Trying to create 2 custom scans

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  markd mod

  September 2016 edited September 2016 Answer ✓

  Your scans pass syntax and run so they are OK. But a more conventional form would be:
  
  [group is SP500]
  
  // close is above the 15 day ema
  and [close > EMA (15,close) ]
  
  Typically, it's best to put the stocks you are looking at first (things like group or market cap, country or exchange, average volume, max and/or min price, etc.). It's clearer and makes the scan run a little faster because the scan engine has to look at only those stocks, not the whole 10,000 or so.
  
  In your scan, the [Close] statement passes syntax, but it doesn't do anything, so you can take it out.
  
  It doesn't matter whether "close" or "ema" comes first with ">" or "<" comparison operators, as it does with "x". It seems more intuitive to put "close" first, but that's your call.
  
  It's a good idea to put in a comment above (or beside) every line, even if it's obvious, just to get in the habit. As you write more complex scans, it will a.) remind you what you wanted to do when you come back to it later and b.) make it easier to spot errors, as in, hey, that line doesn't do what the comment says it does...
  
  Now to tweaks:
  
  You may want to specify whether the ema is rising or falling. Take some period shorter than the ema and compare to today's ema.
  
  // ema is rising
  and [ema(15, close) > 5 days ago ema(15,close)]
  
  // ema is falling
  and [ema(15,close) < 5 days ago ema(15,close)]
  
  I just chose 5 days as an example. You could experiment with longer or shorter periods.
  
  Also, you might want to add something about a longer trend. Do you want to be above or below a rising or falling intermediate trend, like 50 or 63? Conventional wisdom is, trades work better in the direction of the next larger time frame's trend.
  
  For rising or falling longer trend, just substitute longer parameters for the 5 and 15 above.
  
  For above and below the longer trend, compare the 15 ema to the 63 (ema or sma) with > and <.
  
  If you get stuck, post what you have.

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