Ask Colin

I do not use Metastock software. I use Insight Trader software. Insight Trader uses Coppock's original method.

On my web site, in Newsletter No 1, is a formula I was given for calculating the indicator in Metastock. As I read it, it seems to replicate Coppock's original formula, providing Metastock's algorithm for a weighted moving average is the same as Coppock's.

Coppock also made one additional step, which is not included in this formula. That was to divide the weighted moving average by 10 and round it to the nearest 10 points. I suspect that Ed Coppock never did anything without good reason, so this final filter is probably quite important.

I did not recognise its possible importance at first, so my spreadsheet did not originally include this step, but the latest version on the web site does. If this issue concerns you, it may be best to use the spreadsheet number from the last column each month and input it manually into MetaStock. This is not a big task as there is only one number for each month for each index you keep the Coppock indicator for.

Alternatively, you can plot the last column in your spreadshhet software, or simply read the signals off the spreadshheet. I post on the website an updated workbook of spreadsheets at the end of every month.