VWAP reclaim alerts

VWAP — volume-weighted average price — is the canonical reference line for intraday traders. The moments worth alerting on are the crosses: when a stock that has been trading below VWAP reclaims it, or when a stock holding above VWAP loses it. Tickerbot watches both crosses on every ticker every five minutes.

What VWAP is and why traders watch it

VWAP is the average price of all trades since the open, weighted by volume. It tends to act as the "fair value" reference for the day — institutions benchmark fills against it, and crowds of traders watch it as support or resistance. A stock holding above its VWAP is in an intraday uptrend; a stock below is in an intraday downtrend.

Why the cross matters more than the level

Just being above or below VWAP isn't a signal. The signal is the transition: a stock that has spent the morning below VWAP and reclaims it on volume is one of the cleanest intraday reversal patterns. The same in reverse — a stock that loses VWAP after holding it all morning — is the bearish version.

How Tickerbot does it

Tickerbot stores the live VWAP and the previous-tick VWAP relationship for every ticker, every five minutes. The reclaim signal is computed as an edge transition and surfaced through a flag your alert can reference directly.

Stacking with momentum

A reclaim is more useful when paired with a fundamental or momentum signal. A stock reclaiming VWAP that is also up on the day on the back of an earnings beat is the kind of setup most likely to continue.

Variants worth setting up

• VWAP rejection — a stock that briefly broke above VWAP but failed and went back below
• VWAP loss — a stock that has held above VWAP all morning and is now crossing below
• Reclaim on a small-cap with confirming volume above 2× average
• Reclaim on any of your watchlist names
• Reclaim during the first hour of trading specifically