Bull Flag and Bear Flag Formations for ThinkorSwim

[BenTen]

Ken Rose of TD Ameritrade shared a watchlist column that shows potential bull flag and bear flag patterns being formed.

This forum version is modified to also plot bull flag signal and also bear flag signal on your chart.
To trade a flag pattern, wait for the price to break above the flag.
Set a stop loss below the lowest price of the flag.

Here is the indicator

Shareable link: http://tos.mx/c4jNKVn

# Follow @KRose_TDA on twitter for updates to this and other scripts
# Thanks to Alan Burch for emoji enhancement
# Thumbs up = potential Bull Flag - Thumbs Down potential bear flag
# To use for scan place # signs before 2 Addlabel statements.
# For Bull Flag Scan change "def" before Bulltrigger statement to "plot"
# For Bear Flag scan change "def" before BearTrigger Statement to "Plot"
#Enter desired distance of flag by changing FlagDistance value
def FlagDistance = .75; #Percent of ATR from high/low
##############Bull Flag
def StockPrice = close>=10;

##############ThinkScriptWebcast##################
def FATR = ATR();
def trigATR = (highest(high,5)-close)> (FlagDistance*FATR); #flag slopping down
def PriceSma = close>simpleMovingAvg("length"=30); #Trend still in force

##########################################
def trend = simpleMovingAvg("length"=30)> (simpleMovingAvg("length"=30)[5]);
def MacdLow = macdHistogram(8,17,9)[1]< macdHistogram(8,17,9)[2]and close[1]<close[2];
#def Momentum = macdHistogram(8,17,9) > macdHistogram(8,17,9)[1];
##############Bear Flag
def StockPriceBear = close>=10;
def trendBear = simpleMovingAvg("length"=30)< (simpleMovingAvg("length"=30)[5]);
def MacdHighBear = macdHistogram(8,17,9)[1]> macdHistogram(8,17,9)[2]and close[1]>close[2];
#########################################
##############ThinkScriptWebcast##################
def BFATR = reference ATR();
def BtrigATR = (close-lowest(low,5))> (FlagDistance*FATR); #flag slopping up
def BPriceSma = close<simpleMovingAvg("length"=30); #Trend still in force

##########################################

def Bulltrigger = trend and MacdLow and trigATR and PriceSma;
def BearTrigger = TrendBear and MacdHighBear and BtrigATR and BPriceSma  ;
############################################################

#AddLabel(yes, if Bulltrigger then "Bull Flag" else " ",Color.PLUM);
#AddLabel(yes, if Bulltrigger then "Bull Flag" else if BearTrigger then "Bear Flag" else " ",Color.black);
#AssignBackgroundColor(if Bulltrigger then color.YELLOW else if bearTrigger then color.LIGHT_RED else color.WHITE);

# Plot Confirmed Signals
plot bullish = Bulltrigger;
bullish.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.BOOLEAN_ARROW_UP);
bullish.SetDefaultColor(Color.CYAN);
bullish.SetLineWeight(1);
plot bearish = BearTrigger;
bearish.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.BOOLEAN_ARROW_DOWN);
bearish.SetDefaultColor(Color.CYAN);
bearish.SetLineWeight(1);

Watchlist

Shareable Link: https://tos.mx/6xou4xs

# Follow @KRose_TDA on twitter for updates to this and other scripts
# Thanks to Alan Burch for emoji enhancement
# Thumbs up = potential Bull Flag - Thumbs Down potential bear flag
# To use for scan place # signs before 2 Addlabel statements.
# For Bull Flag Scan change "def" before Bulltrigger statement to "plot"
# For Bear Flag scan change "def" before BearTrigger Statement to "Plot"
#Enter desired distance of flag by changing FlagDistance value
def FlagDistance = .75; #Percent of ATR from high/low
##############Bull Flag
def StockPrice = close>=10;

##############ThinkScriptWebcast##################
def FATR = ATR();
def trigATR = (highest(high,5)-close)> (FlagDistance*FATR); #flag slopping down
def PriceSma = close>simpleMovingAvg("length"=30); #Trend still in force

##########################################
def trend = simpleMovingAvg("length"=30)> (simpleMovingAvg("length"=30)[5]);
def MacdLow = macdHistogram(8,17,9)[1]< macdHistogram(8,17,9)[2]and close[1]<close[2];
#def Momentum = macdHistogram(8,17,9) > macdHistogram(8,17,9)[1];
##############Bear Flag
def StockPriceBear = close>=10;
def trendBear = simpleMovingAvg("length"=30)< (simpleMovingAvg("length"=30)[5]);
def MacdHighBear = macdHistogram(8,17,9)[1]> macdHistogram(8,17,9)[2]and close[1]>close[2];
#########################################
##############ThinkScriptWebcast##################
def BFATR = reference ATR();
def BtrigATR = (close-lowest(low,5))> (FlagDistance*FATR); #flag slopping up
def BPriceSma = close<simpleMovingAvg("length"=30); #Trend still in force

##########################################

def Bulltrigger = trend and MacdLow and trigATR and PriceSma;
def BearTrigger = TrendBear and MacdHighBear and BtrigATR and BPriceSma  ;

AssignBackgroundColor(if Bulltrigger then color.YELLOW else if bearTrigger then color.LIGHT_RED else color.WHITE);

##########################################################
AddLabel(yes, if Bulltrigger then "👍" else if BearTrigger then "👎" else " ", if BearTrigger  then Color.dark_red else if Bulltrigger then Color.dark_GREEN else Color.ORANGE);
AssignBackgroundColor(color.light_ORANGE);
############################################################

 

[Steve2286]

Anyone have a intraday flag indicator suggestion? TKS

 

[BenTen]

@Steve2286 There is already a built-in one in ThinkorSwim called IntradayFlagFormation. Here is what it looks like:

Here is the code if you're interested or you can look it up inside the Studies section and add it.

#
# TD Ameritrade IP Company, Inc. (c) 2014-2019
#

script VariableMinOffset {
    input price = close;
    input length = 0;

    plot VMin;
    if !IsNaN(price) and !IsNaN(length) {
        VMin = fold i = 0 to length with o do if GetValue(price, i) < GetValue(price, o) then i else o;
    } else {
        VMin = Double.NaN;
    }
}

script VariableLRS {
    input price = close;
    input length = 0;

    plot VLRS;
    if !IsNaN(price) and length != 1 {
        VLRS = 6 * ( ( fold i1 = 0 to length with s1 do s1 + (length - i1) * GetValue(price, i1) ) / ( (1 + length) / 2 * length ) - ( fold i2 = 0 to length with s2 do s2 + GetValue(price, i2) ) / length ) / (length - 1);
    } else if length == 1 {
        VLRS = 0;
    } else {
        VLRS = Double.NaN;
    }
}

input maxFlagLength = 15;
input maxFlagHeight = 2.5;
input maxPoleLength = 23;
input minPoleHeight = 5.5;
input upTrendLength = 70;
input minAtrPercentChange = 5.0;

Assert(maxPoleLength > 0, "'maxPoleLength' must be positive: " + maxPoleLength);

def x1 = GetMaxValueOffset(close, maxFlagLength)[2] + 2;
def x2 = x1 + 1;
def lfOffset = VariableMinOffset(close, x2);
def lf = GetValue(close, lfOffset);
def top = Max(GetValue(close, x1), GetValue(close, x1 + 1));
def atr = Average(TrueRange(high,  close,  low),  40);
def LRSX = VariableLRS(close[1], x1);
def LRSX1 = VariableLRS(close, x1);
def LRSX2;
if x1 == 2 {
    LRSX2 = LRSX2[1];
} else if x1 > 2 {
    LRSX2 = VariableLRS(close[2], x1 - 1);
} else {
    LRSX2 = Double.NaN;
}

def condition1 = top - lf < maxFlagHeight * atr and x2 > 2 and x2 <= maxFlagLength;
def condition2 =  if IsNaN(LRSX) or IsNaN(LRSX1) or IsNaN(LRSX2) then no else LRSX < 0 and (LRSX1 < 0 or LRSX2 < 0);
def y23 = VariableMinOffset(close, maxPoleLength + x2);
def bottom = GetValue(close, y23);
def pole = top - bottom;
def condition3 = pole > minPoleHeight * atr and y23 > x2;
def condition4 = bottom - Lowest(low, upTrendLength) > 0;
def condition5 = (atr / GetValue(atr, y23) - 1) * 100 > minAtrPercentChange;

plot Flag = condition1 and condition2 and condition3 and condition4 and condition5;
Flag.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.BOOLEAN_POINTS);
Flag.SetLineWeight(3);

 

[Steve2286]

tks Ben - was looking to see if there are others to try out.

 

[GetRichOrDieTrying]

Does this indicator repaint or are all of the signals shown the only signals printed?

 

[droption]

best way to see is, if it works in mobile, it probably is not repainting. But that is just my observation. It may not be true. Although all the repainting indicators dont work on mobile

 

[BenTen]

@GetRichOrDieTrying I don’t think it repaint.

 

[Buckbull]

This is by far the best strategy ive come across in a long time .Made $7000 last week off this being in my watch list ! Thanks for posting !

 

[Buckbull]

@BenTen Is there a way to Put this into a scan and specify that the Stochrsi on the 1 hr chart be below 20 or above 80 . What i do is I am looking at the 1 hr to make an entry to go long So If a stock fired a bull flag I would want the 1 hr stochrsi to be in oversold territory to make an entry and if the bear flag fired off I would want the 1 hr Stochrsi to be in Overbrought territory . Hope you can help . Thanks

 

[BenTen]

@Buckbull Just fire up the Scanner and follow this similar process.

If you need additional help, see this thread: https://usethinkscript.com/threads/how-to-use-the-tos-scanner.284/

 

[Billions]

This is by far the best strategy ive come across in a long time .Made $7000 last week off this being in my watch list ! Thanks for posting !

@Buckbull what timeframe are you using it on? and when I set up my indicator on the watchlist what timeframe? Thanks!

 

[NataUA]

Hello, what is the best time frame for the scan? Yesterday (11/11/19) SQ was shown as Bullish and today it is down, MCD was shown as bearish and today it is up. Any suggestions?

 

[Buckbull]

@Buckbull what timeframe are you using it on? and when I set up my indicator on the watchlist what timeframe? Thanks!

The Daily on both

 

[Buckbull]

I put it in a watch list https://tos.mx/Nn4Oje1 criteria $20.00 stock with a volume at or above 250,000. then I add the Bullflag Bearflag into my watchlist . I just go through the watchlist seeing where the MA's are and where the candle is in relation to the BB whether they are pointed up, down or flat . Thats what dictates if I get into trade or not

 

[NataUA]

I put it in a watch list https://tos.mx/Nn4Oje1 criteria $20.00 stock with a volume at or above 250,000. then I add the Bullflag Bearflag into my watchlist . I just go through the watchlist seeing where the MA's are and where the candle is in relation to the BB whether they are pointed up, down or flat . Thats what dictates if I get into trade or not

Sorry for the dumb question- what is BB -Bollinger Band or something else?

 

[Buckbull]

Sorry for the dumb question- what is BB -Bollinger Band or something else?

Yes Bollinger Bands they act as a rubber band stocks majority of the time dont like being outside of them

 

[Billions]

I put it in a watch list https://tos.mx/Nn4Oje1 criteria $20.00 stock with a volume at or above 250,000. then I add the Bullflag Bearflag into my watchlist . I just go through the watchlist seeing where the MA's are and where the candle is in relation to the BB whether they are pointed up, down or flat . Thats what dictates if I get into trade or not

Great Thanks

 

[BenTen]

@Buckbull I still don’t understand what you’re trying to do. Based on the screenshot you sent, that’s not you how setup the scanner.

 

[Buckbull]

OK now that i figured it out I want something like this. on the Daily i want the scan to alert me when the bear flag is done and i would like the rsi to be overbrought on the 1 hr . But im not sure if im telling the rsi the right thing . Not sure what all the center column stuff means , for example (true ,false , crosses below,crosses above all of that .

 

[BenTen]

@Buckbull Glad you’re on the right track.

The daily scanner looks correct. Its looking for bear flag signal on the current bar of the daily chart. The RSI doesn’t seem correct though. Adjust it to RSI crosses below Overbought.