M2-Ch19-illustration1

19.1 – The Charting Software

Over the last 18 chapters, we have learnt many aspects of Technical Analysis. If you have read through all the chapters and understood what is being discussed, you are certainly at a stage where you can start trading based on Technical Analysis. The objective of this chapter is to help you get started by identifying technical trading opportunities.

Kindly note, the suggestions I have put forth in this chapter are based on my trading experience.

To begin with, you need a chart visualization software, called the ‘Charting Software’. The charting software helps you look at the various stock charts and analyze the same. Needless to say, the charting software is an essential tool for a technical analyst.

There are many charting software’s available. The two most popular ones are ‘Metastock’ and ‘Amibroker’. Majority of the technical analysts use one of the two charting software’s. Needless to say, these are paid software’s, and you need to purchase the software license before using it.

A few online free charting tools are available that you can use – these are available on Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, and pretty much all the business media websites. However, my advice to you is – if you aspire to become a technical analyst, get access to good charting software.

Think of the charting software as a DVD player; once you have a DVD player installed, you will still need to rent DVDs to watch movies. Similarly, once you have a charting software installed, you will still need to feed it with data to view the charts. The data feed required provided by the data vendors.

There are many data vendors in India, giving you access to data feeds. I would suggest you look upon the internet for reliable vendors.  You need to inform the data vendor which charting software you have, and he will provide you with the data feeds in a format that is compatible with your charting software. Of course, the data feeds come at a cost. Once you sign up with a data vendor, he will first give you all the historical data, after which you will have to update the data from his server daily to stay current.

From my experience buying the latest version of a good charting software (Metastock or Amibroker) can cost you a onetime fee of anywhere between Rs.25,000/- and Rs.30,000/-. Add to this another Rs.15,000/- to Rs.25,000 towards the data feeds. Of course, while the software cost is one time, the cost of data feeds recurs annually. Do note, the older versions of the charting software may cost you much lesser.

Now, if you are in no mood to spend so much for the charting software & data feed combination, there is another alternative. And that would be Zerodha’s Pi.

As you may know, Zerodha has a proprietary trading terminal called ‘Pi’. Pi helps you in many ways; I would like to draw your attention to some of its features in the context of Technical Analysis:

  1. It is bundled – Pi is a charting software and a data feed package bundled into a single software.
  2. Great Visualizations – Pi helps you visualize charts across multiple time frames, including intraday charts.
  3. Advanced Features – Pi has advanced charting features and includes 80 built-in technical indicators and over 30 drawing tools.
  4. Scripting you strategy – Pi has a scripting language employing which you can code technical strategies and backtest the same on historical data. Please do note, on Varsity we will soon include a module on building trading strategies and scripting.
  5. Easy Opportunity Recognition – Pi has a pattern recognition feature that lets you draw a screen pattern. Once you draw, command Pi to scout for that pattern across the market, and it will do just that for you.
  6. Trade from Pi – Pi also lets you execute trades directly from the chart (a huge plus point for a technical trader)
  7. Data Dump – Pi has a massive historical data dump (over 50,000 candles) which means backtesting your strategy will be more efficient.
  8. Your personal trading assistant – Pi’s ‘Expert Advisor’, keeps you informed about the patterns being developed in the live markets.
  9. Super Advanced features – Pi has Artificial Intelligence and Genetic Algorithms. These are optimisation tools which help you optimize your trading algorithms.
  10. It is free – Zerodha is giving it free of cost to all its active traders.

The list is quite exhaustive, ranging from the basic to advanced features. I would strongly suggest you try out Pi before deciding to venture out for charting package and data feed bundle.

M2-Ch19-illustration6

19.2 – Which timeframe to choose?

We discussed ‘Timeframes in chapter 3. I would request you to read through it again to refresh your memory.

Selecting the timeframe while scanning for trading opportunities is perhaps one of the biggest confusion a newbie technical analyst has. You can choose many timeframes from – 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, EOD, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly.  It is quite easy to get confused about this.

As a thumb rule, the higher the timeframe, the more reliable the trading signal is. For example, a ‘Bullish Engulfing’ pattern on the 15-minute timeframe is far more reliable than a ‘Bullish Engulfing’ pattern on a 5-minute timeframe. Keeping this in perspective, one has to choose a timeframe based on the intended length of the trade.

So how do you decide the intended length of your trade?

If you are starting fresh or not a seasoned trader, I suggest you avoid day trading. Start with trades to hold the trade for a few days. This is called ‘Positional Trading’ or ‘Swing Trading’. An active swing trader usually keeps his trading position open for a few days. The best lookback period for a swing trader is 6 months to 1 year.

On the other hand, a scalper is a seasoned day trader; typically, he uses 1minute or 5 minutes timeframe.

Once you are comfortable with holding trades over multiple days, graduate yourself to ‘Day Trading’. My guess is, your transition from a positional trader to a day trader will take some time. Needless to say for a dedicated and disciplined trader, the transition period is remarkably lesser.

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19.3 – Lookback period

Look back period is simply the number of candles you wish to view before taking a trading decision. For instance, a lookback period of 3 months means you are looking at today’s candle in the backdrop of at least the recent 3 months data. By doing this, you will develop a perspective on today’s price action concerning last 3 months price action.

For swing trading opportunities, what is the ideal look back period? From my experience, I would suggest that a swing trader should look for at least 6 months to 1-year data. Likewise, a scalper is better off looking at the last 5 days data.

However, while plotting the S&R levels, you should increase the look back period to at least 2 years.

M2-Ch19-illustration4

19.4 – The opportunity universe

There are roughly about 6000 listed stocks in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and close to about 2000 listed stocks in the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Does it make sense for you to scan for opportunities across these thousands of stocks, daily? Obviously not. Over a period of time, you need to identify a set of stocks that you are comfortable trading. These set of stocks would constitute your “Opportunity Universe’. Daily, you scan your opportunity universe to identify trading opportunities.

Here are some pointers to select stocks to build your opportunity universe:

  1. Ensure the stock has adequate liquidity. One way to ensure adequate liquidity is to look at the bid-ask spread. The lesser the spread, the more liquid the stock
    1. Alternatively, you can have ‘minimum volume criteria’. For example, you can consider only those stocks where the volume per day is at least 500000
  2. Make sure the stock is in the ‘EQ’ segment. This is basically because stocks in the ‘EQ’ segment can be day traded. I agree, I discouraged day trading for a newbie, however in a situation where you initiated a positional trade and the target is achieved the same day, there is no harm in closing the position intraday.
  3. This is a bit tricky, but make sure the stock is not operator driven. Unfortunately, there is no quantifiable method to identify operator driven stocks. This comes to you by sheer experience.

If you find it difficult to find stocks that comply with the above points, I would advise you to stick to the Nifty 50 or the Sensex 30 stocks. These are called the index stocks. The exchanges carefully select index stocks; this selection process ensures they comply with many points, including those mentioned above.

Keeping Nifty 50 as your opportunity universe is probably a good idea for both swing trader and scalper.

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19.5 – The Scout

Let us now proceed to understand how one should go about selecting stocks for trading. In other words, we will try and identify a process, employing which we can scan for trading opportunities. The process is mainly suited for a swing trader.

We have now set the 4 important aspects –

  1. The charting software – Suggest you use Zerodha’s Pi
  2. Timeframe – End of Day data
  3. Opportunity Universe – Nifty 50 stocks
  4. Trade type – Positional trades with an option to square off intraday, provided the target hits the same day.
  5. Look back period – Between 6 months to 1 year. Increase to 2 years while plotting the S&R level

Having fixed these important practical aspects, I will now share my methodology of scanning trading opportunities. I have divided the process into 2 parts:

 Part 1 – The   Shortlisting process

  1. I look at the chart of all the stocks within my opportunity universe.
  2. While looking at the chart, my attention is only on the recent 3 or maximum of 4 candles
  3. While looking at the recent 3 candles, I check if any recognisable candlestick pattern is developed.
  4. If I find an interesting pattern, I shortlist this stock for further investigation, and I continue the scouting process. I always ensure I check all the 50 charts.

Part 2 – The Evaluation process

At this stage, I am usually left with 4-5 shortlisted stocks (out of the 50 stocks in my opportunity universe) which exhibit a recognisable candlestick pattern. I then proceed to evaluate these 4-5 charts in detail. Typically I spend at least 15 – 20 minutes on each chart. Here is what I do when looking at the shortlisted chart:

  1. I generally look at how strong the pattern is – I am specifically interested in checking if there is any need for me to be more flexible.
    1. For example, if a Bullish Marubuzo has a shadow, I evaluate the shadow’s length concerning the range.
  2. After this, I look at the ‘prior trend’. For all bullish patterns, the prior trend should be a downtrend, and for all bearish patterns, the prior trend should be an uptrend. I do pay a lot of attention to prior trends.
  3. At this stage, if everything looks good (i.e. I have identified a recognizable pattern with a well defined prior trend), I proceed to inspect the chart further.
  4. After this, I look at the volumes. The volume should be at least equal to or more than the 10-day average volume.
  5. Provided both the candlestick pattern and volumes confirm, I then check the support (in case of a long trade) and resistance (in case of a short trade) level.
    1. The S&R level should coincide (as much as possible) with the stoploss of the trade (as defined by the candlestick pattern)
    2. If the S&R level is more than 4% away from the stoploss, I stop evaluating the chart further and proceed to the next chart.
  6. I then look for Dow patterns, particularly for double and triple top & bottom formations, flags formations, and a range breakout possibility.
    1. Needless to say, I also establish the Primary and secondary market trend.
  7. If the steps 1 to 5 are satisfactory, I proceed to calculate the risk to reward ratio (RRR)
    1. To calculate RRR, I first establish the target by plotting either the support or resistance level.
    2. The minimum RRR should be at least 1.5
  8. Finally, I look at the MACD and RSI indicators to get a perspective if they confirm, and if I have spare cash, I increase my trade size.

Usually out of the 4-5 shortlisted stocks, at the most 1 or 2 may qualify for a trade. There are days when there are no trading opportunities. Deciding not to trade in itself is a big trading decision. Remember this is a fairly stringent checklist; if a stock is confirming the checklist, my conviction to trade is very high.

I have mentioned this many times in this module; I will mention this for one last time – once you place a trade, do nothing until your target is achieved, or stoploss is triggered. Of course, you can trail your stoploss, which is a healthy practice. Otherwise, do nothing if your trade complies with the checklist and do remember the trade is highly curetted; hence the chance of being successful is high. So it makes sense to stay put with conviction.

M2-Ch19-illustration2

19.5 – The Scalper

For a seasoned swing trader, scalping is another option. Scalping is a technique where the trader initiates a fairly large trade to hold the trade for a few minutes. Here is a typical example of the trade done by a scalper –

1st Leg of the trade 2nd leg of the trade
Time – 10:15 AM Time – 10:25 AM
Stock – Infosys Stock – Infosys
Price – 3980 Price – 3976
Action – Sell Action – Buy
Quantity – 1000 shares Quantity – 1000 shares

Overall profit after applicable charges = Rs.2644/-

The overall profit is calculated considering that you are trading with Zerodha, the overall profitability would shrink remarkably if you are scalping with expensive brokerage rates. Containing transaction charges is one of the keys to successful scalping.

A scalper is a highly focused trader with a sharp sense for the price. He utilizes exact charts such with 1 minute and 5-minute timeframe to make his trading decisions. A successful scalper executes many such trades within the day. His objective is simple – large quantity trade intending to hold for a few minutes. He intends to profit from the small moves in the stock.

If you aspire to be a scalper, here are few guidelines –

  1. Remember the checklist we have mentioned but do not expect all the checklist items to comply as the trade duration is very low.
  2. If I were to handpick just 1 or 2 items in the checklist for scalping, it would be candlestick pattern and volume.
  3. A risk-reward ratio of even 0.5 to 0.75 is acceptable while scalping.
  4. Scalping should be done only on liquid stocks.
  5. Have an effective risk management system – be really quick to book a loss if need be
  6. Keep a tab on the bid-ask spread to see how the volumes are building.
  7. Keep a tab on global markets – for example, if there is a sudden drop in the Hang Seng (Hong Kong stock exchange) it invariably leads to a sudden drop in local markets.
  8. Choose a low-cost broker to ensure your costs are controlled.
  9. Use margins effectively do not over leverage.
  10. Have a reliable intraday charting software
  11. If you sense the day is going wrong, stop trading and move away from your terminal.

Scalping is a day trading technique requires a great presence of mind and a machine-like approach. A successful scalper embraces volatility and is indifferent to market swings.


Key takeaways from this chapter

  1. If you aspire to become a technical trader, ensure you equip yourself with good charting software. Zerodha’s Pi is my preference.
  2. Choose EOD chart for both day trading and swing trading.
  3. Look at intraday charts if you like scalping the markets.
  4. The lookback period should be at least 6 months to 1 year for swing trading.
  5. Nifty 50 is a great opportunity universe, to begin with
  6. The opportunity scanning can be done in 2 parts.
  7. Part 1 involves skimming through the charts of all the stocks in opportunity universe and shortlisting those charts that display a recognizable candlestick pattern.
  8. Part 2 involves investigating the shortlisted charts to figure out if they comply with the checklist.
  9. Scalping is advisable for seasoned swing traders



2,306 comments

  1. Ramkrishna says:

    After reading the entire information provided in this module (esp the Finale), i just couldn’t stop myself from appreciating such a selfless effort from you sir…Thanks a lot! The charts, the simple explanation for every topic, the suggestions from your experience, all are very helpful..i am sure i have learned so many things from this module which i can apply right away into my trading…Looking forward to the other important modules…you guys are already changing the dynamics of this Industry, keep up the good work! Cheers! With Initiatives like this you will definitely achieve your goal of being one of the best brokerages in the world!

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Glad you are liked the content 🙂

      • aditya garg says:

        sir first of thanks for such a simple explaination of technical analysis.
        will you please provide the module on elliot wave?its will be very beneficial for beginner like me.

      • Dr.Imaad Mohammed says:

        Thank you for the invaluable information you have provided, Hats off to you for presenting the topic in such as simple way. Thank you Zerodha for having varsity.

      • Rekha Nadkarni says:

        Excellent stuff. The best content for learning I have ever come across. There are so many tips and ideas which the other trainers have not mentioned. Very in-depth. Thanks a lot

    • Rekha says:

      Hi
      First of all thank you for the excellent material put up on varsity. It was very useful for me to understand the nitty gritties. I am an aspiring trader and opened an account with Zerodha. I wanted to download Pi but it’s not allowing me till I find the account. I would like to play around on the knowledge gained before doing a live trade. Please let me know if there is another link for practise sessions?

      • Karthik Rangappa says:

        I’m glad you liked the content here, Rekha. Unfortunately, we do not have a mock terminal, you will have to set up an account first. Btw, the easiest way to do this is by trading 2-3 shares of stock worth not more than few hundred Rupees. This is better than mock trading 🙂

  2. Sakthi says:

    One word.. Excellent !!!

  3. Trendchaser says:

    Nice work 🙂 keep going

  4. pramod says:

    Toooo good !I have gone through a good number of books in past on TA but the way you have simplified here is amazing!Looking forward for next modules.

  5. sugumar says:

    Thanks Zerodha & the team for the excellent write up. Thanks to Karthik for the wonderful piece of writing.

  6. S.Vasudevan says:

    Really wonderful.The Bible for my trades from 10th Nov

  7. sugumar says:

    Hi Karthik,
    I see 3 targets T1, T2 & T3 being given for every call. How are these 3 targets being calculated?. Is it based on percentage of final target?. Ay T1 = 50%T3

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I guess some of them use Pivot levels to achieve this. I personally find fixing on a single target and achieving it as a more peaceful way of trading. Remember the more variable you add in your trade design, the more de-focused one can get. This is just my personal opinion.

  8. Bharath says:

    Would you please add SUPERTREND indicator in zerodha

  9. phani.999 says:

    Thank you Sir ji for your selfless effort in teaching us this concept. A new trader like me finds it little difficult reading it for the first time, though its in simple English, the jargons used are little bit difficult as Im new. Sir its not remark to your way of explaining, its what I alone found difficult.

    Sir Ji, is Pi avaiable to us? if yes, where from can I download?

    Once again thank you for taking time in between your busy schedule for helping us win.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Please feel free to ask your queries Phani. The community here will be more than happy to help you resolve it. Do not hesitate. Regarding Pi, I wouls suggest you contact the support.

    • Vinayak says:

      Hi,
      Got confidence after Reading Technical Analysis Module, and I’m able to take good trades. Thanks for the easy level of explanation.
      Is Pi available for Linux OS?

      Thanks,
      Vinayak

  10. phani.999 says:

    Thank you Sir ji for your selfless effort in teaching us this concept. A new trader like me finds it little difficult reading it for the first time, though its in simple English, the jargons used are little bit difficult as Im new. Sir its not remark to your way of explaining, its what I alone found difficult.

    Sir Ji, is Pi avaiable to us? if yes, where from can I download?

  11. DC0334 says:

    now, waiting for “option Theory” & “option strategy” module.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      We are currently working on completing the module on Fundamental Analysis. We will start derivatives as soon as this is done.

  12. RK0684 says:

    Please send me download linke zarodha ta software

  13. RK0684 says:

    Please send me download linke zarodha ta software
    Support it

  14. jagadeesh says:

    Hello sir,
    Got a doubt while i was sitting infront of the screen today. All the patterns you have explained including the grand checklist at the end needs a prior trend for us to give an entry which is working fantastic for swing trading. Suppose i am an intraday trader who trade on 15min. chart and the trend has already established yesterday in a stock im interested in and i planned to give the entry today on a pullback. In that case, as the candlestick patterns here are reversal, can i use these patterns to find the end of pullback?? If yes, what else can i include in the checklist as an alternative to support and resistances for pullbacks.
    Thanks in advance. 🙂

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      While looking at intra day chart, it makes sense to look at continuous charts wherein you will view the last 3-5 days intra day charts. By doing so you will get a better perspective on the price action. If you are using pull back, then please ensure the pullback is in on low volumes. Also, unfortuantely there is no alternative to S&R levels, at least that I can think of 🙂

      • jagadeesh says:

        Yeah. That pullbacks on low volumes, even i observed in today’s market sir and from my observation today, i thought entry on a pullback with low volumes to 50 EMA or a trendline which coincides with a Fib ratio is good to trade. Please correct me if im wrong. As a newbie, i dont know much about this and im articulating everything from the articles here and my observations in the live market. 🙂

  15. sachin says:

    I want trade with zerodha. I want open demat account . contect me on 9320982123

  16. Raju Shinde says:

    Where is the Pi ? Is it WEB based or to be downloaded and installed ?

  17. Ramkrishna says:

    Hi sir, i had one small query, if i start my trading journey by becoming a positional trader (holding positions overnight for a couple of days in case the target doesn’t meets the same day), if there is an equity stock which made a bearish signal (considering the checklist is meet), how are we suppose to short the equity stocks overnight as they automatically get squared off at 3.20pm everyday, are we supposed to buy respective stock options/futures in this case? Thanks in advance 🙂

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      You can carry overnight short position by opting for Futures & Options. This is a topic we will start discussing in Varsity very soon.

  18. Karthik says:

    Hi Karthik, Excellent job done with Zerodha Varsity. CONGRATULATIONS
    Just couriered my forms to open the account, look forward to relationship with Team Zerodha.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Thank you, and we look forward to you joining the Zerodha family. I’m confident you will love the experience 🙂

  19. Manjith says:

    Dear Karthik & Zerodha Team…. Thank you very much for your initiative.

  20. Abhi says:

    Just awesome. Thank you

  21. suresh says:

    what is the meaning of operator driven?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Sometimes a group of people operate together with a common understanding to either buy or sell a stock. Such stocks are usually referred to as “Operator Driven” stocks. It is difficult to operate stocks which have high liquidity.

      • suresh says:

        Thanks Karthik for clarifying, in 19.5(The Scout)> part 2> 1.a you said ” I evaluate the length of the shadow with reference to the range” didn’t quite get this. Can you please elaborate with an example or a screenshot please.

  22. akraghu says:

    Thanks for an excellent presentation of TA. I hope to use it soon, and get proficient at it. Your effort is very much appreciated.

  23. shailendra says:

    SIR, THANKS FOR THE BASKETS OF KNOWLEDGE.HOW CAN I GET Pi/

  24. Arunava Bhattacharya says:

    Sir,
    Thanks for your prompt answer regarding my query of MA. Last week I’ve registered @ Zerodha. My trading account is active but my DEMAT is not active yet.
    I’ve seriously gone through the TA modules. Like other modules it is amazing, too, although as a new trader I’m facing some problems to identify the Candlesticks and patterns, which I think will be resolved in due course.
    Can I start Fut and Opt trading with the knowledge of TA module?
    I want to be retained in this market lifelong, so what will be my strategy EOD?

    Eagerly waiting for your next modules.

    With best of my regards,

    Arunava Bhattacharya.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I’m happy to know that you have liked the course on TA & FA. Starting Futures just based on TA is not a great idea. In fact I’m working on Futures module right now, by mid Jan 2015 the chapters should be out. I would request you to read through that before you start derivatives.

      Also, I would strongly advise you to start with EOD trading and then move to intra day.

      • Arunava Bhattacharya says:

        Sir,
        Thanks a lot for your guidance.

        EOD trading means Swing or delivery only?
        If yes, then shorting can’t be done.only long side are you recommending?

        With best of my regards,

        Arunava Bhattacharya.

  25. Ankit Kukadia says:

    Hey,
    So is it that if you are swing trader, better to look at Daily charts only and avoid looking at weekly charts completely??? Also, it would be really helpful if you can blend Technical Analysis along with Options Trading if possible in your options module….

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Yup, for swing trading I would prefer to use EOD charts. However do look at weekly charts just to get a directional perspective.

      Yes, both futures and option modules will be written keeping TA in perspective. I guess about 10th or 12 th Jan parts of Futures Trading will be up.

  26. Rahul says:

    Excellent. Feels empowered while trading. When is your PI software getting launched. I am eagerly waiting for the same.

  27. sharmila says:

    sir, in the selection process you said you will look at the last 3 or 4 candle stick . what is the time frame of those candle sticks it means is it a min candle or day candle?

  28. govind says:

    thank you so much for these information!!

  29. Shrikant says:

    Bole to Ringappa Bhai, bahut kamal ka content hai tumhara!:-) 🙂 🙂 🙂

  30. kalaiselavm says:

    Dear sir, could you plz let me know know, on how days candlestick to be reffered for swing trading and other indicators such as s&r ,volume,Bollinger band

  31. Arun says:

    Hi Karthik,
    Thanks a lot for all your effort! I have few questions (may be silly), kindly advice!
    1. for intra day options nifty trading, do I need to take 1 min or 5 min candles? also how may candles we should take?
    2. for intra day if I am trading only for few ticks, how effective will be to see the pattern and decide the trade… if so which indicators will be effective?
    3. for options trading I should see the nifty and not the strike price chart right?
    4. In Pi do we have options like flags for the patterns? (like the way we have in nseindia website charts?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      My answers as below –

      1) I would suggest you take 5 mins instead of 1 mins. Generally higher the frequency, the better the results are likely to be. So data for 5 mins for at least 5 trading session should be fine.

      2) If you are a complete novice I would suggest you get a grip on holding the trade for sometime before you try your hands on tick by tick data.

      3) Yes, its advisable to look at the stock price chart and not the chart of the strike price.

      4) In Pi, there is a pattern recognition option.

  32. Vidhyalakshmi says:

    Hi Karthik…you’ve mentioned “Keep a tab on the bid ask spread to see how the volumes are building”..how do I do this? Could you please elaborate?

  33. Azam Ali says:

    Hi Karthik,

    TA content is excellent and thank you for this initiative. You are so kind while answering every question with a vast knowledge. God bless u.

  34. Arijit S. Bohra says:

    Do low priced stocks (less than 10 or 5 rupees) have any special tool to be evaluated? Or they too follow the same technical patterns?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Thumb rule – As long as the stock is liquid, TA can be applied, irrespective of whether it is a 100 or 10 Rupee stock. So make sure these stocks are liquid. If they are not liquid then exercise caution.

  35. Ashwin Datre says:

    Hello Karthik, could you advise how can I get an EOD chart using Pi. i am trying to use 8 hrs interval. but it doesn’t allow me plot more than 104 candles. Am I doing it correctly?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      As far I understand, EOD charts are still not up on Pi. I believe the concerned team is working a patch to make this available as soon as possible. Request you to shoot an email to [email protected] to get better clarity on this.

  36. chetan says:

    I would like to add ICHIMOKU chart system….Please let me give exact time frame.

  37. UMESH says:

    I was browing through the modules and I was keen to go through the Futures module as I trade in it. I found the guidance very useful and informative and good to follow. I will work on Pi and see how good it works for me. Thanks for your great effort in compiling and sharing this ocean of wealth….

  38. RAHUL says:

    Hi Karthik, in India do we have some special accounts on the lines of american retirement funds account (i guess they call it IRA 401K) which would attract less or negligible taxes on our profits booked in stocks once our profit increases.

  39. Deepesh Yadav says:

    Hi Karthik,
    i am 2 months old in markets. Do i need to read any books after understanding all chapters? if yes then which one according to you?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Suggest you read all the content here Deepesh…I guess this is much more than sufficient to help you get started.

  40. Deepesh Yadav says:

    Hi Karthik,
    LTP and CLOSE are different In historical data downloaded from NSE,why is it so? Google uses LTP value as CLOSE value to make a candle of that day so this will affect the candle’s structure. Which one should i use LTP or CLOSE ?
    Thank you,

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      The close price is the weighted average of the last 30 mins whereas the LTP is the last price at which the stock has traded for the day. Both these prices are different. While doing EOD analysis it is always better to take the close price and not LTP. Also, I’m not sure if Google Finance is using LTP prices, they should not be.

  41. AnilKumar says:

    Excellent narration of topics which cleared many doubts regarding how to use indicators. Thank you.

  42. Harish Krishnan says:

    Hi,
    Excellent.excellent and excellent…
    Truly a commendable effort..
    अन्न दानं महा दानं विद्या दानं महत्तरम् |
    अन्नेन क्षणिक तृप्तिः यावज्जीवनन्तु विद्यया ||
    For the benefit – gist,
    To donate food is great, but to donate knowledge is paramount
    While one can be satisfied temporarily through food, satisfaction achieved through gaining knowledge will be perennial ||

    Thanks

  43. Vimal says:

    Dear Mr.Karthick, It is indeed a great effort in simplifying the TA process. I got good picture of TA and the most required analysis patterns, indicators and trends. Sharing knowledge is very noble effort. I like the presentation style of yours. Keep up the good work.
    Thanks

  44. DR1184 says:

    hello Sir ,
    i am very very thankful for all the content here. it is precise , self-contained and lucid.
    regards,
    Rajesh

  45. souvik says:

    Dear Sir,
    I have gone through all of your modules and they are really very much helpful. I want to ask one thing which may be little out of track. What is standard profit(in %) can a day trader make in intraday trading? I know this cannot be a straight answer as it will vary from one person to person. But still then from your vast experiance you can give a light on that as it will help me to judge myself where i stand and how much more I need to to improve myself.

  46. Dhrub says:

    I think it would not scan all , but from opportunity universe which we need to define . But again to define the opportunity universe itself (real time ) –we need some kind of historical data search ?-

    Say Stocks that recently crossed 20DMA

    Now when you say that – define the opportunity universe as it’s not worth s scanning entire 6000 stocks

    You mean to say first do the Fundamental analysis and then technical , But this logic holds good pretty well for long term investors and not traders, day traders & scalpers- as even a stock at 100pe may move by 10%

    Stock price doesn’t change according to fundamentals but , according to the perception of fundamentals

    Anyways –how many stocks does it support in opportunity universe ?

    Regards,
    9986659576

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I guess the best way to deal with creating an opportunity universe is by keeping a track on Nifty 50. Within that you can further scan for parameters like 20DMA crossovers etc. Yes, as you said there is no need to worry much about fundamentals if you are day trading actively.

      • Dhru says:

        Thanks for the prompt response . Your comments seems more like defending your product , which is not bad but in this forum we are trying to focus on solving the real problem /issue.

        Actively trading or scanning nifty 50 ? are you really seriously giving this suggestion for day traders , Most of the mighty gainers are not from nifty50 and certainly not appear regularly . Now I am not referring to penny stocks .

        I hope you can give a real solution. ?

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          Which product are you talking about, can you kindly elaborate?

          Yes, I personally think scanning the Nifty 50 for daily opportunities is not a bad deal. I have done this for many years and I find it useful. Outside this basket you will have big movers, I agree…. but other problems like liquidity, margins etc crop up. Given this its best to stick to Nifty 50 and look for stocks that can move few % points here and there and trade them consistently.

          If you want to explore opportunities outside the Nifty 50 then you will need to use scanners or write a little programming script that can evaluate opportunities. Data can be downloaded from NSE.

          By the way, I have also used Metastock scanners which I think is quite good.

  47. @Karthik,
    I have never seen such great documentation on technical analysis and everything is well written. I will refer few of my friends to zerodha.

  48. L V S RAO says:

    Dear Sir, This is very easy to understand for even beginners like me. Thanks for post such good explanation. Please confirm by when we can get rest of chapter in PDF

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Glad to know you are liking the chapters 🙂

      We are working on converting the chapters into downloadable PDFs. Please bear with us for sometime. Thanks.

  49. DJ9425 says:

    Dear Karthik,
    If on any day I recognize a pattern fulfill with our checklist ,and I initiate a trade at 3.20pm on same day but on next day there is opposite candle but my stop loss not trigger . Then what should I do,either wait for another sessions with original SL or EXIT before closing.
    Regards
    Haridas

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Once you initiate the trade exit only if your SL has been breached or if your target has been hit. Please do not consider any other option in between.

  50. Rushank Shukla says:

    Dear Karthik Sir and Zerodha team, excellent job done by you for novice in stock market. I have gone through all technical modules and found it very useful. I have few question :1)While short listing a stock from nifty 50 , Is it a wise decision to check chart of particular sector for ex. Auto, IT to see which sector is out performing and then select a best stock from that sector?
    2) which chart do I have to look for medium to long term weekly or monthly?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Thanks 🙂

      That makes sense to look at sector specific charts and then the individual charts. I would advise you look at at least 3-6 months EOD charts for medium to long term for long perspective.

  51. rampsh445 says:

    You are awesome sir… TA content help me to learn a lot as a newbie…
    Currenty i am trading in mcx energy future like crude oil.
    So please give me grand check list for trading in commodity future for intraday trade. And which of technical indicator help most in commodity section.
    Thanks

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      The same checklist applies to commodities as well. Remember learning TA is like learning to drive a car…on how does it matter weather you are driving a Santor or an Alto?

      Hence you can use the same techniques on Commodities as well.

  52. Partha says:

    Dear Karthik
    Great work. Got confused and skipped candle stick patterns and lost some before. After reading your blog things got clarified. Perfect materials for starters. Are these TA enough to become a full time trader ? If so what should be my investment ?
    Thanks

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Glad to know that Partha. These chapters on TA should set you up on a good path. Start with small sums, gain confidence and them move ahead.

  53. Ashish says:

    All the six points in the checklist were satisfied by Bharti Airtel. Vol was above average. There was a shooting star formation after an uptrend. S&R confirmed the trade. Stock formed a double top as well and even indicators(MACD) confirmed the bearishness of this stock yet after all these factors the stock rallied upward. There was no significant news about Bharti Airtel. What could be a reasonable explanation for such behavior of this stock?

  54. Purvesh shah says:

    I would really like to thank you for providing the technical analysis material in PDF format. It will help me a lot in learning .
    Regards
    Purvesh

  55. Rishi Sekhri says:

    Hello Sir, For 5 or 10 mins intraday charts, what should be the look back back period for S&R, Tops & Bottoms and whats the best combination of EMAs & what are the best indicators to look at? Please guide?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Look for at least last 30 candles as look back. EMAs, indicators etc depend on your trading style. I personally prefer 9 and 21 day EMA for intraday trading…and I also dont depend much on indicators for intraday.

      • Rishi Sekhri says:

        Thanx a lot sir for guiding and special thanx for this wonderful TA module. One & all will be going to benefit from this. Never find such an elaborate as well as brief & upto the point material. Thanx once again sir.

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          Thanks for you kind words and encouragement Rishi. This motivates us to develop better content 🙂

  56. girish says:

    Dear karthik sir,
    Hope you enjoying writing of amazing article about share market, Sir I’m so happy & glad to inform you, My TA study is great going & Applying in live market, ha ha ha One by One is working, I’m dancing in my office…. Total I researched 21 Imagined indicators, My target 100 indicators….I never forget you karthik sir because given Beautiful ta article to all of us, It helpful a lot…. Once Again Thank you very much sir…I’m rocking always & I’m grateful for myself…Definitely i’ll share all my knowledge to everybody after myself satisfied. thank you… Have a wonderful day sir…god bless you

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Awesome Girish! Very happy for you 🙂 When people take time to educate themselves and improve their overall knowledge, good things start to happen. Guess you are setting an example here for others. Good luck.

  57. girish says:

    Thank you very much sir….

  58. girish says:

    Respected Karthik sir.

    Hope you are doing fine.

    Earlier I use to research on shares based on Pi software, but I see that in Pi software we get only daily chart of a share.
    Now, I am interested in buying full package of TA Software which provide weekly and monthly charts and data feed. I read your article in Zerodha where you mentioned two software ‘Metastock’ & ‘Amibroker’. And recently I came to know
    that present users of Zerodha are eligible for a discount in Amibroker. As mentioned above i am intresed to buy full package of software which give me above details.
    Could you please advise me which of the above software will suffice my need.
    Thank you sir,

  59. SARATH L says:

    if i purchase other trading software, can i trade using that software under zerodha brokerage ,please replay

  60. girish133 says:

    Dear Karthik sir,
    Great going ta research, Now i purchased Amibroker i was wonder there is quaterly, yearly chart also there, great fun, Please provide me link of equity data feed buy, I searched there is only f&o, Neotrade launch after 2-3 Month,
    I like Eod, Weekly, Monthly charts only sir,
    Thank you sir.

  61. ganesh jagdale says:

    hello sir for all the support in all terms
    Now i am feeling some more confident after reading this module and waiting for strategy module.
    i have lost nearly 3-4 lakhs of rupees since 2005 in trading and investment. and tried various methods to earn money from market (viz. advisory services, tips , expert advises of different channels)
    but because of Technical analysis now i am following my own analysis and enjoying some profit.
    now i am govt employee and willing to retired in 2022. (current age is 30)
    i have studied a lot and still doing the same about market and technical analysis to achieve my dream (i.e.PROFESSIONAL TRADER )
    so i need your help for the same
    now firstly can i meet you to see you while trading or i wanted to spend some time with professional trader .
    Next how to manage profit so that i can run my house on that income only because after 2022 my income source will be trading only.
    thank u
    and i can not disconnect myself from share market.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Ganesh – I do not actively trade anymore. Active trading is a full time job and requires lots of time…unfortunately I cannot afford that. I only make long term investments these days. My advice to you is start small and scale it up only when you know you are being consistent.

      Good luck.

  62. Viraaj Badhwar says:

    Well first off, i gotta say this is amongst the top resources for beginner traders that i have come across so hats off to you guys for putting this together. You’re definitely building a lot of good karma by helping out so many people.

    On a completely different and random note, not sure if you guys are looking for typos but if you are, then there’s a tiny one at 19.5 – The scout, first line, second last word. Identify has been misspelled as indentify lol. Just thought i’d bring it to your attention incase you haven’t already noticed.

    Cheers and keep up the awesome work!

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Thanks for the kind words Virraj! …and thanks for pointing out the typos…in case you find anything other typos, please do let us know.

  63. Atmaram Shetye says:

    Wonderful introduction! After having emptied my 1 month’s salary in day trading on icicidirect, I wanted to try out a low cost brokerage firm. And I am really happy to switch to zerodha. Though I didn’t start greatly with zerodha, I tried using the candlestick charting explained here last week, and immediately saw the difference. I would really like to thank you for the time and effort in explaining the technicals. However, with respect to Pi, is there any future plan of porting it to linux or Mac?

  64. Satvik says:

    Thank You. for knowledge sharing.
    I wanted one info about volumes.
    What is the significance of Delivery Volume Percentage??
    I have heard a lot about its importance in trading ,but have no idea about its influence.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Delivery volume % just indicates the number of shares taken in for deliver. So if the total volume is 100, and % delivery is 45%…then 45 shares is taken in for deliver. It is believed that higher the % of delivery shares, the higher is the bullishness in the stock.

  65. madhu nair says:

    hi karthik, wanted to know from you, if you track news flow in any particular order before our market opens? for e.g todays carnage in the market is attributed to certain global cues like, the chinese market opening weak and the usd/inr touching 2 year highs @66.30 plus. are there any data points that one should always keep an eye on before market hours? do let us know your views. thanks.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Madhu – I do read couple of newspapers (ET & HBL) daily…plus watch TV for few mins to figure out whats happening. Usually this is good enough for me.

  66. raj says:

    Karthik, as you have mentioned after an increase ( mark up) in price the stock enters a distribution phase followed by a mark down or a decrease in prices. where as some say the stock prices after a consolidation( Distribution here) generally moves in the direction of the trend prior ( increase prices) to the distribution phase. isn’t that contradictory? also, trading intraday the candle patterns are a blur. in the sense one follows the other…is support and resistance the only way to filter them.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Raj – the general theory is cyclical….so it really depends on which part of the cycle one is referring to. S&R is a good technique to day trade…keep that as your central theme and identify patterns around it.

  67. koolshanin says:

    Karthik gud work with the technical lesson. I have a doubt instead of manual checking for the nifty50 or the 2000 odd NSE stocks is there any way to auto scan or short stocks based on ones person preference ?? After market hours using EOD or in the market hours using real feed.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Check this -http://zerodha.com/z-connect/tradezerodha/pi-tradezerodha/eas-for-auto-buysell-signals-pi and this – https://zerodha.com/expert-advisors/

      • shankar says:

        EA your talking about is to generate AUTO buy & sell on the selected scrips only. But what I’m looking for is a system to Select the scrips out of the 2000 odd scrips. For example if my criteria is
        1. Adx present > Adx yday
        2. Close > sma 20
        Etc…
        I want to scan for the particular stocks which has fulfilled the above criteria for the pool of stocks.

        Is there any way to do it in Pi.??

        Kindly reply thanks in advance

  68. sudeshnabora says:

    How long can I use Pi without actively participating in trade? I am preparing myself to trade and want to study the market and do mock investments for atleast 6 months. Can you refer me some charting softwares or websites that would help me in practising before I decide to trade?

  69. Girish says:

    Wonderful karthik sir,
    You inspired me about technical, Now candlestick became my passion, I love candlestick indicators and candlestick indicators loves me!!!
    I hope you are doing great for sharing technical & fundamental knowledge to everybody! Happy to share you karthik sir, as i promised vision 130+ bullish indicator done! Oh my god, I am rocking in market sir, Life is so beautiful, Unlimited knowledge in technical!! Getting more spirit about ta! vikas global, vrl, so many stocks returned double!! one by one acting all 130+ bullish indicator!! not started bearish, Soon Sir, Own unique method research having more kick!!!! 2 indicators i have found technical fundmental(still researching deep)…
    Thanks Karthik sir, You are always in my heart!!!!!!!!
    THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
    TECHNICAL RESEARCH IS AASAAN HAI!!!!!

    Your’s
    Girish
    World’s No.1 wonderful soul stock analyst!!!

  70. Abid says:

    Hey Karthik,
    Just finished reading this. This is a great effort. Because
    1. Minimal – You have focused only on what is truly important and left out the unimportant noise
    2. Simple – I am fairly sure this gives a new user a sense of empowerment and confidence without confusing him
    3. Well-written – I am already a fan of your language
    4. Illustrated – Great clarity with examples etc.

    Keep it coming mate!

  71. jaganathan says:

    Thank you so much for the effort took to teach everyone what you learned.Really so simple to learn.Again tons of thanks 🙂

  72. aman6032 says:

    Thank you Karthik Sir,
    This is really great learning module for beginners, it will be more easy if you provide it in Hindi Language also, so it will be more easy to understand, please do it for normal people like me.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Glad you are liking it Aman 🙂

      • aman6032 says:

        Plz tell me if this all module will be available in Hindi Language also.. Plz sir there are lot of people intrested but could not go ahead due to language problem.. ? I hope you understand Sir ☺

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          Aman – thanks for the suggestion. We are exploring opportunities to translate the module in regional languages. Hopefully it should happen sometime soon.

  73. Venkatesh G says:

    Hi Karthik, thanks for the material. The ADX indicator is available in Zerodha Kite, but i did’t find in PI. Is there any other name for ADX indicator or is there any other indicator like ADX in PI. Please clarify.

  74. Awasthi says:

    Hi Karthik, First of all let me say big thanks to you because the way you are helping new traders is awesome.
    kindly help me….. i am a new trader and bit confused about what kind of trading can give me more returns whether its option trading or cash trading and i would like to do on intra day basis.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Thanks for the kind words.

      If you are starting and new to markets I would suggest you stick to swing trading where in you hold the trade for 1 or 2 weeks. Do these trades for a while till you get used to markets. You can move over to intraday once you are comfortable.

  75. tushar says:

    NIce work karthik sir, Hats off
    feel like i found a holy grail

  76. Rajeev says:

    Sir
    I want to do some technical analysis course.can you suggest some good courses available in market?do zerodha provide such type of course?can I use zerodha pi chart without trading with zerodha as first I want to gain confidence by detail studying chart

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Rajeev – honestly the content here is more than sufficient for you to get started. Please do not waste money on these “technical analysis courses”.

  77. kap says:

    I have attached the image file.does the attached kotak bank ,bearish harami.

  78. kap says:

    prev trend is down. but can u say this as bearish engulfing?…

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Prior trend should be up, this is an integral part of Bearish Engulfing. Absence of which the pattern becomes invalid.

  79. kap says:

    does the pnb candlestick forms a

  80. kap says:

    does the pnb forms a bearish harami. Also if u look at a last 5 days candle. If first 3 green candle goes little up and the last 2 shows a bearish harami..can u consider that as a fully formed harami .And if u look at last 5 days candle for a scrip which shows first 3 green candle little higer than each,and the last two shows a bearish engulfing.can we confirm that as bearish engulfing…

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Kap – like I said for both the patterns the prior up trend is mandatory. Since the untrend is not really pronounced the pattern cannot be termed as harami or engulfing.

  81. kap says:

    Your Chapters are nicely written. And its very useful for me . Now i m just using your whole chapters and trying to sharpen my basic skills in trading.thanks a lot for providing us such a wonderful work. thank u

  82. Dilip Sarode says:

    Dear Mr. Kartik,
    This is Dilip here RD1232
    I am confused by your Vasity Module-2 Technical Analysis chapter point 19.4, part -2 evaluation process, you mention RRR (risk to reward ratio) to be at least 1.5. Do you mean for every one rupee risk the reward will be Rs.1.5 OR vice versa? In Scapler point no. 19.5, it is mentioned that RRR of 0.5 to 0.75 is acceptable. In this case is the risk higher than the reward? This is absurd. Why anybody will enter in trade where chances of loosing are more? If not more there should be at lease 50:50 chances of winning. I hope you have understood my question.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Well this is because while scalping you dont intend to hold the position for more than few seconds/minutes. For this kind of time frame a 0.5 or 0.75 RRR is acceptable. However for swing trades you got to ensure that the RRR is slightly higher (since you carry position overnight hence you need to be compensated for overnight risk as well).

  83. Uday says:

    Hello Kartik,

    I have a small question,
    Lets say If i Buy a ‘X’ company 100 shares at 100/- with stop loss 98, after placing Long position, price moved down and closed the day at 98.2, My stop loss is not yet triggered.
    As there are gap ups and downs are common, if next day the opening price is 97.5, stop loss will be triggered right, Here my question is will my long position closed at 98 or 97.5
    Please clarify.
    Thanks in Advance

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Uday – firstly you cannot carry forward your SL over night. Each day you will have to place fresh SL order. Also SL does not really guarantee an exit..in case of gap movements, SL will not get triggered.

  84. GANESH says:

    hello sir
    how to analyse the total buy and sell quantity of any stock or index
    what is the impact i mean can i buy a stock or index which having more sellers than buyers,

  85. GANESH says:

    and sir which course you will suggest to become a professional in stock market.
    i m a graduate (b sc aeronutics) and doing trading since 2005
    having some knowledge of technical analysis and indian & global economy and little about commerce

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Please dont pay money for any course. Read up all the contents here on Varsity..and after that apply for a professional certification like CFA, FRM, CAIA etc.

  86. Kashif says:

    I plan to start with 10 blue chip cos. & not put a stop loss in any. I will take delivery but will sell maybe intra-day if I’m making money. Is this a good idea ?

  87. tramadevi says:

    Sir,
    How to identify the market/stock is in Trend (up or Down) or side ways.
    Regards

  88. GANESH says:

    sir how to identify formation of long or short position on index or stock

  89. tramadevi says:

    Sir,
    In Intraday Trading what is the strategy for Stop Loss. Can u Please explain.
    Regards

  90. kieron says:

    Sir,
    Only technical analysis knowledge is sufficient for option trading

  91. rohan says:

    There are many patterns like bearish reversal,bullish reversal, Flag top, multiple bottom top breakout etc. There are about 6000 stocks listed in indian stock market. So is there any way of short-listing top 20 bearsish and bullish stocks of week where I can see any pattern is forming so that I can take decison to go ahead with trade or not?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      There are various scanners that will help you identify these patterns , although in my opinion none of the scanners available for Indian markets are worth while. I would suggest you concentrate on Nifty 50 stocks and scan then for patterns daily. There would be 1 or the other opportunity in these 50 stocks on a daily basis.

  92. Akshay says:

    How exactly will you calculate the risk reward ratio

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Divide the expected reward over the expected loss and you get the RRR. For example you buy a stock at 100, with a target expectation of 110 and SL of 95, then expected reward is 10, and loss is 5. So RRR would be 10/5 = 2. Which means you expect 2/- reward for every 1 Rupee risk you take.

  93. Girish says:

    Wonderful Karthik sir!
    1-1-2016 will give you prosperity, wealth, health, joy, cheerfulness, satisfaction, awareness, knowledge, amazing thoughts/great ideas! With all my heart Wish you happy new year to you & our Zerodha team! Zerodha makes me happy & learning about my real passion! God bless you! I hope Zerodha will be First place in worldwide! Thank you for constantly spreading Share Market knowledge!

  94. rohan says:

    Hi,
    You have mentioned that once trade is initiated, one should not exit till target or stop loss is hit. What if in between other pattern is formed.
    In the attachment I have initiated trade based on upfront falg candle break out pattern. But in between evening star patter is formed with bearish confirmation. So should I exit or stay till target/stop los is hit?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Rohan – this is a common occurrence. I’d suggest you stick to the original thesis and wait for the trade to unfold.

  95. Vasanth says:

    What’s your view about ADX? I am a fulltime day trader and continuously noted that if Adx increasing from 27 to higher levels the trade to be done in the trend side .if in between for eg adx@35 if iam observing a piercing pattern near the resistance and feeling to short..if I do so most of the time I ended up in loss..I read so many articles in the net Adx is the base for the trend but its not covered in ta..if adx is below 20 the candlesticks with s&r and oscillators are working fine..And also during trend reversal also the patterns are not working well..kindly clarify.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Here are some notes on ADX –

      About:
      The Average Directional Index (ADX), Minus Directional Indicator (-DI) and Plus Directional Indicator (+DI) represent a group of directional movement indicators that form a trading system developed by Welles Wilder. The Average Directional Index (ADX) measures trend strength without regard to trend direction. The other two indicators, Plus Directional Indicator (+DI) and Minus Directional Indicator (-DI), complement ADX by defining trend direction. Used together, chartists can determine both the direction and strength of the trend. Source: stockcharts.com

      What should you know?
      1) ADX system has three components – ADX, +DI, and -DI
      2) ADX is used to measure the strength/weakness of the trend and not the actual direction
      3) ADX above 25 indicates that the present trend is strong, ADX below 20 suggest that the trend lacks strength. ADX between 20 and 25 is a grey area
      4) A buy signal is generated when ADX is 25 and the +DI crosses over –DI
      5) A sell signal is generated when ADX is 25 and the –DI crosses over +DI
      6) Once the buy or sell signal is generated, take the trade by defining the stop loss
      7) The stop loss is usually the low of the signal candle (for buy signals) and the high of the signal candles ( for short signals)
      8) The trade stays valid till the stoploss is breached (even if the +DI and –DI reverses the crossover)
      9) The default look back period for ADX is 14 days

  96. Vasanth says:

    Apart from so many factors market movement is mainly due to supply and demand and can be notable through tbq and tsq..If TBQ>TSQ more demand is there the market can go uptrend and vice Versa but actually its not working fine..Even though mixing the same with ta..ur view pls..

  97. Ram says:

    For swing traders the EOD data timeframe will be the best rather than finding the opportunity in 1hours/15 mins time frame..

  98. Vasanth says:

    In the scalping guidelines u mentioned that we have to keep the view on bid ask spread with volume buildup..I hope u highlighted to point out the impact cost and it would be minimal in case of liquid stocks..I think the volume buildup is due to more supply as well as demand I.e some group of market participants are buying and the other group is shorting..by seeing the volume build up how can i arrive the decision as a scalper? Correct me if am wrong and kindly clarify..kindly correlate tbq,tsq(above query), volume buildup and bidask spared for better clarity..

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      As a scalper one must keep the liquidity in perspective all the time. The volume buildup shows us at which point the liquidity is maximum so that the impact cost is minimum. Also do note that the volume buildup alone does not trigger your decision to scalp.

  99. Poornima says:

    Hi Karthik,
    how to get market profile charts in kite? also is it possible to have a chapter on the same (understanding market profile)? By the way thanks a lot for all your efforts!

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Poornima, no market profile is not yet available. I don’t know much about market profile, I need to learn it myself 🙂 Hopefully sometime in the future I can put up some material on it 🙂

  100. RK kumar says:

    Interest the TA module created is equivalent to reading a thriller!great narration with personalised touch,felt like attending a live session…great…hats off….btb…who all constitute the operators?is it allowed to form a cartel and rigging?should not the regulators intervene and curb if any such restrictive practice’s taking place?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Glad to know that 🙂

      Cartel formation and rigging is certainly not legal, but unfortunately it does exist. Regulators are working really hard to clamp this down.

  101. RK kumar says:

    Hi karthik,the kind of correction undergoing in nifty,would it be right to go for contrarian view ?what about some chart patterns like pennant,triangle,cup and handle etc. Is than significant or just to ignore?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      The problem with being contrarian is that the you could be eventually right but time may not be on your side. Being contrarian and investing is ok, but being contrarian and trading is quite a challenge. You need good timing skills here. Yes, indicator and patterns you have mentioned help in getting your timing right.

  102. Sainudheen says:

    Thanks for teaching… TA

  103. Tanmoy says:

    Hi Karthik, So on a daily basis I have to search for patterns approx between 2-3 pm only if we want to enter a trade on the pattern formation day and we are into positional trading?

  104. lakshmi says:

    I request you to excuse me for asking a question that has nothing to do with TA. After reading so many articles on stock market, I feel there is one method to make 3-4% month consistently. I discussed with some friends but they said that the return is too low and somehow evasive. I think that getting 3% per month is quite easy. If I buy one lot of SBIN shares at an approximate cost of 3.6 lakhs (@180 per share), I can sell a call option of April 2016 with a strike price of 190 at about 9 rupees. Assuming that the price moves to 400 on expiry, my profit of 18000/- on 3.6 lakhs will be with me in addition to the roughly 20000 (difference in cost of share bought and the strike price multiplied by 2000). That means I make a whopping 38k on 3.6 lakhs in 45 days without any tension. Of course there is a probability of the share falling down to say 100 or even less in the future but it is not expected to happen in a month or two and every time there is a fall, the price of acquiring it reduces to the extent of call option premium. Can you please tell me:
    a) What is the flaw in my thinking because it looks too good to be true; and
    b) Whether I can buy nifty future and do the same by selling a call option with a higher strike price than spot price?
    Kindly let me know when you have time.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I’m a little confused on your P&L calculation considering the stock goes to 400, request you to share more details. Anyway, you are discussing a variant of Covered calls, which is a popular strategy. If you can consistently make 3% a month, then trust me you are sailing in a good boat!

      • lakshmi says:

        Thank you very much for replying sir. If the stock goes above the strike price, the call option will rise too. Still the profit of spot price and premium received on the call option sale is with me. As I mentioned, I will have to sell the stock. If the stock price goes to 400 the call option will have to be purchased @ 210 (400-190 strike price). But that loss is practically covered since the stock price will fetch me a profit of 220 (400- 180 at which i bought). The 9 rupees premium on selling the call is still with me. That means the net PL is 220+9-210 = 19 per share or 38k for the margin of 3.6 lakhs blocked. I have no worry if the stock falls too because if SBI falls then banking industry will fall. God forbid. I have no tension about the margins or mtm etc.

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          Ah, got it. See the problem here is that you have assumed stock price will move by a large extent. It may not happen this way. What if stock price neither moves up or down…but sticks to a -5 to +5% range? It would be kind of tricky right? I’d suggest you play around with different expiry options to see how this goes….check out the excel models put up in Module 6, they will give you a sense of how to deal with such strategies. Also make sure you always evaluate P&L at 3 levels – Stock price moves up, down, and stays flat.

          Good luck.

  105. Varun says:

    Thanks for the tutorial. You have explained price action in a very beautiful way and with enough examples.
    Thanks for summarizing with the grand checklist(pattern, S&R, volume, trend, indicator and of course RR). I think this is the most important part of the tutorial to make a high probability trade.

  106. SAILAJA K V says:

    Hi Karthik, Again great piece of work by you and Zerodha. Thanks for bringing up such a useful training modules on Technical Analysis. I understand that purpose of this tutorials is to educate traders to learn TA and trade on their own successfully and it serves the purpose to greater extent. However, i felt you should have covered two more important topics which everyone should be aware of: they are 1. Divergences (RSI or MACD Divergence and how to use these leading signals along with other points covered in your checklist) and 2. Trendlines. Hope you agree with me they are important and consider them to add to this great tutorial when time permits.

  107. Vasanth says:

    I am a day as well as swing trader since last 3years with the average returns in the market using technical analysis as well as hedging with options. Varsity gave a good base and regarding options theory learnt a lot from Sheldon’s option volatility and pricing and of course from varsity too and practically applying and acheiveing an average returns. Pls suggest the best book for technical analysis in order to get the strong and in depth knowledge to become a professional trader.

  108. Shafeeq says:

    Hello sir, in this statement that “If the S&R level is more than 4% away from the stoploss, I stop evaluating the chart further”, the 4% is with reference to range or the current market price.
    Pleae clarify !!!
    Thank U!!

  109. Shafeeq says:

    Thank You Sir.

  110. Adi says:

    Hello Kartik, a few questions about Pi:
    1) Can I use a custom triple crossover MA script in Pi such that the 3 lines are visible on live chart?
    2) Can I have the average volume line visible over the volume candles on live chart?
    I can only see Expert Advisor here which actually generate alerts but the patterns are not visible on chart. Am I missing something?

  111. DJ9425 says:

    Hi Karthik,

    I have some questions about trading but apart from TA & FA , and hope you will put some light on it.
    1) Is F&o trading is a business like any other business (like jeweler shop, kirana stores,restaurants, wine shop ,etc )
    2)If yes how many people (aprox %) do this successfully.
    3) Though too many peoples trades in market,why there are not open discussions on this business, like zerodha platform.

    Thanks.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      There are quite a few people successfully trading the markets, you may want to check this -https://zerodha.com/60-day-challenge/winners . There are many forums where people discuss topics related to trading.

  112. D says:

    Hello karthik sir,

    thank you very much for such a nice modules on TA. it really very helpful in trading.

    i would like to know which indictors r really reliable(as per your personal experience). i am asking this for not getting confused between so many indicators.

    thank you very much.

  113. Abhijit Mazumder says:

    Karthik,
    Amazing effort!!
    I have a very basic question regarding how to approach trading which I believe can be relevant to many

    I have a day job and I love it. I am passionate about my day job so I at least put 10 hours on that. However I am also passionate about market as well and try to understand its nuances and of course make some money. I am moderately disciplined and risk taker, have ability to book loss. Most importantly I am passionate about developing a system to make money and not so much by pure luck. It gives me a kick when a system works rather than making some money by pure luck. The challenge is of course time. By reading your finale to become a trader one needs to put at least 3-4 hours only to shortlist nifty stocks which sadly I cant have. For me 1 hour is optimum. In this scenario should I strictly stay away from trading?
    Once again thnx for helping us. You are a great mentor for all of us in the wild

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Abhijit – glad you like Varsity! The idea is to spread the right knowledge and make people set realistic expectations. Nothing happens in a rush, I’d suggest you try out investing to begin with. Investing based on right ideas and eventually experiencing a multi bagger is a different ball game! This does not require as much time as day trading….but yes requires great amount of efforts in terms of understanding business. Of course you can always get into trading as and when you find the bandwidth.

  114. Akshay says:

    Sir I’d like to know if shorting is for intraday or interday shorting ( delivery shorting ) can also be done ? Thank you .

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      You can short stocks in the spot market on a intraday basis…however you can short and carry forward the positions in the derivative markets.

  115. Deepesh says:

    For a noobie, What amount would you suggest to start trading with so as to get some hands on experience? Also where should one start, Equity (Intraday/ Delivery) or F&O (Futures/ Options)?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I’d suggest Equity delivery is best way to start. Once you are comfortable you could try overnight F&O…and finally intraday. You could have upto 25% of your capital for trading with the rest invested for longer term objectives.

  116. Raj says:

    how can one spot the end of a retracement? when does one start buying? is support and resistance the only way?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      There is no way one can say when the retracement would end. S&R helps you in taking an intelligent guess, nothing beyond that.

  117. ganesh says:

    Hi Karthik, If i use 5 min candlestick chart for intraday trading, then what is ideal parameter setting for stockastic oscillator & MACD

  118. ganesh says:

    ok for 10/15 min time frame…but what will be corresponding ideal settings parameter for stochastic & MACD…like 5,3,3 or 9,3,3 for stochastic or 12,26,9 for MACD

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      This for you to estimate Ganesh! Remember the numbers which work for me need not necessarily work for you.

  119. Puneet Keswani says:

    Hi Karthik – This is an amazing piece of information put up here.
    I have a doubt here, how can I use the PI software in Linux machine having Ubuntu.

  120. rama devi says:

    Dear Sir, The higher the percent of deliverable quantity to traded quantity the better-
    What it means and how to see. Thanks

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      It just means people are buying the stock and holding it in their Demat. Its empirical…in fact you can get the data from NSE and backtest it. If you do, please do share the results with all of us 🙂

  121. nayan says:

    please include elliott wave oscillator in Pi

  122. Vishal Javakhedkar says:

    First of all hats off to you guys for making this module. Now my question, I prefer to trade in options because of quick results and less investment, but I didn’t had success though I know options Greeks so now I have decided to base on my trades based on TA, do I need to know anything else apart from options Greeks and TA to be taste success in option trading.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I guess its good enough to get started, give it a shot. If there is something else required you will discover when you place an actual trade. Good luck.

      • Vishal Javakhedkar says:

        Another question, what would be success rate if any one practice whatever you have taught and apply it properly. And in general how accurate is technical analysis in terms of prediction.

  123. samba purohit says:

    sir
    you have told that at least 500000 lk volume per day is good but every share of eq segment having more volume then 500000 per day ,for example marksans pharma it is also caring more then 500000 lakh volume/day. dose it mean that it is a good share for day trade or swing trade or
    even long term

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Higher volume just indicates that the liquidity is good, which is a key ingredient for day trading. However, you also need to pay attention to other things in the checklist.

  124. Sudhish says:

    Is there any way, by which we can get historical data of all stocks in NSE (Open, close, high, low values) for everyday, after market closing hours for free ?

  125. Rajkumar Karadalli says:

    Thank you very much for explaining TA in such an understandable level to beginner. Excellent information…and the checklist you have developed….awesome!!!

  126. Vasanth says:

    1.If a stock makes all time high with the formation of valid bearish candlestick pattern and also satisfying the 3-4 check list points. Can I short if so what’s the probability of success as per ur exp..
    2.As per my exp..if a hammer(even if its red) formation during the uptrend is not working fine whereas shooting star is working well and vice versa in the downtrend.. Pls correct me if iam wrong. The pattern is validated after 3-4 checklist points.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Yes you can short. I cant pint point to a particular value, but my guess is that you could have a favorable outcome considering the fact that many traders would want to book profits at all time highs.

      Yes, in a uptrend I prefer shorting on a shooting star as opposed to a paper umbrella.

  127. Vasanth says:

    While day trading iam able to predict whether the market is trending or trading with the help of adx in most of the cases. But how can I predict the same during swing trading. If I use adx the values are not even crossing 30 also(max).

    What’s ur view about Elliot wave theory..

  128. madhu says:

    how do u know a stock is moving up due to short covering? does it reflect on the charts? thanks karthik.

  129. Sainudheen says:

    Sir,
    S&R based trading , Suppose if i am going to buy a stock @ support level my confusion is where i would give SL , Considering Risk reward ratio & what are the thinks do i need to consider for giving SL ,for S& R based trading.
    60 % of time hitting the SL and going my direction. How to solve this kindly mention your view point ?
    Thanks

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      The beauty of support is that the support level itself acts as the stoploss level. You should only take trades which offer attractive reward to risk ratios after considering in the support / SL levels.

  130. abhishek kumar sah says:

    lets say i buy 10 stocks of tcs, product type CNC. now next day if i want to put a stop loss — can we do it like this. sell 10 stocks of tcs CNC LIMIT ORDER. will this act like a stop loss??

  131. Tariq says:

    Hi, first of all appreciate for this wonderful tutorial and efforts that is given for it. I am very new to Trade world, i knew only that this is riskiest asset class. I have gone through lot of chapters of this module and i am confused on positional trading and swing trading difference. Also if we can hold stocks from week to months in this then it is similar to long terms investment in terms of blocking the money. Also may i know about margin money for swing trading or it is just full stocks money block?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Thanks for the kind words Tariq.

      Hopefully this will give you the clarity –

      1) Intraday – when you buy and sell stocks the same day
      2) BTST – You buy today and sell tomorrow (I’m personally not a big fan of this)
      3) Swing trade – When you buy today with an expectation of holding the trade for few days. This is a short term trade done with an intention of profiting from the short term momentum. Since you hold this position for few days, it is also ok to refer to this as a positional trade
      4) Long term trade – When you buy stocks and hold on to it for more than 365 days.

      • Tariq says:

        Thanks for clarification, it really did clarify. What about margin money required for swing trade, i guess there is no margin money concept on swing trade. Is it same like hitting the stocks T+2 in Demat account because we are not sure about holding days, may be more than a week? But somewhere i had read that in swing trade we can sell stocks in same day so it should not be T+2 way , again i am confused. Can you clarify this also. Thanks in advanced.

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          You can do swing trading two ways –

          1) In spot – here there is no concept of margins, you will have to pay the entire cash required to carry the position forward
          2) In futures market – here you need to deposit the NRML margins. Check this to know which contract attracts what kind of margins – https://zerodha.com/margin-calculator/SPAN/

  132. Madhuri says:

    Can you please explain what you mean with ‘Keep a tab on the bid ask spread to see how the volumes are building’

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Higher the bid-ask spread, the higher is the liquidity and therefore I’d assume higher volumes. Larger is the spread, lower is the spread and lower is the volume.

      • chirag says:

        didnt get the spread term here,larger the spresd and lower the spread kindly explain in comment box

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          If the liquidity is high then the spread (i.e the price at which one wants to buy and sell) will be small. For example – you will find a seller at 100 and buyer at 100.25. However if the liquidity is low, then the same spread will be larger i.e 100 and 101.

  133. Parth says:

    Hello there,
    You mentioned that after you’re done analyzing the charts for recognizable candlestick patterns, you look for prior trends.
    Let’s say that I identified a bullish engulfing pattern . Now the previous trend has to be downwards for it to work right? Could you please tell me how far back in time do you look for that TREND? As in do I need to check whether there is a downwards trend for the last 30 days , 60 days or what?
    Thank you.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      This again depends on the timeframe you are looking at. For swing trading where I look at the last 5 or 6 trading sessions (or at least 5-8%) decline. For intraday trading (5/10 mins candle) I look for at least the last 10 candles.

      • Parth says:

        For a swing trader , last 5-6 trading sessions refers to last 5-6 daily candles ,right?

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          Yes, on a end of day basis. This means the last 5 or 6 trading sessions.

          • Arun says:

            Dear Karthik,
            First of all, thanks for a lovely module. I have few queries (for swing trading)
            1. When looking for prior trend, u replied in one of query that u look for 5-6 last candles but then u said thay we need a look back period of 6months or 1 year for checking prior trend. Didnt get this? Also market move in waves, so we need trend of particular rise or fall or general trend of stock?
            2. Volumes should be above 10D avg volume. Volume of which candle? If it is Doji or Hammer lets say then Volume checking should be on Doji or Hammer candle or on the candle following the pattern?

          • Karthik Rangappa says:

            1) 5-6 days gives a sense of the secondary trend which is more on an immediate basis, however, 5-6 months gives a sense of the slightly longer term trend. You need to use both these in conjunction
            2) The candle which creates the main pattern and the candle upon which you buy, both should have good volumes.

  134. madhuri says:

    Hi Kartik,
    I normally get deceived by the volumes of the bid and ask spread
    How can THE BID AND ASK SPREAD be read with more reliability as an INDICATOR OF BULISHNESS OR BEARISHNESS OF THE STOCK. Explain with an exampl.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Well, from my experience its futile to read the volume of Bid Ask as its transient and very hard to make any reliable conclusion. I’d suggest you stick to the end of day volume instead.

  135. Abhishek says:

    Sir, i have read the module on TA. So should i start trading or read the following modules as well?
    What startegy do you recommend for beginners regarding the full course?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      The module on TA should alone be sufficient for you to trade in spot market. However, if you wish to trade futures, then you should learn how the futures instrument functions.

  136. Aditya says:

    Sir, having completed the module on TA, what should be my approach towards the market? I mean should i be a swing trader or intraday?
    Also, how should i start looking for patterns? Should i scan the Nifty 50 or something else?
    I am absolutely new to the market and this will be my first investment.
    Pl provide some guidance.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I’d suggest you look at swing trading to begin with. Look for patterns on a end of day basis in the Nifty 50 set. Execute trades with an intention of holding the trades for few days…once you gain confidence (over next 6 months to a year I guess), I’d suggest you venture to day trading. Good luck.

  137. Chandrajeet says:

    First of all thanks a lot for starting this learning session, i just wanted to ask you 1 think, trading is a business or gambling, i mean to say can we make a career in this

  138. vishal says:

    Hi Karthik,

    Thanks for the well written information. I have 2 doubts-
    1. From the information here I got a sense that if someone is trading stock X then he/she should only focus on the chart and characteristics of the stock X only. For example if bullish signal is generated and checklist is fulfilled for stock X then buy X. But in most of the cases when X is bought and nifty/market is down/weak it doesn’t performs as per expectation no matter how bullish is X. Same is the case when shorting but nifty/market is strong.
    How one should take into consideration the nifty/market trend/movement when taking a decision to trade X based on checklist?

    2. In general, its rule that we should go with trend. So if someone is dealing with individual stock trend, then how to take into account the market trend.? For example stock trend is +ve and market trend is -ve OR stock trend is -ve and market trend is +. I can understand that if stock+market both trend are +ve then it works OR stock+market trend are -ve then also it works. This positive+negative OR negative+positive trend happens most of the times in the market.

    I hope you can throw some light on this based on your experience. And we can add this in your checklist while taking decision.

    Thanks,
    Vishal

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      1) Yes. However, you should remember that there are days when stock will continue to display bullishness/bearishness despite the weakness/strength in the market. Typically, this happens when the fundamental news surrounding the stock is quite strong.

      2) Yes, I totally get your point. Unfortunately, this is how it works. Not all things will be perfectly aligned and presented on a platter to us :). However, there are days when things are aligned…thats when you need to have the conviction to go all guns blazing.

  139. chandrajeet says:

    Hi Karthik,

    they way you have made checklist for swing trading is ossom, it will be very helpful if you can provide few checklist for intraday trading

  140. jkpahuja says:

    I have configure TIME as start 9.00.000AM & end 9.00.000PM. for intraday local data file.
    But metastock does not display all the data in the chart. It does from 9.15 to 12.59 & ignore data from 1 pm to 3.15 pm.
    Pl advice how to configure. any body can help for the correct configuration
    Thansk.

  141. kay kay says:

    sir, can someone rely on monthly chart for trading

  142. K R Ashok says:

    Return wise which is more profitable? Swing trading or day trading?

  143. Harish Balgi says:

    This is the best info on TA available in market. Hats off to Karthik for such easy to understand language.

  144. Yoosuf says:

    Hi Karthik, your information is great but still I have few queries to be sort it out.
    1. As suggested charting software ‘Metastock’ and ‘Amibroker’ are they provide the volume of each buying and selling or just a combine volume of multi users at one time like zerodha pi chart.
    2. Who decides the opening price of a stock and on what basis? is it company or stock exchange? and why one can’t buy a stock in the morning on the last day closing price?
    3. Can I submit a cover order in the evening for coming day? and what time the order will execute would it be at 9am or 9.15am?

    Please revert me in details as I am a day trader on zerodha and stuck with these things.

    Thanks
    Yoosuf

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      1) They combine the data

      2) Traders place their bets, based on this, NSE decides an optimal opening price. NSE has an opening price algorithm which takes care of this on a daily basis. Last day prices is weighted average price of the last 30 mins. Please remember, opening price is not the same as the previous day’s closing price.

      3) Cover order and bracket order are both intraday order types.

  145. Mayank Ganatra says:

    Thanks a lot for making such a great content available to us !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  146. Sudipta says:

    Hi Karthik,

    Can you please pass this feedback to your technical team that the comment writing textbox in this page is very narrow. We cannot see the full comment while writing. The bottom-right corner expansion arrow also does not work (it is supposed to enlarge this box when dragged, but it is not working).

    Anyway, coming to the query, I wanted your help on 2 concepts. Thought this would be the best place to ask.

    I am confused between 2 things – Delivered quantity and Open interests. Take for example, M&M Financial Services which I bought today at 293 and it retraced back to 275 – slowly over the whole day, no sudden fall as such. End of the day when I checked the Delivered %, it is showing very high. Totat traded vol is 426K and Delivered qty is 328K (almost 77%). This shows the delivery is taken by many people, so people might be bullish about its price. Then I checked the OI. The OI is reduced by 4.6%. When price is falling and the OI is also falling, I think it shows a bearish movement – pls correct me if I am wrong. The Delivered qty and the OI are somewhat in contradiction here. So what should I conclude, is the price expected to go up or go down in a short term ? The actual price can move either ways, but I am asking theoretically what do you think comes out of this data ?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Delivered Qty itself can be quite misleading 🙂

      It also includes BTST transactions, which means traders buy today (as in take delivery), with an intention of selling tomorrow. Clearly, not a long term approach here.

      Personally, I do not like to track any of these data points while trading. It consumes a lot of time and none of them are straight forward.

  147. mohit_1607 says:

    Hi Karthik,
    By following the checklist as mentioned and choosing the right option strategy, can we take positions for options trading?
    In other words, is the checklist only meant to trade direct underlying?

  148. Mehul says:

    Hi Karthik,
    I have one doubt.
    Suppose i buy a stock of xyz @200 and go long(INTRA DAY). Then if the stock goes downwards and suppose after some time it reaches higher than 200 so i book profit.
    Is the same concept applicable in short selling i.e. if i short xyz at 200 and if it goes up but after some time dips below 200 can i buy back then. All in intra day.
    Thanks in advance.

  149. sammandar khan says:

    How can i connect with zerodha pi? I’m a client of zeordha. Is it free?

  150. Rakesh says:

    Not just in this chapter, but in all modules and chapters, I find “I personally prefer”. I would like to know who this “i” is? Who in Zerodha has given these preferences?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Rakesh – that would be me 🙂

      • Rakesh says:

        OK, thanks….?.
        I have another question. In this module in chapter 19.5-the scout, under part 2 – the evaluation process, point number 7 says “risk to reward ratio”. But isn’t that reward to risk ratio? As said in the previous module.

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          Both are the same 🙂

          • rakesh says:

            how can both be same. It just changes the meaning completely. Because in reward-to-risk ratio, the reward is in the numerator and risk is the denominator. But in risk to reward it is exactly the reverse.
            So, if they are the same, a reward-to-risk ratio of 1.5 should be a risk-to-reward ration of 1.5 as well. But this is not true, as the risk to reward ratio becomes 0.67(1/1.5).

          • Karthik Rangappa says:

            How stupid of me to say its the same, guess my mind was else where when I responded to your previous query 🙂

            Clearly its not. The idea is to figure out the expected reward for the given risk…so reward/risk helps us find this.

  151. RAKESH says:

    in this module, you request us to do swing trading for some time and then i may get enough confidence to do intraday trading like a scalper. But, my question is in swing trading where i hold the stocks for a few days, my CNC buy orders are carried forward to the next days as well. But what about sell orders? zerodha support call center just told me that sell orders are only intraday. Is that true? Can’t i enter a new position with a bearish view and hold that stock for a few days? cause only then will i be able to do swing trading which happens for a couple of days. Otherwise, all my swing trading will only be buy orders. Please help…………thanks in advance.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      True, you can carry forward stocks in the CNC mode, but you cannot short and carry the position forward. For this you need to trade futures or options.

  152. Rameshkumar says:

    Hi Karthik, I want to create a zerodha account (include bank integration) can you help me ? or suggest me some one or any number?

  153. Rameshkumar says:

    Hi Karthik, using that ling i sign up zerodha account. It asked my personal details(Pan no, aadhar num) and also Bank details(Account num,bank name). Is it the regular process for all? can i give my personal details? it will be safe and secure to give my bank details?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Ramesh, yes, your details would be safe. Else, you could also opt for a call back and talk to one of our agents.

  154. RAKESH says:

    hi, karthik……
    1)i would like to know what must be the lookback period of an intraday trader,?
    2)and while plotting S&R levels upto how far should an intraday trader lookback?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      1) Really depends – can be as dated as 3 months to identify S&R or as recent as previous day. It depends on the stock, situation, and your expectations.

      2) 3-6 months to get a sense of long term S&R and last 5 trading sessions to get a sense of the recent price action.

  155. Omkar Mishra says:

    This module is really well done..Loved reading and learning every bit

  156. nitesh chaudhary says:

    sir thank you for your effort
    sir i am waiting for your advance book of containing gann theory, harmonics patterns and elliot wave
    when will you share with us???

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I’m not too familiar with these topics, Nitesh. If I learn them myself, I’ll be happy to share my learnings 🙂

  157. Trader2017 says:

    Is there any way to screen stocks on Pi by using filtering criteria based on its its pricing and volume information at EOD everyday? for example if I want to check the list of all FnO stocks whose MACD line has crossed the signal line from below as on the end of trading day today or those stocks whose RSI is below 30 as on today, etc?

  158. AMIT KUMAR PANDEY says:

    sir i we use pi bridge to connect to amibroker , do we still need to pay extra for data feeds to data vendors?

  159. RAKESH says:

    hi, karthik…
    https://kite.zerodha.com/share/8BYWXVQFXT.png
    the link above is that of a chart, my question is should i classify it as an uptrend or a downtrend, with respect to a swing trader and an intraday trader.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Primary trend would be bullish, the secondary (which is always counter to primary) looks downward. Remember, in a strong primary trend, secondary trend can be quite short and can reverse directions quickly.

  160. Jay Arya says:

    Hi Karthik

    Could you please suggest the ideal candlestick time frame to look at for intraday trading?

    Thanks
    Arya

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      If you are starting fresh, look for EOD data…however, if you have some experience trading the markets (intraday) you could look at 5 or 10 mins candles.

  161. trader2017 says:

    is it prudent to scan or analyse individually about 400 stocks about their chart patterns, candlestick patterns etc on a daily basis to look for potential profitable trades for intraday/swing trading? how can an individual trader do this because the number of stocks seems to be pretty high and time looks somewhat low? also, i mean that doing this by opening the charts in multiple time frames for each stock and not relying too much on screeners.(because screeners many a times fail to capture profitable patterns)

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      400 is impossible. 50 is doable. Good chart reading practice will eventually lead you to stage when you spend less than a minute to scan through a chart.

  162. Srilakshmi says:

    I want to trade with NIFTY futures.I have gone through the complete chapter of technical analysis and have good understanding of the Grand checklist.Thanks a lot for putting such detailed information in this training.
    Can i go ahead and use this to start trading in NIFTY futures or is there some specific guideline to be followed for index future trading.Kindly suggest

  163. James says:

    Respected Sir,

    Thanks for wonderful modules.

    [ Working on extended trade mechanism to convert (global/domestic) news, (global/domestic) market data/movements, street views, so on & so forth…… into possible stock price trend/direction predictions, followed by grand checklist at last, This will help active traders like me to model upcoming opportunities & to be ready accordingly. ]

    Please suggest trusted (free) website(s) where I can find Weightage of stocks in their respective Sector Specific Index (like all BANKEX stocks with their Weightage in BANKEX, Nifty IT stocks with their weightage in Nifty IT) & more such data like Equity Stock Beta (BSE/NSE both), Equity/Futures Impact Cost (BSE/NSE both), Weightage of stocks (BSE/ NSE both) and so on?

    Regards
    James

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      NSE itself gives out this info, this is the most authentic source for Index information – https://www.nseindia.com/products/content/equities/indices/indices.htm

      • James says:

        Thanks a lot !!
        Reports are month-wise, hence required data gets changed every month, like there is difference in beta & weightage figures, even, by 0.1% in almost all stocks in every sectors.
        1) If considering only last month data would be enough for … – or – what should be the Look Back Period for calculation of Beta, Stock Weightage in respective Sectoral Indices and/or in Nifty for precise sense/simulation of market movements for …
        i-Scalping (purpose of about 12-25 trades a day for 1%)
        ii-Trading (purpose of 1-3 trades a day 1%)
        iii-Swing (purpose 2-3 trades a week for reliable trade for 2-3%)
        iv-Short Term Investments (purpose 60-365 days for 6-10%)

        2) Is there any link for same data in BSE too? I searched BSE site, but not got. Please provide, if any?
        Thanks in advance !!!
        Regards,
        James

        • James says:

          **I mean do I have to take mean of all Beta(s) & Weightage(s) from multiple monthly reports (Look Back Period) or just last month data would be enough for i – iv. [Better if there would be an edit button :-)]

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          1) You should look at last 1 year data for beta. You should take Weightage as is from the exchange. If you are looking at constructing a portfolio and assigning weightages to stocks (porftolio optimization), then I’d advice you to keep track of the discussion happening here – http://zerodha.com/varsity/module/trading-psychology-and-risk-management/

          2) For scaling you dont really need beta and stuff. You just need to keep an eye on the price and volume

          3) For trading/swing – 3-6 months

          4) For investments over 1 year, look at at least last 2 years of data

          5) Not sure if BSE provides this info.

          • James says:

            Thanks a lot Sir! This was the information I was exactly looking for.
            Finished only 4 Modules & constructing the base portfolio for scalping+trading (can be for swing too). Will soon enter the live world of Zerodha & also reach to Module 9 soon. Will be looking for more help if needed.
            Thanks Zerodha Team (and Karthik Sir) for this such a wonderful platform for us !!!

          • Karthik Rangappa says:

            Good luck, James. Wishing you all the very best. Stay profitable.

  164. Ganesh says:

    Hi! I am going for a trading course where my professor strictly says that scalping is the best form of trading for huge profits with minimum loss! And trading must be done only in index options either Bank nifty or Nifty 50 and in scrips with maximum volumes preferably at the money or slightly out of money. He also charges a heavy fee of 1.5 lakhs for the below scheme assuring profits. (unlike Zerodha varsity which provides quality content free :)…. )
    He instructs us to follow just the below guidelines
    1) Use the slow stochastic oscillator with 7,3 instead of 14,3
    2) Buy the scrip (Call or put) when the stochastic comes below 20 and takes an upward turn
    3) Sell the scrip immediately as when u get a minimum profit of 25 paise or 50 paise and no waiting.
    So he suggests if u can do 20 successful trades in a day then u can keep increasing ur capital easily!
    So Sir, what are ur opinions about my situation and trading strategy tat i am asked to follow?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Firstly, you should not be paying to learn these things. And certainly not 1.5L! Scalping the good, but not advisable if you are newbie. Please start with doing few overnight trades. When you carry positions overnight, your learning curve is much better.

      Since you have paid so much, why don’t you demand the guy to sit next to you and do a demo of placing 20 successful trades for 5 consecutive days. It would be impossible, I guess.

      I’m not sure about his instructions, but on the face of it, it does not look good to me.

  165. aravindt says:

    Hi,

    I am a newbie and have been doing virtual trading .I ensure that atleast 4 points of the checklist are confirmed with utmost importance to candlestick patterns and volume.Though, i ensure that the analysis is done properly sometimes the market goes in the opposite direction or hits the stoploss.After it hits the stoploss i keep wondering where would i have gone wrong and doubt my analysis.So, is it normal even after analysis the market might go down?? .If so how can i learn from the analysis that have triggered the stoploss??

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Yes, of course. You just need to do what is right. Even the most seasoned traders end up taking trades which can go wrong. Good luck.

  166. Ayush says:

    Sir, what does stochastic oscillator mean?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      It is an oscillator to identify momentum in the market. Many use it for intraday trading. I particularly find it very noisy.

  167. Ayush says:

    Are indicators necessary for successful​ trade?

  168. Manish Agarwal says:

    In the part 2 (Evaluation process, Point #2): You have mentioned about the prior trend, for a bullish candle the prior trend should be downtrend and so on. However, as we studied all the patterns there were few patterns in which you mentioned that prior trend does not matter, for example, In Bullish marubozu the color is important (blue canldle) and not the prior trend, similarly for bearish marubozu. So when we identify such a candle, what should we do for idntifying prior trend?

  169. Manish Agarwal says:

    How does the corporate actions such as stock split, bonus issue, rights issue, dividend payout, etc affects the reading of the price charts?
    some of these events change the price of a stock significantly. can this effect the moving avgs, support and resistance?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      As soon as a corporate event takes place, the chart gets adjusted for historical values. This is done to smooth out the chart and give an unbiased view of the price action.

  170. Satyaki Mallick says:

    Hello Sir. Will I get EOD charts in Pi ?

  171. Manish Agarwal says:

    LookBack Period (LBP)

    We have read above that for swing trading (4-5 days) the LBP should be 6 months to 1 year, and for S&R can be upto 2 years. So does this mean that to identify a prior trend also the min LBP should be 6 months.? Or it should be 1-3 months.?

    • Manish Agarwal says:

      Also, continuing to the above question..
      (A) should the LBP for a stock be based on whether a company is private or govt, as I have seen that various govt. owned entities like ONGC etc have a very range bound movement and to get a prior trend of such stock we may need to see more than a year.
      (B) Should the volatility of the stock be taken into account to see the LBP? For instance a stock with high volatality, may require lesser LBP than a stock with lesser volatality

      • Manish Agarwal says:

        Topic: Mix of two trends within a time frame

        Lets take an example of GAIL India LTD, (Sorry, there is no option to attach a screenshot, hence I’ll have to write and explain)
        From Dec 2016 till 1 March 2017, it was in uptrend, But from 1-March till date, it is in sideways. So which time frame to select here, Dec – Apr (Mix of two trends Upward+Sideways) or March to April (Sideways). I want to keep the stock for 4-5 days?

        Or we should start looking backwards from today till there is a trend change (with some minimum time frame like 15 days or so).
        As in above example, My LBP could be from 1 March till date (1.5 months) which is a sideways movement.

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          I would look at it as a whole – an up trend followed by a consolidation. Good chance of a break out on the upside

      • Karthik Rangappa says:

        A) LBP should be sector and ownership agnostic
        2) Yes, it certainly helps to keen volatility in perspective

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Longer the LBP, better is the perspective. For swing trading, I’d be happy looking at 6 months chart.

  172. Manish Agarwal says:

    Hi Karthik,

    I have prepared a simple matrix in excel which I am unable to upload as it in a tabular format. In the first line has the list of few indicatiors, LPB, etc. Second line has their default parameters, 3rd line onwards is the trading length duration and suggested parameters for the indicators. I wanted to fill the suggested parameters based on your experience & guidance. Please let me know if I could email this to you or how else I can upload the format so that you can edit. I am pasting directly here from excel, not sure how it will turn up for viewing.

    Indicators  MA – Single MA – crossover RSI MACD Bollinger Band (BB) LBP (# of candles) Candle Stick (EOD/EOW/EOM) S & R (In weeks)
    Default Parameters  None None 14 Days 12,26 days 20 days, 2 SD NA NA NA
    Trade Length 4-5 days Suggested Parameters
    1 month
    2 months
    3 months
    6 months

  173. anyket says:

    Please let me know if my understanding is right… End of day data means the candlestick formation for one complete day..Hence when you say you look at the data of the last 3 or 4 candles it means one day candles of the last 3 or 4 days…Am i right?

  174. trader2017 says:

    Hi Karthik,

    If there are certain securities under ban from F&O trading or normal equity trading for whatever reason, but I mistakenly place trade for such securities on zerodha then what will happen? Is there any mechanism which zerodha provides to clients so that if there is any security under ban by sebi and the client unknowingly tries to place trade then that trade gets cancelled?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      The system will reject the order and the reason for the rejection would be mentioned as “Security Under ban”.

  175. trader says:

    I have recently opened my account with zerodha. I have not transferred any funds to my account yet and have not done any trades yet. However, when i opened Kite, my margin available was shown as -0.002(negative 0.002) and account value as -0.002(negative 0.002). Why is this happening?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Please check the ledger entries (across all the financial years) to know why you this debit.

  176. kiranintouch says:

    Hi Karthik,
    I missed your webinar today on “Volatality Based StopLoss” and unable to find the link for same. If possible would you be able to send me the link for the video.

    Thank You

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Ah, there was some problem and we ended up losing the video 🙁

      Guess, we will do this again.

  177. Rasila Desai says:

    Hi Karthik,

    Thanks for the wonderful writeups. Its very enlightening.
    I am currently trying to apply your fundamentals and stuck at finding Resistance level for Tata Steel. Below is my analysis
    Script Tata Steel (Last candle date 26-05-2017, 1D Chart with 2 year look back)
    1. Formed Bullish Marubozu
    2. Prior Trend was Bearish (semi) or flag formation
    3. Volume is above 10 day average
    4. Support around Rs 500 level due to triple top formation (or is it resistance)
    5. Dow : Breakout from flag formation
    6. Risk Reward Ratio (I am stuck)
    Risk = 11.75 (511.75 – 500)
    Reward = ? What should be target as this is a two year high
    .
    Appreciate Your Insight,
    -Rasila Desai

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      It really depends on your holding period. If you wish to do an intraday trade, them you can probably expect a 2-3% movement in the stock. However, if you wish to hold on for a longer time, then look at the nearest resistance and measure the target. Considering we are in a bull market, you could probably expect the target to be achieved sooner than expected.

  178. KUMAR MAYANK says:

    Hello sir
    What should be look back period for a day trader especially when he is trading nifty futures?

  179. KUMAR MAYANK says:

    Hello sir

    What is probabilities of mean reversion? I read it somewhere but the author didn’t elaborate it. Is it helpful for day trading? If it is, then i request you to write blog for it.
    Thanks 🙂

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      If a stock has increased from 50 to 60, where 50 is the average price over the last 15 days, then there could be a possibility of the stock falling from 60 back to its average (also called mean) price of 50. This is called mean reversion.

  180. kiranintouch says:

    Hi Karthik,
    Thank You and Nikhil for “In Conversation with Nikhil Kamath” video. In this video Nikhil mentioned as a trader he mostly trades in Arbitrages and Hedges.
    Q1. My understanding of Arbitrages is limited to taking advantage of decreasing price difference in two different markets ( NSE and BSE) by entering into short and long positions. Apart from this strategy, are there any other strategies. Also in addition, are there any other markets where we can take advantage of Arbitrage.
    Q2. Regarding hedges, i understand it is a strategy where you make use of leverage to enter a position( for eg1: short) in reverse direction to that of what you entered in Cash market( for eg1 above : long). Are there any other strategies in addition to the above.
    Q3. I have recently read about Market being opened at Gujrat Gift City which will be open for 16 hours. Though currently only limited stocks are available in this market, i am assuming all the Bluechip companies/Commodities/Forex will be soon launched in this market. Request to let us know if we can use Zerodha platform to trade in this market. Also request to educate if any Arbitrage opportunities can be exploited in this new market.

    Once again, Thank You for your contribution towards our Education. Much appreciated !!

    Kiran

  181. KUMAR MAYANK says:

    Hello sir
    Three weeks ago when Nifty was rallying high, analysts from Oswal and other financial firms were boldly confirming that it would go beyond 10000 mark and the then might be retraced back as a correction. Now the same derivative analysts predicting that it might go below 9200.
    I doubt their intention if they really predict or just try to misinform the retail investors or traders.
    I want to know your views.
    Thank you
    Varsity student

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Well, the whole idea of Varsity is to empower you as a market participant so that you can develop your own views and not really depends on analyst to develop an opinion on markets.

  182. Arun Lal Mendiratta says:

    Hello karthik,can u help me wide one thing? Suppose I want to create a universe of stocks which I will observe everyday for its performance…suppose 200 around shares….so wat criteria I should set while selecting the shares…..and how much shares should I go through each day…

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I’m suggest you tack not more than 20 – 30 stocks at any given point. Criteria could be anything – highest sales, lowest PE, marketcap etc.

  183. aman dhanoa says:

    Hello karthik sir.First of all i would like to thank you for this amazing work. Its like a bible for a rookie like me.

    Now i have one question, Sir i am student right now and currently doesn’t have any earnings and i am planning to enter stock market. Thats why i opened the account with zerodha. And doing paper trading for the past 3 weeks by learning from these modules. And now i want to do real trading but i only have 1500rs as savings. So what do you suggest. Should i go for intraday by taking the benefits of leverage or should i go with swing trading. But my problem is i have really low budget and in the coming year i may have some job but till now i want to support myself and ve financially independent. Please sir put some light on me. And if possible with reason

    And btw i also have one more question related to you that , with the immense knowledge you have when i am going to see you on forbes list 😛

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Hi Amam,

      I’m glad you liked the content here and i’m happy you are learning well. Here is my honest feedback for you –

      1) 1500 is indeed a small amount to start trading. I understand that you have learnt many things and have the itch to put in a trade. But please do not do it at this stage.
      2) Avoid leverage at this point. Take it only when you understand the effects of leverage completely. You will understand this well only when you trade. But to do that, your capital is not really sufficient
      3) Invest that money in a good stock and forget about it
      4) Use this time to learn more and observe the markets – investing in learning is the greatest investment you can ever do

      There are many knowledgeable people out there, but not everyone can feature in Forbes. For that, you need to do something beyond the ordinary. Hopefully, we all get to do that someday!

      Good luck and happy trading.

      • aman dhanoa says:

        Then should i go for direct mutual funds. As it reduces the chance of picking up wrong stock. And sorry to annoy you sir but as you said 1500 is very small amount then even if i invest it in delivery then also it can hardly become 3000 even after year. Then why don’t you suggest doing intra trading and earning small profits and then investing it again. Also through this i’ll be able to learn more things like you said one cannot learn swimming just by reading the book.

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          Direct MF is always a good option. You have assumed that you can make small profits trading intraday. This is easy said than done. If you lose all the money that you have, then how will you get back to markets? The idea is to stay in the game for long and make enough money in the due course, if you lose all your chips now, you will have nothing to bet later on.

  184. Sourav Sinha says:

    Hello Sir
    I would like to know the time frame of studying charts for swing trades.
    Thanks in advance.

  185. KUMAR MAYANK says:

    In newspaper we get to know the amount FIP or FII or domestic institutional investors invested in the market. Also they give the vital info about the stocks they bought or sold. My question is how can we get the same info the time they buy or sell stocks of a company?
    Thank you
    Varsity student

  186. rajesh.katariya89 says:

    What candlestick time freme, look back period, strategy and universe of opportunity to be followed for swing trading.
    Thank you.

  187. CA Tanvi Dubey says:

    Hi,
    I have always been interested in stock markets and have always tried to learn something new.
    This is a very good website for learning technical analysis, but i still feel that this is not enough, becoz i have tried it a lot of times following your checklist and what i felt is that all these info. that u gave are related to when the trend changes which doesnt happen on daily basis, infact it takes weeks, sometimes months to happen. I want to know how the intra day trading works. How do the experts analyse that it will keep going up/keep going low on a daily basis.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Trust me, they use a similar checklist. It’s just that successful intraday traders know how to scale in a scale out of positions very well.

  188. Kumar N KristeR says:

    Its a kind of Corporate Social Service, being a part of this society I wish to thank you from bottom of My Heart.
    Once again Thank You So Much…………………..!!!

    keep it up Mr.Karthik and Mr.Nithin Kamath.

  189. ZQ0852 says:

    DEAR SIR,
    I am unable to find pdf download link for your modules, if you have removed it please provide.
    Regards

  190. Anup Joshi says:

    Dear Karthik,

    How to put stop loss for share if you are planning it to hold for long maybe for 2 years, stock my go down and bounce back in 2 years.

  191. sangram panda says:

    how many days to active account in zerodha …

    can you please what is the difference between the different time frame

  192. sangram panda says:

    i have kyc veried with my bank account with my pan and i recently updated my mobile number still your website says i am not kyc varified
    let me drop a mail

  193. Gagandeep Singh says:

    Sir, the content is really amazing and you explained everything really well. I have an account at Zerodha and I am using Pi to paper trade. I want to do swing trading and you said the optimum look back period should be 6 months to 1 year but I am not able to get the chart for more than 2 months with 30 min candle in Pi. Thanks in advance.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Glad you liked Varsity, Gagandeep!

      Since you are starting off now, I’d suggest you look at EOD charts.

  194. ZQ0852 says:

    Dear sir,
    In stock market people used to say that “operators and brokerage houses monitor your stoploss and they trade accordingly, that is the reason that a retail investor’s stoploss, most of the time, hits”. As I you explained in the intro part that how fair the game is, I believed that it is a rumour. But yesterday a incident happened to me:_
    At 10:44 I bought 300 shares of IOC @436.95 and put a stoploss of 435, then later I revised it to Rs. 436
    At 11:04 my stoploss executed at 436, but what astonished me is that the low price was above 436 in next three candles as shown in the chart, and to be more specific the price reached to 436 around 11:35.

    Could you throgh some light on this aspect?

    Regards

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      That is just a rumor according to me. What happened to you is regular market activity, nothing unusual about it.

  195. Partha says:

    When i look into the chart which time frame should i use? 5 mins or 15 mins or day. Please help me

  196. Ash says:

    Hi Karthik,

    Thank you! you were awesome at explaining these technical stuff in a very simple manner. I actually was trying to learn these things through different forums for last 8 years in vain. Your Varsity became a one stop shop. One advantage for Zerodha from this would be that the user would definitely be more confident and put more money into their accounts in Zerodha. 🙂 Keep doing the good work!

    Coming to the questions part:
    1. We should also keep a tab on the current affairs and news right? What if a bad news breaks about the company that you want to trade.
    2. By the time we do this check list for many companies, won’t we miss the bus? Out of 1-5 in the checklist, can I omit anything since you are saying its a stringent list?
    3. Say if I should surely consider few out of the 1-5 list, what should those be? Asking since, For sometime now I am trading just based on demand and supply zones and I was doing relatively well.
    4. How far should the trailing stop loss be from the current market price? If we decided it was 4% initially, should we adjust it to be the same?
    5. How to convert a intra day trade to a cash and carry trade in Zerodha Kite?
    6. Should Scalper have a stop loss when he buys ? Asking since you said “successful scalper embraces volatility and is indifferent to market swings.”
    7. At what time of the day do you analyse all the 50 stocks? I don’t think it is possible to do all these at 3:20pm. ?

    Thanks again,
    Ash

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Thanks for the kind words, Ash.

      1) Yes, you certainly should. When there is news (especially fundamental in nature), you need to respect that and be aware that TA theory won’t hold up during that time
      2) Its better to miss a trade than regret taking up one, right?
      3) Candlesticks, S&R, Volume would be my pick
      4) Depends on the stock and opportunity you are chasing
      5) Click on the position and opt to convert
      6) A high-frequency scalper will not place SL, most of his trades would be ‘market’
      7) On a EOD basis

  197. sangram panda says:

    Give me some checklist I want to start investing,

    1) which time frame I should use for intraday trading or for 3-4 days?
    2. important indicator for these type of trading?
    3. can I only rely on candlesticks.
    4. I want a strategy because I am not able to figure out one?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      1) For intraday I’d prefer last 3 months EOD chart and at least last 3 days 15 mins charts
      2) I prefer basic EMAs
      3) I look at CS, S&R, and volumes
      4) Sorry, you will have to continue your search.

      • sangram panda says:

        sir,
        your zerodha pi is just awesome, simple to use, easy to understand, stable

        sir, i am facing problem in plotting S & R, sometimes either it is too much bellow CMP or too much above …
        sometimes the difference is more than 10 rupees,
        I am skeptical about it

  198. sangram panda says:

    sir which chart is preferable for s and r

  199. ZQ0852 says:

    Dear sir,
    I have ordered for your books “Finance Made Easey for Kids”, and made payement approximate two weeks before, but till date I have not received any communication from your side.

    Please look into the matter.
    Regards

  200. Nayan raj says:

    Hello Karthik,

    I have a couple of doubts.
    1. In section 19.5 Scout Part 2 Evaluation process you have said “For example, if a Bullish Marubuzo has a shadow, I evaluate the length of the shadow with reference to the range” , i did not get this could you please elaborate on this further.
    2. If i encounter a Bullish/Bearish Morubozu which have shadows(say they both upper and lower shadows) what is the amount of flexibility i should be looking at, i mean what is the acceptable percentage of shadow wrt the real body.

    Regards,
    Nayan

  201. Ash says:

    1. How do we short stocks like adlabs, abfrl for more than a day, which are not in the derivatives segment? I don’t want to do intra day shorting. Please enlighten.
    2. If we can’t then what other strategy can we follow to play these kind of stocks?

  202. Arjun says:

    Hello Karthik,
    I read about stop loss hunting and lost my mind over it. Please educate.
    Regards .

  203. Umer Azam says:

    One of the best chapters!

    Sir, what is back-testing?

    You have mentioned it many times.. Have u explained it in detail somewhere in another module?

  204. Aishwarya says:

    Hello sir,

    For intraday trading, in the 15 min chart, suppose if the pattern and volume confirmed to go long, but in the last few minutes (last 3 or 4 min) the price is going down, can we enter the trade or should we refrain from it?

  205. ZQ0852 says:

    Dear sir,
    I hope you are having a great time as varsity professor …I have few doubt for your kind explanation:-
    1.) What one should infer from high deliverable percentage over a period of time,but price is rangebound, is it a sign of range breakout or some bullish signal??
    2) What does it mean if volume increasing, price decreasing, but delivery percentage increasing over a period of time say two weeks.
    3) What is the role of “total traded value” in predicating a price movement, say if stock A has very high traded value but low on volumes as compared to stock B, which one should we give preference?

    Regards

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      As long as the queries keep coming in, we will continue to have a good time 🙂

      1) It is believed that higher delivery volumes is bullish
      2) Perhaps someone is seeing value here and hence buying
      3) Total traded value

      • Here says:

        What does it mean by total traded value? Is it different from total traded volume?

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          TT volume you will get the number of shares traded. TT value gives you the Rupee values of these transactions.

  206. Brahma Reddy says:

    Is this checklist works well for nifty futures trading sir?

  207. Ron Kalra says:

    Hi Karthik,
    Just out of my curiousity, do you have any plans to update your trading platforms where we can trade from the chart itself. For Example you can see the cTrader trading platform where one can place the order from the chart just itself. And once the order is placed you can simple drag the line to put your stop loss and profit target and you can change it as many times as you want by just simple dragging the stop loss or the profit taking line.
    it comes very handly when you are day trading and when you have multiple open orders. I just hope and pray that Zerodha will consider this and we will see these feature soon in the kite and pi platform.
    Thank you

    PS :- here is the link, please watch what i’m trying to explain
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jID9WZG_Nsk

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Kite 3.0 will come with few updates, request you to wait for the roll out 🙂

      • Ron Kalra says:

        Thank you for your reply. So, when can we expect Kite 3.0 ?? 🙂
        I just saw that few of the brokers are already offering the feature i was refering to but anyways i’m a true lover of Kite and Zerodha’s products so it doesn’t matters to me what others are offering.
        have a nice weekend

  208. Sudipta Chakraborty says:

    sir…I have a few questions….plz guide me…
    1)how should I take a swing trade in a stock which is in continuous uptrend or downtrend? Should I trade only in the direction of the primary trend in that case?
    2)How to plot S&R levels in an uptrending or downtrending stock?
    3)Is swing trading mainly suitable for range bound stock? or can we swing trade in a trending stock also?

    Thanks in advance.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      1) Yes, that would make sense. Stick to basic momentum indicators here
      2) The same way as you would do at other time frames. However, if the stock is making an ATH or ATL, then I’m afraid there is no Resistance or support
      3) Works for both. If the range is long, the stock can take few days to hit the upper or lower end of the range, which basically builds the case for swing trading.

      • Sudipta Chakraborty says:

        Thank you sir for your reply….
        Sir…can I use trendline and channel as a support & resistance in a uptrending or downtrending stock?
        I would also like to request you to write a chapter on trendlines sir….as drawing trendlines can be confusing sometimes…your lucid explanation shall be very helpful for all of us sir..

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          Yes, both trendlines and channels help in identifying S&R – especially when the stock/index is trending. Will try and put up a chapter on this soon. Thanks.

  209. chandra says:

    Hi,
    thanks for your prompt replies; it instils confidence and sets the right path.!
    Can you help me for the following:-
    The SQUEEZE INDICATER (formed by combining Bolinger band and Keltner channel),
    is NOT FOUND in kite.Can you guide me how to get it, on kite??
    thanks & regards.

    • You can add both Bollinger Bands and Keltner Channel in the chart using different colours. You can discover the squeeze when both the upper and the lower Bollinger Bands go inside the Keltner Channel.

  210. chandra says:

    hi,
    thanks for your advise.But, I am aware of applying both Bollinger and Keltner in different colors.
    My real quest, is how to get (in kite), the resultant SQUEEZE INDICATER (which will appear as a line with alternating volatility/momentum wave.The advantage,is,you can then dispense with interpreting from the different band containment,BECAUSE the end result is shown here ,neat and crisp visual.Also,it has MOMENTUM line in-built).
    Kindly refer “makemo8”,
    on google,(who is offering to e-mail it),
    But,the question is how do I apply this on my chart in kite?? (since, I do NOT want to migrate from kite!!)
    will appreciate your help.
    thanks &regards

  211. chandra says:

    hi,
    Many thanks for your reply, Faisal.
    But,I was looking for a way, to directly apply these ‘third party’ charts,onto kite.
    Is it possible to do so,by accessing, metatrader through Pi ??
    thanks & regards

  212. Dev75 says:

    hi,
    thanks for your response.
    i have few newbie questions.
    1} what is stoploss for buy and stoploss for sell?
    2) what is the difference between stoploss price, trigger price, Limit price and target price?
    please help me clarify these concept in short. i tried to check on net but explanations seems confusing?
    thanks

  213. Chakradhar says:

    Is trailing stop loss concept explained in the later chapters?

    I could see one of the paragraph in this chapter talks about trailing stop loss, which I didn’t find in TA module. Please let me know

  214. Amit DUBEY says:

    Hi Karthik. Despite all knowledge, technical and fundamental analysis the biggest challenge is when to book profits. More often than not majority of profit position is wiped out due to indecision and greed followed by regret. In my view one should book profit if any scrip runs away 15 to 20% in a very short span in delivery because there is possiblity of quick retrace ment though sometimes it may continue to rise further. I hope you get my point. It would be very helpful if you include a specific module on booking of profits in intra day trade, delivery and f&o position.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Amit, if you are doing a short-term trade, then it is very important to know when to get out in case of a loss and when to book profit in case of a profit. This has to be decided before you get into the trade. I’d suggest you keep a track on the latest module, the idea is to discuss the complete trade setup in this module.

  215. Suraj says:

    Hi Mr. Karthik…
    Thank you very much for such a wonderful topic. As you said start with Nifty universe, I have observed that Technical indicators, S/R, Candlesticks work better on Largecap stocks than midcap or smallcap stocks..and Nifty50 contains all stocks which are mainly largecaps…I am confused hence asking to you that is it enough to have a look at Nifty50 stocks only when you do intraday trades..?? because there are about 215 stocks in FNO segment but not every stock is tradable. For example stocks like Infibeam, Tatacomm shows bullish morubozu and in next candle they start to fall very rapidly…but taking stocks like Reliance, VEDL when they show bullish morubozu, they respect it and tend to go higher… Although largecaps dont move much as compared to mid and smallcaps but they can provide more consistent profits…Well these are my own view and I want second opinion from you as you are the most eligible person to ask doubts..!!

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      The key is to trade liquid stocks because transacting in liquid stocks loss due to slippage is almost negligible. I suggested Nifty 50 because they are all liquid, and for a beginner, it serves as a ready list of liquid stocks. If you can spot liquidity in a small scrip, then fair enough, you can trade on it 🙂

  216. Prakhar says:

    Can you tell how to interpret stock’s news wheather expected or unexpected such as their results or any other matter coming at that time or it required to keep our television or any other stuff because everyday I observe a stocks suddenly rallies in a matter of minutes without any prior signal provided in chart.

  217. Ashish says:

    Hello Sir, I have a query.
    The patterns and indicators when volume confirmed can signal one to enter the trade(of course when it ticks the other points in the checklist). But I was wondering can one use the same signals to exit the trade instead of having a pre determined target? Or is absolutely necessary to have a target before entering the trade?

    Thank you in advance

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Yes, Ashish. You can do that. But I personally think keeping a target is much simpler and quicker.

      • Ashish says:

        Sir, one more query.
        I recently read a trading strategy in Investopedia called The Reverse Scale Strategy.
        The idea is to increase the position size when the trade moves in favourable direction.
        For example, let’s say I buy 100 shares at 100 rs each, then my investment would be 10,000rs. Now when the prices increase by about 50% to 150rs, then I’ll buy shares for the same amount(10,000rs) i.e., 66 shares. The next buy point will be at 225rs(a 50% increase). This time I’ll get 44 shares. This goes on as long as the price increases. Now when the price starts to decrease and hits the previous buy point(in this case 150rs) then I will have to square off all of my positions, thus booking profits.

        Now my question is, what is your opinion of this strategy? Do you think this is effective?

        P.S., I guess this would only suit long term investors.

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          Ashish, this is something new to me. I’ve not experimented with this, but it essentially is a scaling technique. Will be nice to backtest to get some insights.

  218. Sarthak Laddha says:

    Hi karthik,
    Why do we even use indicators? As most of the indicator lags..most of the Indicators signals price when the movement in Stock already up/down…While all the analyst in news always uses RSI, MACD, ADX, EMA&SMA etc etc… I mean what is the point of looking at the indicator, when it cant predict the movement in advance..
    Everything i guess is dependent upon the news (good/bad)…?
    I analyse on the basis of candlestick pattern, Dow theory, S&R, and fibonacci retracement..sometimes 2 or 3 matches And when i found the trade, all the indicator betrays… And what i hear in D-street, every analyst is predicting on the basis of indicators.. Analyst always predict opposite of what i thought.
    And also which course should i pursue in TA as i want to develop my career in capital market.
    Please dont suggest high professional course like CMT, as i am in a CA final and articleship period and there’s a high load from that.
    Thanks for all the knowledge Btw… Notes are superb.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      As I’ve mentioned, indicators only add as an additional source of confirmation. The original cue for a trade, at least according to me should be candlesticks!

  219. Pratheesh Karthikeyan says:

    Hi Karthik,

    Small doubt – i’m an fno trader but i’m not able to select MCX december/november futures in marketwatch in kite. It shows all MCX products but i want to trade MCX futures itself. Please let me know how to go about it using Kite.

    Thanks.

  220. KUMAR MAYANK says:

    EOD DATA OF FRIDAY
    FII/FPI
    Buy Value:
    4564.70
    Sell Value:
    4258.59
    Net Value:
    306.11
    DII
    Buy Value:
    2335.29
    Sell Value:
    2159.10
    Net Value:
    176.19
    There was a net buying still the index (nifty 50) plunged more than 1%. Confusing. May you explain a little bit?
    Thanks.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Well, you need to check what was being sold by these institutions. If they have sold the Index stocks (which is what I think has happened on Friday), then the indices will naturally crack.

  221. ajay says:

    Hi Karthik,
    To buy a scrip at at predetermined level , say Reliance Buy above 920 we can use SLM order but we cannot put Target , so is there any method avlbl in Zerodha to Buy above n put our Target also?

  222. Jalli says:

    Hi,

    First of all I want to thank zerodha for providing everything for a common man like me. Every product of zerodha is of immense help to me, let it be varsity, interview with zerodha 60 day challenge winners, kite, pi and not to mention about discount brokerage. Thank u.

    I call myself a swing trader(?) In cash segment and into the same since 2-3yrs. What i have noticed is that break outs are more accurate when TA is applied to the stocks which don’t have futures and options. Is my finding true? I felt the stocks havings futures and options, move fast and difficult to predict the moves.

  223. ajay says:

    ಹೆಲೋ ಕಾರ್ತಿಕ್,
    I want to know Promoter Stake Increase On a daily basis , which website shall i use to set alerts To Get Promoter Alerts?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      The stakes dont increase on a daily basis. Maybe you can check out ratestar – http://www.ratestar.in for this.

      • ajay says:

        Hi,
        For example there are more than 2000 scrips in NSE , I want to know Only n Only the Changes in Promoter Holding Percentage[Other Corporate announcements,Updates less bothered] on a daily basis , kindly let me know which site/screener to use?
        Thanks Karthik.

  224. Shuhang Singhal says:

    Sir,
    While evaluating a day end candlestick pattern in a 6 month chart, after checking a pattern being formed by 3 candles(evening star),how many(minimum) candles shall we check to evaluate the prior trend?

  225. Madhu says:

    Hello,
    how to evaluate a stock recommended by technical analyst is correct or not.

  226. chidambaram says:

    Hi sir,
    I have few doubts.Kindly clarify them.
    1.What if there is a longer upper shadow(shadow length= real body of P2) in a bullish engulfing pattern.Can this we considered as bullish engulfing,if all the item in the checklist coincide?
    2.Should all the checklist point need to be ticked, for entering a trade?If not necessary what is the minimum number of checklist point to be ticked before entering a trade?What all those minimum needed points to be checked?
    3.To enter a trade is average volume is itself ok? Because in volume chapter you have given that a need of above average volume but in this chapter “After this I look at the volumes. The volume should be at least equal to or more than the 10 day average volume”.Bit confused!!
    4.In the dow theory perspective mearly checking for a flag,double/triple top/bottom is enough or primary and secondary trend also needed to be checked?Because usually that is not coinciding,what to d in this case !!
    5.Usually when it comes to intraday trade RRR is always less than 0.75/0.5 !! Is it ok,r what to do?I found that , the resistance are very nearby and since we take up the position near to the close of pattern formation the RRR is very low.
    6. Can the RRR be reduced by us, by trying to enter at a level below the pattern formation? Eg. If the entry point is Rs.50 and SL is 48 and target is 52, here RRR is 1 but if we try to wait and try to enter somewhere around 49.5 then RRR can we increased to 1.6.Is this can be done,in intraday and swing trading?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      1) Yes, you can. Long shadows only indicate that day was volatile.
      2) Yes, don’t compromise on this. The only thing you can ‘afford’ to be a little lax is the indicators
      3) Like I said, volume should be at least equal to the average volume, nothing lower
      4) The best trades are the ones where the Dow theory tenets coincide with the candlestick patterns.
      5) This is completely your call – I prefer to take trades which offer a reward of at least 1.5 to 1
      6) As I mentioned, its your call really

      • chidambaram says:

        Hi Sir,
        1)For my question “What if there is a longer upper shadow(shadow length>= real body of P2) in a bullish engulfing pattern.Can this we considered as bullish engulfing,if all the item in the checklist coincide?” – if there was some resistance at that point where the shadow started to form , still can we enter the trade?
        2) Suppose we are in the secondary trend (down trend)and we are finding a bullish CS pattern then, you have said we should think twice before entering the trade,since the current trend is opposite to the trade direction.My question here is, can’t we consider that as the trend change from secondary trend (down trend) to primary trend (up trend)?
        3)How can we find that in how many days( trading sessions) our target would reach?I usually find the tech analyst saying the number of trading session for target to reach, how do they do so !!

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          1) Yes, what really matters is the length of the candle. However, be watchful of the resistance level
          2) Possible, but for this to happen a lot of fundamental factors should be brewing in the background. So keep a watch on this
          3) This is very difficult to quantify and I think its hard to justify such claims.

  227. varun says:

    Sir I am not interested in technical analysis so can I straight away start with fundamental analysis?

  228. Sudeep Poswal says:

    Hi Karthik, thank you so much for providing such a wonderful platform to learn. I was so impressed by reading the material, that I opened an account at Zerodha recently and recommending my colleagues to go through the material.
    I have a question with regard to carrying a future position overnight (like in the case of BTST) but the issue is, if the share price opens gap down next day the stop loss will never work and will end up loosing the big chunk of capital…..is there any way to hedge this risk ? And if I buy protective put then what is going to be moneyness of the same and the number of contracts, I need to buy…and is it still going to be a profitable bet ?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Welcome to the Zerodha family, Sudeep 🙂

      I understand your concern about the gap opening. This is a risk BTST trader faces, unfortunately, you cannot really hedge this. You could probably try buying options but then, doing so will increase your cost and to some extent defeat the purpose.

  229. Jignesh says:

    Excellent content, Nicely explained with examples and a real practical approach.

    Many thanks for the efforts you have put in.

  230. Chethan says:

    Hello sir
    Considering i am a scalper i look back for 5 days of data to look for trading opportunities.
    While plotting S&R being a scalper should i look back for two years of data or lesser period???
    (However, while plotting the S&R levels you should increase the look back period to at least 2 years.)

  231. sagar kulkarni says:

    Hello Team Zerodha,
    I am Zerodha user since 4 years. One suggestion and request that please provide Crossover synchronization option in multiple charts in kite3. Also please provide option to save all the charts with indicator in kite application.
    Thank you..

    • Sagar, currently you have to select the crossover for each of the charts, will provide this feedback to the Product Development Team.
      You can save views with multiple indicators and can use them across Kite Web/Android/iOS

  232. invest_novice says:

    For zerodha account holders is Zerodha Pi still free? And how frequently are the data updated?

  233. invest_novice says:

    Can you list some major difference between Zerodha Kite and Pi?

    • Kite is a simple web-based trading platform while Pi is a desktop trading terminal.
      Here are some of the differences:
      1. Pi provides OI, last traded quantity, upper and lower circuit limits while Kite provides just the necessary information such as OHLC and Volume.
      2. Pi offers backtesting and alerts which is not available on Kite.

      It entirely depends on the users’ convenience to choose what platform they want to use(both are available at no charge).
      You can join the discussion on this topic on TradingQnA

  234. invest_novice says:

    From where can I download latest version of Pi? The link here says July 2016. Is this the latest one?
    https://zerodha.com/z-connect/tradezerodha/pi-tradezerodha/latest-pi-update-18th-july-2016

  235. ajay says:

    ಹಾಯ್ ಕಾರ್ತಿಕ್,
    ಔಟ್ ಆಫ್ ಯುವರ್ ಖತರ್ನಾಕ ಎಕ್ಸಪಿರಿಯೆನ್ಸ “ಪ್ರೈಸ್ ಆ್ಯಕ್ಶನ್” ಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟ ಓದಲು ಒಂದು ಒಳ್ಳೆ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಸಜೆಸ್ಟ ಮಾಡಿ..
    ಥ್ಯಾಂಕ್ಯು ಕಾರ್ತಿಕ್.

  236. Muffadal Katheria says:

    Dear Karthik,
    Greetings for the day. Thanks for such a great write up.
    I have a doubt. When you suggest, that for Swing Trader it is good if they look back data for about 6 months, that means for example I am looking at a single bullish candlestick pattern or multiple candle stick pattern for a bullish signal, whereby the requirement is that the stock is in downtrend, does it means that the stock should be in downtrend since last 6 months ?
    When we say that the stock should be in Uptrend or a Downtrend, than how many days prior to today(the day we spot the signal) should be that downtrend or uptrend if we are looking at a signal ?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Ah, no – look back of 6 months is to give you a general idea of whats happening with the stock price – trending up, down, sideways etc. When placing a short-term trade, the emphasis is more on the last few trading session, maybe like the last 12-15 trading sessions.

  237. Ritesh says:

    Dear Karthik, A big Thank you to your team for writing up these modules. They provide a great understanding of the market for beginners like me. I have a question – Does zerodha (or any one else) provide screeners that spot the stocks complying to the checklist you listed (inputs could be configurable like R&R etc, opportunity universe, timeframe for tradethe trade etc). If not all the criteria on the checklist, atleast pattern, volume and S&R compliance. I mean even eod reports (if not real time) of such would be of great help and save time. The decision to enter the trade would anyways be of the trader. Thanks for your time.

  238. trader says:

    hi,

    Is there any real time stock screener where i can get stocks whose rsi crossed below 40 or above 60 in 30 mins/1 hr time frames??

  239. trader says:

    can i run Pi screener and kite3 at same time?

  240. Manish says:

    Hi, Recently i opened an account with ZERODHA. But I was surprised to know that I can not trade a stock for short period like 5-7 days, without taking delivery. But if I take delivery then I would not able to leverage my margin. Is that true? Then whats the point of discussing short term view of 5-7 days? why broking houses recommend the target for 5-7 days.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Yes, there is no leverage in delivery based trades. However, if you need leverage, you can always try the futures contract.

  241. Raj says:

    will DP charges applicable to scalping and intraday trading?

  242. raj says:

    Thank you… My matter is not related to this although please reply
    1) when will account maintenance charges are charged…
    suppose if I open an account today… will it be charged on the same date after 1 year or charged with starting of the financial year?
    Both for demat and trading account
    I want to start first with a small investment of Rs 5000 or 10000… I heard that taxes are more

    2) Suppose if I end up in a loss in equity and swing trading… What are the taxes, charges that are levied on me? (including demat charges)

    3) Can we hold sell order for 2 or 3 days in CNC or NRML? or we have to square off on that day itself?
    The person in taxation module did not reply yet
    kindly reply me, sir

    thank you

  243. Rinkesh Ahuja says:

    How to analyze a script on charts which has undergone a split?

  244. Rinkesh Ahuja says:

    How to predict the time horizon for the target price?

  245. BKP says:

    In backtest report, what should be the profit percentage to consider to use the EA in live.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Generally speaking, your profit should be at least 1.5 to 2 times higher than your risk.

      • BKP says:

        In below backtest report, what is the meaning of percent profit & how to consider it. For easy marked *****(asterisks).

        2/12/2018 9:15:59 AM to 2/12/2018 3:29:59 PM
        Total number of trades: 14
        Average number of trades per month: 17
        Number of profitable trades: 5
        Number of losing trades: 9
        Total profit: 3.2000
        Total loss: -3.4500
        Percent profit: -7.812% **********
        Largest profit: 0.9500
        Largest loss: -1.4000
        Maximum Drawdown: -0.2500
        Maximum Drawdown (Monte Carlo): -0.2500
        Compound Monthly ROR: 0.7500
        Standard deviation: 0.00000000
        Annualized standard deviation: 0.00000000
        Downside deviation (MAR = 10%): 0.35000000
        Value Added Monthly Index (VAMI): 1.00057176
        Sharpe ratio (RFR = 5%): 0.00000000
        Annualized Sharpe ratio (RFR = 5%): 0.00000000
        Sortino ratio (MAR = 5%): 2.33333333
        Annualized Sortino ratio (MAR = 5%): 2.33333333
        Sterling ratio (MAR = 5%): 2.66666667
        Calmar ratio: 3.00000000
        Risk to reward ratio: -0.039

        2/12/2018 9:49:59 AM,LONG,288.6500
        2/12/2018 10:48:00 AM,SHORT,289.4000
        2/12/2018 10:54:59 AM,LONG,290.0000
        2/12/2018 12:30:00 PM,SHORT,290.1000
        2/12/2018 12:34:59 PM,LONG,290.2000
        2/12/2018 12:34:59 PM,SHORT,290.2000
        2/12/2018 12:35:59 PM,LONG,290.3000
        2/12/2018 12:39:00 PM,SHORT,289.7500
        2/12/2018 12:43:00 PM,LONG,289.9000
        2/12/2018 1:32:59 PM,SHORT,289.6500
        2/12/2018 1:38:00 PM,LONG,289.8500
        2/12/2018 2:40:59 PM,SHORT,289.8000
        2/12/2018 3:02:59 PM,LONG,289.0000
        2/12/2018 3:03:59 PM,SHORT,288.9500
        2/12/2018 3:12:59 PM,LONG,288.0000
        2/12/2018 3:13:59 PM,SHORT,288.0500
        2/12/2018 3:27:59 PM,LONG,289.4500

        • Karthik Rangappa says:

          I’m not sure about this because of the presence of the -ve sign. Where did you get these results, usually there is an explanation following these results.

          • Bkp says:

            I got this report from pi after backtesting on SBI. Actually my concern is, what should be the acceptable parameter value to consider a strategy for the particular scrip.

          • Karthik Rangappa says:

            My bad, I should have guessed.

            There are no fixed rules here. You just need to ensure the risk elements are not shooting through the roof.

  246. kmayank says:

    Hello sir
    It is little tricky to write script on time basis. I explain. For example i want to back test opening range break out on 5min candle bar within 30 minutes of market opening. For this i need to write script for first 6 candles of the day and run code for certain number of days. I have already written everything about candle length, wicks’ length, volume, gap opening etc. But i couldn’t figure out how to time the candle bar. My approach is only based on candle bar(price action), volume and S&R. I am not concerned about indicators. Please help me, sir.
    Thanks

  247. Nilesh Narvariya says:

    Thanks a lot for such descriptive and easy to understand training material on TA.

  248. Rahul says:

    It’s just 2 months that I have started trading after opening a trading account in zerodha.
    Out of curiosity I have seen so many videos on YouTube and all those are full of self promotion and shit.
    Was always looking one place where I can learn some systematic approach to trade , finally I can say this is the best place and the most systematic approach followed without anyone selling some Ponzi software or a 40K course , also after completing the chapters in technical analysis I have done 2 -3 trades in profit ,will go through the whole series to get an insight of how market works.
    Thank you for such genuine efforts.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Rahul, this is exactly what motivates us each and every day! Thanks for the kind words and happy learning 🙂

  249. RAHUL SAI says:

    can i use this technical analysis for swing trading, BTST,

  250. Raju says:

    Are candlestick patterns shows a valid signal in scalping(5 min chart)?

  251. Prateek says:

    In section 19.5 : The scout, it mentions to keep the Time frame as EOD. So does this mean that for initiating a trade on a particular day, I will look at the candles pertaining for the previous 2-3 days ? How is the volume relevant in this case as I will be looking at the volume of the previous day ?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Yes, you look at the EOD chart to get a sense of the price action from a broader perspective. Volumes matter, more so on an EOD basis.

  252. Pratheesh Karthikeyan says:

    Hi Karthik,

    Awesome modules, especially on options!
    Have a query on pi. I want to backtest on a scrip and want to sell as soon as current day’s price > last day’s high * 1.01.
    Taking an example, we have a scrip whose yesterday’s high is 100. I would like to sell it whenever it reaches 101 during current day.
    Basis the tradescript, i understood following is the code: LAST> REF(HIGH,1) * 1.01
    But upon backtesting, i saw the entry is not done at current price but at closing price.
    Could you please advise where am i going wrong?

    Thanks.

  253. Anil says:

    Thanks a lot Karthik.

  254. mahesh says:

    Dear sir,

    How can we set target when the nifty or equity stock is trading at all time high (long position)?
    Similarly how can we set target when the nifty or equity stock is trading at all time low (short position)?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      That would be really tough as there is prior data. You will have to trail your Stop loss here and ride the momentum.

  255. trader says:

    hi kartik, i recently moved frm bangalore to chidambaram..but since stamp duty in karnataka is different from that in TN i wanted to update my address details in zerodha Q..upon enquiring wit the support desk i was told that some address proof of chidambaram is reqd. but all my documents are of bangalore address and so i plan to get a driving license. do you suggest that i wait till my address is updated on zerodha records to resume trading so that correct stamp duty charges can be applied or is it fine if i continue trading now also?

  256. Pratheesh Karthikeyan says:

    Hi Faisal/Karthik,

    1. Kite 3 – in marketwatch, red colour is assigned to scrips that are trading in -ve for the day and not on a tick by tick basis. Whereas in the earlier version, a scrip with down tick was assigned red (for that moment) even though it is 1% up and will show green for an uptick the next moment. In Kite 3, what this means is – if there is a sudden selling in a gap up mkt with all stocks 1% up, you cant notice the correction by the colour since the scrips are all in green but in the earlier one could see a red wave just because the previous tick was down. Hope i have made myself clear. I’m sure many are facing the same issue. Request to please switch to earlier form in this respect.

    2. I’ll shifting to an overseas country and want to continue trading. What is the additional info i should provide zerodha? Will a new account be created? What about my investments? And how does my brokerage ,etc change?

    • Pratheesh, we had made this change out of popular request we received as the green tick on a negative scrip(and vice versa) was causing confusion.
      However, I’ll record your feedback and have it forwarded to the Development team.

      2. You can trade using your Account until your status changes from Resident to NRI. You will have to close this account and open a NRI Trading Account. Read more on that in this article

      • Pratheesh Karthikeyan says:

        Faisal, Thanks for your reply.
        1. Really not sure which professionals would want it this way. Surely, traders around me want it to remain the way it was and are having issues. Please do something about it urgently.
        2. Will look into it, thanks

  257. Pankaj Mishra says:

    Hi, little confusion here. While screening stocks, you mentioned that you look opportunity universe which is usually 50 stocks, and in that you look for max 3-4 candlessticks to confirm recognizable pattern. My question is at what time of the day you explore these opportunity universe stocks ? Is it before the market starts or at 3:20 PM (which is the time you mentioned a lot in the module for placing orders). My concern is, if you are exploring the stocks for pattern before the market begins i.e before 9:15, you might miss some candle stick patterns. Like, if you are exploring CIPLA and it has one red candle the previous day, which is no big deal, so you ignore it, but it might be making bullish marubuzo which is a thing to be concerned about. And if you are exploring this universe at 3:20 PM , after the pattern has formed, you might not be able to explore all the 50 stocks to find the pattern, check the indicators and place the order. How do you deal with this ? Kindly reply and your modules are awesome, I have recommended to many.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I usually look at charts at the EOD, say around 6:30 PM. Shortlist the ones that are making interesting moves, make my reference notes (including price levels) and track only these stocks during the next day’s market session. With my notes, I’d be quite clear on what action to take at which price. Hence in a sense, my market action is pre-decided and therefore it eliminates random actions in the markets.

  258. Sumon Sadhukhan says:

    First thanks for writing such a easy to understand and in depth module in technical analysis. Its really helpful. But can you please add a module on Intraday Trading. I think people like me really need some good resource of knowledge for day trading. Or atleast some ready reckoner with reading list, tools needed and other useful details. If you can help someway i shall be obliged.

  259. Viro says:

    Hey Karthik
    it was great deal to read the articles again as its always a refreshment , every time i read i get few doubts clear and give birth to few new one as well;)
    Anyways few questions
    1) Most of the pattern based entries are on top or at bottom but then how to enter the stocks for swing trading which are already higher level as there is no candlestick pattern for running stocks so does it mean we should not enter and by this we loose many trading opportunities in momentum stocks
    2) The way you explained trades based on candle sticks ( entry point stoploss target etc ) are there any good books which can be referred to explore more with similar contents ?
    3) Zerodha PI has many good features but hardly anyone knows how to use them effectively , any webinar or recorded videos with example will certainly help all to make use of the PI effectively
    5) Is it possible for you or Zerodha to share some good example of trades ( may be trades taken long back ) where reason of trade method of trail though process behind the same is explained so reference will be helpful for trades to build up similar though process.
    5) last but not the least ( may be not relevant over here but as its zerodha platform ) , since last few weeks or 2-3 months facing so much of issues on kite which is getting regular now a days so any plans to get them resolved ?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      1) You could check the dow patterns – such as the double/triple bottom or even the range-bound prices
      2) Japananes Candlestick pattern by Steve Nison is one of the best
      3) There are quite a few resources online (youtube), suggest you give it a try
      4) We do once in a way on twitter – keep track on twitter.com/zerodhavarsity
      5) We are always working on improvising and making sure you have better trading experience. Sorry, for any inconvenience caused.

  260. Hari says:

    Hi Karthik,

    The information is very clear, precise and awesomely explained. Thank you so much for Varsity.

    i have some queries.

    1. Even after thorough technical analysis, the Candle stick Patterns, volumes, S&R and all that you have mentioned trader make Entry. Why still the market goes other ways? it hits the Stop Loss. Why? What is the base then?

    2. To be a Full Time Trader, What are the qualities that one should have?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      1) This is because there are no guarantees in the markets :). All these factors only enhance your probability of making a successful trade 🙂
      2) Deep knowledge of markets and a deep pocket.

  261. RG says:

    Hi Karthik,
    Excellent tutorial. Simple and easy to grasp and your prompt responses to the queries is a cherry on the cake for learners like us! Really appreciate your efforts:)
    My query is:
    1. With TA, no matter what the strategy is, we can confirm it(candlestick patterns) at only around 3:20 PM(same day for risk takers and next day for risk averse after following Rule 1) You have provided us with an incredible check-list so as to re-assure ourselves before entering a trade. My question is, since we can confirm a candlestick pattern only at 3:20PM, how can we carry out other checks especially when we have multiple charts to look at within 10 min?
    2. If you say that we can analyze the list of stocks on EOD basis and carry the trade tomorrow then doesn’t that mean we are in effect confirming the candlestick pattern(Rule 1) the next day and doesn’t it make all of us risk averse investors even if we aim to be risk takers?
    3. Now suppose I am sure about a candlestick pattern at 3:20PM today but I know I can’t check other points in my checklist within 10min, then won’t that effectively make me miss out on today’s trade?
    4. Suppose, I analyze say on EOD basis, again on the next day according to the tutorial, I will 1st make sure Rule 1 is valid at only around 3:20 PM and again I will be stuck will going through other checkpoints in my list within 10 min driving me to point no 1.

    In short this makes me feel like it’s a recursive process which won’t end.

    I am sure I am missing out on something over here and it would be really helpful if you enlighten me on the 4 queries that I have 🙂

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Thanks for the kind words 🙂

      1) By 3:20 PM, you will have all the data you need – volumes, S&R, reading on the indicator, RRR etc. So this is not really an issue. Also, the assumption is that the prices won’t drastically change between 3:20 and 3:30.
      2) This is adding a bit of caution. If you can compute the data through the day, then you certainly can take the position during the day
      3) For this, you just need to go back and change the candle frequency from 15 mins to a day chart.
      4) No, with the confirmation on 2nd day, you are technically good to assume the position.

      Hopefully, this should clarify.

  262. RAG says:

    Hi Kathik,
    More of a question on personal front. I have a regular 9 to 6 job with a good amount of workload round the year. I learn that TA mostly consist of practicing intraday trade (which involves looking at 15min interval candlestick along ht entire day for eg) and some span to few weeks.

    I believe that TA needs a lot of attention probably on a daily basis with frequent watch to the markets. How realistic is it for someone like me with a regular job to practice TA on a regular basis? It becomes really difficult to access trading terminal during the office hours and not to mention markets are closed on weekends.

    Can you enlighten on how someone with regular job can practice TA?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      You would need a lot of time in the initial days, but once you get the hang of it, reading chart becomes very easy and less time-consuming. Considering your situation, I’d guess the best combination would be TA + Options. Both can take a lot of time and efforts to understand, but it is worth the efforts.

  263. M says:

    Hi,
    Zerodha seems to be completely customer focused! Good to know and kudos with the lucid explanation of TA. Enjoyed the module!

    I am fed up with Sharekhan & its notorious CPU cycle consuming TradeTiger platform. Beats the hell out of my laptop. I want to try out Kite. Seems it is lighter than TradeTiger and more user friendly.

    Zerodha team, please contact me on 8657111841. I want to close down on Sharekhan and open an account with Zerodha asap.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I cannot comment on Trade Tiger, as I’ve not used the platform. But I can tell you with all my trading experience – Kite is indeed one the best trading platforms India has ever seen! I’m sure you will enjoy trading on it 🙂

      We will be happy to onboard you as a client, request you to please drop your details here – https://zerodha.com/open-account. Thanks.

  264. vaibhav says:

    Hi Karthik,

    What’s the easiest way to know about below point –
    The volume should be at least equal to or more than the 10 day average volume.

    Thanks,
    Vaibhav

  265. Laukik Desai says:

    Hi Karthik,
    Does the ‘Pivot Points’ indicator give the correct S&R levels i.e. the next three Support and resistance levels ?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I’ve not had too much success with it, Laukik. I prefer the other way of plotting lines as I think S&R is more of a visual concept.

  266. vaibhav says:

    Hi Karthik,

    My query is related to following section from above chapter -“If the S&R level is more than 4% away from the stoploss, I stop evaluating the chart further and proceed to the next chart”

    Suppose a Marubozo formed with stock upward10% move. So in these case SL will be more then 4%, in these case one must avoid the trade? Can you please give an example of avoiding trade on above statement of 4%?

    Thanks in advance!

    Regards,
    Vaibhav

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Vaibhav, frankly this depends on your risk taking abilities. I’m a conservative trader and my tendency is towards capital protection hence these rules to safeguard against steep stop losses. However, this still does not guarantee a successful trade. So I’d suggest you evaluate your risk appetite and figure if you are comfortable with such trades.

  267. M says:

    Hi Karthik,
    I have few questions

    1.You mentioned that for all the trades you take you check if a bullish candlestick pattern has a bearish prior trend and vice versa for a bearish candlestick pattern. Does this mean I should trade with TA only if prior trends are satisfied with the patterns?
    2. If Yes, then what about Trading in range (sideways market)? If a stock trades in range for few months to many years, then it won’t satisfy the above criteria of prior trends even if I recognize candlestick pattern formation? What to do in these cases?
    3. What if the Dow patterns (Double, Triple top etc) appear during a side trend for months and candlestick patterns are formed but prior trends are not bullish or bearish as markets are trading sideways. What to do in these cases?
    4. How to trail stoploss? Consider that markets have a good bull/bear run after I execute a trade then my initial SL will become redundant as I will have to trail my SL to remain on the safer end. How do you recommend to trail SL effectively?
    5.What if there is no dow pattern but all the conditions in the checklist along with RRR meet? Should I go ahead with the trade?
    6.For swing trading, using EOD charts, all curetted trades for the day should be placed between 3:20 – 3:30 PM right? Any instances for swing trading when I can place trades using TA before 3:20PM?
    7.Pi v/s Kite – What will you recommend for TA?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      1) True if you are following CS patterns
      2) Strictly speaking, this would fall under the Dow Theory. I usually combine dow and CS patterns. For example at the bottom of the range, i look for bullish CS patterns and vice versa
      3) Like I said its best to combine both
      4) You could check the technique discussed here – https://zerodha.com/varsity/chapter/volatility-applications/
      5) Yup, again if the CS pattern agrees to it
      6) Yes, as long as the trade qualifies your criteria
      7) Both are great platforms but I do have a soft corner for Kite 🙂

  268. Aslam Randhanpara says:

    Sir,
    What is the useful indicator for the Scalping?
    idial chart time frame like 1, 3, 5 Minute?
    any other tip for the same if you can suggest me than it would be great

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      I guess no indicator can be quick enough to help you scalp the market. Your best tool is to look at the order book and see how the liquidity is moving. Ideal chart time frame to scaly would be 1 or 5 mins chart.

      If you are a newbie, I’d not advise you to scalp. It is very easy to get into the ‘I’ll recover my losses’ trap. This will also mean you end up paying more brokerage and other charges.

  269. Amit says:

    Hi Karthik,

    You had mentioned that retail investors have a very little to negligible control on the stock price. It is the smart money that has a significant control over the price.

    But, you also mentioned that the huge block deals executed by smart money are OTC deals so they should not impact the market prices in general if they don’t go through the exchange and settle over the counter right? In such a case, how can we say that smart money impacts the prices of stocks if they execute their deals OTC ?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Maybe I should have worded this better 🙂
      No one has any sort of control on stock prices. People or institutions can only influence the stock prices. Institutions (or smart money) certainly has a better influence compared to retail participants. OTC deals tend to rub off the bullish or bearish sentiment.

  270. Guru says:

    Hi Karthik,

    With regard to Pi availability it is mentioned as ‘It is free – Zerodha is giving it free of cost to all its active traders’.

    Active customers – may i know the max number of inactive days (i.e., days with no trade) to still consider myself as an active customer?

    Thanks,
    Guru

  271. Mo says:

    Hi Karthik,
    As we know Intraday short position on stocks should be closed on the same day itself.
    1. What happens if I forget to close intraday short position. What action will Zerodha take?
    2. If I do not own a share and randomly place a sell order without the intention of shorting, will Zerodha execute the sell order? Is their any mechanism in place which will avoid such not-intended-for shorting? Any order types specifically meant for shorting?
    3.Since I have to close intraday short positions on the same day, how will I get the benefit of a bearish candlestick pattern as a scalper? I cannot hold on to my short position more than a day. Does this mean trading on bearish candlestick patterns has to be intraday only? I am referring to stocks and not Futures over here.

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      1) If it is an MIS trade, then it will be squared off at 3:20 PM
      2) Yes, this is shorting of shares. But make sure you close the position before 3:20 PM
      3) Yes, you will be restricted to intraday if you are trading EQ. You can carry forward futures.

  272. Jyoti says:

    Sir ,

    Thank you so much for putting so much of effort. Overall I have learned so any things and you gave insight of the market so well That i couldn’t stop myself from appreciating and thanking you.

    with sincere and humble thanks ,
    Jyoti

  273. Neerav says:

    Thank You Karthik and Zerodha Team for excellent and simple presentation of all the trading concepts and tools. You have democratized the the knowledge which was earlier with select few. Your work provides a strong foundation to many aspiring traders.

  274. l_earn_err says:

    Hello Sir,
    How are charts in Kite and Pi different?
    Are charts shown in Kite in any way inferior to those shown in Pi?
    Where should I look for, Kite or Pi, for better trade?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Both are great. If you want convenience, I’d suggest Kite. I personally use Kite for everything.

  275. Maaz Khan says:

    Dear Sir,

    I read the Technical Analysis chapter but I am still confused because Zerodha co-founder Mr. Kamath says here in an interview

    (https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/hinduja-power-buys-alan-roslings-kiran-energy-for-rs-1000-cr-2-2567601.html)

    that one should change his strategies every few years and that technical analysis is not the ultimate method for traders.

    In his words:

    “In the technical analysis, you are betting that the past will repeat itself. You are looking for patterns which will repeat itself in future. After a time you realize it is a hindsight bias. Overall, I believe the fundamental analysis is a better way to play it. So, currently, I have discarded technical analysis from my trading.

    With time I have realized that market action is random. What happened in last 10 years will not happen in the next 10 years.”

    So does that mean if I even study all the patterns and run the stock checklist as mentioned in the chapter thoroughly, even then I would not get the desired results?

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Well, these are individual opinions, Maaz, but here is the thing – TA gives you a great foundation to understand price action. End of the day, whichever way you choose to look at the markets, price action will play a crucial role. So you don’t really lose much by giving yourself a good foundation 🙂

  276. Rajesh Solaskar says:

    Hi Karthik
    Please guide us little on Central pivote range (CPR). I think it is a important tool for day traders to identify markets trend for a particular day. Even I couldn’t plot CPR on Zerodha charts. Is it available on pi itself?
    If wouldn’t then let us (traders) know where from one can get it.
    Thanks

    • Rajesh, the indicator isn’t available. However, you can generate alerts by coding the indicator using tradescript on Pi.
      The logic will be: SET A = (HIGH+LOW+CLOSE)/3
      SET B = (HIGH+LOW)/2
      (A-B)+A

  277. Rajesh Solaskar says:

    Thank you so much Faisal sir.

  278. Guru says:

    Hi Karthik,

    I bought stocks of a company few days back and the stocks reached my target price. To book my profit I decided to sell them. So I selected the stock and initiated a sell transaction on Kite (with the transaction type CNC).

    I thought this transaction would sell the stocks that I bought previously but instead it kept the stocks in my holdings as is and appears initiated a new ‘sell’ transaction (like in Shorting – where you sell first and buy later in the same day). Thinking it did not do what I intended, I bought the stock back.

    Question is – what would have happened to the ‘sell’ transaction I initiated had I not ‘re-buy’ the stock. Would it deduct the quantity from my holdings? Or would the sell transaction be rejected at the end of day if I don’t buy them by end of the day?

    Kind regards,
    Guru

    • Karthik Rangappa says:

      Guru, if you have selected CNC, then the sell was indeed from the DEMAT and was exactly what you intended to do. However, your sell creates a position, which you may have gotten confused with. So what you did was essentially an intraday short trade, leaving your shares in DEMAT intact. I’d suggest you call our support desk and they will be happy to explain this to you. Thanks.

      • Guru says:

        Hi Karthik,

        Thanks for the reply.

        Yes, I got confused as it created a new position when I initiated a sell transaction. These are my baby steps so I think it happens :).

        Thank for the clarification and I’ll talk to support team.

        Kind regards,
        Guru

  279. Heer says:

    Thank you for sharing TA, such a systematic and connecting way. Happy learner ?

  280. Kshitij khandelwal says:

    Sir, it’s very nice reading your concept.
    Can you please share the link or tell how to achieve the Target price in each case and how to set the stop loss (not based on RRR ) but technically in each case.

  281. Vina says:

    Hi Karthik,
    Happy Zerodha customer. Good learning stuff.

    Are these technical concepts can be used for intraday / weekly trading?
    Just started learning.