Family Tab

Updated 12/28/04

What's are FastTrack families?

The Family Tree

Right Clicking the Tree

• Delete: A single highlighted Personal family will be deleted. Or, left click on the family then hit the delete key on your keyboard.
• Copy: The issues in the currently highlighted family are copied to the clipboard in comma-delimited text format. These can be pasted to a word processor, spreadsheet, a ColorBar cell producing an average, or an Issue List.
• Print visible Families: The families that have been expanded into view will be printed.

Categories in the Family Tree

Double-clicking on a category expands the list to show the category's  members. There may be several category levels. The categories have the little [+]  to the left of their names. When a category is fully expanded, the [+] l changes to [-].

The Personal Category is expanded showing the families created by the user. All other categories of families are maintained by FastTrack.

Categories are explained in substantial detail in commentary #1200. Click the Commentary Tab for details.

Why Load a Particular Family

Most of the time you will be interested in only a few issues. Families provide a way to limit the scope your current analysis to  . . .

1. The ones you own,
2. The mutual funds you can buy through Fidelity.
3. Technology stocks.. . . etc

FastTrack has many predefined families that you can select, or you can make your own.

Load a Family in an Issue List

Double-click on a family to replace the contents of the Family Tab Issue List with the members of the family. Double-clicking on a category doesn't work.

You may drag a family to a ANY Tab. The contents of the Issue List on that Tab will be replaced with the family members.

If you Know the Family Name

Select a family by typing it's name, like Fidelity,  in the entry box and hit  <Enter>. The family members will be listed in the Family Tab Issue List

Move the mouse pointer over an Issue List (on any tab) and press the <Control> + <M> keys on your keyboard. Typing the family name in the appearing dialog box and pressing the <Enter> key will load the family into that Issue List.

Copy a Family

Click to select a family to be copied from the tree. Right-click and choose Copy. Ticker Symbols, the members of the family,  will be placed on the clipboard separated by commas for use by any program. You could paste these symbols onto a text editor, a spreadsheet, or a FT4WEB Issue List. When pasting to an Issue List, the Issue List is NOT cleared before the paste. Issues added are checked to be sure that they are not already in the list.

Delete a Family

Users can only delete families in the Personal Category. Click to select the family to be deleted then hit Del or right-click to delete the highlighted family.

Make Custom Families

See the Sieve discussion about the tools provided to combine existing families to make new families. Or, see the discussion on the Charts Tab, regarding manual entry where you type in issue names or symbols to create a family.

Load a Family Average into a Line of the Chart.

If you click-hold-drag a family name to a ColorBar cell, FastTrack will compute the family's average.You can also load a family average into the ColorBar.

• Create your own family using the Family Sieve using automated techniques that operate on existing families.

Why Create My Own Families? 

• To screen issues by specific criteria. Family Screening Exercise .
• To limit your analysis to the issues that you own. Key Your Own Family Exercise .
• To create a subset of a FastTrack-defined family. For example, you like most of the Fidelity issues, but not all. In this case, create your own family, load Fidelity issues into your family, and remove those you don't want.
• You own issues that are not in the FastTrack database, and you are willing to maintain these as FNU files. These issues may be included in families you create using the issue symbols you assign in the FNU files. FastTrack will chart and rank FNU issues just as if they were a standard part of the FT database.