What stocks should I swing trade

Screening Filters

1. Monthly average dollar volume ≥ 500,000

   • Purpose: Ensures sufficient liquidity.
   • Rationale: For swing trading, you want names you can enter and exit efficiently without wide spreads or excessive slippage. This filter keeps the screen focused on actively traded stocks that are practical for short-to-medium holding periods.

2. Price above 20-day moving average / price crossing above 20-day moving average

   • Purpose: Captures near-term bullish trend and fresh momentum shifts.
   • Rationale: Swing trades often work best when a stock is already trending upward or just beginning a short-term breakout. Price above the 20-day MA indicates positive momentum, while a cross above it can signal a recent change in trend worth trading.

3. MACD positive / bullish

   • Purpose: Confirms momentum is improving.
   • Rationale: MACD being positive and bullish helps identify stocks where trend strength is supported by momentum, not just price alone. This is useful for swing trading because it favors continuation setups over weak or fading rallies.

4. RSI category: moderate

   • Purpose: Avoids overly stretched setups.
   • Rationale: A moderate RSI helps filter out stocks that may already be overbought and vulnerable to pullbacks. For swing trading, this improves the odds of finding names with room to run rather than late-stage moves.

5. Price around resistance / price break resistance

   • Purpose: Targets breakout candidates.
   • Rationale: Swing traders often look for stocks that are either challenging resistance or have just broken through it. These are classic momentum entry points, where follow-through buying can create a favorable short-term move.

6. Week price change % ≥ 0

   • Purpose: Requires short-term positive price action.
   • Rationale: This confirms the stock has been holding up recently and is not in an immediate short-term downtrend. It aligns well with swing trading, where you want near-term strength rather than weakness.

7. Month price change % ≥ 0

   • Purpose: Confirms broader recent upward bias.
   • Rationale: A stock that is flat-to-up over the month is more likely to have constructive momentum and investor support. This helps avoid names that are merely bouncing inside a larger downtrend.

8. List exchange: XNYS, XNAS, XASE

   • Purpose: Limits the universe to major U.S. exchanges.
   • Rationale: Stocks on NYSE, NASDAQ, and NYSE American tend to have better transparency, liquidity, and trading accessibility, which is especially important for swing trading.

Why the Filters Work Together

• They combine liquidity, trend, momentum, and breakout structure, which are the core ingredients for swing trades.
• The screen favors stocks that are:
  • easy to trade,
  • already showing bullish behavior,
  • not too overextended,
  • and sitting near a technical inflection point.
• That makes the result set more likely to contain stocks with a good chance of moving over the next several sessions to several weeks, which is exactly what swing traders are looking for.