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Investors have more instruments at their fingertips than ever before. The main cause of this is the increase in Depository Interests (discussed in my past article titled Depository Interests), Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Depository Receipts, and various derivatives.
The Pre-computed scans are a particularly useful time saving feature in the various HUBB software programs. While Market Scanning is useful as well, it can be quite time consuming. Pre-computed scans are perfect for anyone who doesn’t want to maintain an offline database, is time poor or is new to the software.
When most new users think of Pre-computed Scans they think of what is actually the cut-down version shown in figure 1. This window appears automatically on the left when ProfitSource is opened and is a quick and easy way to see the current Elliott or ABC trades.
Figure 1
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However, the full version can actually be found via Scanners > Open Precomputed Scans. Not only does it include more scans, it has some handy features not available in the cut-down version. For the purposes of this article, all screen shots are taken from Integrated Investor meaning that screens and features will in some cases vary from other HUBB programs.
Figure 2
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One of the most popular additional scans available in Integrated Investor’s Pre-computed Scans is the Sector Lists. These break stocks down into their Industry and Sector groups based on Dow Jones’ (ICB) classification.
Figure 3
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Next, in terms of features, there is the ‘List Intersection’ which compares selected lists and displays only stocks that appear in all of them. To use the list intersection simply check the boxes next to the scan lists you want to compare. An example is shown in figure 4 where both the Elliott Wave 4 Buy and Oil and Gas Sector lists are selected. Now only stocks that are in both lists will appear in the results section on the right hand side.
Figure 4
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The ability to make such comparisons so quickly makes the List Intersection tool perfect for top down style analysis.
For those wanting to find stocks meeting criteria above and beyond the standard Pre-computed scans, the Market Scanner can be used to scan over just the Pre-computed list. The major benefit here is that the heavy lifting has been done – rather than having to run a scan over the whole market, scans can be run over the Pre-computed results – so scans are many times quicker. For example, if you wanted to add 50- and 200-day criteria to the Wave 4 Buy, rather than re-inventing the wheel a scan can be run over just the new Moving Average criteria using the Pre-computed Lists feature in the Market Scanner.
Figure 5
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Last but not least, information on the criteria used for each of the Pre-computed Scans can be found via Help > Contents > Scanners > Pre-computed Scans. Below is an example – the criteria for the Explosive and Consolidating Scans:
Explosive Stocks
If the result of the following equation is greater than one:
| Current Day's Short-term Statistical Volatility (6 periods) |
| Current Day's Long-term Statistical Volatility (100 periods) |
Consolidating Stocks
If the result of the following equation is less than one:
| Current Day's Short-term Statistical Volatility (6 periods) |
| Current Day's Long-term Statistical Volatility (100 periods) |
If you are not yet familiar with the Pre-computed Scans and/or the handy features associated with them, it is well worth spending the time to get to know them. …and before building a Market Scan, ensure that there isn’t already a Pre-computed Scan that will do what you are looking for. Until next time,
Happy Trading
Jordan Craw
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