Stocks for short term gain

Screening Filters

1. Price: $10–$400

   • Purpose: Focus on reasonably priced, actively traded stocks suitable for a $1,000–$10,000 account.
   • Rationale:
     • Below $10 often captures illiquid, very speculative “penny stocks” with big spreads and slippage—bad for short-term trading.
     • Above $400 makes it harder to build positions and manage risk with a smaller account.
     • This range balances volatility with practicality for short-term trades.

2. Monthly Average Dollar Volume ≥ $3,000,000

   • Purpose: Ensure strong liquidity.
   • Rationale:
     • Short-term strategies need tight bid–ask spreads and the ability to enter/exit quickly.
     • Using dollar volume (price × shares traded) avoids thinly traded names where you can move the price against yourself.

3. Relative Volume ≥ 1.6

   • Purpose: Find stocks currently trading with significantly higher-than-normal activity.
   • Rationale:
     • Relative volume > 1 means today’s volume is above the stock’s average; ≥ 1.6 flags strong interest.
     • Elevated volume often accompanies short-term catalysts (earnings, news, strong momentum), which is exactly what you want for short-term price moves.

4. Moving Average Relationship: PriceAboveMA20 and PriceAboveMA200

   • Purpose: Filter for stocks in established uptrends on both short- and long-term timeframes.
   • Rationale:
     • PriceAboveMA200: long-term uptrend; avoids structurally weak names.
     • PriceAboveMA20: near-term strength; price is holding above recent average.
     • Trading short-term in the direction of the broader trend generally has higher odds than trading against it.

5. 1-Week Price Change: +5% to +15%

   • Purpose: Target stocks with recent upward momentum, but not so extreme that they’re likely exhausted.
   • Rationale:
     • At least +5% in a week shows real buying pressure and a potential short-term trend to ride.
     • Capping it at +15% avoids the most overextended names that are often due for sharp pullbacks, which is risky for quick trades.

6. Exchanges: NYSE (XNYS), NASDAQ (XNAS), AMEX (XASE)

   • Purpose: Limit results to major U.S. exchanges with better regulation, liquidity, and data quality.
   • Rationale:
     • OTC and fringe markets can be extremely illiquid and prone to manipulation—bad for disciplined short-term strategies.
     • Major exchanges offer tighter spreads and more reliable price action.

7. One-Week Rise Probability ≥ 70%

   • Purpose: Use historical pattern/statistical models to focus on setups that have shown a high probability of rising over the next week.
   • Rationale:
     • This directly aligns with the “short-term gains” goal by emphasizing names where past similar patterns led to gains the majority of the time.
     • It doesn’t guarantee profits, but it tilts the scan toward historically favorable short-term outcomes.

8. Is Optionable = True

   • Purpose: Ensure every stock has listed options.
   • Rationale:
     • Even if you trade shares only, optionable stocks tend to be more actively followed and liquid.
     • If you ever want to use options for leverage or hedging in short-term trades, this filter guarantees that flexibility.

Why Results Match Your Request

• The scan focuses on short-term momentum (recent 1-week gains, price above 20-day MA, elevated relative volume) to find names already moving up with active interest.
• It adds trend quality and risk control (price above 200-day MA, exclude very low-priced stocks, major exchanges only) so you’re trading short-term within generally stronger names.
• It emphasizes tradability and execution (high dollar volume, optionable stocks) which are critical for short-term entries and exits.
• The one-week rise probability filter ties directly to your goal by prioritizing setups with historically strong near-term performance.