getting help to generate a scan...

Tracker01

Can anyone recommend someone to help me create a specialized chart? I want to create a scan to match two stocks whose patterns I like. a while back I tried (and failed) to do this on my own.
Is there some list of "experts" that I could pay to do this for me or something else?
thx

markd

We can give it a try here, if you like.

Sometimes a scan is hard because it's not really clear how to express what it is you see on the chart.

If you can define what you are looking at in terms of indicator values or overlay behaviors, then it gets easier.

Do you have a plain english description of what your are looking for?

An example might be:

I want to buy stocks in an uptrend that are recovering from a down leg.

The scan engine won't understand that because "uptrend" and "recovering from a down leg" are too vague. So you have to express it in terms of indicators and overlays, which the scan engine can understand:

The close is above the rising 200 day simple moving average (probably in an up trend)

MACD signal crosses above MACD line when both lines are below zero (probably recovering from a down leg)

So a scan for that would be:

and [close > sma(200,close)]
and [sma(200, close) > 20 days ago sma(200,close)]

and [MACD Signal(12,26,9) x MACD Line (12,26,9)]
and [MACD Signal(12,26,9) < 0]
and [MACD Line(12,26,9) < 0]

If you can post a chart example, that could help, too, although it may not be absolutely necessary if you get the english description the way you want it. If you haven't chosen indicators and/or overlays yet, try different ones on the charts you have selected and see if there are some that seem to work.

p.s. I have no idea if the scan example does what the english description says - it's just an example of translating plain english to scan code.

lmkwin

I would just post the chart of the stock here, and describe what you are looking at/for.

Start example:
Here's a Greg Schnell chartstyle


It looks like this air conditioning stock is consolidating with a persistantly high SCTR and a bullish MACD crossover. I want to scan for when this happens for all the names in this industry.

End example

Others have asked about private paid help on this forum before. I don't know if anyone has gotten any "paid" help. I think you might be better off using the resources that are available to assist you here. There are experts in StockCharts-ese that will do it for free here.

markd

I'm assuming from the examples that you want buy and hold positions taken from down legs after a new high.

I would strongly suggest that you get hold of a book by Stan Weinstein called Secrets for Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets.

He takes a longer term view, showing you how to recognize from their charts quality stocks that have sold off, been re-accumulated and are ready to break out and move.

Indicators alone are relatively short term, so stocks that have a future and those that don't can give similar indicator signals but have very different longer term results. As Richard Wyckoff teaches, you need "cause" or a period of accumulation to get a sustained up side move. Accumulation means prices stay low, usually in a range above the bottom, but shares move into "strong" hands - i.e. buyers who intend to hold for much higher prices.

There are exceptions to this rule of course. If the general economic tide is rising, many poorer quality stocks will rise along with it without that period of accumulation. But in general, stocks that meet Weinstein's criteria will rise longer and higher.

If you haven't already committed to "conventional" technical analysis, you might want to look into P&F (point and figure) charting, which is more admirably suited to a longer term perspective. @lmkwin can probably offer you guidance in that direction.

lmkwin

You are wise not to use SCTR for primary indications.

I'd throw a Bollinger Band 40,1 on your chart and change the type to Area. If so inclined, look for moves back inside the bands and take the move back outside the band. I like the look of the 1 std dev BB in general. You can scan for that as well. Close x upper BB. Closes above Upper BB's are often a good place to get curious.





PnF analysis, just slap a 7 SMA on the PnF chart and look to be involved on or around that area. The Blue line is the 7 SMA. The period in question on ANF (Oct,Nov,Dec '23) are showing in the bottom left corner of the chart. October is marked by an A, November is marked by a B and December is marked by a C. January to September are months 1 to 9.

Note the pullback to the 7SMA in A and B.

Tracker01

thank you for your answers!
I don't know the right metrics to use. An example is ANF for Oct, Nov, Dec 2023. small bounces but all within one standard deviation (by eye). Another would be VRT Nov, Dec 2023. both of these could be considered overbought and I got "lucky" with one of them, but looking for indicator-set to represent them without too many false-positives (e.g. 10:1 is ok).


any ideas on what to look for? persistently high SCTR captures lots of false positives it seems.

Tracker01

wow. thank you! those are great starting points.
(p.s. and I bought the book recommended also)

lmkwin

@Tracker01 If you get stuck on your scan or have other questions or comments, feel free to share them on this forum. It has helped me immeasurably over the years I've been a member. I've also found a lot of great information using the Search box at the top of this forum. Most every "wheel" has already been created and/or discussed here over the decades of this forum's existance. It is a treasure trove of shared ideas and concepts.