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Backtested Scanners

Green Line Breakout (Combined Recipe)

Read the study: The Green Line Breakout Backtest: 31,752 All-Time-High Breakouts Since 1962

19 Hits · last calculated August 8, 2026 Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)

Methodology & criteria

The green line is an all-time high on the monthly chart that no monthly high has exceeded for three full calendar months. Above it, no holder is underwater — so there is no old price resistance left. We show the Green Line Breakout in exactly the form we backtested over 1962 to 2026: the purchase happens at the monthly close above the line, not on the breakout day.

What this scanner checks

  1. The Green Line Required

    A monthly all-time high that no monthly high exceeded in the three full calendar months that followed. The line only becomes valid on the first trading day of the fourth month — before that it would not be settled whether it holds.

  2. The Monthly Close Required

    The close on the last trading day of the month sits above the line, while the previous month closed at or below it. That monthly close is the buy signal, not the first day above the line.

  3. Tradability Required

    The unadjusted close on the confirmation day is $1 or more. The original asks for no more — it names neither a minimum turnover nor a minimum size, and we do not invent one.

  4. When the Position Is Sold Exit

    On the first weekly close below the 30-week line — or after twelve months at the latest. The exit triggers no signal, but it belongs to the recipe we measured: without it, the figures below are not the figures of this strategy.

A hit stays on this list for 21 trading days, that is until the next month-end. The "Signal Age" column shows how old each confirmation is; the "above the line" badge means the price is still above it today. Source: price data. · No global trading filters — this strategy checks the entire stock universe purely against its own criteria (mega caps over $50B included).

Important: The typical trade of this strategy ends in the red — the return sits in a few large runners and takes months. This is a research list, not a buy signal.

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The Criteria in Detail

Pillar 1 — The Green Line (required)

  • The line sits at the highest monthly high of the entire available price history, calculated on split- and dividend-adjusted prices. Without adjustment, every split would look like a fresh all-time high.
  • The three full calendar months after that high must not exceed it — not even intraday. If they do, the candidate expires and the clock restarts at the new high.
  • A new all-time high erases an existing line. There is never more than one valid line per stock.

Pillar 2 — The Monthly Close (required)

  • The close on the last trading day of the month sits above the line.
  • The previous month closed at or below the line — what we look for is the crossing, not a price that has been above it for a while.
  • The current month never counts: its month-end is only settled once the next month has started. The confirmation therefore always refers to the most recently completed month.

Pillar 3 — Tradability (required)

  • The close on the confirmation day is $1 or more. Below that, trading becomes unreliable for private investors — the spread between bid and ask eats up the edge we measured.
  • What we check is the UNADJUSTED price, the one that stood on the board back then. The adjusted one has been changed retroactively by splits and dividends and would let through stocks that were not tradable at the time of the signal.
  • The original asks for no more: it names neither a minimum turnover nor a minimum size, and we do not invent one. In the backtest this dropped 5 of 20,801 confirmations.

Pillar 4 — When the Position Is Sold (part of the recipe, not a signal)

  • The position is sold on the first weekly close below the average of the last 30 weekly closes, or after twelve months at the latest.
  • The immediate sale on a drop back below the line, as described by Dr. Wish, is NOT part of this version: in our calculation it ended 84 out of 100 positions with a small loss before the move had even started.

What the Backtest Found

  • Over 1962 to 2026, after costs of 0.2% per side: 19,914 entries, a 43.9% hit rate, +8.3% per trade on average.
  • On a like-for-like window since 1993 — the only window where an index comparison is clean — the portfolio returned 12.79% per year versus 10.76% for the broad US market: an edge of 2.03 percentage points per year.
  • The median trade comes to −2.7%. The typical entry therefore loses money; the whole return is carried by a few very large runners.
  • It takes patience: the median holding period was 96 trading days (111.9 on average), and the positions that carry the return run the full twelve months. A random entry with the same yearly distribution and holding period returned +5.3% per trade.
  • The limitation that belongs with these figures: the exit rule of this version comes from the same evaluation in which it was then measured. Wish's original rule, selling immediately below the line, trailed the market by 3.46 percentage points per year in that same comparison — so the improvement was found on our own data set, not proven independently for the future. The full list of caveats is in the study.

Terms in This Scanner Explained

(17)
Accumulation
The patient buildup of a position by large players, visible through above-average volume on up days. The opposite - distribution - is large holders unloading shares into rising prices.
ADR (Average Daily Range)
The average daily swing of a stock in percent - measured over 10 or 30 trading days (columns "ADR 10D/30D"). An ADR of 5% means: on a normal day the gap between the intraday low and high runs about 5%. Traders look for movement - that is why stocks with an ADR under 1% are filtered out globally. Scanners that run without the global filters still include them; that is noted below their hit list. Not to be confused with ADR meaning "American Depositary Receipt" (a US certificate for foreign shares) - here ADR always means the daily swing.
AI Classification
Our company-by-company assessment of the AI boom based on SEC filings (the last four quarterly 10-Q reports and two annual 10-K reports): "Sells AI" (AI is a revenue source), "Threatened" (AI is a concrete business risk), "Uses AI" (operational use), or "Neutral" (no material AI exposure). Every classification requires at least two direct quote citations - otherwise the column shows "-". Not a quality judgment or a buy recommendation; the full file is on the stock page, methodology at /stocks/ai-rating-methodology.
Analysis (Full Company Analysis)
If the Analysis column shows "Read," there is an in-depth TickerGuard company analysis for this stock: business model, scanner findings, quarterly results, evidence from SEC filings, plus opportunities and risks. One click opens it directly.
Avg/Yr 3Y (Average Annual Return)
The stock's average annual return over the past 3 years. Shows at a glance whether a stock delivers over the long run or just had a short hot streak.
Breakout
The price clears a level where it previously failed multiple times (top of a base, an old high) - ideally on clearly elevated volume. For many momentum strategies, the breakout is the actual buy signal.
Earnings Date
The date of the next quarterly earnings report. Price gaps in either direction are common around this date - that is why we color it red when it is 7 days away or less, and yellow when it is 14 days away or less: elevated risk for fresh positions.
EPS (Earnings per Share)
Quarterly earnings divided by the number of shares outstanding. The most important growth metric: if EPS rises strongly over several quarters, the company is earning more money per share.
Free Cash Flow (FCF)
Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures - the money left over for everything else (debt paydown, acquisitions, or buybacks). Consistently positive free cash flow is one of the most honest signs of a healthy business model.
Funda Rating (Fundamental Rating A+ to F)
Our proprietary fundamental rating from 0 to 100 points with a school-grade rank from A+ to F. 50 points is the average across the universe, 100 the best possible score. Every stock is scored against all others by percentile: growth in earnings and revenue, earnings surprises, analyst estimates, and quality criteria such as margins, cash flow, and balance-sheet strength. Grades: A+ from 95, A from 75, B from 55, C from 45, D from 25, E from 5, F below — A/A+ are the fundamentally strongest stocks in the universe.
Market Capitalization (Mkt Cap)
The market value of the company: share price x total shares outstanding, shown here in billions of dollars. Micro caps (< $0.3B) are small and volatile, mega caps (> $200B) are heavyweights. Our scanner universe is deliberately capped at $50B - we look for stocks with room to run. The cap does not apply to scanners that run without the global filters; that is noted below their hit list.
Net Margin
How much of revenue is left as profit? Net income divided by revenue, in percent. A 20% margin means: out of every dollar of revenue, 20 cents is left as profit. Rising margins are a strong quality signal.
Operating Cash Flow (OCF)
The cash that actually flows into the company from day-to-day operations - without accounting effects such as depreciation. A company can report book profits while still burning cash; operating cash flow reveals that.
Piotroski F-Score
A balance-sheet health check developed by Joseph Piotroski: 9 yes/no criteria covering earnings, cash flow, leverage, and efficiency produce a score from 0 to 9. Scores of 7 or higher are considered financially very solid, scores under 3 a warning sign.
Sector & Industry
Two levels of industry classification: sector is broad (e.g., Technology), industry is narrow (e.g., Semiconductors). Many strategies watch industry strength, because strong stocks are almost always found in strong industries.
Stage (Weinstein Stages 1-4)
Stan Weinstein divides every price chart into four stages: Stage 1 = basing (sideways after a downtrend), Stage 2 = uptrend (the only buying stage), Stage 3 = topping, Stage 4 = downtrend (avoid, or short candidate). Measured against the 30-week line (150-day moving average) and its slope.
Stress RS (Strength on Stress Days)
A stress day is a day on which both the overall market and the stock's own sector fell at least 0.5%. Stress RS counts on how many of these days the stock still closed green (shown as "g/n" = green days out of n stress days) and turns that into a rating from 1 to 99. High values point to buyers stepping in even on weak days - often a sign of institutional accumulation.

View all terms in the Scanner Glossary

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Green Line Breakout (Combined Recipe)
Symbol Signal Age (Days) Above the Line Earnings Avg/Y 3Y Stress RS Stage Funda Rating Piotroski MktCap Industry AI Rating Deep Dive Deep-Dive Report Sector Price YTD 6 Mo. 1 Year Off High Price Target RS EPS Rating ADR 10D ADR 30D Beta P/E P/E (f) P/S P/B P/FCF PEG EV/EBITDA EBIT Margin Gross Margin Net Margin ROE ROA Debt/Eq Equity Ratio Sales +/Y Growth Score Div. Yield Payout Ratio Altman Z Inst. % Short % Analysts
MMM 3M Company 5 4.1 % above the line 07/17 +37 % 66 8/29 Stage 3 C 46 4 of 9 96.2 $ Conglomerates – — — Industrials 182.90 $ +2.1 % +2.3 % +22.8 % −5.3 % +0.2 % 46 17 2.7 % 2.6 % 1.08 34.5 19.6 3.8 28.6 24.1 1.77 16.3 23.3 % 39.4 % 11.9 % 71.5 % 8.7 % -4.02 9.2 % +1.5 % 5 1.8 % 35.3 % 8.7 77.5 % 2.1 % 3.8 (19)
GD General Dynamics Corporation 5 7.0 % above the line 07/22 +25 % 66 8/29 Stage 3 B 61 8 of 9 106.5 $ Aerospace & Defense – — — Industrials 392.10 $ +5.0 % +1.7 % +27.6 % −6.8 % +7.4 % 47 60 2.3 % 2.2 % 0.33 24.9 23.1 2.0 4.1 17.2 2.66 16.2 10.5 % 15.4 % 8.2 % 18.0 % 6.1 % 1.56 44.2 % +10.1 % 5 1.7 % 37.7 % 8.0 87.6 % 1.2 % 3.8 (24)
GM General Motors Company 5 0.4 % above the line 07/21 +42 % 8 2/31 Stage 2 D 40 5 of 9 79.3 $ Auto Manufacturers – — — Consumer Cyclical 87.60 $ -2.5 % -6.3 % +66.9 % −10.4 % +13.3 % 65 24 3.1 % 3.4 % 1.33 31.8 6.7 0.4 1.2 4.8 0.35 10.3 9.4 % 10.2 % 1.1 % 4.0 % 2.3 % 2.04 22.3 % -1.3 % 3 0.8 % 5.3 % 4.6 89.1 % 2.8 % 3.7 (29)
PCAR PACCAR Inc 5 1.5 % above the line 07/28 +22 % 23 4/29 Stage 2 C 53 6 of 9 70.0 $ Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery – — — Industrials 133.10 $ +7.2 % +7.9 % +41.0 % −7.7 % +2.4 % 52 65 2.7 % 2.8 % 0.98 28.1 22.1 2.5 3.5 20.7 1.32 20.9 10.4 % 13.7 % 9.0 % 13.1 % 4.1 % 0.76 45.4 % -15.5 % 4 1.1 % 51.1 % 9.4 76.1 % 3.3 % 3.6 (19)
RJF Raymond James Financial Inc. 5 0.7 % above the line 07/22 +23 % 67 6/22 Stage 3 C 54 6 of 9 34.5 $ Asset Management – — — Financial Services 176.60 $ -1.3 % -9.4 % +9.8 % −15.3 % +4.1 % 38 62 2.3 % 2.5 % 0.92 16.7 12.5 2.0 2.7 24.0 0.86 0.0 19.3 % 93.2 % 15.1 % 17.3 % 2.5 % 0.51 13.7 % +7.9 % 5 1.2 % 17.9 % 1.1 81.4 % 5.7 % 3.4 (14)
BURL Burlington Stores Inc 5 3.3 % above the line 08/27 +37 % 51 7/31 Stage 2 B 62 4 of 9 23.2 $ Apparel Retail – — — Consumer Cyclical 369.00 $ +15.0 % +9.0 % +32.7 % −7.8 % +1.1 % 64 61 3.7 % 4.3 % 1.47 37.5 30.2 1.9 12.5 53.2 2.99 21.3 5.9 % 44.0 % 5.2 % 39.1 % 6.1 % 3.28 18.8 % +8.8 % 5 0.0 % 0.0 % 5.1 106.0 % 7.8 % 4.3 (18)
LH Labcorp Holdings Inc. 5 9.5 % above the line 07/23 +11 % 88 8/22 Stage 1 C 53 5 of 9 26.3 $ Diagnostics & Research – — — Healthcare 319.20 $ +3.6 % +10.5 % +24.1 % −9.3 % +6.4 % 32 72 2.5 % 2.4 % 0.84 28.5 17.3 1.8 3.0 22.7 1.31 14.7 11.0 % 28.9 % 7.0 % 11.1 % 5.5 % 4.08 45.7 % +7.3 % 4 0.9 % 16.5 % 6.8 101.2 % 3.4 % 4.5 (20)
TXRH Texas Roadhouse Inc 5 3.7 % above the line 08/06 +25 % 91 12/31 Stage 2 B 59 5 of 9 13.7 $ Restaurants – — — Consumer Cyclical 208.00 $ +9.4 % +14.5 % +14.3 % −3.2 % -2.9 % 42 59 3.6 % 3.4 % 0.80 34.2 32.1 2.2 9.3 33.6 2.54 20.5 9.0 % 16.4 % 6.9 % 28.9 % 9.0 % 0.85 42.4 % +9.4 % 3 1.5 % 65.0 % 5.6 104.5 % 4.0 % 3.9 (28)
HALO Halozyme Therapeutics Inc 5 25.4 % above the line 08/04 +35 % 88 8/22 Stage 2 B 67 6 of 9 12.1 $ Biotechnology – — — Healthcare 103.10 $ +3.4 % +12.8 % +66.1 % −11.7 % +4.4 % 48 71 3.6 % 3.2 % 0.85 37.3 11.4 7.3 57.5 15.0 — 18.6 49.0 % 76.7 % 23.1 % 99.4 % 22.1 % 9.77 8.2 % +37.6 % 8 0.0 % 0.0 % 6.5 107.2 % 14.5 % 3.6 (8)
AHR American Healthcare REIT, Inc. 5 4.9 % above the line 08/06 — 84 7/21 Stage 1 B 71 7 of 9 11.4 $ REIT - Healthcare Facilities – — — Real Estate 56.70 $ +4.0 % +8.6 % +45.4 % −6.9 % +10.8 % 52 93 2.8 % 3.0 % 0.77 96.7 61.7 4.6 3.2 36.9 — 29.9 6.4 % 18.8 % 4.2 % 3.5 % 2.1 % 0.45 62.2 % +9.2 % 4 1.8 % 114.9 % 3.7 102.7 % 13.2 % 4.3 (9)
EAT Brinker International Inc 5 17.2 % above the line 08/12 +128 % 94 13/31 Stage 2 B 60 7 of 9 9.7 $ Restaurants – — — Consumer Cyclical 225.20 $ +14.4 % +11.0 % +41.2 % −7.3 % -9.0 % 47 60 4.7 % 4.8 % 1.25 21.7 18.0 1.7 23.8 19.2 1.56 13.3 11.4 % 18.6 % 8.1 % 139.2 % 14.2 % 4.31 14.6 % +22.0 % 4 0.0 % 0.0 % 4.5 115.2 % 18.7 % 3.5 (20)
GKOS Glaukos Corp 5 10.0 % above the line 07/29 +33 % 68 6/22 Stage 2 B 56 3 of 9 10.5 $ Medical Devices – — — Healthcare 180.00 $ +19.3 % +21.9 % +104.6 % −3.7 % +13.6 % 76 98 3.9 % 5.6 % 0.76 — 2,000.0 17.1 15.8 — 1.64 -57.9 -13.2 % 79.1 % -30.7 % -26.4 % -5.2 % 0.15 75.1 % +32.3 % 5 0.0 % 0.0 % 4.4 102.1 % 9.7 % 4.3 (15)
KFY Korn Ferry 5 9.2 % above the line — +18 % 36 5/29 Stage 2 C 52 7 of 9 4.4 $ Staffing & Employment Services – — — Industrials 84.10 $ +9.6 % +6.7 % +22.9 % −10.1 % -3.0 % 45 60 4.0 % 3.1 % 1.20 16.2 10.8 1.5 2.2 15.3 1.20 7.2 14.7 % 24.3 % 9.5 % 14.6 % 5.9 % 0.29 48.5 % +6.4 % 4 2.7 % 38.7 % 7.9 105.1 % 6.1 % 4.4 (5)
CRNX Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Inc 5 34.5 % above the line 08/06 +31 % 5 1/22 Stage 4 C 54 4 of 9 8.9 $ Biotechnology – — — Healthcare 84.10 $ -22.9 % -24.2 % +201.6 % −39.7 % +1.9 % 37 42 4.7 % 4.6 % 0.09 — 0.0 210.8 7.3 — — -13.4 -1,307.8 % -1,876.7 % 0.0 % -39.2 % -24.7 % 0.04 91.4 % +640.7 % 4 0.0 % 0.0 % 14.3 120.2 % 6.9 % 4.6 (17)
PBF PBF Energy Inc 5 6.3 % above the line 07/30 +4 % 93 4/10 Stage 2 B 57 5 of 9 7.3 $ Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing – — — Energy 61.70 $ +52.2 % +77.7 % +186.3 % −19.0 % -8.1 % 73 9 6.0 % 5.8 % 0.08 — 12.0 0.2 — 9.8 2.51 3.8 -1.3 % 6.2 % 3.9 % 8.2 % -2.0 % — 37.5 % -11.4 % 3 1.5 % 20.7 % 5.4 85.7 % 14.0 % 2.7 (15)
GEF Greif Bros Corporation 5 17.0 % above the line 07/29 +6 % 12 3/31 Stage 2 B 55 6 of 9 5.0 $ Packaging & Containers – — — Consumer Cyclical 88.70 $ +5.1 % +8.9 % +38.0 % −3.8 % -6.1 % 49 9 3.1 % 2.7 % 0.78 — 9.3 1.2 — — 0.77 8.6 5.2 % 22.5 % 24.7 % 7.2 % 4.2 % — 52.6 % -1.0 % 1 2.7 % 39.5 % 7.2 94.2 % 2.7 % 4.0 (6)
LTC LTC Properties Inc 5 0.1 % above the line 08/03 +13 % 84 7/21 Stage 2 B 55 4 of 9 2.1 $ REIT - Healthcare Facilities Uses AI — — Real Estate 39.90 $ +11.7 % +15.8 % +20.0 % −5.8 % +6.9 % 45 13 1.9 % 2.1 % 0.57 15.7 12.5 5.9 1.8 14.8 5.74 14.1 52.9 % 64.2 % 40.2 % 11.3 % 2.6 % 0.78 52.8 % +25.3 % 4 5.7 % 54.0 % 6.2 79.1 % 6.3 % 3.3 (8)
SCSC ScanSource Inc 5 2.0 % above the line 08/20 +24 % 10 2/25 Stage 2 C 52 6 of 9 1.1 $ Electronics & Computer Distribution – — — Technology 55.00 $ +25.9 % +29.0 % +38.3 % −0.5 % -4.3 % 69 55 2.4 % 3.0 % 1.28 16.8 12.9 0.4 1.2 9.0 0.86 8.7 3.1 % 13.7 % 2.4 % 8.1 % 3.4 % 0.11 50.2 % -6.7 % 3 0.0 % 0.0 % 8.8 110.1 % 7.4 % 4.5 (4)
CNXN PC Connection Inc 5 10.9 % above the line 07/29 +21 % 62 6/25 Stage 2 C 49 5 of 9 2.1 $ Electronics & Computer Distribution – — — Technology 84.10 $ +22.6 % +22.1 % +41.6 % −5.2 % -3.2 % 58 72 2.8 % 3.1 % 0.88 — 22.1 0.7 — 61.0 2.21 12.6 — 18.9 % 3.2 % 9.7 % 5.7 % — — +2.5 % 4 1.0 % 18.9 % 11.6 42.3 % 3.9 % 3.0 (1)

Price Chart

Quarterly Figures

No quarterly data available.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Green Line Breakout by Dr. Eric Wish, in the form we back-tested for you in full — with one openly stated deviation at the exit. The green line is an all-time high on the monthly chart that no monthly high has exceeded for three full calendar months afterwards. It only becomes valid on the first trading day of the fourth month — before that, it isn't settled whether it holds.

All scanners are recalculated daily across the entire stock universe — most recently on 8. August 2026. The data basis is fundamental data and SEC filings (10-K annual reports and 10-Q quarterly reports).

Currently, 19 stocks pass this scanner's criteria (as of 8. August 2026).

No global trading filters — this strategy checks the entire stock universe purely against its own criteria (mega caps over $50B included).

The green line goes back to Dr. Eric Wish: it sits at an all-time high on the monthly chart that no monthly high exceeded in the three full calendar months that followed, and it only becomes valid on the first trading day of the fourth month — before that it would not be settled whether it holds. Above that line no holder is underwater, so there is no old price resistance left. A new all-time high erases the old line; the next one only forms after a fresh three-month wait. The combined recipe is the version we backtested: the purchase happens not on the breakout day but at the monthly close above the line — the month-end close sits above it, the previous month closed at or below it, and the unadjusted close is $1 or more. The position is sold on the first weekly close below the average of the last 30 weekly closes, or after twelve months at the latest. The immediate sale on a drop back below the line, as described by Wish, is deliberately left out: in our calculation it ended 84 out of 100 positions with a small loss before the move had even started. The result over 1962 to 2026, after costs of 0.2% per side: 19,914 entries, a 43.9% hit rate, +8.3% per trade on average. On a like-for-like window since 1993 — the only window where an index comparison is clean — the portfolio returned 12.79% per year versus 10.76% for the broad US market, an edge of 2.03 percentage points per year. What belongs with that: the median trade comes to −2.7%, so the typical entry loses money and the return sits in a few very large runners; the median holding period was 96 trading days (111.9 on average); and a random entry with the same yearly distribution and holding period returned +5.3% per trade. A hit is a find, not a buy signal. Source: price data.

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Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.

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