Open Interest stops scans from working

[BobCrandall]

I've set up several custom studies (like option volume greater than ten day average) that seem to be working fine and give me great results. But when I add in the study for Open Interest greater than average, I no longer get any results, though it appears to run.
The study I am trying to use is:
open_interest is greater than 1.2 * Average(open_interest from 1 bars ago, 10)

There was a comment in one of the forums (I think from several years ago) that indicated Open Interest was not a scannable field, but I'm not sure if that is still true or if I even read it right. I can see open interest and search for a minimum, but the minute I put the average in there I cease getting results.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Bob

 

[2187Nick]

Hey Bob.

I think it might only work only daily chart.

def one_if_true_zero_if_false = open_interest is greater than 1.2 * Average(open_interest from 1 bars ago, 10);
addlabel(yes, "one_if_true_zero_if false: " + one_if_true_zero_if_false, color.white);

 

[BobCrandall]

Interesting point, and that might work, but I'm trying to use it in a scan. It is set up to be on a daily time frame, based on the D on the right hand side of the study row. I haven't gotten to using it on a chart, and that would take all the point out of it for me because I'm looking to limit candidates, not scan through charts - I can to that in TeleCharts but it is quite tedious.
Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Joshua]

When scanning options, I believe that only the dedicated Option filter within Options Hacker actually scans options. All other filters and fields revert to scanning the underlying security, and you can't use custom studies on options, etc. I forget the exact specifics though, I haven't used this feature of TOS in over a decade, I just remember that its so bad that I stopped using it and never really gave it any more thought.

You might be able to put together a more generalized scan, add the options to a dynamic watchlist, and then use a custom column to sort for more specific criteria.

 

[BobCrandall]

Joshua,
Thanks for the input. I've gotten the option hacker to filter by option volume, which helps a lot. I'm comparing current day volume to the average of the last ten days. It is working fine - I've verified it against other sources and the numbers match.
However, when I try to do the same thing with open interest (comparing against an average), I get no symbols returned. It doesn't matter if I'm looking for greater than or less than, it just returns nothing. I'm still playing with it
I had high hopes for this approach but could not do it on TeleCharts since open interest is not a scannable field. Not sure where to go from here.
Bob

 

[MerryDay]

Joshua,
Thanks for the input. I've gotten the option hacker to filter by option volume, which helps a lot. I'm comparing current day volume to the average of the last ten days. It is working fine - I've verified it against other sources and the numbers match.
However, when I try to do the same thing with open interest (comparing against an average), I get no symbols returned. It doesn't matter if I'm looking for greater than or less than, it just returns nothing. I'm still playing with it
I had high hopes for this approach but could not do it on TeleCharts since open interest is not a scannable field. Not sure where to go from here.
Bob

It is not possible to say where you may have gone astray until you provide the Option Hacker image displaying how you are attempting to set up your option: Open Interest filter

Unsure of how to upload screenshots to the forum, Here are directions.

 

[BobCrandall]

Okay, thanks for pointing that out. Here is the upload of the link. Important parts are the two custom studies at the end of the list. First one works fine. With the second one (open interest vs average open interest) I get no results, whether the comparison is greater than or less than the average.

https://imgur.com/a/n51CQBn

Note that on the version I see here, you cannot see the studies. Hoping it comes up complete as an upload.

 

[2187Nick]

maybe try open_interest[1]

 

[MerryDay]

The ToS platform does not provide for Open Interest to be filtered in custom studies.
It can only be filtered by clicking on Options and then clicking on Open Interest.
Here is a thread that discusses the limitations of scanning option related data:
https://usethinkscript.com/threads/options-scan-hacker-in-thinkorswim.5114/page-3#post-82892

 

[BobCrandall]

Well, that accounts for it then. I'll have to approach this a different way.
Thank you for the clarification!
Bob