US stocks breaking out to a 55-day high: the Turtle rule
In 1983 the commodities trader Richard Dennis taught a group of novices, the Turtles, a complete set of rules and gave them money to trade. Their entries were breakouts: System 1 bought a 20-day high, System 2 a 55-day high. They sized every position by N, the average daily range, and got out on a 10-day or 20-day low. This list applies the System 2 entry to US stocks.
No stocks pass this screen as of Nov 9, 2026.
The exact criteria
The Turtle trading rules is Richard Dennis's, published in the rules his Turtles traded, later set out by Curtis Faith in Way of the Turtle (2007). Their rules covered the whole trade: entry, position size, stops and exits. This list applies the System 2 entry to US stocks on the close, with each stock's N beside it for sizing. It runs on US stocks priced at $5 or more and trading at least $1 million a day on average. The traders behind these scans →
- 1.Closed above the highest high of the previous 55 sessions0 pass
- 2.In an uptrend: price above its 200-day moving average1,724 pass
Each count is that rule applied on its own to the same set of stocks, so you can see which one is doing the work. The list below is the names that pass all of them.
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Nothing passes this screen today. That is information too: these filters are strict by design, and an empty list usually means the market is not offering this setup right now.
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Questions
What were the Turtle trading rules?
Two breakout systems: System 1 entered on a 20-day high and exited on a 10-day low; System 2 entered on a 55-day high and exited on a 20-day low. Position size came from N, the 20-day average true range, so each position risked about 1% of the account per N of movement, and the stop sat 2N from the entry.
Why the 200-day filter?
The Turtles traded futures and took breakouts both ways. On stocks, a new 55-day high is far more likely to follow through when the longer trend is already up, so this list keeps only stocks above their 200-day average. The Turtles' own entry is the first rule.
What is N?
The stock's average true range over 20 sessions: how far it typically moves in a day, including gaps. It is shown here as a percentage of the price. The Turtles used it to size positions so that every trade carried roughly the same risk.
When does the list update?
After every US close. The nightly run starts at around 5:30 pm ET.
End-of-day data for common stocks and ADRs on the NYSE, Nasdaq and NYSE American, computed after each US close and dated to the trading session.
Stage 2 stocks by sector
US stocks in a confirmed uptrend (Stage 2, Weinstein’s advancing phase), grouped by sector and industry and ranked by setup score.
Stage2Stocks is not a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer. Everything here is for information and education, not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Data is end of day for US stocks on the NYSE, Nasdaq and NYSE American, recalculated after each close.