Market Movers

Screening Filters

1. Market Cap ≥ $5,000,000,000

   • Purpose: Focus on larger, established companies.
   • Rationale: When people say “market movers,” they’re typically referring to stocks big enough that sharp moves can influence indexes or sector sentiment. A $5B+ market cap filter excludes micro/small caps whose moves are less impactful on the broader market and often more noise-driven.

2. Monthly Average Dollar Volume ≥ $1,000,000

   • Purpose: Ensure the stocks are actively traded and liquid.
   • Rationale: True “market movers” attract significant trading activity. Using dollar volume (price × shares traded) rather than just share volume captures where meaningful capital is flowing, and filters out illiquid names where large % changes don’t really reflect broad market interest.

3. Relative Volume ≥ 2

   • Purpose: Highlight stocks trading at unusually high activity versus their own norm.
   • Rationale: Relative volume compares today’s trading volume to the stock’s average. A value ≥ 2 means the stock is trading at least twice its usual volume, signaling that something special is happening today (news, earnings, macro catalyst). This is central to identifying “market movers,” because they’re defined by abnormal attention and activity.

4. Price between $5 and $500

   • Purpose: Focus on reasonably priced, mainstream tradable stocks.
   • Rationale:
     • Minimum $5: Excludes penny stocks, which often move a lot but are not typically what investors mean by “market movers” due to high risk, manipulation, and low institutional interest.
     • Maximum $500: Excludes ultra‑high‑priced names that can be less accessible or have distorted %/absolute moves; this keeps results more relevant for typical trading amounts and retail accessibility.

5. Price Change % between -100% and -5% (Today)

   • Purpose: Capture significant downside movers.
   • Rationale: A move of -5% or worse in a single day in a $5B+ stock is notable and often news-driven. This filter specifically looks for major decliners—stocks that are pulling markets or sectors down or reacting strongly to negative catalysts. The lower bound of -100% just ensures the full range of possible losses is included.

6. Exchange in [XNYS, XNAS, XASE] (NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX)

   • Purpose: Limit to major U.S. exchanges.
   • Rationale: These are the primary venues for widely followed U.S. stocks, where most “market moving” names trade. This avoids OTC and fringe markets, staying aligned with what most investors mean by “market movers today.”

Why Results Match the User’s Query

• The screen focuses on large, liquid U.S. stocks, which are the companies most capable of genuinely “moving the market.”
• By requiring high relative volume (≥ 2), it isolates names experiencing unusually strong trading activity today, a hallmark of true market movers.
• The -5% or worse daily price move ensures you’re seeing meaningful downside moves, not minor fluctuations—i.e., the stocks that are clearly “in play” on the day.
• Combined, these filters yield a list of significant, actively traded large-cap decliners that are likely influencing index moves, sector sentiment, and trader focus today.