Bulkowski's Pattern Recognition Software

Common Patternz Problems? 

• Main Form
• Candles Form
• Chart Form
• Chart Pattern Indicator Form
• Fib Finder Form
• File Format Form
• List Form
• Patterns Form
• Relative Strength Form
• Score Form, Manual
• Setup Form
• Splits & Dividends Form
• Update Form

Patternz is a Windows based program that automatically finds chart patterns. It has these features.

• Finds 65 chart patterns (see Patterns Form). New in version 7 (up from 32)
• Improved pattern recognition algorithms in version 7.
• Finds 105 candlestick patterns (see Candles Form)
• The Fib Finder locates Fibonacci retraces and extensions, new to version 6.8.
• The Fix Split form corrects data for splits, new to version 6.8.
• Has a manual scoring form which supports 45 chart patterns, new to version 6.6.
• A relative strength form provides help for momentum traders. New to version 6.3
• Supports 5 quote services as of version 6.3
• Has a split/divs form to show stock splits and dividends, as of version 6.1.
• Version 6.0 (and more recent) is easier to use than prior versions.
• Supports multiple portfolios, new to version 5.9
• Has the chart pattern indicator, new to version 5.8
• Built-in downloader so you can update quote information from this program, new to version 5.4.
• The Chart Form reports this information for chart patterns.
• Target information (target, stop loss, ultimate high/low, confirmation line), new to version 7
• Name of the chart pattern, highlighted in red when selected
• Pattern start and end dates
• Breakout direction and breakout date
• Price target (based on the height of the pattern) and percentage move
• Volatility stop price and percentage move as of the day before the breakout
• Trade status (the date and price when the stock hit the price target or stop)
• Right mouse clicking shows the price information for the price bar.
• Right mouse button down and drag draws a trendline
• Left mouse button down shows crosshairs
• The Chart Form reports this information for candlestick patterns.
• Name of the candlestick
• Candle start and end dates
• How the candle typically performs (such as a "bullish reversal 53% of the time")
• The List Form reports the same information as described above but also includes the ultimate high and low dates and prices. See the glossary for definitions.
• List form finds and lists chart and candlestick patterns for use by Excel and other programs.
• Tool tips (hover mouse over a control) and help buttons provide instant help. No need to dig through an instruction manual.
• Adware and spyware free
• It's FREE with no registration.

Patternz Release Notes, Old Versions

• Version 7.2 5/14/2018
• Fixed a crash on the list form.
• Fixed a crash on the CPI form.
• Added measured moves, up and down, and removed 8 other patterns where trademarks might be an issue.
• Version 7.1 4/22/2018
• This version is unavailable for download.
• This version fixes bugs introduced in version 7.0, like duplicate quotes after updating on Sunday and crashing when charting.
• Version 7.0 4/18/2018
• This version is unavailable for download.
• Fixed bug in list form where the stop button wasn't working.
• Fixed a bug on the list form where 3 black crows wouldn't appear if identical three crows were selected.
• Added number of Nr7s waiting for breakout on the CPI form. The numbers appear on the clipboard after a run completes.
• I added 47 new patterns (71 total). See the Patterns Form
• Bug fix: I changed the update form to save the files without limiting decimal places. That allows you to change the number of decimals charted without having to update the files first.
• I tweaked the pattern recognition routines for many of the chart patterns. They display better.
• I added best performing, top 10 reversals and continuations to candlestick form for your viewing pleasure.
• I added targeting information to the Chart and List forms. See the Setup button on the Chart Form.
• Version 6.9 1/8/2018
• I made a change to the CPI form so that the red and green candles will appear like they used to.
• Please note: Version 6.8 and 6.9 allow you to change candle colors from what used to be red/green (on any chart) to the new default of black/white. Go to the Chart Form, Setup button, and select the colors of your choice there.
• Version 6.8 1/5/2018
• I added a setup option to ignore/chart-anyway stock quotes with 0 volume.
• Added the Fix Split form to adjust the quote data for splits.
• Added 3 month average volume to list form.
• Added a charting feature to the list form.
• Added Fibonacci retrace and extensions to chart form.
• Added Fibonacci finder to the main form. It'll find retraces and extensions in your stocks.
• Fixed google quotes so update form is working again
• Analyze Form has been removed because yahoo doesn't support it any more.
• Made the charts look better. You can select your colors for many chart features.
• Version 6.7 10/19/2017
• I released this version because two people have said they couldn't install version 6.6. It installed on my machine...
• Fixed bug in update form but which won't update upper case symbols.
• Fixed crash because of clipboard busy.
• Fixed divide by 0 bugs



• Version 6.6 10/2/2017
• I added a manual scoring system form.
• I added a auto-retry feature for the update form so quotes not updated by one provider might be caught by another.
• I updated the help forms.
• I removed split adjustment from stocks downloaded manually from yahoo. They now appear to adjust for dividends only, not splits.
• Fixed the code to limit the amount of quote information returned when google (and others) return more than asked.
• Version 6.5 9/1/2017
• I added the closing price to the list and score forms.
• Fixed the use of decimals for international users. Your commas (as decimals) will be periods, but at least the program shouldn't crash.
• Version 6.4 8/21/2017
• I found a bug in the Relative Strength Form which this version corrects.
• Version 6.3 8/21/2017
• Added Relative Strength Form to show how stocks perform against one another.
• Added yahoo back as a quote provider.
• Added Alpha Vantage as a quote provider.
• Fixed a bug with volume. I was taking the average volume for the week/month scale when I believe it should be a sum for the periods.
• Fixed other assorted bugs along the way, and moved some controls around to make them consistent from form to form.
• Version 6.2 8/7/2017
• Found a bug in pattern recognition for double bottoms, with the help of Serge P.
• Version 6.1 8/4/2017
• I added a scoring system form, splits/dividends form, and fixed bugs.
• Version 6 7/14/2017
• I reworked the program to make it easier to use. The File Format form is no longer needed. Simply go to the Update form and use one of the quote providers to download your stock symbols. With this version, you can change from one quote provider to another without having to replace your quote files.
• For users with older versions of Patternz, you MUST use the "Get historical quotes" radio button on the update form to replace existing files. You only need to do this once. I suggest limiting the file length to 2 years of data. That keeps the load and processing times short.



• Version 5.26 6/14/2017
• I updated the help screens and added code to remove repetitive messages when things go wrong (List and Indicator forms).
• Yahoo quotes have a bug where the quotes are not adjusted for dividends. Thus, the close will be below the day's low and the chart will be wrong. Fixed in next release. Use google/quandl quotes instead.
• Version 5.25 6/9/2017
• Support for Yahoo quotes included.
• I still need to change the help screens on the File Format and Update forms. I'll do this in the next release, probably Monday, 6/12.
• Version 5.24 6/6/2017
• Fixes a bug with List, where it would ignore dates.
• Yahoo quotes are still broke.
• Version 5.23 6/6/2017
• Fixed bugs introduced in version 5.22 related to uninitialized variables.
• Fixed the appearance of a big red X on the indicator chart after clicking Browse.
• Yahoo quotes are still broke.
• Version 5.22 5/30/2017
• Fixed a bug so that symbols can include colons (helpful for google quotes).
• Added support for Quandl quote service.
• Yahoo quotes are still broke.
• Version 5.21 5/22/2017
• Fixed a bug which used the 'from' year as the 'to' year on the update form for google quotes.
• Version 5.20 2/27/2017
• Fixed a problem of not confirming a chart pattern if confirmation occurred on the most recent day.
• Added support for OHLC charts, after request.
• Version 5.19 2/13/2017
• Using the symbol text box on the chart form crashes the program. It's been fixed.
• Added explanatory information about the columns to the List form when using the clipboard.
• I changed the Main Form's list box search to find symbols easier.
• Version 5.18 1/25/2017
• Marco found a bug in the indicator form when using two portfolios. This release fixes that bug.
• Version 5.17 1/20/2017
• The bug fix in 5.16 version didn't work. I changed the code and hope it'll work for both US and international use.
• Version 5.16 1/19/2017
• Fixed a bug with unusual date formats that prevented the program from charting.
• Version 5.15 1/3/2017
• Added charting options to the indicator form
• Added support for a moving average
• Fixed a few bugs with high and tight flags.
• Version 5.14 12/12/2016
• More bug fixes related to the date.
• I added daily/week/month selection for charts
• I added four new chart patterns: horns tops/bottoms and pipes tops/bottoms
• Tuned pattern recognition more.
• Version 5.13 12/12/2016
• I fixed a bug in historical quotes updating, introduced in version 5.12. Sigh.
• Version 5.12 12/12/2016
• I fixed two bugs, one of which prevented version 5.11 from working properly.



• Version 5.11 12/9/2016
• I added a skip check box. Check this when finding chart patterns, and the program will automatically skip to the next file showing a chart pattern. Way cool.
• This version is faster, but you probably won't notice.
• I fixed bugs with identifying candlesticks (quite a few).
• I improved the chart pattern recognition algorithms.
• I added support for intraday files (pattern recognition, charting). You'll have to provide your own data, though.
• The program choked on two digit years. That's been fixed.
• If your quote files have a date format other than mm/dd/yyyy, the program probably wouldn't work. That's been fixed.
• I corrected a bug in the Analyze form related to symbols with a period in them.
• Version 5.10 11/3/2016
• I restored the split adjustment of volume because I found a source that adjusted it, too.
• I fixed bugs with the chart pattern indicator (it works now) and update (to handle symbol filename extensions with two periods).
• Version 5.9 10/28/2016
• I added support for portfolios.
• I fixed lots of bugs related to large stock files (long load times) and intraday files. However, pattern recognition will NOT work with intraday files. I hope to fix this in the next release.
• Version 5.8 10/14/2016
• I added the chart pattern indicator, miscellaneous bug fixes, and improvements.
• Version 5.7 9/27/2016
• I added an Analyze form for fundamental analysis of stocks.
• Version 5.6 9/23/2016
• This should fix the problem with version 5.4. It's more robust, too, but use notebook or excel after about a week's worth of use to check your data files. Make sure the dates are in ascending or descending order and nothing looks corrupted. If corrupted, send the file to me and use the "Get historical quotes" option to replace your files.
• This version has a change when using "Get historical quotes" on the Update Form. Versions 5.4 and 5.5 only updated symbols in the symbol text box OR the list box, but not both (and in that order). Version 5.6 will do both.
• Version 5.5 9/21/2016
• This version is the temporary fix for version 5.4. If you downloaded version 5.4, replace it with v 5.5.
• Version 5.4 9/16/2016
• I removed this version because of a bug on the Update form.
• Has a quote downloader built into the program.
• Miscellaneous bug fixes, making the program more robust.
• Version 5.3 8/29/2016
• Finds rectangle tops and bottoms.
• Finds ascending and descending broadening wedges.
• Version 5.2 8/9/2016
• Added candlestick support.
• Version 5.1 8/1/2016
• Numerous bug fixes. I discovered that some triangles will cause a divide by 0 error when charting. Plus, the information in the grid (breakout date, direction, targets and so on) could be wrong. I split adjusted volume and no one else appears to do that. This version corrected that. I added a LIST feature, so you can get details on chart patterns and copy them to Excel or other program for analysis.
• Version 5.0, 7/20/2016
• Initial release. Not for international use (but you can try it. See Installation Instructions for more information).
• This version may not install properly (one user of windows 10 had a problem). Try a more recent version if you have a problem.

Patternz: Known Bugs

As of version 7, 4/18/18: On the List Chart Form, some chart patterns may not be displayed. I researched this for several hours before giving up. It's a problem with how trendlines are selected. If you want to see the pattern, try adjusting the end date by a month or so (shorter or longer) and clicking Graph. It should appear, if not, pick another end date. I don't intend to fix this because it's not a big problem and would require a replacement of a key routine affecting too many patterns.

Patternz: Installation Instructions

Follow these instructions to install Patternz.

1. Use the control panel to uninstall any old versions of Patternz.
2. Download Patternz to your machine by clicking the link at the top of this page (See Download Now).
3. Extract all files from the compressed folder and put them in a location of your choice. Note: MMM.csv is a sample data file containing stock quote information that Patternz can read.
4. Run setup.exe.
5. Once installation completes, there should be a Patternz short cut on your desktop. Click that to run the program.

Versions 5.x (and more recent) of Patternz should work with Windows 7 and more recent operating systems. Patternz works on computers with a minimum screen size of 1024 x 768.

This version works best in the United States and for countries that use a similar date format. If your country has a different way of treating numbers (instead of 43.57, it's 43,57 for example) or if your country trades on the weekend (Saturday or Sunday), then it might not work. Try it and see.

If you still want to use it despite a different format, then find the International settings ("Clock, Language, and Region") in the control panel and set your Formats (tab) and Location (tab) to the United States. You'll need both the format and location.

Using Patternz the First Time

To use Patternz the first time, follow these instructions.

1. The first time you run Patternz, a license form will appear. Read the form and click that you accept or reject the terms. Click the Done button.
2. If you accept the terms, a message box appears that talks about the stock data files. Click OK.
3. The Browse For Folder dialog box appears. Select the location where you have placed your stock quote files or where you intend to place them. Let's call the location you select the Patternz Folder.
4. Move the MMM.csv file from the extracted folder (see Installation Instructions above) to the Patternz folder. The MMM.csv file contains sample stock data which Patternz can use to find chart patterns. You do NOT have to move the file, but it's helpful if Patternz has at least one stock file to use.
5. After you click OK from the Browse For Folder, the Main Form appears. If you have stock data files, they will appear in the list box. If you HAVE data files but they do not appear in the list, then click the Browse Portfolio Location button to locate your data files. Only files with .csv or .txt extensions will appear in the list. If you moved MMM.csv to the Patternz folder, it should be listed. Metastock, Mt4, or other file types are not supported.
6. If you do NOT have any stock data files, then click Update and read the instructions (below) for that form to download quote files.
7. Return to the Main Form.
8. Select a stock symbol listed and click Chart. Patternz will read the file and display it with patterns highlighted on the Chart Form.

Can't Install

Some machines may not allow the installation of Patternz. First, install the program after logging in as the administrator. Then pray. Also, your virus check may take a long time (a minute) before asking if you really want to install Patternz. We're not sure why some machines won't allow installation, but suspect it's a permissions (login as administrator) problem.

Check the zip file and see if there's a Patternz.exe file there. If so, copy that to your hard drive and see if it'll run. That skips the install process.

Update Form: No Internet Access

If you are using the Update Form to get quotes and it reports that the internet may be unavailable, then check your anti-virus/security software. It may be blocking Patternz's access to the internet.

Update Form: Cannot Download Anything

You have internet access and you've tried all of the quote providers, but still Patternz won't download anything. One user had that problem. Delete Patternz from the registry by following the steps here.

Update Form: Update Errors

If Patternz cannot update a quote file, it is placed in the Retry list box. Select another quote provider, click Retry, and see if you can download the symbol.

If you are downloading a lot of files (such as most of the market), be aware that stock symbols change from time to time. It's possible that you'll need to change or delete the stock symbol.

To change a symbol, on the Update or Main Forms, click the symbol you wish to change and click F2 on your keyboard. Change the symbol's name and click OK.

To delete a symbol, on the Update or Main Forms, click the symbol and press Delete on your keyboard and then click OK. WARNING: This will delete the associated symbol file.

Chart Form: Quote Errors

The program will check for bad quotes, such as the high price being reported as below the low price or the opening price is zero. It counts these errors and reports them on the clipboard. So if you are using the Chart Form, for example, and see quote errors, paste the clipboard information into notepad.exe or other program and read what it says.

If you see a lot of quote errors, then that's a symptom of a corrupt file. See Step 2.

It's also possible that you have received bad quote information. The quote providers (Google, yahoo, and so on) distribute incorrect quote data from time to time, so seeing quote errors is not unusual. You may wish to select another quote provider and use the 'Get historical quotes' option to replace your quote files. See Step 2.

Chart Form: Chart Looks Wrong

1. If you chart a symbol and the chart looks incorrect (you can use Bigcharts.com or another online source to compare charts), then the symbol file(s) might be corrupt. This can happen if you didn't replace your quote files when switching to a new version from one before 6.0.

2. To replace bad or corrupted quote files, go to the Update form, click Select All (to highlight all quote files), click 'Get historical quotes', fill in the 'From' and 'To' dates (a two-year span works well. Longer files can slow the program) and then click Start*. The files will be replaced.

*Make sure you replace all quote files. If you have multiple portfolios, then click 'Update All Portfolios' instead of Start.

3. If you see lots of quote errors, then that's another symptom of a corrupt file. See the prior step to replace your quote files. However, read Quote Errors first.

General

• Remove any .txt or .csv files from the folder where your quote files reside. For example, if you have the 'READ ME.txt' file left over from installation in the folder where you keep the symbol files, then either move or remove that txt file. Otherwise, the program will think it's a symbol and try to use it, causing an error.
• Most users can use the Update Form now without any need to use the File Format Form. If you provide your own quote files (such as csv (ASCII) files through Metastock) then use the File Format Form to setup the symbol file configuration. Do NOT use the Update form.

  For everyone else, use the Update Form and do NOT use the File Format Form.

  Switching from using the File Format Form to the Update Form, or the reverse (Update to File Format), will likely cause problems or even a crash.

Help

Most forms have a Help button, so click that and read the information.

Take the Tour and learn about the program's features.

When All Else Fails

If nothing else works, delete Patternz from the registry and run the program again. To do that, follow these steps.

1. Run Patternz and go to the Main Form (the first form that loads)
2. Click the Help MENU option
3. Click Remove Patternz
4. Click Delete Patternz from Registry
5. Click Yes
6. Exit the program and then run it again. See if that corrects the problem.

Once Patternz is setup, select stock files you wish to view and click the Chart button to view them.

• Depressing the left mouse button will show crosshairs as long as the button is pressed.
• Right clicking on a price or volume bar will show price or volume information for that date. The price information will be adjusted for splits and dividends but not the volume bars.
• Right clicking the white area (that is, NOT on a price or volume bar) and dragging the mouse will draw a trendline until you release the button or go off the chart. Cool, huh?
• Pressing the + or - keys in the number pad area (not the area where $ % ^ and such are located) of your keyboard will load the next (+) or previous (-) stock file.

On the Main and Update Forms, highlight a stock symbol in the list box. Press the Delete key to remove both the symbol and the associated stock file from your computer. Press F2 to rename a symbol.

The picture on the right shows the Main Form of Patternz as of version 7.2

The white area (1) lists your stock quote files. Each file contains quote information about ONE stock that the program uses. You must provide the stock symbols of your choice.

The Browse Portfolio Location button at 2 helps locate data files shown in 1. The selected path appears at 5 (but it's not shown because I selected some files).

The menu bar (3) shows:

• Exit to quit the program.
• Analyze for fundamental analysis. Note: This was removed as of version 7 because yahoo stopped supporting fundamental information.
• Candles selects candlesticks you wish to find.
• Fib: Fibonacci finder (retraces and extensions).
• File Format to setup the format of your data files (needed only for advanced users).
• Manual Score to manually score a chart pattern for performance.
• Patterns selects chart patterns you wish to find.
• Rel Strength (relative strength) helps you select stocks with increasing momentum.
• Splits/Divs gives information on stock splits and dividends.
• Fix Split: Corrects any bogus splits.
• Help contains additional information about the program, reviewing the license, main form help, and removing the program.

When checkbox 6 is checked, the portfolio feature (4) appears. This allows you to setup multiple portfolios to contain different stock symbols (quote files). Click the Help button (7) for more information.

The buttons below 2 (clockwise from left): Indicator runs the chart pattern indicator, Score (automated scoring, removed from version 7 because of yahoo lack of support. Use manual scoring instead) helps select the best performing chart patterns, Select All highlights all files listed in 1, Chart the files, List found patterns, and Update stock quote data.

After highlighting stock quote symbols in 1, the buttons below 2 will ungray as will menu items.

Patternz: Fib Finder Form

The Fib Finder Form is new to version 6.8. It allows you to search files for Fibonacci retraces and extensions.

Access this form after selecting files you wish to search on the Main Form. That will ungray the menu item and clicking on the item will take you to this form.

Click the Help button on the form for specific instructions.

Patternz: File Format Form

NOTE: This form is no longer needed. Ignore it. I show it here only for advance users, ones not using the Update Form to update their quote files.

Shown on the right is a reduced version of the File Format Form as of version 6.5.

Access this form from the Main Form (See File Format menu option).

This form allows you to tell Patternz which quote items appear first, second, and so on, in your data files.

The form provides a small chart (1) to see if your configuration is charting properly, a list of files to chart (2), sample file contents (3), a grid of file information (4), and an area to configure your data files (5, 6).

Keep in mind that each file MUST have the same format. So if you change quote providers, you should also replace ALL of your quote files. Failure to do so will likely cause errors in Patternz operation.

For detailed help with this form, click the Help button on the form.

To use this form, setup the column order by checking the appropriate check box in 5 and assigning the column number matching the order shown in 3. Adjust the date format (6) to match that shown in 3. When you're finished, click Graph and the results will appear in 1 and 4.

For example, the first line of 3 shows that the date comes first, so the Column Order's Date text box (5) has a 1 in it. The next column in 3 shows the opening price. In 5, check the Open check box and enter a 2 in the Open text box. Similarly, continue assigning a column to each of the items in 5 matching those in 3. If 3 has a column not matching a control in 5, then be sure to adjust the column order appropriately.

For example, say the first line of 3 shows: "Date,Split Factor,High,Low,Close,Dividends." In 5, set Date to column 1, High to column 3 (not 2, because Split Factor appears in column 2), Low to column 4, and Close to column 5. All other check boxes should be unchecked and the associated text boxes should have a 0 column number (0 means unused).

You would ignore both Split Factor and Dividends in 3 because there is no matching control in 5.

Patternz: Candles Form

Full candlestick support appears starting in version 5.2. The above form shows the number of candlestick patterns supported (105) as of version 7.0.

On the Chart Form, hovering over a price bar will cause Patternz to run candlestick recognition. The results of what it finds appears on the form. The List Form will report candlesticks found on the specified date range, too, in list format. Both of those forms depend on this form to identify which candlesticks you wish to search for.

New to version 7 is the Top 10 buttons in the bottom center of the form.

The Reversal button checks the ten candlestick patterns that indicate a reversal most often. A reversal occurs when price breaks out on the same side as it entered the candle. For example, a reversal occurs when price enters a candle pattern from the bottom and breaks out downward (that's a reversal from trending up to down). A high reversal rate says nothing about the strength of the trend which follows.

The Continuations button checks the ten candlestick patterns in which the outbound trend direction matches the price trend preceding the candle most often. For example, if price rises into a candle pattern and breaks out upward, then the candle acts as a continuation of the upward price trend. A candle with a high continuation rate says nothing about how long the post-breakout trend will last.

The Best Performing button shows the top ten candle patterns that performed best over time (the largest gain or loss after the breakout).

Be aware that just because a candle shows a reversal or continuation most often doesn't mean a tradeable trend results. Reversal or continuation reflect a change (or not) of the inbound price trend versus the breakout direction.

Use

Choose the breakout direction you're interested in (up or down) then choose one of the Reversals, Continuations, or Best Performing buttons. Clicking one of those will check ten candles.

If you click more than one of those three buttons, additional candles will be checked (some may be duplicated) without the prior selections being removed. For example, if a northern doji is the best reversal and the southern doji is the best continuation, clicking Reversals will check the northern doji and clicking Continuations will check the southern doji, so BOTH candles will be checked.

If you wish to see only one set of top 10 candles, then click the Clear button first before clicking Reversals, Continuations, or Best Performing.

Patternz: Patterns Form

Pictured above is the Patterns form, as of version 7.0. This version supports double the number of chart patterns than prior versions. Patterns shown grayed here have not been implemented and may never be implemented. However, version 7.2 supports measured move up and down, which appear grayed in this picture.

This form allows you to select the chart patterns you wish to view. You can access this form from the Main Form, Chart Form, or List Form.

Checking the associated chart pattern means Patternz will search for that pattern in your data files.

The controls are self-explanatory, but you can hover your mouse over the buttons for specific help. Also note that some of the patterns have a button associated with them (question mark button for gaps and three-bar, or the Wolfe wave button). Click those for important information.

Patternz: Chart Form

Pictured above is a reduced version of the Chart Form as of version 7.0. Patternz charts your stock data and searches for chart patterns and candlesticks.

Shown (1) is a Big W chart pattern it found in Alcoa (AA) stock.

Along the bottom left of the form appears a grid (2) which displays information about each chart pattern (expanding the form to full size reveals more of the grid). When you click on a chart pattern shown in the grid and the Targets (4) check box is checked, targets appear for that pattern (not all patterns, though, and some targets are off screen, too). You can see the targets for this chart pattern in the figure (Ultimate high, Target, blue confirmation line and Stop).

You can control which targets appear using the Setup button.

To the right of the grid is where candlestick information appears (3) when you hover the mouse over an identified candlestick.

Most of the controls at 4 are self-explanatory except for these.

• Check or uncheck the Strict checkbox to find patterns and candlesticks using strict or loose rules.
• The Skip check box will skip any chart not finding a pattern you're looking for. For example, suppose you wish to view all double bottoms in 400 stocks. On the Patterns form (click the Patterns button), select double bottoms (ONLY) and return to the chart form. Check the Skip check box. Click the next button (>) to view the next chart which shows a double bottom. The program will automatically skip charts in which double bottoms do not appear. This feature allows you to fly through the charts, stopping only at patterns of interest. You may wish to run the scan again after toggling the state of the Strict check box (run through the stocks with Strict checked and another scan with it unchecked). This feature supports more than one chart pattern, so if you want to stop only on double bottoms and triple bottoms, then select only those two on the Patterns form and follow the above procedure.
• Use the Symbol text box to chart a specific symbol. Note: You must have data for that symbol already available.
• Finding and Loading are progress bars for finding patterns and loading stock symbols. If you select a lot of patterns (from the Patterns form), the progress bars may not update and it can take several minutes to show a chart. Be patient and select fewer patterns next time (like avoid all small patterns).
• Use the Fib button to chart Fibonacci retracements and extensions.
• The Setup button allows you to change the behavior of the program, including adding a moving average, changing colors of the candlesticks or chart background, and so on.
• Click the Portfolio button to change to another portfolio.

Patternz: List Form

The picture shows the List Form (as of version 7.1).

From the main menu, select the stock symbols you wish to search and then click the List button. The List Form appears.

After you click the Start button, the program will load each file and search for chart patterns and candlesticks. If it finds any, they will appear in the list, similar to that shown.

The Graph button will chart the selected (highlight the ones you wish to review in the list box) list box entries.

You can sort the list by clicking the list box header labels (Stocks, Last Close, Pattern Description and so on).

Click the Help button on the form for additional help.

Patternz: Update Form

WARNING: The first time I ran this version, it appeared to hang my machine. About 2 minutes after running the thing, my virus software popped up and said Patternz was trying to access the internet. Duh. I approved the access and it's worked fine since.

The picture shows the Update Form, as of version 6.6

From the main menu, click the Update button to get here. The Update Form appears.

Here are brief descriptions of the controls.

1. This is where your stock (symbol) files, if any, will appear. Highlight the files you wish to update and click Start (7).
2. Start from last update: This option updates your quote files starting from the day after the last quote. If the markets are open, updating ends with the prior day. If the markets are closed and data is available, the current day's quotes are included. Thus, you should wait a few hours for end of day data to be available.

Get historical quotes: This option replaces your quote files with new data. Specify the date range (6), any new symbols (5), and click Start (7). Use this option to keep your quote files short. I recommend 2 years of data which will keep load and processing speed tolerable.

3. Select your quote provider. The ? buttons provide more information about some providers.
4. API key/Token: Some quote providers need an API key or token. Paste the token in the box provided (it will not be grayed for those services requiring a token, so click Alpha Vantage, Quandl, or Tiingo (3) first). If you are using Quandl, select the database (Quandl DB) you wish to use. WIKI is for US stocks.
5. For historical quotes files only, enter a list of new symbols (5) you wish added to the list box (1). Separate each symbol with a space. If the text box is grayed, then click the Get historical quotes radio button.
6. For historical quotes only, enter the start and end dates of the historical data you wish to download. To keep the program working fast, I suggest a maximum of about two years of data.
7. The Update All Portfolios button updates stocks in each portfolio automatically. The Browse button allows you to find existing quote files. The Stop button halts a download. The Start button begins a download. Select All highlights files shown in the list box (1). Help provides help for the form (as does hovering the mouse over a control). The Done button returns the program to the Main Form.
8. This is the retry list box, new to version 6. If a symbol is not updated by a quote provider, it will be placed here. Select a new quote provider, highlight the symbols in the retry list box you'd like updated, and click the Retry (3) button. The highlighted symbols will be sent to the new quote provider for update. Continue this procedure until all symbols in the retry list box have been removed. Note: if an unusual number of symbols appear in the retry list box, then it's possible that the day's quotes are not available by the quote provider. Sometimes, it'll take until the next day for quote information to become available.

   New to version 6.6 is the Auto retry check box (also located near 3). Checking this will instruct the program to automatically retry the various quote providers should any quote files still need updating. It works best if you have provided tokens for the various quote providers otherwise they will be skipped.

9. Error messages appear here.

Patternz: Chart Pattern Indicator

The picture shows the Chart Pattern Indicator Form as of version 7.1.

From the main menu, highlight the files you wish to include in the indicator analysis. The index file you choose later (see 2 below) will be excluded from the analysis automatically. Often you can just click the Select All button on the main form to highlight all files.

Click the Indicator button on the Main form to take you to this form.

1. This is where the program draws the index (candlestick chart) and chart pattern indicator (the long, vertical, red (bearish signal) and green (bullish signal) bars plus the wavy blue line, which is the indicator).

2. Controls:

• Specify the from and to dates that you wish to examine.
• The radio buttons give charting options, such as show when a signal changes from red to green (or green to red), show all signals, or don't show signals.
• Enter the symbol for the index of your choice in the Index text box (or use the Browse button to find it). This should be a leading market index of the country where you get your symbol data (for example, use symbols for the Dow industrials or S&P 500 composite for United States data).
• Help shows a help form.
• Stop halts the computation of the indicator
• Start begins the analysis.
• Done returns you to the Main Form.

For more information on the indicator and what it means, see: http://thepatternsite.com/CPIUpdate.html

Patternz: Splits and Dividends Form

This form is new to version 6.1. Access the form by clicking the Splits/Divs menu option on the Main Form. The form shows stock splits and dividends for the securities you choose.

• 1. This is the help section.
• 2. Stock files are listed here. Select those you wish to find splits or dividends.
• 3. Results are shown here.
• 4. Select a quote provider.
• 5. Select splits, dividends, or both.
• 6. For a symbol not listed in 2, enter the symbol name here. It need not be a member of the portfolio.
• 7. You may need an API key or token to access the provider (4). Enter the token here. See the associated quote provider for a token/key.
• 8. Most of the buttons are self explanatory. Browse allows you to find the portfolio where stock files reside. Click Portfolio to easily switch from one portfolio to another.

Patternz: Setup Form

As of version 7.0, this is the Setup Form which you can access from the Chart Form by clicking the Setup button.

1. Select either a candlestick or open-high-low-close bar chart.
2. These define aspects of the chart's colors. Click one of the five buttons to select a new color (even the black buttons say "Pick", although you can't see it) or Restore Defaults to return the color settings to the factory presets.
3. This limits the number of decimals shown. For currencies, you may wish to change the 2 to a 4 or another value.
4. Check the box to show a moving average. When checked, the controls appear where you can select the type of moving average and the length.
5. This tells Patternz what to do with quotes which have no volume. Many times, 0 volume is a quote error, but not for mutual funds and maybe other security types. You may wish to chart (or not) quotes with 0 volume days.
6. For gap patterns, this sets the minimum size used to detect a gap.
7. A few Patternz charts support target information. Select the type of information you wish to view on the charts. On the Chart Form, make sure the Targets check box is checked to display targets. On that form, select a new chart pattern (if any) from the list box (grid) on the lower left side. Any targets associated with that pattern will be displayed.

Patternz: Manual Score Form

The Manual Score Form is new to version 6.6, but Patternz version 7.1 is shown above.

Chart patterns with scores above 0 tend to outperform those with scores below 0. Generally, the higher the score, the better the performance. Scores range from +10 (best) to -10 (worst) for both up and down breakouts.

Access the Manual Score Form from the Main Form menu. You can highlight a stock file you wish to score or do so after the form loads.

The picture shows the score for Apple Computer's double top chart pattern. The two red vertical lines show where the chart pattern starts and ends. The blue line is the breakout day, and the green line shows where the trend starts.

Follow the steps from the middle left to the lower right.

It helps if the chart pattern you're scoring is in a stock you follow. If so, you can click on the stock from the main form (as described above) or access it using the Browse button on this form (about midway between numbers 1 and 2 on this figure). Find the location of the stock and click on its name (1). The stock will chart. The chart may or may not show the chart pattern you're interested in scoring. You can adjust the start and end dates of the chart pattern and then click Graph to update the chart. The chart will add a margin so a year's worth of price data will be displayed, if available.

Select the chart pattern your interested in scoring from the drop down list (near 1 where it says Pattern). The form shows Double Top, Eve and Eve, as an example.

You can click 2, "Get Existing Pattern's Dates" to automatically fill in the pattern start and end dates (if a chart pattern is shown)(above 3) or you can manually enter the dates yourself. Alternatively, click on the "Pattern start" text box and then right mouse click on the price bar (on the chart) where the pattern begins. The date of that bar will be pasted into the text field near 3. The same technique applies to the end and breakout dates as well as the pattern's height and breakout prices (step 1). Fields with red labels use this pasting mechanism. After pasting, the focus automatically moves to the next field so you can right-mouse click on the next item.

Try it and you'll get the hang of it. You need not chart a stock to be able to score it, but you'll need the various pieces of information that the scoring system requires. Being able to chart it makes scoring a pattern a lot easier.

Proceed to Step 1: Chart Pattern Height (below 1 on the figure) and fill in the information. If you click "Find 1, 2, 4" and have the start and end dates of the chart pattern graphed, the program will fill in the appropriate prices. You'll have to enter the breakout price yourself or check the value pasted in earlier. The find button will calculate the height and select short or tall for you based on the breakout price and pattern height. If you know how to do the calculation (which requires the median height as a percentage of the breakout price) then you can click Short or Tall yourself.

Proceed to Step 2, Yearly Price Range, and so on completing the form through step 11. If you click the Find buttons along the way, the calculation is done for you, making your job easier. The score is updated along the way, and it appears on the form at 4. This pattern has a -6 score.

Here is more information about the other steps.

• Step 3: Flat Base.
The glossary defines a flat base. "If you know what a rectangle chart pattern looks like, then you know what a flat base is. Look for a price area in which the stock touches the same value multiple times over several weeks or months. The bottom or top of this area appears flat, hence the name. Many chart patterns appear at a price just below the base, like a pothole in a road, before price takes off."
• Step 4: Horizontal Consolidation Region.
From the glossary. "Is a congestion area marked by a flat top, flat bottom, (or both), or prices that share a common value. A HCR means any area in which price moves horizontally."

For the scoring system, you're only interesting in a horizontal consolidation region (think support or resistance) in the direction of the breakout, measured from the trend start to the start of the chart pattern. For example, if the breakout is downward, you'll be looking for a support region (HCR) below the chart pattern and above the trend start (assuming the trend start is also below the chart pattern).

• Step 5: Trend Start.
From the glossary. "Where the price trend begins, as measured from a major price turning point. To determine the trend start, look from the beginning of the chart pattern backward in time for the lowest valley or highest peak before which the stock rises or drops, respectively, at least 20%. The lowest low or highest high represent where the trend starts. Whether to search for the lowest low or highest high, I use whichever drops below or rises above the bottom/top of the chart pattern first (looking backward in time)." However, I often ignore any overshoot or undershoot that price makes in the two weeks immediately preceding the start of the chart pattern.

The find button on the form works well to locate the trend start. It ungrays after you enter the chart pattern's height. However, the computer stops the search for the trend start after 6 months because a trend start before that point will be long term.

• Step 6: Market Cap.
Small cap stocks are valued up to $1 billion. Mid caps are between $1 and $5 billion. Large cap stocks are above $5 billion.
• Step 7: Breakout Direction.
If you don't know the breakout direction because price hasn't broken out of the chart pattern yet, select the direction you wish to trade.
• Step 8: Volume Trend.
The Find button employs the slope of a line using linear regression on volume from the start to the end of the chart pattern. Sometimes you can tell the trend just by looking at the chart's volume between the two vertical red lines (pattern's start and end).
• Step 9: Breakout Day Volume.
Again, the Find button helps with the calculation. If price has not broken out of the chart pattern yet, assume light volume (answer No).
• Step 10: Throwback/Pullback.
A throwback or pullback happens slightly more than half the time after the breakout from a chart pattern. If no breakout has occurred, assume a throwback or pullback will occur.
• Step 11: Breakout Day Gap.
If price hasn't broken out of the chart pattern yet, then assume a gap will not appear.

DISCLAIMER: The scoring system is a tool to help you select better performing chart patterns, but there is no guarantee. Some patterns will work better than others, regardless of the score. How you trade will determine success or failure. Your actual trading results will vary. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results. YOU ALONE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR INVESTMENT DECISIONS. Please understand that the Score Form does NOT make recommendations as to which security you should trade.

Patternz: Relative Strength Form

Momentum traders want to buy stocks with increasing momentum. This form helps find those stocks.

Green cells mean improving performance (higher momentum) from period to period on the same stock. Red cells mean lower performance.

Most of the numbers shown are performance percentages.

For example, Verisign (VRSN) has 4 green cells in the row (3 are shown). End of day closing prices were not available when I made this screen capture, so cell D is blank. Cell E shows that on 8/18 (Friday, the prior trading day), the stock gained 0.3%. For the week, the stock lost 0.5% (F) compared to the prior week's loss of 1.8% (G). Because -0.5% is a smaller loss than 1.8%, cell F is green.

Interpret the other cells in a similar manner for periods of day, week, month, 3 months, and 6 months.

To use the form...

1. Select stocks you wish to scan in A.
2. Select an end date. If you select a holiday or weekend, the date will be changed automatically for the prior trading day.
3. Click 'Start' or 'Scan All Portfolios'
4. The results will appear in grid B

Click cell C to highlight all rows in the grid. Use this as a quick method for highlighting all rows for the Clipboard (button). Use the Clipboard button when you wish to view the results in another program, such as Excel or notepad.

To sort the performance, click on one of the header rows. An arrow will appear (circled). Click the cell again and the arrow will reverse and so will the sort.

These cell commands are common to all Patternz grids.

For additional help, click the help button on the form.

-- Thomas Bulkowski

Written by and copyright © 2005-2018 by Thomas N. Bulkowski. All rights reserved. Disclaimer: You alone are responsible for your investment decisions. See Privacy/Disclaimer for more information. To err is human. To forgive is not company policy.