Most alert apps only fire when a stock hits an exact dollar price you typed in weeks ago. FearAlert alerts you on percentage moves — "SPY drops 3% in a day", "QQQ falls 5% this week" — so your alerts never go stale as the market moves.
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US Fear & Greed Index vs. S&P 500
The problem with price-target alerts
Most brokers and many dedicated alert apps share the same limitation: you pick an exact price — "alert me at $510" — and the app watches for that number. But markets move. The level that mattered last month is meaningless today, so you either re-enter targets constantly or your alerts quietly become useless. It's the most common complaint about stock alert apps.
A price change alert is different: "alert me when SPY drops 3% in one day" or "when QQQ falls 5% over five days". The condition is relative, so it stays relevant forever — no maintenance, no stale levels. Set it once and it watches every session.
Negative thresholds fire on pullbacks and panic days — the moments dip-buyers actually care about. A 3% single-day drop in the S&P 500 happens only a handful of times a year.
Positive thresholds fire on rallies and momentum days. Know after the next scheduled check when a stock you own — or want to own — makes a big move up, without watching the tape.
How it works
Every price change alert combines a ticker, a look-back window, and a percentage threshold. The window is measured in trading days: 1 = single-day move, 5 ≈ one week, 21 ≈ one month. Popular setups:
"SPY down 3% in 1 day" — a 3% single-day S&P 500 drop happens only a few times a year. When it does, you want to know after the next scheduled check.
"QQQ down 5% in 5 days" — catches tech-led pullbacks early enough to act, without reacting to intraday noise.
"SPY down 10% in 21 days" — official correction territory, roughly one month of trading. The classic dip-buyer trigger.
"NVDA up 5% in 1 day" — earnings reactions, guidance surprises, and momentum days, caught by one rule in either direction.
Because FearAlert rules are compound, you can combine a % move with any other condition — for example "SPY down 3% in a day AND Fear & Greed Index below 25" — to filter noise and only get alerted on high-conviction setups.
Setup
In your FearAlert dashboard, click "Add Rule" and choose "Price Change %" as the indicator.
Search any ticker (SPY, QQQ, NVDA, AAPL…) and set the look-back window: 1 = daily move, 5 = weekly, 21 ≈ monthly.
Negative numbers catch drops (below -3 = 3% fall), positive numbers catch rallies (above 5 = 5% rise).
Email, SMS, or browser push. Set a cooldown so a choppy week can't spam you — one alert, then silence.
FAQ
1-month monitoring trial. Price change alerts are included with paid monitoring from $6/month.
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