What stocks look ready for a breakout

Screening Filters

1. Market Capitalization: market_cap: {min: 2,000,000,000}

   • Purpose: Focus on mid- to large-cap U.S. stocks (≥ $2B market cap).
   • Rationale:
     • Breakout setups in larger companies tend to be more reliable and less easily manipulated than in tiny microcaps.
     • These names are more institutionally followed, so technical breakouts (through resistance, to new highs) are more meaningful.

2. Price Range: price: {min: 10, max: 120}

   • Purpose: Target reasonably priced stocks, avoiding ultra-low and very high-priced outliers.
   • Rationale:
     • Below $10 you often get more speculative, thinly traded names where “breakouts” can be erratic.
     • Above $120, price swings can be large in dollar terms, making position sizing and risk control more difficult for many investors.
     • This range leans toward stocks that are liquid and actively traded, but still accessible.

3. Liquidity: monthly_average_dollar_volume: {min: 1,000,000}

   • Purpose: Ensure sufficient trading activity (at least $1M in dollar volume per month).
   • Rationale:
     • A breakout signal matters much more when significant capital is trading the stock.
     • Higher liquidity reduces slippage and makes entering/exiting positions closer to the quoted price more feasible.

4. Volume Confirmation: relative_vol: {min: 1.5}

   • Purpose: Find stocks trading with at least 1.5× their typical volume.
   • Rationale:
     • True breakouts are often accompanied by a surge in volume as new buyers step in and short-sellers cover.
     • Elevated relative volume is a classic confirmation that a move above resistance may have strength behind it, not just a random price spike.

5. Risk Profile: beta: ['ModerateRisk', 'HighRisk', 'LowRisk', 'NegativeBeta']

   • Purpose: Include all beta categories (low, moderate, high, negative).
   • Rationale:
     • Instead of restricting volatility, this keeps the universe broad to avoid missing potential breakout candidates, whether they move with the market strongly or more defensively.
     • The key breakout characteristics (trend, volume, resistance break) are handled by other filters; this one simply doesn’t exclude categories.

6. Trend Alignment: moving_average_relationship: ['PriceAboveMA20', 'PriceAboveMA200']

   • Purpose: Ensure the stock is in an established uptrend on both short-term and long-term timeframes.
   • Rationale:
     • PriceAboveMA20: Indicates short-term strength; the stock is trading above its 20-day moving average, supportive of a near-term breakout attempt.
     • PriceAboveMA200: Confirms a longer-term uptrend; breakouts that occur within a broader uptrend are typically higher probability and more sustainable.
     • Combining both aligns the breakout idea with “trading with the trend,” not against it.

7. Key Technical Trigger: support_resistance_relationship: ['PriceBreakResistance']

   • Purpose: Explicitly screen for stocks breaking above a resistance level.
   • Rationale:
     • A “breakout” normally means price moving through a prior ceiling where sellers had been strong.
     • This filter is directly targeting that classic technical definition: the moment when price moves out of a consolidation or base and clears resistance.

8. Momentum / New Highs: new_high_low: ['52w_High']

   • Purpose: Find stocks at or breaking to new 52-week highs.
   • Rationale:
     • Many breakout traders focus on new yearly highs because there is little or no overhead supply; few holders are “trapped” at higher prices.
     • New 52-week highs often indicate strong momentum and institutional interest—key characteristics of breakout candidates.

9. Exchange Listing: list_exchange: ['XNYS', 'XNAS', 'XASE']

   • Purpose: Limit results to major U.S. exchanges: NYSE, NASDAQ, and NYSE American.
   • Rationale:
     • These exchanges have higher listing standards and better transparency.
     • Stocks on these exchanges tend to be more liquid and widely followed, making breakout patterns more tradable and less prone to manipulation.

10. Region: region: ['United States']

    • Purpose: Restrict to U.S.-domiciled companies.
    • Rationale:
      • Directly matches your request for “stocks in the US market.”
      • Ensures consistent regulatory environment and market hours, which simplifies analysis and execution.

Why Results Match Your “Ready for a Breakout” Criteria

• The trend filters (price above 20-day and 200-day MAs) ensure the stock is already in an uptrend, not trying to break out from a downtrend.
• The resistance and 52-week high filters explicitly target the technical structure of a breakout: pushing through prior resistance and/or making fresh yearly highs.
• The volume filter (relative_vol ≥ 1.5) looks for conviction behind the move, a hallmark of genuine breakouts rather than weak or false moves.
• The liquidity, price, and market cap filters keep the list focused on tradeable, established U.S. companies where breakout signals tend to be more reliable.

Taken together, these filters narrow the universe to liquid U.S. stocks in established uptrends that are actively challenging and breaking resistance with strong volume—precisely the type of setups typically described as “ready for a breakout.”