Screening Filters
Price: $5–$30
- Purpose: Focus on reasonably priced, actively traded stocks that are suitable for small to medium-sized day trades.
- Rationale:
- Below ~$5, stocks often behave like “pennies”: wide spreads, manipulation risk, and unreliable intraday behavior.
- Above ~$30, position sizing becomes harder for smaller accounts and percentage moves per dollar risk can be less attractive.
- The $5–$30 band tends to have many “in play” names that move enough intraday but still allow you to buy sufficient share size for meaningful gains.
Monthly Average Dollar Volume ≥ $5,000,000
- Purpose: Ensure strong liquidity so you can get in and out quickly without moving the market.
- Rationale:
- Dollar volume (price × volume) is a better liquidity measure than share volume alone.
- ≥ $5M/day on average means tighter bid–ask spreads, deeper order books, and more reliable fills—crucial for day trading where you may enter and exit multiple times a day.
Relative Volume ≥ 2
- Purpose: Find stocks that are trading at least twice their normal volume today—i.e., “in play” names.
- Rationale:
- Relative volume ≥ 2 flags unusual activity (news, earnings, catalysts) that often leads to stronger intraday trends and larger price swings.
- Day traders typically hunt for these high-activity stocks because they provide more trading opportunities and clearer momentum.
Moving Average Relationship: PriceAboveMA20
- Purpose: Bias results toward short-term uptrends / bullish momentum.
- Rationale:
- Price above the 20-day moving average indicates a positive short-term trend.
- For day trading, starting with stocks in an existing uptrend increases the odds that intraday pullbacks become buyable dips rather than attempts to catch a falling knife.
Price Change % (Today): 5% to 12%
- Purpose: Target stocks already making a meaningful move, but not yet in an extreme blow-off.
- Rationale:
- A 5–12% daily move signals strong momentum and volatility—exactly what day traders need to capture intraday profits.
- Below ~5% might be too quiet; above ~12% can indicate overextended moves that are more prone to violent reversals and harder to trade for late entries.
Exchange Listing: NYSE (XNYS), NASDAQ (XNAS), AMEX (XASE)
- Purpose: Restrict to major U.S. exchanges.
- Rationale:
- These exchanges offer higher regulatory standards, better liquidity, and tighter spreads than OTC/pink sheet markets.
- For day trading, that reliability and microstructure quality matter a lot for order execution and slippage.
Why Results Match Your Day-Trading Goal
- The liquidity filters (dollar volume and major exchanges) ensure the stocks are easy to enter and exit intraday.
- The volatility/momentum filters (relative volume ≥ 2, 5–12% daily price change, price above 20-day MA) focus on names that are actively moving and trending, which is what day traders need.
- The price range filter ($5–$30) keeps you in a sweet spot: not illiquid penny stocks, not ultra-expensive slow movers, but mid-priced names with enough movement and tradable share size.
Altogether, these filters are tuned to surface U.S. stocks that are liquid, in play today, and showing bullish short-term momentum, making them strong candidates to consider for day trading.
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.