MonthSeptember 2020

Position Size Calculator for thinkscript

A position size calculator can help you focus on fundamental and technical analysis without getting bogged down in repetitive tasks such as determining the number of shares to buy and the resulting position size. Let me explain.

Before I enter a trade, there are a few things I always know up front: how much I am willing to risk as a percent of my equity, where my original stop will be set, and my first target to consider taking profit (full or partial).

As far as a stop, based on my research of previous chart patterns as well as my own trades, I often find that a break of a moving average is a good place to consider a stop.

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How to Use Average Daily Dollar Volume

One way to reduce volatility in your portfolio is to focus on stocks that have an average daily dollar volume of at least $20 million.

In this post I’ll show you how to calculate the average daily dollar volume and how to sort lists in MarketSmith based on the 50-day average daily dollar volume.

There is nothing magical about $20 million. What’s important to take away is that stocks with a lower average daily dollar volumes may have more volatility and are typically thinly traded.

How you choose to determine what is a good baseline, depends on your investing style and risk tolerance.

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View % Gain or Loss with Just a Click

It’s often helpful when viewing a chart to know the percent gain or loss between two bars, it could be an intraday, daily, weekly or monthly chart. In this short video I’ll show how you view that information, with just a click, in thinkorswim.

Simple stuff like this is where computers truly make our lives easier. Given MarketSmith is my go-to charting app, hopefully this feature is on the roadmap.

How Mark Minervini Uses His Trend Templates

One of the most viewed posts on this site is Custom Screens From Mark Minervini’s Trend Templates.

Given the current state of the market, this is an ideal time to revisit the trend templates. What follows are a few quotes from Mark Minervini on his thought process and how he incorporates the templates into his own research routine. The information is based on an interview with Mark that appeared in a previous edition of MarketSmith’s Q1 Stock Guide.

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