Pattern trading for stocks, ETFs and FX

Thirteen brokers, two ways to trade

PatternX finds chart patterns in stocks, ETFs and FX through your own broker account. Six brokers are API-automated; seven are manual-execution only.

With an automated broker, PatternX can place the entry and the protective stop for you (automation); with IBKR it also checks every 2 minutes that the stop is still resting and re-places it if it has gone missing. With a manual broker you receive the signal, with its entry, stop and target, and enter the order yourself, so a stop exists only if you place one.

Choosing a broker

• You want PatternX to place trades: pick one of the six automated brokers.
• You trade FX: OANDA, Saxo or IG.
• You want pre-market and after-hours sessions: Interactive Brokers.
• You want Bitcoin or Ether ETFs: Interactive Brokers, Alpaca, Tradier, Saxo or IG.
• You already use a manual-only broker: you still receive signals with their levels; you place the orders yourself.

The 309 curated instruments

The pattern scanner doesn't sweep the whole market. For stocks, ETFs and FX it draws on a curated list of 309 instruments:

You pick which to track within your plan's limit (3 on Free, 20 on Starter, 100 on Pro, unlimited on Elite). The same 20 detectors and universal filters apply as in crypto, minus the crypto-only 24-hour volume minimum. Leveraged and inverse ETFs deserve extra care: they are built around daily returns, so over longer holds they can drift away from the multiple of the index they track. For example, if an index rises 10% one day and falls 10% the next, it ends 1% down; a fund delivering 2× the daily move rises 20% and then falls 20%, ending 4% down rather than 2%.

For background, see the stock trading hub and stock chart pattern recognition.

Extended hours on Interactive Brokers

For pattern trades, Interactive Brokers is the one automated broker that also trades pre-market and after-hours. Extended-hours sessions are usually thinner, with fewer participants, wider spreads and sharper moves on modest orders. PatternX enters on IBKR with a marketable limit order at the bid or ask ±0.5%, falling back to a market order, and rests the stop at IBKR as a stop or stop-limit with an OCO take-profit. Read extended-hours trading risks first.

The PatternX-hosted IBKR gateway (Elite)

Interactive Brokers connects through its Client Portal gateway. On Elite, PatternX can host and manage that gateway for you, set up with one click, so you don't need to keep one running yourself. The connection guide covers each broker's setup.

The pattern-day-trader guard

Stock traders with a small US margin account run into FINRA rule 4210, which restricts day trading below $25,000 of equity. PatternX's own guard, switched on by default, counts same-day round trips in your live securities trades at US margin brokers, and while your equity sits below that $25,000 line it refuses a 4th inside any window of 5 business days.

For example, with $18,000 of equity in a US margin account and three same-day round trips already made in the last five business days, a fourth would be blocked, however strong the signal. More in the pattern day trader rule.

Momentum Lab for premarket movers

Pattern signals come from the curated list above. For US stocks making large premarket moves there is a separate Elite tool, Momentum Lab, with three momentum strategies that execute through Interactive Brokers or Alpaca, or on paper.

Limitations

• Markets close: overnight and weekend gaps can open beyond your stop.
• With manual brokers, the time between signal and order lets the price move, and signals expire after 15 minutes.
• Leverage defaults to 2× for traditional markets (maximum 10×), further capped by the broker: 4× at IBKR and 2× at Alpaca.
• Short selling depends on your broker's rules and on shares being available to borrow.
• Instruments outside the curated list aren't scanned.