Today's stock picks

Screening Filters

1. volume ≥ 1,000,000

   • Purpose: Focus on highly traded, liquid stocks.
   • Rationale:
     • When someone asks for “today’s stock picks,” they usually want names they can realistically trade in and out of without big price slippage.
     • A minimum of 1M shares traded today helps filter out thinly traded, speculative, or illiquid stocks that can be harder (and riskier) to buy or sell at fair prices.

2. moving_average_relationship: PriceAboveMA20

   • Purpose: Select stocks currently trading in short‑term uptrends.
   • Rationale:
     • Price above the 20-day moving average is a common technical definition of short-term strength.
     • For a general “today’s picks” request, it makes sense to bias toward names with positive recent momentum rather than those in clear downtrends.

3. price_change_pct between 1% and 10% (today)

   • Purpose: Find stocks that are moving meaningfully today, but avoid extreme, potentially unstable moves.
   • Rationale:
     • A gain of at least 1% suggests the stock is showing some strength or interest today, instead of being flat or weak.
     • Capping the move at 10% helps avoid highly volatile news-driven spikes that may be less suitable as “picks” for a broad audience and more prone to quick reversals.

4. list_exchange: XNYS, XNAS (NYSE and NASDAQ)

   • Purpose: Limit results to major U.S. exchanges.
   • Rationale:
     • NYSE and NASDAQ host the most widely followed, regulated, and liquid U.S. companies.
     • For a general request like “today’s stock picks,” these markets are typically where users expect ideas to come from, rather than OTC or foreign exchanges with different risk profiles.

5. is_index_component: GSPC, NDX (S&P 500, Nasdaq‑100 members)

   • Purpose: Restrict to large, well-known, established companies.
   • Rationale:
     • S&P 500 and Nasdaq‑100 components are generally larger, more liquid, better‑covered stocks.
     • This aligns with providing broadly recognizable “picks” rather than obscure microcaps, reducing idiosyncratic risk and information asymmetry.

Why Results Match “Today’s Stock Picks”

• The filters emphasize liquidity and quality (large-cap U.S. stocks in major indices on NYSE/NASDAQ).
• They focus on short-term strength and momentum (price above 20-day MA and up 1–10% today), making the list relevant to “today’s” market action rather than stale setups.
• By excluding illiquid, extremely volatile, or obscure names, the screen tilts toward tradable, mainstream candidates that are more appropriate as general stock ideas for the current session.