We provide a list of starting strategies in Trade-Ideas to help users become proficient with the software.

As we receive comments and questions it is becoming obvious to us that there is more room for us to showcase how the product works. We already have started posting additional strategies on this blog. Using our built in collaboration tool in TI Pro (“Collaborate“) it will be very easy for anyone to simply copy and paste these strategies into their TI platform.

Before we start I am going to refer to one of our MOST IMPORTANT FAQs:

Are the alert and filter conditions combined with an “and” or an “or”?

Different parts of the alert window are combined in different ways.

Each alert type is combined with an ‘or’.

If you select multiple alert types, you will see stocks matching the criteria of any one or more of the alert types. For example, if you check both the running up (confirmed) and the running down (confirmed) alert you will see all stocks which are running up or down.

The alert specific filters are each associated with only one alert type. For example you can request to see stocks only which (((are making new highs) and (these are 5 day highs)) or ((are making new lows) and (these are 10 day lows))).

The window specific filters are typically combined with an ‘and’.

For example if you set the minimum price to $5, and the maximum price to $90, you will only see stocks trading between those two prices. Read the detailed help for each filter for some exceptions and other details.

The alert types combine with the window specific filters using an and. A stock must satisfy at least one of the alert conditions and all of the window specific filter conditions for you to see it.

Some conditions are available as both alerts and filters. This gives you more options when you configure a window. For example you can use the high relative volume alert and the running up alert to see stocks meeting either criteria. Or you can use the running up alert with the min current volume filter to see stocks which meet both criteria.

You can create multiple alert
windows for completely different alert conditions. This way you can see all
stocks which match either one set of filter conditions or a different set of
filter conditions.

An alert message is always caused by a specific event, which we organize by alert type. The filters allow you to suppress alerts meeting specific criteria. For this reason you always need to specify at least one alert type, but can specify any number of additional filters. This shows one of the biggest differences between an alerts server and a stock screener: The alerts server sends a message when specific market events occur. A stock screener responds to different types of events, such as when you hit the refresh button.

In general it is not meaningful to combine two or more alert types
with an and. Alert types, unlike filters, are events which occur
instantaneously. While it is possible that two alerts will happen at exactly the
same time, this is usually coincidence. (The quickest, easiest way to see a lot
of alerts at once is when the exchange reports a really bad print.) What you
probably wanted in this case was one alert event happening or almost happening
near the same time as another alert. The window specific filters smooth out the
data, allowing you to achieve this.

Understanding this FAQ is the cornerstone of making powerful alert set ups. It will make all of the strategies we post on the blog and little easier to understand (hopefully). Remember more descriptions of the reasoning behind how set-ups are created are available by clicking on any of the HELP links here.