What should I buy short term

Screening Filters

1. Price: $5–$50

   • Purpose: Focus on tradable, “swing-friendly” stocks while avoiding ultra-penny names and very high-priced, capital-intensive stocks.
   • Rationale:
     • Below ~$5 you often see illiquid penny stocks with wider spreads and higher manipulation risk—dangerous for most traders.
     • Above ~$50, position sizing for short-term trading becomes harder with smaller accounts (fewer shares, less flexibility).
     • The $5–$50 range is a common “sweet spot” for active traders: enough movement, decent liquidity, and easier to size in and out.

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

   • Purpose: Ensure good liquidity so you can enter/exit quickly without moving the market too much.
   • Rationale:
     • Dollar volume (price × shares traded) is more meaningful than just share volume—$1M+/day reduces the risk of big slippage.
     • For short-term trades, you need tight bid–ask spreads and enough buyers/sellers; this filter excludes thinly traded, hard-to-exit names.

3. Beta: HighRisk

   • Purpose: Target more volatile stocks that move enough to make short-term trading worthwhile.
   • Rationale:
     • High beta stocks tend to move more than the overall market both up and down.
     • For short-term trades, you need price swings; low-beta “defensive” stocks often don’t move enough to justify the risk/fees.
     • This aligns with your previous interest in speculative names (QBTS, LCID, AMC), which are typically higher beta.

4. Moving Average Relationship: PriceAboveMA20

   • Purpose: Focus on stocks in short-term uptrends rather than those in clear downtrends.
   • Rationale:
     • The 20-day moving average is a standard short-term trend gauge.
     • Price above the 20-day MA suggests momentum is currently positive rather than declining.
     • For swing trading, trading with the trend generally improves odds vs. fighting a downtrend.

5. 1-Month Price Change: +10% to +60%

   • Purpose: Capture recent momentum without going to extremes.
   • Rationale:
     • A gain of at least +10% in the past month indicates the stock is already attracting buyers and has active interest—good for short-term set-ups.
     • Capping at +60% avoids many parabolic “blow-off” moves where the risk of sharp reversals is very high.
     • This balances finding “moving” stocks without chasing the most overextended ones.

6. Region: United States

   • Purpose: Restrict to a familiar, highly regulated, and liquid market.
   • Rationale:
     • U.S. markets (NYSE/Nasdaq) offer robust liquidity, tight spreads, and extensive news/analyst coverage.
     • This reduces some operational risks for short-term trades (e.g., unexpected foreign holidays, illiquidity in smaller exchanges).

7. Exchange: XNYS, XNAS, XASE (NYSE, Nasdaq, NYSE American)

   • Purpose: Focus on major U.S. exchanges with better standards and liquidity.
   • Rationale:
     • These exchanges have stricter listing standards than OTC markets, reducing the worst-quality names.
     • They generally provide better execution quality for active traders—important when getting in and out quickly.

Why Results Match Your Short-Term Trading Goal

• The screen emphasizes liquidity (dollar volume, major exchanges) so you can execute trades efficiently.
• It targets volatility and momentum (high beta, 1‑month +10–60%, price above 20‑day MA), which are key ingredients for short-term profit opportunities.
• It controls risk profile and practicality (price $5–$50, avoid extreme penny stocks and hyper-parabolic moves), making positions easier to size and manage.
• Focusing on U.S. large exchanges aligns with common retail-trader infrastructure (brokers, charting tools, news) and reduces some hidden frictions.

Together, these filters don’t guarantee gains, but they systematically narrow the universe to stocks that have the characteristics short-term traders typically look for: liquid, moving, and in a short-term uptrend, but not at completely unsustainable extremes.