Screening Filters
Price: 5–150 USD
- Purpose: Focus on reasonably priced, actively tradable stocks suitable for retail swing traders.
- Rationale:
- Very low-priced stocks (under $5) are often penny stocks, which tend to be extremely volatile, easily manipulated, and less predictable—riskier for systematic swing trading.
- Very high-priced stocks (well above $150) can require larger capital to size positions properly and may move in dollar terms more than many swing traders are comfortable with.
- The $5–$150 range usually captures a broad universe of mid-priced names where many swing traders operate, offering a balance of volatility, liquidity, and accessibility.
Monthly Average Dollar Volume: ≥ $1,000,000
- Purpose: Ensure stocks are liquid enough for easy entry and exit with minimal slippage.
- Rationale:
- Dollar volume (price × volume) is a strong proxy for true tradability. A minimum of $1M per month filters out illiquid names where orders can move the market and fills can be poor.
- Swing traders need to be able to enter and exit positions quickly and at fair prices; this threshold helps ensure a more efficient market in each stock.
- Liquid stocks also tend to have tighter bid–ask spreads, which is important when trades last days to weeks, not months or years.
Moving Average Relationship: PriceAboveMA20
- Purpose: Focus on stocks in short- to medium-term uptrends, which are typically more favorable for bullish swing trades.
- Rationale:
- The 20-day moving average (roughly one trading month) is a common swing-trading trend gauge. Price above the 20-day MA suggests upward momentum and buyer control in the recent period.
- Many swing strategies build around “buying strength” or “buying pullbacks in uptrends,” both of which usually require the price to be above key short-term moving averages.
- This filter eliminates stocks in downtrends or choppy, directionless patterns, narrowing the universe to candidates aligned with bullish swing setups.
1-Month Price Change %: 5–30%
- Purpose: Target stocks with meaningful positive momentum, but avoid names that are already overextended and prone to sharp reversals.
- Rationale:
- A minimum +5% monthly move indicates sufficient strength and momentum—stocks that are “going somewhere,” which is what swing traders generally want to ride.
- Capping the gain at 30% helps avoid names that may have already had their big move and could be at risk of near-term pullbacks, gaps, or “blow-off” tops.
- This band (5–30%) is designed to capture sustainable trends rather than extreme, event-driven spikes.
One-Week Predicted Return: 0–100%
- Purpose: Incorporate a short-term, model-based view that the stock’s next-week outlook is non-negative.
- Rationale:
- Setting the minimum at 0% ensures the screener only returns stocks for which the prediction model expects at least non-negative performance over the coming week—aligning with the goal of bullish swing trades.
- The wide max (up to 100%) simply means “no upper cap”; it allows the inclusion of all candidates the model sees as having appreciable upside.
- While predictions are not guarantees, using a positive-tilted 1-week forecast is consistent with the user’s aim of finding good current swing setups.
Why Results Match:
- The filters emphasize tradable, liquid stocks (price and dollar volume criteria), which is essential for real-world swing trading in the US market.
- The trend and momentum filters (price above 20-day MA and 1-month price gain 5–30%) focus the search on stocks that are already moving upward, a common requirement for swing strategies.
- The short-term predictive filter (non-negative 1-week predicted return) adds a forward-looking component that aligns with the “right now” timing of the user’s request.
Together, these filters narrow the universe to stocks that are liquid, reasonably priced, in established short-term uptrends, with moderate but not extreme recent gains and model-indicated potential for further upside—characteristics well-suited to finding candidates for “best 3” bullish swing trades in the current US market environment.
This list is generated based on data from one or more third party data providers. It is provided for informational purposes only by Intellectia.AI, and is not investment advice or a recommendation. Intellectia does not make any warranty or guarantee relating to the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of any third-party information, and the provision of this information does not constitute a recommendation.