Bulkowski’s Pattern Recognition Software

CPI: on 08/27/2010

Download

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY INSTALLED Patternz once, then you don’t need to install the complete thing again. Click here to download the latest version of the program.

1. Extract the new version and place the files in your Patternz folder.
2. Not sure what version you have? Run Patternz and from the main menu click Help then Version. If it shows the version matching the one at the top of this page (or more recent in case I forgot to update the website page), then you have the latest release.

FOR NEW INSTALLATIONS, click here to download the complete package. You’ll get a Patternz.zip file that contains the Patternz software.

1. Extract all of the files into a folder called Patternz.
2. Read the ENTIRE Readme.txt file so you understand what the setup program will do, especially if you are running an older version of Windows.
3. Run SETUP.EXE to complete the installation.
4. Once installed, remove all of the files from the Patternz folder except the MMM.CSV data file (this is a sample file containing stock quotes for 3M, but it can be deleted especially once the program is up and running), Readme.txt, Instruction Manual.txt, and PATTERNZ.exe.
5. After installation, double click on PATTERNZ.EXE to run the program.
6. Click on MMM.CSV
7. Click on Chart to display a chart of 3M. You may get a warning message that the file is out of date. Click Yes to allow the program to pick the display dates.
8. If MMM.CSV does not display properly, then visit the Diagnosing Patternz problems page.

Release Notes for latest version

• Version T, 6/18/10:
  • Fixed bug in Patterns Form that would hang the program if no patterns checked.
  • Added Setup Form check box to optionally draw SAR lines using one color.
  • Changed the algorithm on SAR lines to draw them more consistently.
  • Fixed bug in Chart Form where prior candle information was not cleared on file load
  • Added Setup button to List form.
  • Added double bottom trading setup detection to List form.
• Version S, 12/4/09: Added a feature to the Setup form to highlight all peaks/valleys when the SAR button is clicked.
• Version R, 12/4/09: Fixed a bug in NR4 and NR7 pattern recognition that might effect the chart pattern indicator results.
• Version Q, 11/30/09: Fixed bugs in the chart pattern indicator for counts around holidays and in other routines that if they failed, could eventually cause resource problems.
• Version P. 11/1/09: Fixed bug introduced in the retrace function of version O. Oops.
• Version O, 10/30/09:
  • Fixed potential divide by 0 error in double bottoms and tops
  • Added a log button on chart form
  • Added message box that shows retrace values.
• Version N, early Sept: I changed the generic error message to direct people to the website for help.
• Version M, 8/30/09: I added a button to the File Format page to automatically configure Patternz for the two quote downloaders.

Patternz is a Windows based program that automatically finds chart and candlestick patterns. It has these features.

Finds 66 unique chart patterns (see Patterns Form) Finds 105 candlestick patterns (see Patterns Form) Finds the double bottom trading setup (see the List Form) Has a chart pattern indicator to detect market turns (see the Chart Pattern Indicator Form) Allows the selection of patterns with the best overall performance, fewest failures, reversals, and continuations (see the Patterns form) Scans files to find patterns and lists results (see List Form) Allows up to 9 criteria to select patterns for performance (radio buttons on List Form) Filters stock selections for price and volume Shows cycles (chart form) Shows phi extensions for price prediction (Phi button on chart form)

• Sorts selected patterns to highlight most recent (see List Form)
• Export pattern information to clipboard or Excel for analysis (see List Form)
• Pattern watch lists make the selection of patterns easier
• Security watch lists allow important securities to be found quickly and easily
• Highlights support and resistance (SAR button on Chart Form)
• Tells about chart and candlestick patterns (the Tell button)
• Calculates a volatility stop (the Stop button)
• Calculates pivot points, S1, R1, S2 and R2 (the Forecast button)
• Calculates a Fibonacci retrace (the Retrace button)
• Forecasts tomorrow’s closing price (see the Forecast button) with back testing capability
• Detects tall candles which means a minor high or low 66% of the time (give or take a day)
• Supports trendlines (see the Chart Form)
• Volume ticks show pattern end points, which helps with volume trend and shape analysis
• Supports bar or candlestick charts
• Extensive instruction manual or look at the black help window at form top as you tab around
• Setup allows the tuning of Patternz parameters (see Setup button on Chart Form)
• Works with a variety of ASCII file formats
• Supports Windows 3.11 and more recent versions, such as XP Home Edition and some Vista setups
• Adware and spyware free
• It’s FREE

FREE Quote Downloader

This downloader is easy to use, I have tried it, and it works well. Best of all, it’s free! You build a symbol list, tell it where to find the list, tell it where to put the files, and click on an icon to begin downloading. It grabs the quotes from yahoo or google. The above link will take you to a site where you can read about the product and download it.

The following describes how to change Patternz to get it to work with the downloader. It's a simple process...

Refer to the figure on the right and do the following:

1. Run Patternz.
2. Click on the File Format menu option
3. Click the button titled, "Setup MLDownloader or Yahoo/Google Downloader," highlighted in red in the figure.

Patternz should be configured to work with the file format for this downloader. Please note that since the configuration has changed MMM.csv may no longer chart properly.

Also, you will want to change the Date Format to match the format used by your country (circled in green on the figure).

If you do not have access to yahoo/google or they do not provide quotes for your country then perhaps MLDownloader (below) will work.

MLDownloader

In case you missed it, above is a link to a free quote downloader. The last time I heard, MLDownloader costs money and I like free...

MLDownloader is a program that automatically updates your database in a file format compatible with Patternz, according to one user. I have not tried it, but I am told it works reliably. Here is a list of instructions to automate the updating of files for Patternz, courtesy of Tom Helget (email Tom at THelget@aol.com for more information. Click here for the Patternz.cfg file, and an improved version Patternz2.cfg).

1. To configure Patternz to use this downloader, follow the instructions for the free quote downloader above then continue with the following.

Set up the MLDownloader program

2. Download the Patternz.cfg file and save it to the MLDownloader/Symbol Lists/USA folder.
3. Invoke MLDownloader.
4. To utilize the Patternz.cfg file with any Symbol List:
1. Highlight the Symbol List you have already created and click on Download...Get Quotes. Insure that the Download historical data box is checked and that the Server is set to Yahoo (Worldwide) on the Get Quotes screen:
2. Click on the Options button near the lower right of the Get Quotes screen.
3. On the Options screen check ASCII file format and then...
4. Look for the Patternz.cfg file in the MLDownloader/Symbol Lists/USA folder where you stored it.
5. Highlight Patternz.cfg and click on Open.
6. When the Options screen returns, click on Apply and then OK.
7. When the Get Quotes screen returns, set your Start Date and End Date and Periodicity. You can now click on Download historical data to obtain your quotes for use with Patternz.

Creating Patternz .txt files for TC2005 Users

These instructions are courtesy of John Myer (e-mail TC2005 questions to: johndmmyer@yahoo.com) and are for TC2005 users. I've never used TC2005, so this is not an endorsement, just a convenience to those who have.

To create a .txt file that works in Patternz from TC2005:

1. Bring up TC2005
2. Start with a watch list of those stocks you wish to analyze
3. On the Databank menu select "Data export to text."
4. The export window will give you choices
1. One at a time select the fields from the first line of the example .csv file for Frontier. (Date[mm/dd/yyyy],open,high,low,close,volume,volume)
2. For each field hit the "Add" button to move the field to the "Export Fields (In Order)" box.
3. Be sure the "TAB" is selected as the Data Delimiter.
4. Set the export path to whatever directory you wish. I put mine in the same directory as Patternz.exe file.
5. Check the "Multiple Files (named with symbol)" button.
6. Set the number of days to export. I use at least 150, sometimes more.
7. Set the "Dates Ascending/Descending" button to Ascending. I've done it both ways. They appear to work either way.
8. Hit the "Export" button at the bottom of the window.
On my system, the export of a dozen stocks for 150 days of data took in the area of 1 second. I don't yet have adding the first line automated, so I just copy that first line, tab delimited, and paste it in each stock file at the top. [Note: You can eliminate this step by using the File Format option in Patternz to configure the column format for all of the files].
5. Bring up Patternz.
6. The files just created will appear on the drop list.
7. Select the one you want and away we go. You will get the error message "Beginning date not found, using the first date in the file." Ignore the message and continue.

Creating Patternz files from Wealth-Lab

The following instructions are to create files from Wealth-Lab for Patternz. I do not own Wealth-Lab, so this is not an endorsement, nor have I tried these instructions. They are provided courtesy of Ray Senesac. For more information, email Ray at raysenesac@aol.com. The instructions are also available as a compressed Notepad file by clicking here.

var Bar, WatchListNumber, f: integer;
var FileName: String;

for WatchListNumber := 0 to WatchListCount - 1 do
begin
   SetPrimarySeries(WatchListSymbol(WatchListNumber));
   FileName := 'c:/DataBus/Patternz/' + WatchListName + '/' + GetSymbol + '.csv';
   PrintStatus(GetSymbol);
   f := FileOpen(FileName);
   FileClear(f);
   FileWrite(f, 'Date,open,high,low,close,volume');
   For Bar := 0 to BarCount - 1 do
      FileWrite(f, IntToStr(GetMonth(Bar)) + '/' + IntToStr(GetDay(Bar)) + '/' + IntToStr(GetYear(Bar)) + ',' +
                   FloatToStr(PriceOpen(Bar)) + ',' +
                   FloatToStr(PriceHigh(Bar)) + ',' +
                   FloatToStr(PriceLow(Bar)) + ',' +
                   FloatToStr(PriceClose(Bar)) + ',' +
                   FloatToStr(Volume(Bar)));
   FileClose(f);
end;

3.  Change the File name "DataBus/Patternz" to the path you are using for Patternz data files. Note that this is setup to use the WatchList Name as part of the file structure. I like this because I have the same groupings for stocks in Patternz as I have in Wealth-Lab.

4.  Create the Folders that you defined for Wealth-Lab in the script above. For example, I have a WatchList called "Total Stocks" so I created a folder "c:/DataBus/Patternz/Total Stocks".

5.  To execute the script, click on a stock in the appropriate WatchList. This will create a Patternz file for each stock in the WatchList.

6.  If you have a large number of stocks in your WatchList this can take a while to execute. I maintain several thousand stocks in Wealth-Lab so if I only want to see current signals, I set Wealth-Lab to only use 250 bars of data (one year) and the script runs much faster. 

7.  After you run the Wealth-Lab script start Patternz and follow the instructions to run it.

Troubleshooting Patternz

This has moved to the Trouble.html

Known Bugs

This has moved to the Trouble.html

-- Thomas Bulkowski