ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Modes

ToS Volume Scanner - Mode and Filter Setup

The ThinkOrSwim Relative Volume Scanner has multiple modes and filters that can be configured by changing some key variables in the script itself.  All of these variables are near the top of the script and commented to make them easy to find.

The sections below describe each mode and how to set them up. 

NOTE:  For the initial import of the script check out my original YouTube video at the 11:50 mark.

Modes

Intraday and Daily Modes

What They Are

Intraday mode is the basic mode for the scanner.  It's what you see on the daily livestreams and in the instructional YouTube video.

Daily mode is used after the market's closed to find stocks on the watchlist that had well above average total daily volume.

How To Setup Intraday Mode

Set the timeframe to 3m and uncheck the box for extended hours

ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Intraday Settings

Change the "intraday" variable on line 15 to "yes"

ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Intraday Mode Variable

How To Setup Daily Mode

Set the timeframe to D

ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Daily Mode Settings

Change the "intraday" variable on line 15 to "no"

ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Daily Mode Variable

 

Mobile Mode

What It Is

Mobile mode is the same as intraday mode but with different visual settings to be compatible with the ToS mobile app.  The mobile app doesn't allow colored backgrounds or text.  It only allows white numbers.

The signals on this mode have been changed so that "6.00" is the highest intensity signal and "1.00" is the lowest intensity signal.

 ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Mobile Mode

How To Setup

ToS doesn't allow script editing on mobile so the setup has to be done on desktop prior to using on the mobile app.

Set the timeframe to 3m and uncheck the box for extended hours

ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Intraday Settings

Change the "intraday" variable on line 15 to "yes"

Change the "mobileMode" variable on line 17 to "yes"

ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Mobile Mode Variables

 

Options Mode

What It Is

Options mode is a little different than the rest of the modes in that it is not intended to be used on a watchlist.  It's used directly on the options chain.

Also, it does not use text descriptions (i.e "05 Extreme") for the volume spike intensity levels.  It only uses the colored backgrounds and shows the number of contracts traded on the 1 minute timeframe.

Gray colored cells are there for informational purposes only.  They signal that there is no volume spike, but allow the volume from the 1min timeframe to still be visible.

ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Options Mode 2

Tip set the color tag in the options chain window to the same tag as your watchlist and charts. 

ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Color Links

This allows you to see a volume spike signal on your watchlist, click the ticker, and instantly the chart and options chain will switch to that ticker.

How To Setup

Set the timeframe to 1m and uncheck the box for extended hours ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Options Mode Settings

Change the "optionsScannerMode" variable on line 19 to "yes"

The "intraday" and "mobileMode" variable values become irrelevant.

ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Options Mode Variables

Also, set the "minVolFilterOn" variable on line 25 to "no" (more on this in the next section)

To actually add the script on your options chain, click one of the column headers, choose "Custom Quotes" in the menu, then choose "Customize" in the sub-menu.

ThinkOrSwim Customize Options Chain

Then in the following dialog box find the RelVol script on the left half of the window, move it to the right half, and click OK.

ThinkOrSwim Customize Options Chain 2

Filters

Filters are a way to remove low quality volume spikes from the list of signals.  There are a lot of signals throughout the course of a trading day and filters are used to prioritize quality over quantity.  Only one filter is currently available in the script, but a few others are being tested.  If the tests show that they increase the quality to quantity ratio then they will be added in future updates.

Minimum Volume Filter

What It Is

The Minimum Volume Filter is in the script to allow lower volume spikes to be removed from the list of signals.  Even though these low volume signals are large relative to the average trading volume I have found them to be very low probability trade setups. 

All filters are optional and can be set to your preference.  Default values are set as I use them.

How To Setup

The "minVolFilterOn" variable on line 25 is set to "yes" by default.  Change to "no" if you do not want this filter on.

The "minVolFilter" variable on line 27 is set to "10000" by default.  Adjust this up or down however you prefer.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you are using the scanner in Options Mode you must either turn this filter off or adjust the "minVolFilter" variable to a much more reasonable level than "10000"

ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Minimum Volume Filter Variables

Extra Tip

If you plan to use more than one of these modes and don't want to repeatedly have to edit the script variables to switch modes then import the script multiple times and give each imported script a different name.

ThinkOrSwim Volume Scanner Multiple Imports

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