WHAT IS A GOOD STOCK FOR THE WEEKEND

Screening Filters

1. Market Cap ≥ $5,000,000,000

   • Purpose: Focus on larger, more established companies.
   • Rationale:
     • Bigger companies tend to be more stable and less easily manipulated—important if you’re buying going into (or just after) a weekend when markets are closed and you can’t react.
     • They usually have more analyst coverage and news flow, so surprises are somewhat better “priced in” vs. tiny speculative names.

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

   • Purpose: Ensure good liquidity (easy to get in and out).
   • Rationale:
     • Higher dollar volume usually means tighter bid/ask spreads and less slippage when you buy or sell.
     • For a short holding period (like a weekend/very near-term), liquidity matters more because you don’t want to be stuck in something thinly traded on Monday.

3. Price Above 20-Day Moving Average (PriceAboveMA20)

   • Purpose: Select stocks in a short-term uptrend.
   • Rationale:
     • A price above the 20-day moving average is a common technical sign that the near-term momentum is positive.
     • If you’re looking for a “good stock for the weekend,” this tries to avoid names that are currently breaking down or in clear short-term downtrends.

4. 1-Month Price Change ≥ +2%

   • Purpose: Require recent positive performance.
   • Rationale:
     • A minimum gain over the last month filters out stocks that have been flat or negative recently.
     • Combined with the 20-day moving average, this favors names with established recent strength rather than sudden spikes or dead money.

5. Exchange: XNYS, XNAS, XASE (NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX)

   • Purpose: Limit to major U.S. exchanges.
   • Rationale:
     • These exchanges offer higher listing standards, better disclosure, and generally more reliable trading conditions.
     • This aligns with looking for “good” (i.e., higher-quality, better regulated) names rather than OTC or very speculative markets.

6. Analyst Consensus: Strong Buy, Moderate Buy, or Hold

   • Purpose: Exclude stocks that analysts broadly dislike.
   • Rationale:
     • By requiring at least a “Hold” consensus, the screen removes names where Wall Street is generally negative (Sell / Strong Sell).
     • Including Strong Buy and Moderate Buy tilts the list toward companies with positive or at least neutral fundamental views backing them, not just technical momentum.

Why Results Match Your Question (“Good Stock for the Weekend”)

• The size and liquidity filters (market cap and dollar volume) aim for more stable, tradable names—important when you may only hold briefly and need clean entries/exits.
• The technical filters (price above 20-day MA and ≥ +2% 1-month performance) focus on stocks already in a short-term uptrend, instead of catching falling knives right before a weekend.
• The exchange and analyst filters add a quality and sentiment check: U.S.-listed, reasonably covered companies without a clear negative analyst stance.

Together, these filters don’t “guarantee” a winner, but they narrow the universe to relatively established, liquid stocks that are trending positively and not fundamentally hated—reasonable criteria for identifying candidates that could be considered “good” for a near-term hold like a weekend.