I've tried to make a pcf to measure the percentage change in a stock to that of the sp-500.  For the former I used (c-c'12/30/11')/c'12/30/11' which seems to work.  However, I can't figure out a legitimate way to compute the corresponding % for the SP-500.  I know the symbol SP-500 is recognized by the PCF syntax but I can't figure out how to get the starting value for the year into the formula.  Any help is appreciated.  I want %change in c ytd - %change in SP-500 ytd.  Thanks.

No, SP-500 is not recognized by the Personal Criteria Formula Language. There is no syntax available which would allow you to reference the data for other symbols in TC2000.

The built in Relative Strength 1-Yr (vs SP-500) system criteria is really the only built in option.

I do not know of a practical automated method of writing Relative Strength PCFs in either verison of TC2000 as the Personal Criteria Formula Language does not have syntax for referencing other symbols. You may wish to review the following for a semi-automated technique for creating Relative Strength in a PCF:

Indexes in PCF's
RSMA PCFs

It should also be noted that when you click on a Relative Strength (RS) indicator, there will not be an option to Create Scan Condition as there is for most indicators. There will be an option to do this on a moving average of RS, but even though the option is available, it will not work.

Thanks for your response.  Here's what I did.  I used the formula above (*100) to compute the YTD %.  I included SP-500 in my watchlist and then sorted on the YTD %.  That way I have a list showing all stocks in watchlist above and below the YTD % of the S&P.  It's easy to see by how much by comparing the two percentages. I'm not able to plot it over time but at least I can get an instantaneous view.

That is a great idea. The sort order of the Price Percent Change itself should be the same as the sort order of the Relative Strength over the same period of time.