Well swimmers, at this point I think it’s glaringly obvious to anyone reading this that we are living through some pretty surreal times right now. Between this whole pandemic thing and the unprecedented market conditions, what we’ve been seeing can be summed up in one word.
Historic.
30 years from now you probably won’t remember where you were when this update came out, but we’re willing to bet one day you’ll be telling some young whipper snappers that hand sanitizer was 40 bucks an ounce and toilet paper was (very confusingly) a hot commodity. While we’re on that topic, feel free to hit us up if you’ve got a guy…asking for a friend.
On a more serious note, the importance of this time isn’t lost on anyone. We know that during periods of uncertainty like this, one of the most important things to our clients is fast and reliable access to their finances. With that in mind, we have spent the bulk of our time over the past couple of months building up and bulletproofing the thinkorswim system to help see to it that you have access whenever and wherever you need; both now and anytime something of this magnitude comes up in the future.
That being said, we are (for now) foregoing work on most of the bells and whistles to focus on performance.
Support/Chat Hours
That’s not to say we haven’t made some user facing improvements along the way. For example, the chat interface now has hours to make it clearer when our support team is available to answer all of your questions.
“All OTC Stocks” now in “Scan in” and “Exclude”
We’ve also added the ability to choose “All OTC Stocks” in the “Scan in” and “Exclude” drop down menus in the Scan tab.
Fibonacci Quality Tab
Something else you’ll find is the new Fibonacci Quality tab. Now, when you put a Fibonacci pattern on your chart, this handy new tab allows you to fine tune your results based off of the pattern quality. You can specify the quality parameters strength by dragging the corresponding slider. You can adjust time symmetry, price symmetry, and clarity.
- Time symmetry. Defines how closely the turning points of the pattern should follow the Fibonacci proportions in the horizontal direction. The higher the strength of this parameter, the less tolerance is applied.
- Price symmetry. Defines how closely the turning points of the pattern should follow the Fibonacci proportions in the vertical direction. The higher the strength of this parameter, the less tolerance is applied.
- Clarity. Defines the acceptable noise level in price action while the pattern is emerging. The higher the strength of this parameter, the less pronounced price moves are accepted.
To access this new tab, go to the charts tab and select Patterns>Fibonacci then select any pattern and add it. Once it's been added to the displayed patterns section of this window, click the gear icon to the right of the pattern and in the new window select the Quality tab.
Studies & Strategies
Last but not least, we’ve added a nice serving of studies and strategies for you to tinker with. So, if you’re looking for something to do during your quarantine, these should keep you busy for a while.
LeavittConvolutionAcceleration
The Leavitt Convolution Acceleration study is a technical indicator designed by Jay A. Leavitt, PhD. Based on linear regression, this indicator estimates the momentum of the projected price change.
The Leavitt Convolution study is a technical indicator designed by Jay A. Leavitt, PhD. It calculates the extrapolated price value for the upcoming bars.
The OnBalanceVolumeModified (OBVM) study is a technical indicator introduced by Vitali Apirine. It is a variation of OnBalanceVolume (OBV). In the modified version, OBV is given a smoothing (by an exponential moving average, by default). In addition, a signal line is introduced. The signal line is a slower moving average of the smoothed-out OBV.
The Reflex indicator helps reveal market data cycles. It is based on a model that regards market data as a combination of data cycles and short-term trends. In this model, trends start at a cycle peak or valley and end at the adjacent peak or valley, correspondingly. By carefully selecting the projected cycle length and analyzing the values of the Reflex indicator, one can identify the turning points as stipulated by this model.
RSMK is a technical indicator introduced by Markos Katsanos in an attempt to improve existing relative strength-based indicators. RSMK calculates the strength of a security relative to another security or index. It can be used to analyze intermarket relationships.
The Trendflex indicator is a variation of the Reflex study. It is an oscillator that helps reveal market data cycles. It is based on a model that regards market data as a combination of data cycles and short-term trends. This model is slightly different than the model used in Reflex: in Trendflex, trendlines are always horizontal, ending at the most recent peak or valley and starting above or below the previous peak or valley. By carefully selecting the projected cycle length and analyzing the values of the Trendflex indicator, one can identify the turning points as stipulated by this model.
GandalfProjectResearchSystem is a trading strategy developed by Domenico D'Errico and Giovanni Trombetta. This strategy uses such data as candle average price (ohlc4), median price, and mid-body value to spot the points of price weakness to add entry signals. Sell signals are added after a certain time or price condition is met.
RSMKStrat is a strategy introduced by Markos Katsanos. It is based on the eponymous technical indicator, which calculates the strength of a security relative to another security or index. The strategy adds a buy to open simulated order when RSMK crosses above the zero level (which signifies that the primary security starts to outperform the secondary one). This simulated order is automatically closed by an opposite simulated order after a specified number of bars elapses since the entry.
Welp, that’s it for now folks. We hope you all stay safe during these strange times and find something entertaining to do that doesn’t involve hoarding things or making homemade sanitizer.
Happy Trading,
The Support Team
thinkorswim