How to Scan for Stocks on StockCharts.com

Stock scans are easy to write and absolutely essential to swing trading. You need to be able to find stocks with the exact setup that you are looking for. On this page, I am going to show you how to do it using StockCharts.com.

Note: You'll need to sign up for the Extra or Pro package to create and run scans. The Extra package is the most popular one and it's probably all you will ever need.

How to scan for pullbacks

After you get an account set up with StockCharts.com, log in to the members dashboard and scroll down to where it says, "Your Scans".

Now click on "New Scan" and you will be taken to the scan criteria page:

Now copy and paste the following scan into the scan expression box on StockCharts.com:

[type = stock] and [country = us] and[daily ema(60,daily volume) > 300000] and
[daily high < yesterday's daily high] and
[yesterday's daily high < 2 days ago daily high] and
[sma(10, close) > ema(30, close)]and
[daily close > daily ema(30,daily close)]and
[daily close < daily sma(10,daily close)]and
[daily close > daily sma(200,daily close)]and
[weekly sma(10,weekly close) > weekly ema(30,weekly close)]and
[ADX Line(10) > 20.0]and
[close >= 5]

Now click the "Save As" button right next to "Your Favorite Scans" and your all set.

That's it! You can now run a scan and it will give you a whole list of stocks that are prime candidates for swing trading. Then all you have to do is go through these stocks and pick out the best looking setups and add them to your watch list.

What does this stock scan mean?

Can you tell what the components of the scan mean? In the first line we are looking for US stocks with average volume of at least 300,000. The next two lines we are finding stocks that have consecutive lower highs. Then you have the moving average lines in the scan that finds stocks that have moved into the TAZ. And we have a line that only shows stocks above the 200 period moving average (bull territory).

The next line makes sure that the stock is in an uptrend on the weekly chart. We then use the ADX Indicator to make sure we find stocks that are trending. Finally we pick stocks with a closing price of at least 5 dollars.

Scan for shorting stocks

Looking for stocks on the short side?

Copy and paste the following into the scan expression box:

[type = stock] and [country = us] and[daily ema(60,daily volume) > 300000] and
[daily low > yesterday's daily low] and
[yesterday's daily low > 2 days ago daily low] and
[SMA(10, close) < EMA(30, close)]and
[daily close > daily SMA(10,daily close)]and
[daily close < daily EMA(30,daily close)]and
[weekly sma(10,weekly close) < weekly ema(30,weekly close)]and
[ADX Line(10) > 20.0]and
[close >= 10]

Moving average crossover scans

There is another scan that I use to identify stocks that are at the beginning of a trend. It is a moving average crossover scan. On the long side, it identifies stocks where the 10 MA has just crossed above the 30 EMA. On the short side, it identifies stocks where the 10 MA has just crossed below the 30 EMA

Here they are...

TAZ Cross Long Setups

[type = stock] and [country = us] and [daily sma(20,daily volume) > 300000] and
[daily sma(10,daily close) crosses daily ema(30,daily close)] and
[close >= 5]

TAZ Cross Short Setups

[type = stock] and [country = us] and [daily sma(20,daily volume) > 300000] and
[daily sma(10,daily close) < daily ema(30,daily close)] and
[yesterday's daily sma(10,daily close) >= yesterday's daily ema(30,daily close)]and
[close >= 10]

How to find the strongest stocks

Sometimes you might just want to find the strongest stocks that are trending up. This is useful for building a watch list. Here is the scan that I use:

[type = stock] and [country = us] and[daily ema(60,daily volume) > 300000] and
[sma(10, close) > ema(30, close)]and
[daily close > daily ema(30,daily close)]and
[daily close > daily sma(200,daily close)]and
[weekly sma(10,weekly close) > weekly ema(30,weekly close)]and
[ADX Line(10) > 20.0]and
[close >= 5]

Want to narrow down this list? Change the ADX line from 20 to 30.

How to scan for a hammer candlestick pattern

Want to find stocks that have a hammer candlestick pattern for today?

[type = stock] and [country = us] and[daily ema(60,daily volume) > 300000] and
[hammer is true]and
[close >= 5]

That should get you started with writing your own scans. If you need help writing a specific scan, just send me an email and I'll help you out with it.

Have fun scanning for stocks!