Using Option Book Names

Dragging and dropping book elements may seem a simple, direct way of getting book portfolio elements into other windows, but there is another easy method: typing option book names into a window using the command line. Entering option book names can be quicker than dragging and dropping. If you know the name of a book, you can type it at the command line of an option chart or quote window. When you press b, the book appears in the window. Similarly, if you know the name of a particular strategy in a book, you can display it using this method. Let’s examine the rules for entering book elements into windows using this method.

You may recall that when you create a book, you select the New Book selection from the Books Menu, and, when the New Book: prompt appears, you enter a name for the book. A similar process occurs when you create a strategy. The names you create not only differentiate one element from another, they also enable you to use a book, strategy, and group names as you would use instrument symbols. The only difference is, of course, the where an instrument symbol represents a single data series, a book name represents many series, as well as transaction-related details.

When you enter a book name through the command line, the book is displayed in the window. All transactions in all strategies are displayed.

If a book name conflicts with an instrument symbol (which is not recommended), enter the .BOOK command before the book name to indicate that you want to display the book and not the instrument. For example, if you have a book named IBM, enter BOOK IBM. Under such circumstances, instruments always take precedence, so the BOOK command is required.

You can also enter a strategy name, but the strategy name must be preceded by the name of its parent book and a period. For example, if you have a strategy named “Bonds” in a book named TRADER2, you could display the Bonds strategy by entering the following:

TRADER2.Bonds

You can also go farther into the option hierarchy using this technique. If you know, for example, that you have a September 110 call in the bonds strategy, you could displays that transaction by entering the following:

TRADER2.Bonds.USU110C

Of course, you could just as easily enter USU110C. The difference is that entering the symbol USU110C provides you with a data series while entering the name book name TRADER2.Bonds.USU110C provides you with not only the data series, but also the details you have defined about that transaction, including quantity, price, and commission.

Using book names becomes particularly useful in displaying groups. For example, if the Bonds strategy contains several transactions involving instruments from both the September and December expirations, you can focus on the performance of the September expiration by entering the following:

TRADER2.Bonds.US_Sep95

Knowing the conventions used to create group names enables you to create groups on the fly, which can be very useful for intraday risk analysis. Group names are based on the sort criteria above the group boundary line in the Sort dialog box (see, Sorting Strategies). The group boundary line determines which sort criteria are used to create the group. If a grouping is made up of two or more sort criteria, each criterion name is separated by an underscore (_). For example, the default sort criteria and group boundary line location produces the following group name:

US_Sep95

This, of course, enables you to make the entry described above without ever visiting the Sort dialog box. Knowing how the different sort criteria are described in a group name enables you to type the criteria that defines the group you want. The following table summarizes the criteria naming conventions:

Criteria	Convention	Example
Underlying Root	The symbol root of the underlying instrument.	SP
Expiration	Three-character month code and two-character year code.	Sep95
Strike Price	Integer representing the strike. Decimal points and trailing zeros are removed.	450
Instrument Type	One-character alpha code for call (C), put (P), or underlying instrument (U).	C P U
Transaction Time	Date of transaction using MMDDYY formatting (no slashes or dashes).	110395

Examples:

Example Name	Group Created
TRADER2.Bonds.US	All Bond option and underlying positions.
TRADER2.Bonds.US_U	All underlying Bond positions.
TRADER2.Bonds.US_110	All Bond 110 calls and puts.
TRADER2.Bonds.US_110_C	All Bond 110 calls.
TRADER2.Bonds.110395	All transactions that occurred on Nov. 3, 1995