Comparing/Analyzing pairs

This guide will show you how to retrieve, compare, analyze and rank potential pairs trades.

First you'll need to download some pairs. A pair is composed of two financial assets, or two legs. PairsTrader refers to these legs as A (the first asset) and B (the second asset). Swapping the legs of a pairs trade would create a statistical mirror-image, but the resulting position would be the same.

Enter ticker symbols in these search boxes. If you're unsure of the ticker showing up, you can start typing the name of the firm and auto-complete will help you instantly find the ticker symbol of the firm you're looking for. Either hit ENTER or click 'Go' and wait for the pair to be retrieved & processed. (If you're logged in with a subscribed account, you'll be able to download pairs simultaneously; if not, you'll have to wait for the current pair to finish processing before retreiving the next one).

Below is a list of pairs I have downloaded. You can see which ones you have downloaded by locating the 'My Pairs' panel on the lower left. If you scroll to the right in this spreadsheet you'll see an "X" button - click it to remove the pairs from all your analysis & charting windows. By selecting different pairs from this list you can bring up different charts. Select multiple pairs to plot them all out on a single chart.

You can obtain quick summary information by clicking from one pair to the next without having to switch to the Compare & Analyze tab. This information is available immediately above in the Quick Info panel:

Switch to the Compare & Analyze tab. Here you'll find all your pairs with detailed statistical information. You can group, sort, find position information and business summaries all from this page.

By clicking on any particular pair, you'll see the position summary that the PairsTrader System is telling you to long and short if you decide to make this trade, as well as the business summaries of each firm. Position information is derived from the statistical metrics and is designed to allow your position to track the Pair Index. In this way, you have the highest probability of profiting if or when a reversal happens.

Clicking on business summary will show you side-by-side descriptions of the two firms (this is only available for non-ETF, equity positions)

You can also group data by various statistical metrics on this page. Simply select a metric at the top next to "Group data by:" and click "Add". Below is a shot of some pairs grouped on the Pair Index. For any statistical metric the PairsTrader System automatically determines what's a high, low or moderate value. In some cases additional groups for "Extremely high" or "Extremely low" will be displayed.

You can group on more than one dimension. All your groups are displayed at the top next to "Expand All" and "Collapse All". To get rid of the group click the "X" button next to its name.

Note: some features in this tutorial may not be available without a subscribed account, including retrieving unlimited pairs, simultaneous downloads and uninterrupted application usage. Get started with a subscribed account to access all these features and more!