Skip to main content

Stock Inspector Tips & Tricks -- fix bad "flash crash" data points

We haven't had another "flash crash" in a while but I still see crazy data points hanging around that can play havoc with stock charts.

When I go to a site like StockCharts.com, for example, and look at an ETF like IGW, the iShares Semiconductor ETF, there is a "flash crash" data point back in May that dips down below $15 on a day when the ETF was trading mostly in the mid-$40's. This data point makes the chart almost unreadable and tends to skew the technical analysis algorithms.

Did you know that if you are using Trade-Radar Stock Inspector, you can fix this wacky data point and get your technical analysis back on track?

You've probably noticed those fields on the right-hand side of the main screen in Stock Inspector. Those fields display the date, the open-high-low-close and volume data for the stock or ETF. Using the arrow buttons on the toolbar, you can sequence through that data and get to any date you choose.

Once you do find the wacky data point, you can click the Edit button on the toolbar and modify the data. To fix the flash crash situation, update Low value of the stock price to a value that is more reasonabke. Click the Save button on the toolbar and you're done.

The next time you look at the chart, it won't be thrown off by some data point out of left field.

One further piece of advice: when you load new data for that stock symbol you should choose a start date after May 2010 so you don't overwrite the data you just fixed.

If you're interested in trying Trade-Radar Stock Inspector, please go to our Download page and take advantage of the free 45-day trial.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Appreciate the tip

I wonder how this approach could be made to work when doing a batch download. I have txt file with my holdings in it, but I don't think there is an option to set date ranges when doing a batch download,

Thanks
Stay tuned! I'm working on a new version that will include an option to set default date ranges.

Popular posts from this blog

Brazil - in a bubble or on a roll?

A couple of years ago, no one recognized the real estate bubble even though it was under everyone's nose. Now, analysts and bloggers are seeing bubbles everywhere they look. One of them, they say is in Brazil whose Bovespa stock market index has doubled in the last 12 months. Does the bubble accusation hold water? I don't think so and here are 7 reasons why Brazil is by no means a bubble economy: Exports have held up over the past year thanks to demand from China for Brazil's soya exports and iron ore. This was helped by the the Brazilian government's drive to improve trade links with Asia and Africa. Export diversification, spurred by a more active trade policy and increased focus on "south-south" trade under current president Lula, helped mitigate the decline in demand from OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries A "sensible" economic framework has been in place since the 1990's. This has included inflation

Trade Radar gets another update

Some of our data sources changed again and it impacted our ability to load fundamental/financial data. In response, we are rolling out a new version of the software: 7.1.24 The data sourcing issues are fixed and some dead links in the Chart menu were removed. So whether you are a registered user or someone engaged in the free trial, head over to our update page and download the latest version. The update page is here:   https://tradingstockalerts.com/software/downloadpatch Contact us if you have questions or identify any new issues.

Thursday Bounce: Trend Busters, Swing Signals and Trend Leaders for July 9, 2009

This is a quick post to announce that we have published Thursday's Trend Leaders, Swing Signals and Trend Busters at Alert HQ . All are based on daily data. Today we have the following: 72 Swing Signals -- A couple of days ago we had 35 signals, today we have twice as many. Happily, we now have 65 BUY signals, a mere 4 SELL Signals plus 3 Strong BUYs. Whoo-hoo! 56 Trend Leaders , all in strong up-trends according to Aroon, MACD and DMI. There are 18 new stocks that made today's list and 60 that fell off Tuesday's list. 48 Trend Busters of which 5 are BUY signals and 43 are SELL signals The view from Alert HQ -- Talk about mixed signals. If you look at our Swing Signals list you would think the market was in the middle of a big bounce. BUY signals are swamping the SELL signals and we even have a few Strong BUYs. Yes, there's a good sprinkling of tech stocks and tech ETFs but the distribution is pretty broad-based with a good number of different sectors represented, eve