Screening Filters
monthly_average_dollar_volume ≥ 1,500,000
- Purpose: Ensure the ETFs are highly liquid and easy to buy/sell.
- Rationale: For short-term investing, you want to be able to enter and exit positions quickly without moving the price too much or suffering from large bid–ask spreads. A minimum average dollar volume of $1.5M per month filters out thinly traded ETFs that could be hard or costly to trade on short notice.
month_price_change_pct between 0% and 10%
- Purpose: Focus on ETFs with modest, positive recent performance while avoiding extreme volatility.
- Rationale: A short-term investor typically wants reasonable stability and some positive momentum, not assets that are crashing or wildly spiking.
- The minimum of 0% excludes ETFs that have lost value over the past month, which might signal negative momentum or higher downside risk in the near term.
- The maximum of 10% avoids very sharp recent run-ups, which can indicate elevated volatility or a potential short-term overextension that might correct.
themes: ['Total Bond Market', 'Government Bonds', 'Large Cap Blend Equities', 'Large Cap Value Equities', 'Large Cap Growth Equities', 'Non-Leveraged', 'Non-Inverse']
- Purpose: Limit the search to broad, relatively stable, and conventional ETF categories suitable for short-term holdings.
- Rationale:
- Total Bond Market / Government Bonds: These tend to be less volatile and more defensive, often used by investors with shorter time horizons who care about capital preservation and smaller price swings.
- Large Cap Blend / Value / Growth Equities: Large-cap stock ETFs are usually more stable and liquid than small- or micro-cap ETFs. They are common “core” holdings and are more appropriate for short-term trades than niche or illiquid segments.
- Non-Leveraged, Non-Inverse: Excludes leveraged (2x, 3x) and inverse ETFs, which are designed for very short-term trading and can behave unpredictably if held longer. For a typical short-term investor (weeks to a few months), standard, unleveraged ETFs are much more appropriate and less risky.
expense_ratio ≤ 0.30%
- Purpose: Keep costs low, even over a short holding period.
- Rationale: While expenses accumulate over time, lower fees are still preferable for any investment horizon. This filter removes high-cost ETFs and focuses on more efficient, mainstream funds, which are typically better-designed core products and often more liquid.
Why Results Match Your Request
- The liquidity filter (dollar volume) ensures you can move in and out of positions easily—essential for short-term investing.
- The monthly price change band targets ETFs with positive but not extreme recent performance, trying to balance some upside with limited volatility.
- The theme restrictions keep you in broad, diversified bond and large-cap equity ETFs and avoid complex leveraged/inverse products, aligning with a more prudent definition of “short-term investment” rather than speculative trading.
- The expense ratio cap focuses on low-cost, mainstream ETFs, which are generally better suited as short-term parking places for capital than exotic, high-fee products.
Together, these filters narrow the universe to relatively stable, liquid, diversified, and low-cost ETFs, which are more appropriate candidates when you’re looking for a “best ETF for short-term investment.”
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.