I Let ThinkorSwim Watch the Chart So I Don’t Have To — How I Use Arrow Alerts to Trade Without Stress

 

If you’ve ever found yourself staring at candles for hours, just waiting for something—anything—to happen… then blinked and missed the exact move you were hoping for…

Yeah. That was me too.

I used to think trading meant being glued to the screen, watching every tick like a hawk on caffeine. I had eight indicators, none of them agreed, and I’d still miss the cleanest trend candle of the day because I got up to microwave coffee.

Then I discovered something ridiculously simple that changed my workflow (and stress levels):

Up and down arrow alerts in ThinkorSwim.

They’re not just cute symbols. They’re your personal trading assistant — silently monitoring price action and screaming “HEY! Look now!” when something important happens.

Let me show you how they work, how to build them, and why I wish I started using them sooner.

---

🤖 What Are Arrow Alerts in ThinkorSwim?

In ThinkorSwim, you can use ThinkScript to draw arrows on your chart when certain conditions are met — like:

• A bullish engulfing candle

• A Heiken Ashi candle with no wick

• A breakout above resistance

• An RSI crossover

• Or literally any logic you can dream up

And you can pair those arrows with sound alerts, pop-ups, or even mobile notifications.

So instead of watching the screen like a paranoid squirrel, you just let the platform ping you when it actually matters.

---

💡 Example: Up/Down Arrows for Momentum Candles

Let’s say you want arrows for Heiken Ashi candles with no wicks (aka strong momentum candles).

Here’s a basic ThinkScript you can copy-paste right now:

thinkscript
# No-Wick Heiken Ashi Candle Alerts with Arrows
declare upper;

def o = HeikinAshiOpen();
def c = HeikinAshiClose();
def h = HeikinAshiHigh();
def l = HeikinAshiLow();

def bullish = c > o and l >= o;
def bearish = c < o and h <= o;

plot upArrow = bullish;
plot downArrow = bearish;

upArrow.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.BOOLEAN_ARROW_UP);
upArrow.SetDefaultColor(Color.GREEN);

downArrow.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.BOOLEAN_ARROW_DOWN);
downArrow.SetDefaultColor(Color.RED);

Alert(upArrow, "Bullish momentum candle detected", Alert.BAR, Sound.Ding);
Alert(downArrow, "Bearish momentum candle detected", Alert.BAR, Sound.Bell);

🧠 What This Does:

• When a strong bullish candle prints with no lower shadow → green arrow up

• When a strong bearish candle prints with no upper shadow → red arrow down

• An alert sound plays when it happens

It’s visual. It’s audible. And most importantly: it works while you walk away.

---

🛠️ How to Add This to ThinkorSwim (Zero Coding Skills Required)

1. Open ThinkorSwim

2. Go to Charts → Studies → Edit Studies

3. Click Create (bottom left corner)

4. Paste in the code above

5. Name it something like "MomentumArrows"

6. Click OK, then Apply

Now anytime a candle matches your logic, it pops an arrow on your chart and rings an alert.

Feels like you’ve got a little robot trading assistant. And honestly? That’s how it should be.

Master the Markets: A Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide to Using thinkorswim: Unlock Your Trading Potential: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to thinkorswim

---

🧘 Why This Is a Sanity-Saver (Not a Shortcut)

Let’s be real:

• You're not a full-time day trader with seven monitors.

• You want to trade smarter, not just longer.

• You're tired of staring, guessing, and missing moves because you’re human.

Up and down arrows are not a magic buy/sell signal — they’re just a way to tell your platform:

“Hey, if something like this happens — let me know.”

And that’s powerful. Because you don’t need to trade more. You need to notice the right things when they actually happen.