What should my day trade be

Screening Filters

1. Market Cap ≥ $5,000,000,000 (Large‑cap only)

   • Purpose: Focus on larger, more established companies.
   • Rationale:
     • NDAQ (Nasdaq, Inc.) is a well-known, large U.S. exchange operator with a multibillion‑dollar market cap.
     • For day trading, large caps tend to have tighter spreads, deeper order books, and less susceptibility to manipulation than small caps.
     • Using this filter keeps the results in the same “quality/size” universe as NDAQ, avoiding thin, risky micro‑caps that behave very differently intraday.

2. Relative Volume ≥ 1.5

   • Purpose: Find stocks trading with at least 1.5× their usual volume today.
   • Rationale:
     • Day traders look for unusual activity: more volume typically means stronger moves, cleaner intraday patterns, and easier entries/exits.
     • By requiring relative volume above 1.5, the screener surfaces names that, like NDAQ on a “lively” day, are seeing heightened interest and volatility—ideal for day trades.

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

   • Purpose: Ensure minimum dollar liquidity (price × volume).
   • Rationale:
     • For intraday trading, it’s not enough that shares trade; they must trade in sufficient dollar value to support quick in‑and‑out positions without heavy slippage.
     • A $1M/day minimum is a basic liquidity threshold that aligns with the type of stock NDAQ is—actively traded, with enough participation to allow day trading strategies.

4. PriceAboveMA20 (Price above 20‑day moving average)

   • Purpose: Isolate stocks in a short‑term uptrend.
   • Rationale:
     • The 20‑day moving average is a common short‑term trend gauge. Being above it indicates bullish short‑term momentum.
     • Day traders often prefer to trade with the prevailing trend (e.g., buying dips in an uptrend) rather than fighting it.
     • Applying this filter looks for names behaving technically like a strong NDAQ setup—where intraday long trades have a tailwind from the daily trend.

5. Region: United States

   • Purpose: Restrict results to U.S.-listed stocks.
   • Rationale:
     • NDAQ is a U.S. company, and U.S. markets have specific trading hours, regulations, and liquidity patterns that most intraday traders focus on.
     • Limiting to U.S. names aligns the screener’s universe with the market environment the user is already trading (NDAQ), making results more directly comparable and tradable.

Why Results Match:

• The filters restrict the universe to liquid, large U.S. stocks that behave similarly to NDAQ in terms of size, accessibility, and tradability.
• The relative volume and price‑above‑20MA conditions specifically look for active, trending setups, which are the type of conditions day traders usually seek when asking “what should my day trade be” in a stock like NDAQ.