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Need help with simple "Scan" which Check Syntax says is correct but returns no results

Abuelo
Abuelo ✭
in Scanning
Scan is: [Group is ETF] and [EMA(10, Williams %R (30)) > 20]

Scan returns no results ....... what am I not seeing that is causing my "no results" ....... Thanks.

Abuelo

Best Answer

  • gord
    gord admin
    Answer ✓
    Yes the scan engine can check for syntax errors and for things it doesn't know what to with. In this case it understands the formulas and there are numbers where it expects to see numbers. The following article explains the Williams indicator in detail.

    http://stockcharts.com/school/doku.php?id=chart_school:technical_indicators:williams_r

    So in your case you are asking for a EMA10 of Williams %R (30) to be greater than 20. This is the problem the Williams oscillator is bounded between 0 and - 100. Thus the scan engine calculates and looks for values > 20 but it will never ever find any. So we just need to adjust the scan criteria to match what you are looking for, maybe as follows.

    and [EMA(10, Williams %R (30)) > -20]

    Note working with negative numbers can be confusing, just remember -19 is greater than - 20, and -21 is less than -20. Think of the value not the absolute magnitude of the number.

Answers

  • Abuelo
    Abuelo ✭
    Thanks Gord ..... I knew that ..... just not used to dealing with it as a scan ...... knew it was going to be something in "plain sight" so to speak.
  • gord
    gord admin
    Yep, happens to all of us, me included. Just have to be a little methodical in checking and verifying the output of any scan.

    If you add clauses one at a time and quickly verify a few charts at each step, the problem clause usually jumps right out. Try adjusting some of the settings, sometimes its just not the right bull scan in a bear market, ie sometimes you get no hits for a reason.

    Often its just something like a > sign should actually be a < sign. Just check your logic.

    Often what we THINK we asked for, is actually quite different from what we ACTUALLY asked for.

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