How One Analyst Stopped Chasing Charts And Let n8n Predict Stock Trends For Them
By 9:15 PM every weekday, Alex was exhausted.
By day, Alex worked as a solo quantitative analyst and part-time trader. By night, they turned into a spreadsheet operator, copy-pasting closing prices, cleaning columns, calculating averages, and trying to spot 5-day trends before the next market open.
Some nights, Alex missed key moves because the manual routine was simply too slow. Other nights, they second-guessed their own rushed calculations. The more stocks they watched, the worse it got. What started as a passion for data-driven trading was slowly turning into a tedious, error-prone grind.
Alex did not need more data. They needed a system that would collect, analyze, and report stock trends automatically, every single night, without fail.
The Breaking Point: When Manual Tracking Stops Scaling
One Wednesday, the market had been volatile all day. Alex had added several new symbols to their watchlist, thinking they could squeeze in the extra work after dinner. By the time they sat down at their laptop, it was already 9:30 PM.
The routine was painfully familiar:
- Open a Google Sheet with a long list of stock symbols
- Look up closing prices for each symbol
- Copy 5 days of data into the sheet
- Calculate averages and percentage changes
- Try to eyeball whether the trend was up, down, or flat
- Manually write a short summary in an email draft to themselves
Halfway through the list, Alex realized they were rushing, and the numbers were starting to blur. That was the moment they admitted it: this process should not depend on them being awake and focused at night.
They needed something predictable, something that would wake up at the same time every weekday, pull the data, run the math, and deliver a clean report in their inbox. No more copy-paste, no more guesswork.
Discovering n8n And A Ready-Made Stock Prediction Template
Alex had heard of n8n, an automation platform that lets you connect APIs, services, and scripts without writing an entire application from scratch. One quick search later, they found exactly what they were looking for: an n8n workflow template that used the Twelve Data API to automate 5-day stock trend predictions and reporting.
The promise was simple but powerful:
- Run at market close automatically
- Read stock symbols from a Google Sheet
- Fetch the last 5 days of data via Twelve Data API
- Analyze the trend direction and expected change
- Update the same Google Sheet with the analysis
- Send a detailed email report every night
If it worked, Alex could finally stop babysitting spreadsheets and start focusing on strategy.
Setting The Scene: What Alex Needed Before Automation
Before turning the template into their nightly assistant, Alex had to prepare a few essentials. The setup was surprisingly straightforward:
- Sign up for a Twelve Data API key. Alex created an account on Twelve Data and grabbed their personal API key, which would authorize the workflow to fetch market data.
- Create a Google Sheet with stock symbols. In a simple Google Sheet, Alex added a column with the tickers they wanted to track. This sheet would become the central watchlist and later, the place where the analysis results would be stored.
- Connect n8n to Google Sheets and Twelve Data. Inside n8n, Alex configured credentials for Google Sheets and added the Twelve Data API key as an environment variable used by the workflow.
- Import and customize the n8n template. With the template loaded, Alex only needed to plug in their API key, select the correct Google Sheet, and set a schedule that matched the market close.
With the groundwork done, the real transformation began.
Rising Action: How The n8n Workflow Took Over The Night Shift
1. A Daily Trigger That Runs While Alex Rests
Instead of Alex sitting down at 9:30 PM, the workflow itself wakes up at 9:00 PM every weekday, right after the market closes. The first node in the template is a time-based trigger that runs Monday through Friday at 21:00.
This timing is crucial. It ensures that the market data for that day is complete before any calculations happen. For Alex, it meant one less decision to make and one less recurring task on the calendar.
2. Reading Stock Symbols From A Living Watchlist
Next, the workflow connects to the Google Sheet that Alex had set up. A Google Sheets node pulls in the list of stock symbols that Alex wants to track.
The beauty of this approach is that Alex can add or remove symbols directly in the sheet without touching the workflow. The watchlist is centralized, human-friendly, and always up to date. Each row in the sheet becomes a starting point for a new round of analysis.
3. Configuring Variables So The Workflow Stays Flexible
As the workflow loops through each symbol, a configuration node sets key variables: the Twelve Data API key and the current stock symbol being processed.
By using variables instead of hard-coded values, Alex keeps the workflow secure and adaptable. If they ever need to rotate the API key or change how symbols are handled, they can do it in one place instead of editing multiple nodes.
4. Fetching 5-Day Stock Data With Twelve Data API
With the symbol and API key in place, the next node calls the Twelve Data API. The request includes:
- The current stock symbol
- An interval of 1 day
- An output size of 5, to get the last 5 days of data
- The Twelve Data API key for authentication
The response comes back as structured JSON that includes prices and volumes for each of the 5 days. For Alex, this meant no more hopping between websites or downloading CSV files. The data arrives clean, consistent, and ready for analysis.
The Turning Point: Letting JavaScript Decide The Trend
Before automation, Alex would stare at columns of closing prices and manually calculate averages and changes. It was easy to make mistakes, and it was hard to stay consistent.
In the n8n template, a dedicated JavaScript node takes over that job entirely.
5. Analyzing Stock Trends With Code Instead Of Gut Feel
The JavaScript node processes the fetched data step by step:
- Extract closing prices from the JSON response so only the essential values are used.
- Compute the slope of the 5-day trend, essentially a simple moving average slope that shows whether prices are generally rising, falling, or staying flat.
- Classify the trend direction as Up, Down, or Neutral based on that slope.
- Calculate predicted price changes and percentage changes for the next 5 days, turning raw numbers into actionable insights.
Instead of Alex manually crunching numbers, the code does it instantly and consistently for every symbol. The logic is transparent and repeatable, and it never gets tired or distracted.
Resolution: From Raw Data To Clear Reports In Alex’s Inbox
6. Updating The Google Sheet And Shaping The Email Report
Once the analysis is complete, the workflow does two things at once.
First, it appends the results back into the Google Sheet. For each stock symbol, the sheet now holds:
- The symbol itself
- The average price over the last 5 days
- The percentage change across those 5 days
- The predicted trend for the next 5 days
- The expected price change over that next period
This turns the sheet into a living log of both historical and predicted trends, which Alex can filter, chart, or export whenever they want.
Second, an email formatting node in the workflow builds a polished report. It generates both HTML and plain text versions, organizing the data into a clear summary that is easy to scan on desktop or mobile.
7. Sending The Nightly Stock Trend Email
The final node delivers the report straight to Alex’s inbox. By the time they check their email later in the evening, a fresh summary is waiting for them, covering every symbol on their watchlist.
No more logging into multiple tools, no more late-night spreadsheets, and no more wondering if they miscalculated a percentage. The workflow runs, records, and reports without any manual intervention.
Why This n8n Workflow Changed How Alex Trades
After a week of running the automated stock trend prediction workflow, Alex noticed several important changes in how they worked.
- Consistency: The analysis ran every weekday at the same time, using the same logic. There were no skipped days or rushed calculations.
- Time savings: What used to take 30 to 60 minutes of manual effort now took zero. Alex could spend that time reviewing strategy instead of wrangling data.
- Better decisions: With clear 5-day trend predictions and percentage changes in hand, Alex could quickly decide which stocks deserved deeper research the next morning.
- Organized data: The Google Sheet became a structured archive of symbols, historical averages, and predicted trends, all easily accessible.
- Reliable data source: By integrating with the Twelve Data API, Alex gained access to comprehensive, real-time market data without worrying about scraping or manual downloads.
Most importantly, Alex no longer felt chained to their laptop at night. Automation handled the routine work, while they focused on interpretation and strategy.
How You Can Recreate Alex’s Automated Stock Trend System
If you see yourself in Alex’s story, you can follow the same path and use this n8n template to automate your own stock trend prediction and reporting workflow.
Step-by-Step Summary
- Get your Twelve Data API key. Sign up with Twelve Data and copy your API key.
- Prepare your Google Sheet. Add your stock symbols in a column. This will be your watchlist and your log of results.
- Import the n8n template. Use the provided template link and load it into your n8n instance.
- Configure the workflow nodes.
- Set the trigger to run at your preferred market close time, such as 9:00 PM Monday to Friday.
- Connect the Google Sheets node to your sheet that contains the symbols.
- Add your Twelve Data API key as an environment variable or credential.
- Verify that the JavaScript node uses the correct fields from the API response.
- Enable the workflow. Turn it on and let it run automatically after market close each day.
Within a day, you will start receiving nightly emails that summarize your 5-day stock trends, predicted directions, and expected changes, just like Alex.
From Overwhelmed To In Control With n8n Automation
Alex’s story is familiar to anyone who has tried to track stock trends manually. The data is out there, but the repetitive work of collecting and analyzing it can quietly drain your time and attention.
By using n8n with the Twelve Data API, you can turn that nightly grind into a reliable, automated workflow that:
- Triggers at market close
- Reads your stock symbols from Google Sheets
- Fetches the last 5 days of market data
- Analyzes trends and predicts the next 5 days
- Updates your sheet and sends a detailed email report
Instead of reacting to charts at the end of a long day, you wake up with structured insights ready to guide your next moves.
Ready To Let Automation Handle Your Nightly Stock Reports?
If you are ready to stop wrestling with spreadsheets and start using a smarter system, this n8n workflow template is a practical place to begin. It captures the full process from data collection to email reporting, with minimal setup and maximum repeatability.
Try the template, tweak it to match your own watchlist and schedule, and see how it changes your daily trading routine.
Have questions or want to adapt this workflow further? Share your feedback, explore more n8n automation ideas, and keep building systems that support better, data-driven trading decisions.
