Help & Terminology - Stock Scanner

Relative Strength (RS)

What it is: Measures how a stock performs relative to the entire market over a specific time period.

How it's calculated: Percentile ranking of the stock's return vs all other stocks in the universe.

• RS 6M Percentile 85 = Stock outperformed 85% of all stocks over the last 6 months
• RS 3M Percentile 92 = Stock outperformed 92% of all stocks over the last 3 months

Best Practice: Look for RS 6M ? 80 (top 20%) and RS 3M ? 75 for high-probability setups. Rising RS3M vs RS6M indicates accelerating momentum.

Example: NVDA with RS6M: 95, RS3M: 98 ? Elite leader with accelerating momentum

Moving Averages (MA)

What they are: Average price over a specific number of days, smoothing out daily fluctuations.

• MA50 (50-day): Short-term trend support/resistance
• MA150 (150-day): Intermediate trend
• MA200 (200-day): Long-term trend, major support/resistance

Trend Strength: Ideal setup is Price > MA50 > MA150 > MA200 (all rising). This is called "proper MA stack" and indicates a healthy uptrend.

Example: Stock at $100, MA50: $95, MA150: $90, MA200: $85 ? Strong uptrend with proper support structure

Distance from 52-Week High

What it is: How far the current price is from its highest point in the last year.

• -5% = Near all-time high (potential breakout)
• -15% = Healthy pullback (buy zone)
• -30% = Deep correction (value opportunity or broken stock)

Sweet Spot: -8% to -25% is the classic "buy zone" for pullbacks in strong stocks. Too close to highs (-3%) can be risky; too far (-35%+) may indicate fundamental issues.

Example: Stock hit $150 high, now at $135 ? -10% from high (good entry point if RS is strong)

Average True Range (ATR)

What it is: Measures volatility - how much a stock typically moves each day.

• ATR % = Average daily range as percentage of price
• ATR Percentile = Current ATR compared to its own 200-day range

• Low ATR percentile (20-40) = Tight consolidation, coiled spring
• High ATR percentile (80-100) = Volatile, wide swings

Breakout Signal: ATR percentile below 40 after a pullback indicates tight consolidation. When it expands (ATR rises), it often signals a breakout.

Example: Stock with ATR 2.5% and ATR percentile 25 ? Very tight, potential explosive move coming

Volume Metrics

Dollar Volume: Price × Shares traded per day (average over 50 days)

• Higher is better for liquidity (easy entry/exit)
• Minimum $1M recommended, $3M+ preferred

Up/Down Volume Ratio: Volume on up days vs down days (50-day period)

• > 1.2 = Strong accumulation (buying pressure)
• < 0.8 = Distribution (selling pressure)
• ~1.0 = Neutral

Institutional Support: Up/Down Vol ? 1.25 indicates institutions are accumulating. This is a key confirmation signal for breakouts.

Performance Returns

• Ret 1W = Return over last 1 week
• Ret 4W = Return over last 4 weeks (1 month)
• Ret 13W = Return over last 13 weeks (3 months)

Momentum Pattern: Healthy momentum shows returns increasing over time periods: Ret13W > Ret4W > Ret1W indicates consistent strength without parabolic extension.