Persons Market Catcher (PMC) Indicator

[DVB]

I'm a little late to the party here, but found the thread while trying to find a way to get the PMC (companion to PPS in Tos) in configurable code so that I could use something OTHER than the SPX as the comparitor. Specifically, I'm hoping to get a replica of the PMC (Persons Market Catcher) values where I can pass to it in a script the Sector ETF for the stocks being scanned-- the idea being to filter for the strongest stocks within the strongest sectors. Is anyone here aware of a comparable study to the PMC where I can take a crack at those mods, or if it has already been done? Many thanks in advance!

 

[MerryDay]

@DVB The majority of the TOS indicators can be edited and what you are requesting would be a simple change to the input statements.
However, ToS has locked us out of the script for the Persons Market Catcher Indicator which means it is not modifiable in any way.

 

[DVB]

Thanks, @MerryDay - I had noticed that. I was hoping that someone had found a similar way as some othersor even better, knew that it was really itself a modification of something that was already public ((like the SqueezePro or ReadyAimFire from Carter; many commercial indicators are tweaks of freely available ones) and go from there.

 

[MerryDay]

@DVB Never say never . Copyrighted code cannot be share. But there may be something out there similar...
It might help if you provide some charts and a greater explanation of what it does and how you use it.

 

[DVB]

Of course-
I'm not sure of the internal mechanics, but here's what ThinkOrSwim itself has to say:

he Persons Market Catcher (PMC) is a variation on Relative Strength Comparative Analysis of one market versus the S&P 500 on a percentage change basis. The study uses a moving average component to help identify if there is a trend developing in performance over time. Its zero line histogram component represents a market's relative strength or weakness in four stages: Outperforming, Weakening, Lagging, and Improving.

• When the histogram bar is above zero and is colored light blue, the market in study may currently be outperforming the S&P 500.
• When the histogram bar is above zero and is colored dark blue, the market in study may have outperformed the S&P 500 but has since entered the weakening stage.
• When the histogram bar is below zero and is colored bright red, the market in study may currently be lagging compared to the S&P 500.
• When the histogram bar is below zero and is colored magenta, the market in study may have been outperformed by the S&P 500 but has since entered the improving stage.

The moving average plot helps identify or confirm that a conditional trend has developed.

The PMC indicator can also be used for indentification of bearish divergence patterns. When a market makes a higher high but the indicator fails to do so, the relative performance may actually be weaker than the overall market's, so future highs are likely to be declining. Once the PMC histogram falls below zero, the market is likely to be bearish.

I'm looking to use something other than the S&P, to know how strong a stock is within its own sector or industry.

The plan is to add scans that look for (for example) stocks that are sloping up on the moving average plot relative to their home group industry and sectors, and within industry and sectors that are sloping up relative to SPX.

Linking a screenshot with the PMC (against the SPX, not changeable) on the very bottom.

 

[Jtru94]

So I figured it out. This was an indicator I was hoping to plot to tradingview at some point but had no frame of reference for what it was going for. I went to TOS’s description of it online and messed around with other relative strength indicators and their code on TV.

In short, I legitimately reverse-engineered the code in every way: the histogram, the ma, and the coloring… BY COMPLETE ACCIDENT.

I would LOVE to share it on this thread, but it is so accurate that I am worried about a copyright infringement claim. I can only give you my word that I could not find anything on the internet that claimed to have pirated the code somehow.

I even set this up so the user can input the symbol that the current symbol is relative to. By the way, the original PMC references SPY data, not SPX.

@BenTen: This is new territory for me. What do you recommend?

 

[Jtru94]

Here it is. To avoid any doubts that I did not pirate or copy the code but rather discovered the logic of the indicator, let me walk you through my process: From https://tlc.thinkorswim.com/center/reference/Tech-Indicators/studies-library/O-Q/PMC:

"The Persons Market Catcher (PMC) is a variation on Relative Strength Comparative Analysis of one market versus the S&P 500 on a percentage change basis. The study uses a moving average component to help identify if there is a trend developing in performance over time."

The phrases "percentage change basis" and "moving average component" were the keys.

I started by examining the built-in PercentChg indicator on TOS. It has built within a lookback. I decided to see if the lookback feature has anything to do with the "moving average component". So I took the number 20 (a standard number in the industry) and applied to the lookback. I then just plotted a difference in calculations between the 20-period percentage change of the symbol and the 20-period percentage change of the SPY.

It turned out to match the numbers EXACTLY. I then decided to take a gander at what the moving average on the pmc indicated. I knew it was critical to understanding the color logic, so I took an educated guess that a type of 7period average (like slow average of the PPS indicator) might be a good place to start. A 7ema of the pmc turned out to be the correct answer. I coded the coloring of the pmc accordingly, added a symbol input (for the comparison) and an aggregation input for kicks, and voila:

https://usethinkscript.com/threads/persons-market-catcher-pmc-indicator-for-thinkorswim.10538/