The Trend Template — Eight Criteria, No Exceptions

Before Mark Minervini looks at a single chart pattern, a single earnings number, or a single industry group, every stock he considers must pass an eight-criterion gate. He calls it the Trend Template, and it is the most important filter in his entire methodology. If you remember nothing else from this Academy, remember this: no stock that fails the Trend Template is buyable, ever.

The Eight Criteria

A stock is in a Stage 2 uptrend and worthy of further analysis if, and only if:

1. The current price is above both the 150-day (30-week) and the 200-day (40-week) moving averages.
2. The 150-day moving average is above the 200-day moving average.
3. The 200-day moving average is trending up for at least 1 month — Minervini prefers 4 to 5 months of rising 200-day.
4. The 50-day (10-week) moving average is above both the 150-day and 200-day moving averages.
5. The current price is above the 50-day moving average.
6. The current price is at least 25% above the 52-week low (and ideally more — strong leaders are often 100%+ off their lows).
7. The current price is within 25% of the 52-week high.
8. The Relative Strength rating is no less than 70 — Minervini prefers 80 or higher, and his champions typically score 90+.

Read those again. Every single one is a yes-or-no test. There is no "partial credit." There is no "well, the 200-day is almost flat but the rest looks great." The stock either passes or it doesn't, and if it doesn't, you move on.

Why This Filter Exists

The Trend Template exists because the vast majority of stocks at any given moment are not in a position to produce a champion-sized move. They are basing, declining, topping, or chopping sideways. Trying to predict which one of those laggards will turn into the next leader is a losing game. The Trend Template skips that game entirely. It looks only at stocks that are already in motion — already in Stage 2, already being accumulated, already showing relative strength against the broader market.

When you buy a stock that passes all eight criteria, you are buying confirmation, not prediction. The market has already told you, in eight independent ways, that this name is being accumulated by institutions. Your job is no longer to guess whether the trend exists — that's been answered — your job is to find the precise entry and manage the risk.

The Sequence Matters

Notice how the criteria stack: short-term MA above intermediate above long, with price above all three. This isn't aesthetic. It encodes a specific market truth — that healthy advances feature accelerating slope in the shorter moving averages. When the 50-day pulls ahead of the 150-day and the 150-day pulls ahead of the 200-day, you are looking at a stock whose buyers are willing to pay progressively higher prices over progressively shorter timeframes. That is institutional demand.

Conversely, when a stock loses its sequencing — when the 50-day rolls under the 150-day, or the price closes below the 50-day on heavy volume — the Stage 2 advance is being violated and the trade is increasingly suspect.

How to Use the Template

Use it ruthlessly. Open the screen, sort by RS Rating, and discard anything that doesn't pass all eight in five seconds of looking. The point is not to find reasons to buy — it's to find reasons to not buy. Most stocks deserve a no. The handful that survive the template are the only universe worth your attention. From that universe, you then look for the patterns, the pivot points, and the entry triggers covered in the next four sessions.

A simple rule: if you have to argue for a stock against the Trend Template, you are already wrong. The market is telling you it's not ready. Wait, or move on.