Product Review: EasyNN Plus

I’ve used EasyNN plus in the past and I still use it today. I think it’s a great product for a lot of general neural net applications and the occasional stock fundamental analysis model. I use EasyNN plus primarily for Yahoo Stock Fundamental Data analysis and building data models that help me select the “right stock poised for growth”. I know I can do that in Rapidminer but I find it quicker to use EasyNN plus because of the screen outputs that let me identify stock sensitivity in a blink of an eye (more on this later).

If you're scared of Rapidminer, want to do more with all kinds of data, and don't want to spend a fortune, EasyNN plus is the product for you!

What I like about it:

EasyNN plus is a lot easier to use than Rapidminer but a little bit harder to use than Stock Neuromaster. While Stock Neuromaster is primarily geared toward stocks, EasyNN Plus can be applied just about anything. Overall its best features are its output screens. My favorites have to be the Sensitivity, Relative Importance, and Training Error screens. From those screens I can figure out what variables in my input data are very sensitive to change (Sensitivity), which variables are driving the outputs (Relative Importance), and which rows of data might contain bad information (Training Error).

The product lets you load in CSV and Excel files, checks your data for any errors, allows you build macros and scripts, allows you to forecast, and lets you do a lot more tweaking with your data than other programs.

What I don’t like about it:

As I mentioned above, it’s harder to use than other programs so you’ll have to have a basic understanding about neural networks and how they work. You’ll have to know the basics such as validation, momentum, lag, and how to set up your data into input and output variables. Loading in the data is easy but prepping it for your model takes more time than I originally expected, and there is a slight learning curve.

Bottomline:

Despite these minor shortcomings, I use EasyNN plus in my routine stock data modeling and will continue to do so.  It’s a great little contained neural net building system for a fraction of the price of other products. Granted it’s not free but they have a 30 day trail with plenty of samples for you to check out and make that determination yourself.  I highly recommend this product overall and its perfect for the user who has a basic understanding of neural nets but wants to dabble more in the addicting world of financial modeling.

You can download the 30 day trial executable file here: EasyNN Plus