Minervini SEPA Scanner — Trend Template Setups
Mark Minervini won the US Investing Championship using this approach. The SEPA scanner finds stocks in confirmed uptrends where each pullback gets shallower than the last — leaders coiling for their next move. Fundamentals and relative strength are baked in; only stocks with real earnings power and top-tier momentum make the cut.
SEPA stands for Specific Entry Point Analysis. It is the method Mark Minervini developed over more than 35 years of trading and documented in his books Trade Like a Stock Market Wizard and Think & Trade Like a Champion. The core idea is deceptively simple: buy the strongest stocks in the market at the precise moment when risk is lowest and reward is highest.
The method starts with what Minervini calls the trend template — a strict set of moving average relationships that a stock must satisfy before it even gets considered. Price must be above the 50-day, 150-day, and 200-day moving averages. The 50-day must be above the 150-day, which must be above the 200-day. The 200-day must be trending upward for at least one month. The stock must be within 25% of its 52-week high and at least 25% above its 52-week low. Any stock that fails even one of these conditions is immediately eliminated.
What survives this filter is a short list of stocks in genuine, confirmed uptrends. From there, the scanner looks for tightening volatility — pullbacks that get progressively shallower. If a stock corrected 15% on its first pullback, then 10%, then 6%, the pattern is tightening. Each time the stock dips, buyers are stepping in at higher prices. The sellers are running out. This tightening pattern is Minervini’s signature setup: the coiling before the spring.
Minervini is not affiliated with SwingTradeScanner. His published books and interviews are the source material. We independently implemented his trend template criteria and pullback analysis in code, then added fundamental data and catalyst detection on top.
How the SEPA scanner works
Every evening after the close, the scanner runs the full trend template across the universe of roughly 1,900 US stocks. The process is sequential and strict:
- Trend template filter — Only stocks passing all eight moving average and price position requirements survive. This typically eliminates 70–80% of the universe immediately.
- Relative strength check — Remaining stocks must rank in the top 30% of the universe on relative price strength over the past year. Leaders lead — if a stock is not outperforming most of the market, it is not a Minervini-style candidate.
- Pullback analysis — The scanner examines recent corrections within the uptrend. Are they getting shallower? Is volume contracting on the pullbacks and expanding on the advances? Are the bases tightening?
- Proximity to pivot — How close is the stock to breaking out of its current base? Stocks within 5–10% of their pivot point rank higher than those still 20% away.
The result is a focused list of stocks that satisfy the full Minervini framework: confirmed uptrend, strong relative strength, tightening volatility, and approaching a low-risk entry point.
What you see in each result
- Trend template status — Which of the eight criteria the stock passes, and a pass/fail summary. You can see exactly where the stock stands.
- Relative strength rank — A 1–99 ranking against the full universe. Minervini targets stocks ranking 80 or above.
- Pullback depth — The depth of the current correction versus prior corrections, showing whether the pattern is tightening.
- Distance to pivot — How close the stock is to the top of its current base, expressed as a percentage.
- Daily chart — Candles with the 50-day, 150-day, and 200-day moving averages, showing the trend template visually.
- Fundamentals — Earnings growth, revenue growth, margins, and next earnings date. Minervini requires strong fundamentals; the scanner shows you whether they are actually there.
Questions about the SEPA scanner
What is the Minervini SEPA method?
SEPA stands for Specific Entry Point Analysis. It starts with the trend template — a set of moving average and relative strength requirements confirming a strong uptrend. Then it looks for tightening pullbacks, where each correction gets shallower than the last, signaling that sellers are drying up and the stock is coiling for its next move.
What is the trend template?
A checklist of conditions: price above the 50-day, 150-day, and 200-day moving averages; the 50-day above the 150-day above the 200-day; the 200-day trending up for at least a month; price within 25% of its 52-week high and at least 25% above its 52-week low. Any failure eliminates the stock.
Who is Mark Minervini?
Mark Minervini is a two-time winner of the US Investing Championship who has been trading for over 35 years. He authored Trade Like a Stock Market Wizard and Think & Trade Like a Champion. SwingTradeScanner independently implemented his published trend template in code. He is not affiliated with this product.
What does tightening pullbacks mean?
Each pullback in the uptrend should be shallower than the previous one. If a stock corrected 15%, then 10%, then 6%, the pattern is tightening. This shows that each time the stock dips, buyers step in at higher prices — the sellers are running out of stock to sell.
Other scanners
SwingTradeScanner includes seven scanners, each built from a published method:
- Momentum Breakouts — Tight base breakouts scored 0–100
- Episodic Pivots — Overnight gaps on real news, live from 04:00 ET
- Parabolic Short — Overextended stocks ready to snap back
- Parabolic Long — Capitulation bounces after a crash
- Minervini SEPA — You are here
- O’Neil CANSLIM — Earnings growth meets chart strength
- Sector Rotation — Strongest stocks in the hottest sectors
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