RSI Scanner

Stocks that have moved far in one direction, fast. RSI compares recent up moves to recent down moves. A high reading means mostly up lately; a low reading means mostly down.

An RSI scanner sorts the market by that number so you can see the most stretched names on the timeframe you trade.

One thing to know: Trade Ideas has RSI as filters, not alerts. There is no "RSI crossed 30" alert. You filter and sort any scan by live RSI, and use the Stochastic alerts below when you want an event.

Set Daily RSI (DRSI) to a max of 30 for stocks oversold on the daily chart. For intraday, use RSI (5 min) (RSI5) or RSI (15 min) (RSI15) at a max of 30.

Oversold alone is not a reason to buy. Add Relative Volume (RV) so the stock is active, and look for a turn: a green bar reversal, a Stochastic cross up, or a reclaim of VWAP.

Set the RSI filter to a min of 70. On the daily chart, strong stocks can stay above 70 for a long time, so overbought is better read as "strong and stretched" than "about to drop."

Many traders use overbought lists to find leaders, and only short when price also breaks down.

Stochastic is another 0 to 100 reading of where price sits in its recent range. Trade Ideas has it as alerts, so you hear about the turn when it happens.

A common setup: an RSI filter at a max of 30 on the alert window, with SC20_15 turned on. You hear only about oversold stocks that are starting to turn.

1. Open a Top List (Screener) in the Web Dashboard, or an alert window in TI Pro.
2. Add the RSI filter for your timeframe, like RSI (15 min) at a max of 30.
3. Add Relative Volume, Price and Dollar Volume.
4. In TI Pro, turn on Stochastic Crossed Above 20 on the same timeframe.
5. Sort the Top List by RSI, low to high, and save both.

Pullbacks in trends. Daily RSI dipping toward 40 in a stock above its 50-day average.

Fades. Intraday RSI above 80 on a stock with no news.

Confirmation. RSI turning up alongside a MACD cross. See the MACD scanner.

Those screeners run an RSI rule on demand. Trade Ideas keeps RSI live on every stock as a filter, and Top Lists update every 15 seconds.

RSI compares the size of recent up moves to recent down moves over a set number of bars, most often 14. The result is scaled from 0 to 100.

If a stock closed higher on most recent bars, RSI is high. If it closed lower, RSI is low. It says nothing about why, and nothing about what comes next.

1 and 2 minute RSI swing between extremes many times a day; they help time an entry on a stock you already like.

5 and 15 minute RSI suit most day traders. 60 minute RSI shows the trend across the day. Daily RSI is for swing traders and investors.

A stock can be overbought on 5 minutes and oversold on the daily chart at the same time. Pick the one that matches how long you hold.

Divergence means price makes a new high but RSI does not, or the reverse at lows. Trade Ideas does not have a divergence alert. Traders approximate it by watching new high alerts on stocks whose RSI filter is under 60, a stock making new highs with weakening momentum.

RSI measures the size of up moves against down moves. Stochastic measures where today's price sits in the recent high-low range. They often agree, but Stochastic turns faster.

In Trade Ideas, RSI is a filter and Stochastic is an alert, so they fit together: RSI to choose the stocks, Stochastic to time the turn.

In a strong uptrend, RSI can stay above 70 for days and dips to 40 or 50 are the buying spots. In a downtrend, RSI can stay under 30 and bounces to 60 are where sellers return. Many traders shift their RSI levels to match the trend instead of using 30 and 70 every time.

Small, fast stocks hit extreme RSI readings often. Add Dollar Volume (DV) and Spread (Spread) so the list is tradable, and see the penny stock scanner.

1. Set RSI (15 min) to a max of 30 on an alert window with Relative Volume.
2. Turn on 15 Minute Stochastic Crossed Above 20.
3. A stock down hard this morning fires the Stochastic alert while its RSI is still low.
4. A trader using this setup might wait for a reclaim of VWAP or a green bar before acting.

Oversold on 15 minute bars

Overbought for shorts

Daily RSI pullback for swing trades

RSI tells you a state: this stock is oversold right now. A state can last hours. The Stochastic cross alerts tell you an event: it was oversold and just turned. Traders use the RSI filter to pick which stocks to watch and the Stochastic alert to know when one of them moves.

Example numbers, not a real trade

1. Daily RSI on a stock is 38 after a five day pullback. It is above its 50 day.
2. On the 15 minute chart, RSI drops to 22 at 10:30 a.m. ET.
3. At 11:00, SC20_15 fires.
4. A trader buys at $31.40 with a stop at $30.80, under the morning low.

70 and 30 are the textbook levels. On fast small caps, RSI can stay above 80 for an hour. Many traders use 80 and 20 there. On slow large caps, 65 and 35 may be the most it reaches all day.

These are starting points, not rules. Raise the bar on fast stocks and lower it on slow ones.

Divergence is when price makes a new low but RSI makes a higher low, or the reverse at a high. Trade Ideas has no divergence alert or filter, so you check this on the chart. A practical way: run the oversold window, open the chart when an alert fires, and look at the last two lows on price and on RSI. If RSI held a higher low, you have divergence.

Oversold bounce

An oversold reading on normal volume is a stock drifting lower. The same reading on Relative Volume (RV) above 2 means heavy selling, which can end in a sharp snap back or keep going. Many traders look for the volume to fade before the Stochastic trigger fires.

The RSI filter picks the stocks; the Stochastic alert on the same bar length tells you when one turns. Matching the two timeframes keeps the signal consistent.

For shorts, flip it: RSI above 70 to 80 and the Stochastic crossed below 80 alerts on the same bar length.

Example numbers, not a real trade

1. At 10:10 a.m. ET, a large cap above its 200 day is down 3.8% on a sector downgrade. 15 minute RSI reads 21.
2. It shows up in the oversold Top List: RSI15 under 25, price above the 200 day, Dollar Volume over $50 million.
3. At 10:45, the 15 minute bar closes as a hammer near $84.10, and the 15 Minute Hammer alert fires.
4. At 11:00, the 15 minute Stochastic crosses back above 20 and the alert fires. Price is $84.60.
5. Entry $84.60. Stop $83.70, under the hammer’s low. First target VWAP at $86.20, about 1.8 times the risk.
6. If price closes a 15 minute bar under $83.70 instead, the bounce failed and the trade is closed.

• The stock is oversold because of news that changes its value. RSI cannot see that.
• The whole market is selling off, so one stock’s bounce gets swamped.
• Volume is still rising on the way down, so sellers are not done.
• The entry came on the RSI reading alone, before any turn.

In a strong uptrend, RSI can stay above 70 for days. Shorting just because of the number is one of the most common RSI mistakes. Many traders use overbought readings to tighten stops on longs instead, or wait for the Stochastic cross below 80 and a break of a level such as VWAP before thinking about a short.

A stock that gaps down 8% opens with RSI already deep in oversold territory on short bars. The reading is real but tells you little, because the gap did the damage before the session began. Many traders ignore intraday RSI for the first 30 minutes on gap days, using Time Of Day (Time) with a min of 30.

An oversold reading at a level carries more weight. Pair the oversold window with Position in Previous Day's Range (RPD) at a max of 10 to see oversold stocks sitting near yesterday’s low, or with Change From 200 Day SMA (%) (MA200P) between -1 and 1 for stocks testing the 200 day.

Oversold can get more oversold. In a strong downtrend, RSI can sit under 30 for days.

1 minute RSI swings constantly. Use it for timing, not for picking.

Test your rules in a simulated account first.

• Shorting a stock only because RSI is above 70.
• Using the same levels on every timeframe.