Turtle Trading Scan

S&P 500 · trend-following breakout screen · generated 2026-09-11 17:29 UTC

Overview

Symbols scanned
503
S1 breakouts (20d)
7
S1 near breakout
14
S2 breakouts (55d)
4
S2 near breakout
7
Avg volatility (N%)
3.03%

Position sizing

One Unit risks 1% of your portfolio per N of movement. Enter your portfolio size and the Unit (shares) and Unit cost columns below recalculate for your account.

Risk per Unit: $100 (1% of portfolio) · a full 2N stop-out loses about $200 (2%). Your entry is remembered on this device.

Very quiet stocks can imply a Unit costing more than your whole portfolio — the original Turtles traded futures on margin, where that's possible. In a cash account it isn't, so those rows are capped at the shares you can afford and flagged capped (hover the flag for your actual, sub-2% risk).

System 1 — 20-day breakout

Faster system: enter on a close above the prior 20-day high; exit on a close below the prior 10-day low. "Near" = within ½N of the breakout level.

SymbolStatusClose20d highDistance (×N)Distance (%)N ($)N (%)2N stopUnit (shares)Unit costExit (10d low)
SWKSBroken out90.1185.89-1.14-4.69%3.714.12%82.6926 $2,34364.47
HPQBroken out34.8333.17-1.1-4.78%1.514.33%31.8166 $2,29926.73
AAPLBroken out334.06330.81-0.41-0.97%7.972.39%318.1212 $4,009309.4
QCOMBroken out185.04183.49-0.21-0.84%7.564.09%169.9213 $2,406161.9
VLOBroken out395.46393.54-0.18-0.49%10.942.77%373.589 $3,559341.25
WFCBroken out90.5490.34-0.11-0.23%1.832.02%86.8854 $4,88983.72
BBYBroken out91.0690.82-0.07-0.26%3.23.51%84.6631 $2,82376.7
NXPINear237.47238.180.080.3%8.363.52%221.4611 $2,612217.3
EXPDNear191.93192.280.090.18%3.741.95%184.826 $4,990184.29
DELLNear558.26562.990.150.85%32.565.83%497.873 $1,675421.89
MPCNear403.03405.130.190.52%11.062.74%383.019 $3,627356.41
DVNNear49.7850.050.210.53%1.242.49%47.5780 $3,98346.32
IBMNear239.99242.310.30.97%7.73.21%226.9112 $2,880229.1
PSXNear261.71263.760.30.78%6.772.59%250.2214 $3,664237.13
VZNear50.650.930.340.66%0.981.94%48.97102 $5,16148.82
CHRWNear152.38154.140.361.16%4.873.2%144.420 $3,048144.02
TRVNear373.94376.570.370.7%7.091.9%362.3914 $5,235359.87
KRNear58.5959.20.41.04%1.532.61%56.1465 $3,80856.37
AMDNear515.98526.790.442.1%24.634.77%477.534 $2,064440.5
DVANear182.71185.260.451.4%5.693.11%173.8817 $3,106175.47
ELVNear416.57421.90.481.28%11.192.69%399.528 $3,333390.8

System 2 — 55-day breakout

Slower, higher-conviction system: enter on a close above the prior 55-day high; exit on a close below the prior 20-day low. "Near" = within ½N of the breakout level.

SymbolStatusClose55d highDistance (×N)Distance (%)N ($)N (%)2N stopUnit (shares)Unit costExit (20d low)
SWKSBroken out90.1185.89-1.14-4.69%3.714.12%82.6926 $2,34363.06
HPQBroken out34.8333.17-1.1-4.78%1.514.33%31.8166 $2,29926.73
VLOBroken out395.46393.54-0.18-0.49%10.942.77%373.589 $3,559326.12
WFCBroken out90.5490.34-0.11-0.23%1.832.02%86.8854 $4,88983.48
BBYNear91.0691.270.070.23%3.23.51%84.8731 $2,82376.7
EXPDNear191.93192.280.090.18%3.741.95%184.826 $4,990184.29
DELLNear558.26562.990.150.85%32.565.83%497.873 $1,675421.89
MPCNear403.03405.130.190.52%11.062.74%383.019 $3,627344
DVNNear49.7850.050.210.53%1.242.49%47.5780 $3,98343.65
PSXNear261.71263.760.30.78%6.772.59%250.2214 $3,664223.42
VZNear50.650.930.340.66%0.981.94%48.97102 $5,16147

The Turtle Rules — how to trade these signals

  1. Measure volatility first. N is the 20-day Average True Range — the stock's typical daily dollar move. Every other rule is expressed in N, so position size and risk automatically adapt to each stock's volatility.
  2. Size positions in Units. One Unit risks 1% of your account per N of movement: shares = (1% of account) ÷ N. Enter your portfolio size in the Position sizing box above and the "Unit (shares)" and "Unit cost" columns show this for your account. A volatile stock gets fewer shares; a quiet one gets more — equal risk either way.
  3. Enter on the breakout. System 1: buy when price breaks above the prior 20-day high. System 2: buy when price breaks above the prior 55-day high. Never anticipate — wait for the level to actually break.
  4. Always use the 2N stop. Place a stop-loss 2N below your entry (the "2N stop" column). With Unit sizing, being stopped out costs about 2% of your account — a survivable loss, every time.
  5. Pyramid winners, never losers. Add one Unit each time price moves ½N in your favor, up to a maximum of 4 Units per stock. After each add, raise the stop to 2N below your most recent entry.
  6. Exit only at the channel low. System 1 exits on a close below the prior 10-day low; System 2 below the prior 20-day low (the "Exit" column). No profit targets — the big trends pay for all the small losses, and you must let them run.
  7. Respect the portfolio limits. Max 4 Units in one stock, 6 Units in closely correlated stocks, and 12 Units in one direction overall. Diversification of breakouts is part of the system.

This scan is long-only. The original System 1 filter (skip the signal if the last S1 breakout was a winner) is omitted — it depends on your own trade history; System 2 signals are always taken. Losing streaks are normal: the system profits from a few large trends, not a high win rate.