Screening Filters
Monthly Average Dollar Volume ≥ $1,000,000
- Purpose: Ensure the ETFs are highly liquid and easy to trade.
- Rationale:
- You’re on Robinhood and previously asked about trading leveraged products and options, which tend to require good liquidity for tight spreads and efficient entries/exits.
- A minimum of $1M in average dollar volume helps filter out thinly traded ETFs where:
- Bid–ask spreads can be wide
- Orders may not fill at fair prices
- Getting in or out quickly can be difficult
Price Above 200-Day Moving Average (PriceAboveMA200)
- Purpose: Focus on ETFs in a longer-term uptrend rather than those in a downtrend.
- Rationale:
- A 200-day moving average is a common “line in the sand” for long-term trend direction.
- Requiring price to be above the 200-day MA typically means:
- The ETF is in a positive trend
- Market participants are generally bidding it higher over time
- For “best option to invest in today,” this avoids catching falling knives and leans toward ETFs with established positive momentum instead of speculative rebounds.
YTD Price Change ≥ +5%
- Purpose: Ensure the ETF has already shown positive performance this year.
- Rationale:
- A positive year-to-date return of at least 5% signals relative strength vs. the broader market or peers.
- This works together with the 200-day MA filter to find ETFs that are not only in an uptrend but also actually delivering gains recently, rather than just drifting sideways.
Theme: Large Cap Blend Equities
- Purpose: Steer you toward diversified, core equity ETFs in large-cap stocks, not niche or ultra-speculative segments.
- Rationale:
- Large-cap blend ETFs typically hold a broad mix of growth and value stocks, often resembling core market benchmarks (like S&P 500–type exposure).
- Compared with leveraged ETFs like DRIP, these are:
- Less volatile
- More suitable as a base “investment” rather than a short-term trading vehicle
- For “best ETF to invest in today,” this narrows results to solid, diversified products that could reasonably act as a core holding, instead of leveraged or thematic bets.
Expense Ratio ≤ 0.15%
- Purpose: Limit results to very low-cost ETFs.
- Rationale:
- Over time, fees compound and can significantly erode returns.
- A 0.15% cap essentially targets highly competitive, often flagship index ETFs.
- For a long-term “investment” choice, cost control is critical; this filter tilts strongly toward investor-friendly ETFs where more of the return goes to you, not to fees.
Why Results Match Your Question
- You asked for the “best ETF to invest in today,” not another speculative leveraged trade. These filters shift from high-risk leveraged products like DRIP toward:
- Highly liquid ETFs (easier trading on Robinhood)
- Strong uptrends and positive YTD performance (momentum/strength)
- Broad, large-cap equity exposure (core, diversified investments)
- Very low fees (better long-term net returns)
Altogether, the screen is designed to surface a short list of high-quality, low-cost, liquid, and currently strong-performing core equity ETFs that could be reasonable candidates when you’re looking for a “best” ETF to invest in right now.
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.