CompuTrac/SNAP.

Computrac 1017 Pleasant St. New Orleans, La. 70115 (800) 535-7990

Requirements: IBM-PC or compatible or PS12 computer, hard disk, math coprocessor, EGA monitor Printer, modem optional. Cost: $1,990.

Several years ago, the movie Cocoon showed a group of retirement-age men grow vigorous and virile after touching creatures from outer space. Computrac's software package also has been transformed, touched by its corporate parent, Telerate.

Telerate is rumored to have spent in excess of a million dollars developing Teletrac, its real-time charting and technical analysis software. Now, the Teletrac format has been adapted for Computrac and named SNAP. A package of stunning visual quality, great analytic power and flexibility, it has a smooth, intuitive operating feel.

When Computrac opened computerized analysis to the masses in 1979, it offered charting, a large selection of indicators and optimization and automation routines. Others elbowed in with superior graphics, more user-friendly interfaces and greater flexibility in system testing.

With SNAP, Computrac reasserts its position as the leading trading software package.

Users enter SNAP from CompuTrac's main menu. SNAP consists of two layers: a spreadsheet called "Tradeplan" and a visual interface called "Chartplan." A spreadsheet can contain anywhere from 100 rows by 256 columns to 20 rows by 1,280 columns. The latter lets you analyze up to five years of data. You design your own spreadsheet to include all the data and indicators you want.

As well as a reserve of more than a dozen popular indicators, SNAP makes it easy to include your own indicator. If you can write what you want in English, you can program it into SNAP The programming feature is powerful but as simple to use as a pocket calculator. It took less than 10 minutes to program several proprietary studies into SNAP.

Once you design your Tradeplan, all analysis is done automatically. The Chartplan feature of SNAP allows you to split the screen into as many as 1 0 windows, each wi th several studies. The spacing of price bars can be normal, dense or wide. If you want to take a closer look at any part of a chart, you can blow it up to fill the entire screen by touching a single key. The graphs are clear and razor-sharp - you select the colors.