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Saturday, November 1, 2025
Knowledge BaseGlossary

Glossary

Algorithmic Trading can be a complex subject. Keep your knowledge current with this glossary of key concepts, terminology, and technical indicators.

Stock Screener

Stock Screener

A tool that investors and traders can use to filter stocks based on user-defined metrics. Stock screeners are offered on many websites and trading platforms, and they allow users to select trading instruments that fit a certain profile set of criteria. For example, users are able to screen for stocks by data including price, market capitalization, P/E ratio, dividend yield and 52-week price change percentage, average volume and average five-year return on investment (ROI). Some trading platforms and software allow users to screen using technical indicator data. For example, one could filter for stocks that are trading above their 200-day moving average or whose Relative Strength Index (RSI) values are between a specified range.

StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR)

StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR)

A numerical ranking for individual stocks in different groups - large cap, mid cap, small cap, U.S. ETFs and Toronto stocks - showing the stock's overall strength based on six technical indicators covering various timeframes. It is also known as the Channellines Technical Rank.

Subindex

Subindex

A group of securities that are part of a larger classification, but that are also tracked as a separate group because of a common subcharacteristic.

Sushi Roll

Sushi Roll

A candlestick pattern consisting of 10 bars where the first five (inside bars) are confined within a narrow range of highs and lows and the second five (outside bars) engulf the first with both a higher high and lower low. If a sushi roll appears in a prevailing trend, it is a sign that there may be an upcoming trend reversal.

Swing High

Swing High

Swing High

A term used in technical analysis that refers to the peak reached by an indicator or an asset's price. A swing high is formed when the high of a price is greater than a given number of highs positioned around it. A series of consecutively higher swing highs indicates that the given asset is in an uptrend.

Swing Low

Swing Low

Swing Low

A term used in technical analysis that refers to the troughs reached by an indicator or an asset's price. A swing low is created when a low is lower than any other point over a given time period. Successively lower swing lows indicate that the underlying asset is in a downtrend, while higher lows mean it is in an uptrend.

Swing Trading

Swing Trading

A style of trading that attempts to capture gains in a stock within one to four days. Swing traders use technical analysis to look for stocks with short-term price momentum. These traders aren't interested in the fundamental or intrinsic value of stocks, but rather in their price trends and patterns.

Symmetrical Triangle

Symmetrical Triangle

Symmetrical Triangle

A chart pattern used in technical analysis that is easily recognized by the distinct shape created by two converging trendlines. The pattern is identified by drawing two trendlines that connect a series of sequentially lower peaks and a series of sequentially higher troughs. Both trendlines act as barriers that prevent the price from heading higher or lower, but once the price breaches one of these levels, a sharp movement often follows.

Technical Indicator

Technical Indicator

Any class of metrics whose value is derived from generic price activity in a stock or asset. Technical indicators look to predict the future price levels, or simply the general price direction, of a security by looking at past patterns. Examples of common technical indicators include Relative Strength Index, Money Flow Index, Stochastics, MACD and Bollinger Bands®.

Technical Rally

Technical Rally

An upward movement in a security's price following a declining trend. The movement is caused by technical as opposed to fundamental factors affecting sentiment.

Tenkan-Sen

Tenkan-Sen

Tenkan-Sen

The mid-point between the highest high and lowest low of a particular security calculated over the past nine periods. The Tenkan-Sen line is the conversion line used specifically in the Ichimoku Kinko Hyo (or Ichimoku Cloud) equilibrium charts. Along with the 26-period moving average, Kijun-Sen, it is one of two moving average lines displayed in the chart.

Three Black Crows

Three Black Crows

Three Black Crows

A bearish candlestick pattern that is used to predict the reversal of the current uptrend. This pattern consists of three consecutive long-bodied candlesticks that have closed lower than the previous day with each session's open occurring within the body of the previous candle.
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