The Stock Screener is a program with a user interface designed to search for stocks using filters selected by the trader. Day traders use the stock screener to compile a list of more than 7,000 stocks traded on US exchanges.
Traders can choose from a variety of filters including Volume, Chart Patterns, Stock Price, Volatility, Recent Performance, and more. If you’re looking for a way to dig through a mountain of stock information to trade, here are four common siftings that can make the task easier.
StockFetcher
StockFetcher seems to be getting used to something, but once you get the hang of it, it’s one of the most powerful free stock scanners out there. With the inventory feature, you can choose from pre-existing screens or create your own.
Using a specific format (some examples are listed on its website), enter the correct parameters for the stock screener. Almost infinite combinations of filters and criteria are possible.
The free version of the StockFetcher allows you to view five stocks from the stock screener’s search results. When it comes to day trading, it’s usually enough to just find a few high-quality stocks to trade. The standard version of the StockFetcher, which lets you see all search results, starts at $8.95 per month or $24.95 per quarter, with the enhanced version being 16.95 dollars per month or $44.95 per quarter.
Finviz
Use Finviz to bring the US stock market down to a handful of the best day-trading stocks with thousands of potential filter combinations.
The website is very easy to use. The Screener tab and start adding criteria in three main sections: Description, Basic, and Technical. When you add some requirements, you will get a list of stocks that match them. Change the information you see in these stocks by adjusting the view.
There are 14 viewing modes to choose from. These views include an overview, reviews, financials, performance, technical, charts, and news. Change the view and sort by data type to see the top or bottom ranked stocks on your list.
Finviz is free although quotes for NASDAQ are 15 minutes late and 20 minutes late for NYSE and AMEX. This usually works if you run the stock screen at night, looking for trading candidates for the next day.
If you want a scanner that provides real-time data, you can upgrade to FinViz Elite. It has additional features and costs $39.50 per month (monthly plan) or $24.96 per month (annual plan, $299.50 per year).
ChartMill
ChartMill free stock scanners give you eight options to find day-trading stocks. The general category allows you to select general stock information.
The Performance tab allows you to specify performance criteria, such as beta or relative strength before.
Each category has several filters to help traders choose the stock that best fits their trading criteria.
The site works under a credit system, giving you 6,000 free credits per month credited if you don’t use it.
Running a scanner costs hundreds of credits. The free monthly credits are enough to let most users use the site regularly without paying too much. Once you have used up your credits, you can use the site with minimal functionality.
You can buy block credits of 10,000 ($10) or upgrade to $29.97 per month or $259.97 per year ($21.66 per month) for unlimited use.
Stockrover
Stockrover is a popular screening tool for US and Canadian stocks. While it has basic filters, it also has many technical and performance-based filters that day traders can use.
Find stocks near or higher on different timeframes or find something that shows a lot of price movement (up or down). Track what stocks are being traded by popular hedge funds and create custom screens, watch lists, and portfolios.
Stockrover also allows for inverse computation and equation generation that combines multiple filters into one mathematical equation to produce more refined results.
Hundreds of functions are available to all users, although paid users have access to additional features such as equations, data export, filters, portfolio analysis, and alerts. The entry-level paid subscription is $79.99 per year, the premium plan is $179.99 per year, and the premium plan is $279.99 per year.
Maximize the efficiency of your inventory screener
As a day trader, it’s easy to engage in constant research while trying to find the latest stock ready for a big move. While it can be effective, it often leads to burnout and poor performance, because the movement is already happening when you detect it.
Instead of trying to find the next great deal, use these stock screeners every night or once a day. You can use them over the weekend to find a handful of stocks that are suitable to trade next week.
Then just focus on day trading in the next trading session or one to three stocks per week. This process requires much less time than an active scan. Since you are only looking at a few stocks, you are very cautious and ready to buy or sell at the right time.
