browser.

Scrolling Hand: Used in chart window to click and drag a chart.

Charting Toolbar

Crosshair: Used to draw a line vertically and horizontally on a chart.

Line: Used to draw support and resistance lines.

Multi-Line: Used to draw an alternating support and resistance line.

123: Used to chart a 123 top or bottom formation.

Head and Shoulders: Used to chart a Head & Shoulders top or bottom formation.

Narrow Sideways Channel: Used to identify a horizontal channel.

N% Ruler: Used to measure a retracement.

Inclining/Declining Channel: Used to identify an inclining or declining channel.

Wedge: Used to identify any type of wedge or triangle.

Trend Fan: Used to identify a trend fan.

Elliott Wave: Used to chart an Elliott Wave.

Dart/Blip: Used to identify a Dart/Blip.

Gann Fan: Used to chart a Gann Fan.

Andrews Pitchfork: Used to chart an Andrews Pitchfork.

Fibonacci Retracement: Used to measure a Fibonacci Retracement.

Fibonacci Time Zones: Used to measure a Fibonacci Time Zone.

Day Offset: Used to measure the number of trading days versus actual days between two points.

Arc: Used to identify a rounded top or bottom formation.

Notation Arrow: Used to draw arrows to help point out areas of interest.

Flag: Used to place a flag or graphic.

Text: Used to type text.

Rectangle: Used to draw a rectangle.

Circle: Used to draw a circle.

Dollar Calculator: Used to find the dollar value between two points on the chart.

Risk/Reward: Used to find the difference between two points of the risk and reward zone.

Daily Chart: Each price bar represents a day.

Long Term Daily: Each price bar represents a day, but the chart includes all available data.

Long Term Weekly: Each chart price bar represents a week.

Long Term Monthly: Each chart price bar represents a month.

This window displays the Indicators.

Use this toolbar to select the indicators you would like to be shown in the Indicator window.

The first set of controls scales the vertical height of the price bar. The middle set of controls scales the number of price bars displayed per inch on the chart. The last set of controls scales the days along the bottom of the chart and the points displayed on the right side of the chart.

The control panel is on the left side of your screen. It includes five tabs: Commodities, Preferences, Key, Data, and Notes.

	Commodities This section of the Control Panel gives you the ability to open a chart, add a chart to your Chartbook, and to select between the charts that are open. See the Chartbooks section for more details.
	Preferences The Preferences Tab will help you customize how your chart looks and information on your chart. It defaults to chart settings, but will also show the options for customizing Technical Tools and Indicators. This is where you can change colors, fonts, and line type for your chart and indicators.
	Key This section displays the key details and data from the contract displayed in the Chart Window. (Terms are explained in depth in the Introduction to Futures chapter.)   Symbol: Gecko Software’s symbol for the commodity. Name: Name of the commodity. Group: The group is a category for commodities. Exchange: The exchange is where the commodity’s trades are processed. Contract Size: Number of units that one contract represents. Contract Units: The unit of measurement. Tic Size: The tic size is defined as the smallest increment the quote of a contract will fluctuate. Minimum Move: Tic size represented as a decimal value. Tic Units: The unit of measure for quotes. This unit should be the same as the unit that the Exchange uses. Full Point Value: This value represents what a move in the ones place is worth. Init. Margin: The initial margin for your account. Maint. Margin: The maintenance margin for your account. First Notice Day (FND): Date that the contract will expire. Last Trading Day (LTD): Last day to trade the open contract. Market Open: The time that the market opens. Market Close: The time that the market closes. Options Expiration: The date that options will expire worthless or be automatically exercised into futures orders. Options Strike Interval: The value for the minimum spacing between options, as listed by the Exchange. Options Min. Move: The value of the minimum price fluctuation for the options contract. No. of strikes above/below: The value used to calculate strikes above the highest high and below the lowest low in generated Black and Scholes data.
	Data The Data tab will give you the historical data for each day a specific symbol had traded. It will give you the open price, close price, highest price, and lowest price on the day. It also shows the volume traded. Values for indicators are added when the indicator is open.   The disk button is used to save any changes you have made to the data, so that they are available the next time you run the software. The disk button with the red arrow on it is for undoing any data changes you have made but have not saved. If you have already saved the incorrect value, this action will not recall the original value.   You can select to see all data in decimal or fractional format. Most commodities are traded as decimal values and will be displayed as a decimal everywhere.   To customize the Data tab, click on the Customize button and the Customize window will open. In this window, you can select which data is displayed in the Data tab. To change the data column display order, use the + or - keys on your keyboard to move the selected item up or down in the list.
	Notes The Notes tab is for your convenience to use as a note pad for your research and trading strategy. A separate note pad is provided for each chart.

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Just like a novel is made up of many single pages, a chartbook contains many individual charts. Each chartbook can contain several charts, each individual chart becoming the "pages" of your chartbook. Every time you open Track 'n Trade 5.0, a blank chartbook named Untitled Book will open. You can either continue with this new chartbook or open a chartbook that has already been saved.

Each chart that you open and view from the Commodities tab is listed below in the Active Charts list found on the left side of your screen. This list is your "Table of Contents" for your chartbook. Charts are listed in alphabetical order in this window. To switch between charts simply double-click on the different charts listed.

Track ‘n Trade 5.0 will automatically open a new chartbook whenever you open the program. This new chartbook needs "pages" or charts added to it. You can add pages to your chartbook by opening charts in the commodity tab. If you know the symbol for the chart you are looking for, you can type it into the entry box next to Symbol and press enter. A complete list of commodity symbols and commodity month symbols can be found in the Data Download section. If you do not know the symbol of the market you want to see, find your chart by choosing the market, month and year:

1. Choose your commodity from the dropdown menu

2. Choose the month and year from the dropdown menu to the right

3. Click on the "Open Chart" button below

Notice that you have sorting options above the Choose a Commodity drop down menu. You can sort commodities by Group or Exchange, and you can display them in Ascending or Descending order.

Now that you have charts in your chartbook, you have the ability to add and remove charts as you wish before you save it as a chartbook. Right click on the chart you would like to remove and select "Delete Chart" from the dropdown menu. A Confirm Chart Deletion window will appear on your screen. Click OK.

When you have several charts open in your Active Charts window, there are several ways for you to switch back and forth between them:

• Double-click the chart you would like to view in the Active Charts list

• Click on the chart window Title Bar

• Click on the current chart and press the Tab key on your keyboard

When you are content with how your Active Chart list is setup, you can save it as a chartbook to open later. Click on the File menu and select "Save" or click the Save button on your Toolbar. The Save As window will open. It is recommended that you rename your chartbook to avoid accidentally overwriting the file next time a chartbook is saved.

To save over or replace a chartbook that has already been saved, select "Save As" from the File menu. Type in a new name or select the chartbook you want to save over.

To open an existing chartbook, you can click on the File menu and select "Open," or click on the Open button on your Main toolbar. The Open window will appear.

In the Open window, select the file you would like to open and click on the Open button.

Many Track ‘n Trade 5.0 users include Chartbooks and images of their charts in emails, websites, presentations, etc. To save a current chart as it appears on your screen as an image, click on the Screen Capture button in your Main toolbar.

The Save Chart Image window will open. You may specify the file name, location, and file type (the standard web file types are .gif or .jpg). Once the image is saved, you are ready to email it or import it into a document.

To print a chart in Track ‘n Trade 5.0, click on the File menu and select "Print." The Print screen will open for your default printer. You can also print a chart by clicking on the Print button on your Main toolbar.

The printed chart will always have the Indicator Window printed at the bottom of the chart. The size of the chart will depend on the size that it is when you press the Print button. To change from Portrait to Landscape, click on "Print Setup" from the File Menu. Selecting the Landscape button will print a full-page chart, while Portrait will print a half-page chart.

For an idea of what the chart will look like printed, select Print Preview from the File menu or your Main toolbar to view the output before printing the chart. The last day’s open, high, low, and close will also be printed on the chart.

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You can specify how your chart looks by using the Preferences tab in your Control Panel or by right-clicking in your chart window and using selections from the dropdown menu.

When you highlight Tick Style, a menu will appear to the right of the dropdown window. From here, you can select which style of ticks you would like to appear on your chart.

OHLC will show the open, high, low, and close tick marks for the day. HLC will be the same, without the initial open tick. Close will take the closing prices for each day and turn your chart into a line graph. Close EX stands for Close Extended. It will look like Close with the close price as an extended horizontal line. Candle will show your price pars as candlesticks. (Candlesticks are explained in the Candlesticks chapter at the end of the manual.)

The Preferences tab is located in the Control Panel. Chart preferences appear in the window by default. Any time you don’t see chart preferences when your preferences tab is open, click on your chart in the chart window and the chart preferences will appear.

In this tab, you can customize every detail of how your chart looks. You can specify colors and sizes of all the features on your chart.