If you've ever watched a clean, no-wick Heiken Ashi candle print on your chart after the move already happened and thought:

“That’s literally exactly what I was waiting for… why didn’t I get an alert?”

—You're not crazy. You're just realizing that ThinkorSwim doesn't come with that baked in.

Even though Heiken Ashi is one of the most visually powerful trend tools, ThinkorSwim gives you zero default alerts for them. No sound. No arrow. No "Hey bro, look at this candle!" pop-up.

And that’s kind of insane.

So today, I’m going to show you why it’s missing — and more importantly, how to build it yourself in under 5 minutes, even if you’ve never touched ThinkScript.

🤷‍♂️ Why Isn’t This Built Into ThinkorSwim?

Let’s get this out of the way:

ThinkorSwim was designed for flexibility, not convenience.

That means it’s incredibly powerful — if you’re comfortable writing your own scripts. But if you're not, you’re stuck with a clunky set of default studies that feel like they were made in 2007 (because, well… they were).

And for some reason, Heiken Ashi — despite being one of the cleanest ways to visualize trends — comes with no default alert logic.

That means if you’re waiting for:

A no-lower-wick bullish candle (sign of strong uptrend)
A no-upper-wick bearish candle (clean trend continuation)
Or just three green candles in a row…

You’re on your own. Unless you build it yourself.

🧠 So Let’s Build It: Heiken Ashi Candle Alert in ThinkorSwim

This script will:

Identify strong bullish or bearish Heiken Ashi candles
Draw up/down arrows on your chart
Play a sound alert so you don’t miss it

📜 The ThinkScript:

thinkscript
# Heiken Ashi Momentum Candle Alert with Arrows
declare upper;

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

def bullish = c > o and l >= o;  # No lower wick
def bearish = c < o and h <= o;  # No upper wick

plot upArrow = bullish;
plot downArrow = bearish;

upArrow.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.BOOLEAN_ARROW_UP);
upArrow.SetDefaultColor(Color.GREEN);
upArrow.SetLineWeight(3);

downArrow.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.BOOLEAN_ARROW_DOWN);
downArrow.SetDefaultColor(Color.RED);
downArrow.SetLineWeight(3);

Alert(upArrow, "Strong Bullish Heiken Ashi Candle", Alert.BAR, Sound.Ding);
Alert(downArrow, "Strong Bearish Heiken Ashi Candle", Alert.BAR, Sound.Bell);

🛠️ How to Add This to Your Chart (No Tech Degree Required)

Open ThinkorSwim
Go to Charts
Click Studies → Edit Studies
Hit Create (bottom left)
Paste the code above
Click OK, then Apply

Boom. You’ve just built a custom alert system that ThinkorSwim should’ve given you in the first place.

🧘‍♀️ Why This Alert Saved My Sanity

Before this, I was babysitting my screen. Constantly refreshing. Getting frustrated when I missed clean entries because the candle was already three bars back.

Now, I get a ping when the trend’s actually forming — not when it's already over.

That little arrow and sound alert? It’s like a digital tap on the shoulder saying:

“Hey, it’s happening. Right now. You asked for this.”

🧩 Want to Get Fancy? Here’s How to Expand It

You can easily customize this script to:

Only alert when volume confirms the candle
Add conditions like RSI or MACD alignment
Trigger only on specific timeframes

Need help with that? Drop a comment — I write these add-ons all the time.

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

💬 Final Thoughts: You Deserve Better Than Default Settings

Look, ThinkorSwim is an amazing platform. But it wasn’t built with emotional traders in mind. It assumes you’re already an engineer.

So if you’ve ever missed a candle and said:

“Why didn’t I see that in real time?!”

Just know — you’re not alone. You just needed a small script to give you peace of mind.

And now you’ve got it.

PineScript

Friday, 30 May 2025

Why ThinkorSwim Doesn’t Alert You to Perfect Heiken Ashi Setups — And How to Fix It in 5 Minutes