Screening Filters
Price: 5 – 80 USD
- Purpose: Focus on tradable, reasonably priced stocks suitable for active day trading.
- Rationale:
- Below ~$5, you often get into very illiquid, highly risky penny stocks with big spreads and unreliable moves.
- Above ~$80, the dollar moves can be large but position sizing becomes harder for many day traders and % moves are often smaller.
- This range tends to capture stocks with enough volatility and accessibility (you can buy adequate share size without huge capital).
Monthly Average Dollar Volume ≥ 1,000,000 USD
- Purpose: Ensure high liquidity so you can get in and out quickly with minimal slippage.
- Rationale:
- Dollar volume = price × shares traded. A minimum of $1M/day on average helps filter out thinly traded names that can be hard to enter/exit.
- For day trading, liquidity is critical: tight spreads and depth in the order book reduce trading costs and execution risk.
Relative Volume (Today) ≥ 2
- Purpose: Find stocks that are “in play” today, trading at least twice their normal volume.
- Rationale:
- Relative volume of 2 means today’s activity is 2× the average, often due to news, earnings, upgrades/downgrades, or other catalysts.
- Elevated volume typically brings better price action and cleaner intraday moves—what day traders want.
Moving Average Relationship: Price Above 5-Period Moving Average (PriceAboveMA5)
- Purpose: Capture stocks with short-term upward momentum intraday.
- Rationale:
- A 5-period moving average on an intraday basis is very short-term; price above it signals immediate bullish bias.
- For day trading long setups, this helps filter to names already showing strength rather than fighting the short-term trend.
Last 5-Minute Price Change ≥ +0.5% (min5_price_change_pct ≥ 0.5)
- Purpose: Ensure the stock is actively moving right now, not just earlier in the day.
- Rationale:
- A ≥0.5% move in the last 5 minutes indicates fresh momentum and volatility in the very recent window.
- This is important for short-term traders who want current action, not stale moves that have already faded.
Why Results Match “Best Day Trade Stocks Today”
- The liquidity filters (price range and dollar volume) target names that are realistically tradable with tight spreads and decent size.
- The activity and volatility filters (relative volume ≥ 2 and 5-minute price move ≥ 0.5%) focus on stocks that are moving today and moving right now, which is key for intraday opportunities.
- The momentum filter (price above 5-period moving average) aligns results with stocks showing very short-term strength, consistent with typical day-trade breakout/pullback strategies.
Together, these filters narrow the universe to liquid, active, and currently trending stocks—exactly the kind of candidates day traders usually look for on a given trading day.
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.