# Scan types: momentum, running up and setups

> What Scalpel's high-of-day momentum, running up and setups scans find, the running up filters, setup letter chips, and when each scan announces a name.

Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types
Guide 8.2, Scanner. Intermediate, 8 min read.
Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team.

**In short:**

Every Scalpel scan watches the IBKR scanner's list. **High of day momentum** shows any listed stock breaking its high of day, pre-market included, for a minute after each break. **Running up** shows stocks in a sharp burst (up 2% inside the last minute on 5 times their recent volume) and is the only scan with filters of its own. **Setups** shows stocks with a live entry pattern, such as gap and go or a micro pullback, marked with a coloured letter chip.

Scalpel has four scan panels, and they are not four separate searches of the market. The **IBKR scanner** builds one list of movers ([guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)); the other three watch every name on that list, second by second, and call out the moments that matter for a long entry: a new high, a sudden burst, a pattern completing. This guide explains what each one looks for, Running up's filters, the six setup letters, and exactly when each scan alerts.

**Before you start:**

- The IBKR scanner switched on and a scan desk open ([guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)).
- To switch a panel to another scan, use the dropdown in its title ([guide 8.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scanner-panels)).

## The four scans at a glance

| Scan | Shows a stock when | Its own filters | Bell by default | Toast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **IBKR scanner** | It is on IBKR's merged list | In Settings > Connection | On | New on IBKR scanner |
| **High of day momentum** | It breaks its high of day, for 60 seconds after the last break | None | On | New momo |
| **Running up** | It is up 2% in about a minute on a volume burst, and passes the filters | Yes, in the cog | Off | New runner |
| **Setups** | It has a live entry setup | None | On | The setup's name |

High of day momentum and Setups have no filters because the IBKR scanner's list has already done the filtering: if a name is on the list and it triggers, you see it.

## High of day momentum

This is the "it's breaking out" panel. A stock shows up the moment it trades above its high of day, in any session, pre-market included, and stays on the panel for 60 seconds after its latest new high. A stock grinding to a new high every few seconds is one entry, not a stream. Once it goes a full minute without a new high it drops off, and the next break adds it back and alerts again.

The high it measures against is real. When a name joins the list, Scalpel reads today's high (pre-market included) from IBKR's 1-minute history, so a stock added at 10:15 does not "break" a high it was already above at 09:40.

## Running up

This is the "something is happening right now" panel: a sudden burst of buying, whether or not it is at a new high. A stock shows when, at the same moment:

- its price is up at least 2% over roughly the last 60 seconds (fixed, not a setting), and
- this second's volume is at least **Min rel volume (x)** times its average over the last 30 seconds, and
- it passes every filter in the panel's cog.

Open the cog on the Running up panel to set them. Changes apply as you type: there is no Apply button.

*Screenshot: Running up settings at their defaults, then the Global switches every scan's cog shares.*

| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| **Alert on new entry** | Off | The bell for this scan, also on the panel title |
| **Price min ($)**, **Price max ($)** | 2, 20 | The price band |
| **Min gap (%)** | 10 | Up at least this much on the day, against yesterday's close |
| **Min rel volume (x)** | 5 | The burst: this second's volume against its recent average. Not the daily RVOL column |
| **Max shares out** | 10M | Shares outstanding must be under this |
| **Min volume** | 100K | Shares traded today |
| **Min market cap ($)** | 0 | No floor |
| **Max market cap ($)** | Empty | No ceiling |

The share, volume and market cap boxes take short numbers: 500K, 10M, 1.5B. A stock whose shares out or market cap is not known yet passes those two filters, so a missing number never hides a mover.

**Require news catalyst**, in the Global block, makes Running up show only stocks with a headline in the last 24 hours from the news providers on your IBKR account. It applies to Running up only.

**Careful.**

Require news catalyst reads headlines through intel. With intel switched off ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)), no stock has a headline on file, so Running up shows nothing at all.

High of day momentum and Running up both rank their rows the same way: stocks on a green 1-second bar first, then those with fresher news, then the bigger current volume burst, then the bigger percent change. Each shows its top 25.

## Setups: the six letter chips

Setups shows any listed stock with a live entry setup, marked by a coloured letter beside the symbol. The pattern names will be familiar if you have studied the momentum style Ross Cameron teaches at Warrior Trading; Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by either.

*Screenshot: The Setups panel with one of each letter: G, M, H, F, T and R. Demo data.*

| Chip | Setup | What triggers it |
|---|---|---|
| **G** (green) | Gap and go | The first cross above the pre-market high after the 09:30 open. Once per stock per day |
| **M** (blue) | Micro pullback | A shallow pullback during a fast move, then a reclaim of the recent high on volume |
| **H** (yellow) | HOD break | A new high of day in regular hours, when nothing stronger is live |
| **F** (light green) | Bull flag | A strong push (the pole), a tight, shallow pullback, then a break over the flag's high |
| **T** (lilac) | Flat top | A shelf of near-equal highs, then a break above it |
| **R** (orange) | Consecutive run | Five or more green 1-minute candles in a row, then the first new high after the run |

When two setups fire at once, gap and go wins, then the candle patterns (bull flag, flat top, micro pullback, consecutive run), then a bare HOD break. A setup stays on the panel for about 25 seconds and refreshes while it keeps confirming.

A few honest details:

- **Candle patterns need history.** Bull flag, flat top, micro pullback and consecutive run read 1-minute candles that Scalpel builds from the live ticks once a stock is on the list. A name that joined two minutes ago cannot show a bull flag yet.
- **Gap and go and HOD break are regular hours only.** The candle patterns can fire in the pre-market ([guide 8.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-scanning)).
- **Gap and go does not fire late.** If a stock already crossed its pre-market high after the open before it reached the list, its gap and go has happened, and Scalpel will not call a later cross one.
- **The letters show on every panel**, not just Setups, while a setup is live. Untick **Setup chips** in any scan's cog to hide them elsewhere; the Setups panel always shows them, because the setup is why the row is there.

**Note.**

A setup chip is a pattern match, not a reason to buy on its own. Read the Level 2 and the tape before you press ([guide 3.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2)). This style of trading is fast, difficult and carries a significant risk of loss.

## When each scan alerts

A scan alerts with a toast, the bell sound and a voice callout only when its bell is on **and** a panel of that scan is open on a scan desk. A scan with no open panel stays silent however busy it is.

*Screenshot: Scan toasts, top right: each names the scan or setup, the symbol and its change on the day. Click one to load the stock onto a desk. Demo data.*

- **IBKR scanner** and **Running up** alert the first time a stock appears on that scan in the session. A name that leaves and comes back does not alert again (unless you **Clear** the panel's log, which resets it).
- **High of day momentum** and **Setups** alert on every fresh entry, at most once a minute per stock. On Setups the minute is per setup type, so a gap and go right after a micro pullback on the same stock still calls out.
- The bell rings at most once every 1.5 seconds, so a burst of names at the open does not become a wall of noise. Every alert still lands in the panel's LOG view.

The voice callout says the scan or setup name. To change sounds, see [guide 10.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts); for toasts, [guide 10.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/alerts-and-toasts).

## What can go wrong

- **The IBKR scanner is full but Running up is empty.** Its defaults are much stricter than the list: $2 to $20, under 10M shares out, 100K volume and a 2% burst in the last minute. On a slow tape that is rare. Loosen **Min rel volume (x)** or **Min gap (%)** in its cog.
- **Running up is always empty.** Check **Require news catalyst** is off, or that intel is on.
- **No alert for a stock you saw appear.** The bell is muted (a crossed-out bell on the panel title), no panel of that scan is open, or the stock already alerted on that scan this session.

## Questions

**Can I set filters for High of day momentum or Setups?**

No. They show every stock on the IBKR scanner's list that triggers. To narrow them, tighten the IBKR scanner's own filters in Settings > Connection.

**What is the difference between RVOL and Running up's relative volume?**

The RVOL column is today's volume against the 90-day daily average. Running up's Min rel volume is a burst: this second's volume against the average of the last 30 seconds.

**Why did gap and go not fire on a stock that gapped?**

Gap and go is the first cross above the pre-market high after 09:30, once a day. It does not fire if the stock had no pre-market trades, never crossed, or crossed before it joined the list.

**Do the setups work in the pre-market?**

Bull flag, flat top, micro pullback and consecutive run can fire from 04:00 ET once Scalpel has a few minutes of candles. Gap and go and HOD break wait for the open.

**Why does a stock show on High of day momentum and then vanish?**

It stays for 60 seconds after its latest new high. Without a fresh high in that minute it drops off, and the next break brings it back.