Help & FAQ

Swing trading means holding a stock or crypto for 3 to 10 days to capture a short-term price move. Unlike day trading (hours) or investing (years), swing trading aims to catch one 'swing' in price — buying near a support level and selling near resistance. Most setups target 5–15% gains with a defined stop loss.

Day traders open and close positions within the same day — often making dozens of trades. Swing trading is slower, less stressful, and more compatible with a regular schedule. You check charts once or twice a day, not every minute. Research shows swing trading has better risk-adjusted returns for retail traders than day trading.

There is no minimum. SwingAI works with any account size. However, we recommend at least $1,000–$2,000 to make position sizing meaningful. With 2% risk per trade on a $5,000 account, your max loss per trade is $100 — enough to learn without catastrophic risk. Never trade money you cannot afford to lose.

No. SwingAI is designed for all skill levels. The SEPA score, entry zones, stop loss, and targets are all calculated for you. The How to Use guide walks you through every feature step by step. Start by analyzing a stock you already know — Apple, Tesla, or Bitcoin.

SEPA stands for Specific Entry Point Analysis — a methodology developed by champion trader Mark Minervini. It scores a stock 0–7 based on: price vs moving averages, trend direction, volume, relative strength, and momentum. A score of 6 or 7 means the stock is in a strong Stage 2 uptrend — the highest probability setup. Below 4 means the stock is not ready.

A stop loss is the price at which you exit a trade to limit your loss. If you buy at $50 and set a stop at $47, you automatically exit if the price falls to $47 — limiting your loss to $6 (assuming a $50 buy, $47 stop). SwingAI calculates your stop loss using Smart Money Concepts — placing it below key support levels so normal price fluctuations do not trigger it.

R/R stands for Risk/Reward. A 2:1 ratio means your potential gain is twice your potential loss. If you risk $100 (stop loss), your target profit is $200. Professional traders aim for minimum 2:1. SwingAI shows R/R for every setup — avoid trades below 1.5:1.

A Fair Value Gap is a price zone where the market moved so fast it left an imbalance — like a price gap. Smart money (institutions) often return to fill these gaps. A bullish FVG below price is strong support. When SwingAI shows an FVG badge, it means the entry zone has institutional backing.

An Order Block is the last bearish candle before a strong bullish move (or vice versa). It marks where institutions placed large buy orders. Price frequently returns to these levels before continuing up. Order Blocks are used by SwingAI to set precise entry and stop loss levels.

TA-calculated means SwingAI computed exact levels using your real price data — this is more accurate. AI-estimated means the historical price data was unavailable (common for some international stocks), so Claude AI estimated levels based on current price context. Always verify AI-estimated levels on the TradingView chart before trading.

Professional traders risk 1–2% of their account per trade. At 2%, a $10,000 account risks $200 per trade. This means you could have 50 losing trades in a row before losing all your capital — giving you plenty of room to learn. Never risk more than 5% on any single trade. Set your account size in ⚙️ Settings and SwingAI calculates position size automatically.

Position sizing is how many shares or coins to buy. SwingAI calculates it using: Account Size × Risk % ÷ Stop Distance = Shares to buy. Example: $10,000 account, 2% risk ($200), stop distance $4 → buy 50 shares. This ensures every trade risks the same dollar amount regardless of the stop width.

Kelly Criterion is a mathematical formula that calculates the optimal bet size based on your win rate and average win/loss ratio. SwingAI uses Fractional Kelly (25% of the full recommendation) for safety. Important: Kelly requires at least 20 completed trades to be meaningful. New traders should stick with the 2% rule until they have a real track record.

No. SwingAI is an educational and analytical tool only. All analysis, signals, setups, and AI-generated content are for informational purposes. You are solely responsible for your trading decisions. Past performance shown in backtests does not guarantee future results. Never invest money you cannot afford to lose.

Analyze any stock, then tap the 🔔 Set Price Alert button in the SETUP tab. Enter your target price and choose: Near Price, Crosses Above, or Falls Below. Enable push notifications when the app asks — alerts fire automatically even when the app is in the background. You can manage all alerts in the PORTFOLIO tab.

Open the Screener (🔍 button), tap the Patterns tab. Select one or more patterns — the more you select, the better the confluence scoring. Tap Scan for Confluence. Results show 🟢 High (3+ patterns), 🟡 Medium (2 patterns), ⚪ Single. The best setups combine Golden Cross + RSI Bounce + Bull Flag.

The morning digest is an email sent every weekday at 7 AM ET with a pre-market briefing: market sentiment, top crypto setup, top stock setup, and key risks. Subscribe in ⚙️ Settings. The digest is written in your language (English, Spanish, or French) based on your app language setting.

Account size is stored locally on your device — it never leaves your phone. SwingAI uses it only to calculate position size and display dollar amounts in your currency. Without it, the platform shows generic percentages instead of real dollar figures.

Yes. SwingAI supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and all major cryptocurrencies. Enter BTC, ETH, SOL etc. in the search bar. The SEPA methodology applies to crypto too — look for Stage 2 uptrends with high SEPA scores. Crypto is more volatile so consider tighter position sizing (1% risk instead of 2%).

SwingAI uses Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) and TradingView for price data. Minor differences (cents) are normal due to timing — prices update every few minutes, not every second. For Canadian CDR stocks (like LLY on TSX), we use TradingView's Canadian scanner for accurate local prices. Always verify the exact price on your broker before placing an order.

SwingAI is a PWA (Progressive Web App) — it works like a native app without going through an app store. On iPhone: tap the Share button in Safari, then Add to Home Screen. On Android: tap the menu (three dots), then Add to Home Screen or Install App. On desktop: click the install icon in the browser address bar.

No swing signals usually means the historical price data is unavailable for that symbol on our data plan. This can happen with: less liquid stocks, some international exchanges, or OTC stocks. Try analyzing the stock on a major exchange (e.g. TSX:SHOP instead of just SHOP for Canadian stocks). The OHLC bar lets you manually enter prices from the TradingView chart.

The Graham Score (0-7) rates a stock against Benjamin Graham's 7 criteria for defensive investors, from his landmark 1949 book The Intelligent Investor. Each criterion passed adds 1 point. 6-7 = Defensive Buy (rare in today's market), 4-5 = Acceptable, 2-3 = Speculative, 0-1 = Avoid. Graham was Warren Buffett's mentor and is considered the father of value investing.

1. Adequate Size — market cap above $2 billion for business stability. 2. Strong Finances — current ratio above 2.0 (assets cover liabilities). 3. Earnings Stability — no losses in the past 10 years. 4. Dividend Record — consistent dividends for 5+ years. 5. Earnings Growth — EPS higher today than 10 years ago. 6. Moderate P/E — price-to-earnings ratio below 15. 7. Moderate P/B — price-to-book ratio below 1.5. A stock passing all 7 is exceptionally rare in today's market.

The Graham Number is Benjamin Graham's formula for estimating a stock's intrinsic value: the square root of (22.5 × EPS × Book Value per Share). It represents the maximum price a defensive investor should pay. If a stock trades below its Graham Number, it has a Margin of Safety — you are buying $1 of value for less than $1.

Margin of Safety is the percentage difference between a stock's current price and its Graham Number (intrinsic value). A +30% margin means the stock trades 30% below intrinsic value — you have a buffer protecting you if your analysis is wrong. Graham considered this the central concept of investing: always buy with a margin of safety so even imperfect analysis does not lead to large losses.

Graham wrote The Intelligent Investor in 1949 when the average S&P 500 P/E ratio was 10-12x. Today the market trades at 23-28x earnings. His P/E below 15 and P/B below 1.5 criteria eliminate most modern large-cap stocks by design — they were built for a different era. Today, Graham stocks are typically found in energy, financials, telecom, utilities, and some consumer staples. Sectors like technology, healthcare growth, and consumer discretionary rarely pass.

They measure completely different things across different time horizons. The Graham Score asks: is this a fundamentally sound business worth owning for years? It uses 10 years of financial data. The SETUP Score asks: is this stock technically ready for a swing trade in the next 1-3 weeks? It uses recent price action, RSI, MACD, and momentum signals. A stock can be a great Graham buy (sound business, undervalued) but a poor SETUP trade (wrong trend stage, bad momentum) — or vice versa. The best trades combine both: a Graham-quality business in a strong SEPA Stage 2 uptrend.

Buffett studied under Graham at Columbia University and worked at his firm. Graham taught him three principles: 1. Mr. Market — the market is an irrational partner who offers prices daily based on emotion, not value. Use his irrationality to your advantage. 2. Margin of Safety — always buy below intrinsic value. 3. Price vs Value — price is what you pay, value is what you get. These are almost never the same. Buffett later evolved Graham's approach with Charlie Munger's influence: rather than buying mediocre businesses at very cheap prices, buy excellent businesses at fair prices.

Go to the INTEL tab and find the Graham Scanner card. Choose a sector (US Energy, US Financials, Canadian Banks etc.) or enter custom symbols and tap Scan. Results are split into True Graham (5+ criteria) and Acceptable (4 criteria). For each passing stock you can tap Analyze to run the full SwingAI technical analysis, then tap the Graham button in the SETUP tab to see the complete fundamental breakdown including Graham Number and Margin of Safety.

Not necessarily. Graham's criteria are for defensive long-term investors. Swing traders can trade stocks that fail Graham criteria if the technical setup is strong. However, knowing a stock is fundamentally weak should make you use tighter stops and smaller position sizes. The safest swing trades are stocks that pass both Graham fundamentals (sound business) and SEPA momentum (right time to buy). These setups are rare — which is exactly why Graham said the intelligent investor is patient.

The INTEL Custom Scan lets you enter up to 10 symbols and get AI analysis of each. Go to the INTEL tab, enter symbols separated by commas (e.g. AAPL, NVDA, TSX:SHOP, BTC), and tap Scan. SwingAI fetches live price, RSI, MACD, and trend for each symbol then sends them to Claude AI for analysis.

After running a Custom Scan, AI Rank & Optimize sends all results to Claude Sonnet for cross-analysis. It ranks stocks from best to worst opportunity, may override the initial scan if it detects contradictions (e.g. RSI 80 flagged overbought despite a bullish bias), calculates R:R ratios, and gives you a calm action plan. Pro only — 3 uses per day.

An AI Override appears when Claude Sonnet disagrees with the initial scan. Example: scan says BULLISH confidence 7 but RSI is 80 — the ranker flags this and downgrades confidence. Yellow override warnings are Claude correcting its own initial analysis. Pay attention to them.

BUY NOW means the price is near the entry zone and the setup is actionable today. WAIT FOR ENTRY means the setup is valid but price has not reached the ideal entry yet — set a price alert and wait. AVOID means conditions are not favorable. MONITOR means watch but do not trade yet.

Go to the Portfolio tab and tap the Broker Connection card. You will see options based on your country: Questrade (Canada), Interactive Brokers (global), or Alpaca (US + paper trading everywhere). Each requires an API key from your broker account — paste it into SwingAI. Your keys are stored securely and never shared.

Yes — paper trading uses real market data but fake money. It is the best way to test SwingAI setups without risk. Connect Alpaca Paper Trading (free account at alpaca.markets). Available in all countries.

Questrade is recommended — supports TFSA and RRSP, low commissions, IIROC regulated. Interactive Brokers is excellent for larger accounts ($10K minimum). Alpaca works for paper trading in Canada but not live trading.

Interactive Brokers is the best option — MiFID II compliant, available in all EU countries. Alpaca Paper Trading also works for European users for testing.

Analyze a stock, then tap the Trade button (green 💰) in the SETUP tab. SwingAI pre-fills the order with AI-suggested entry price, position size, stop loss, and take profit. Review and confirm to send to your broker. Paper trades are marked [PAPER] so you always know which mode you are in.

No — SwingAI always requires your manual confirmation before placing any order. You remain in full control of every trade. SwingAI is a decision-support tool, not an autonomous trading bot.

The Custom Chart (📈 button in SETUP tab) shows a 90-day candlestick chart built from FMP price data with your AI trade levels overlaid: Entry (blue dashed), Stop Loss (red dashed), Target 1 (green dashed), Target 2 (purple dashed). A trade levels panel below shows prices with R:R ratios.

Tap the Alert button (🔔) in the SETUP tab, enter a target price, choose Crosses Above or Falls Below, and tap Set Alert. SwingAI checks alerts every 5 minutes via a scheduled server job. When triggered you receive an email from alerts@tryswingai.com with the stock name, current price, and a link to open SwingAI.

Yes — the alert system runs on Cloudflare servers every 5 minutes, independent of your device. You will receive an email whether your phone is on, off, or the app is closed.