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Stock Scanners
Low Float Stocks Today, Found as the Volume Hits
A low float stock has few shares to go around, so heavy buying can move it fast, both ways. Trade Ideas finds the small-float names the moment volume shows up.
Halt: low float runners get halted often. Keep it in the same window.
The Float filter in Trade Ideas.
Streaming Alerts (Scanner) run in TI Pro, our desktop app for Windows (on a Mac, through Parallels). Top Lists also run in the Web Dashboard, right in your browser. Read the float rotation guide, check heavily shorted names on high short float stocks, or widen out to the small cap stock scanner.
Low Float Scanner guide
What the low float scan finds
It finds stocks with a small number of shares available to trade that are moving on heavy volume right now.
With fewer shares out there, a burst of buying can push price a long way. The same is true on the way down.
The scan shows the move, the volume, and how much of the float has already changed hands today.
The exact Trade Ideas alerts and filters
Float (Float): shares available to trade. Set a maximum.
Float Turnover (FloatTurn): today’s volume divided by the float.
Short Float (SFloat): shares sold short as a percent of the float.
Relative Volume (RV): volume against the stock’s own normal for this time.
Streaming Alerts run in TI Pro, our desktop app for Windows (on a Mac, through Parallels). Top Lists (Screeners) also run in the Web Dashboard, right in your browser.
Set it up in 5 steps
Set Float (Float) to a maximum, like 20 million shares.
Momentum. Traders look for low float names making new highs on heavy volume.
Float rotation. When a stock trades its whole float early, it has a lot of attention.
Short interest. Some check the short float too, since a heavily shorted low float stock can move hard.
Risks and common mistakes
Low float stocks move fast both ways. A stock up 40% can give most of it back in minutes.
Halts are common. You can be stuck in a position while trading is stopped.
Spreads widen in fast moves. Size small and know your exit before you get in.
A real chart exampleReal Trade Ideas chart: a New High alert on BZUN as it pushes higher from the early session.
A low-priced stock climbing on steady volume, with the New High alert marking the push. Add a Float maximum to the same alert and you only hear about the small-float names.
Float changes
Float is not fixed. An offering adds shares and can turn a low float stock into a normal one. Check recent filings.
Free account, just an email. No card. Live access for a limited time.
What is the low float scanner?
It is any Trade Ideas alert window or Top List (Screener) with a maximum on the Float filter. You see the small-float stocks that are moving and how much of their float has traded.
What are low float stocks?
Stocks with few shares available to trade, often under 10 or 20 million. With fewer shares to go around, heavy buying or selling can move the price fast, both ways.
That cuts both ways. A low float stock can drop as fast as it ran, and many of them get halted on big swings. Size your trades with that in mind. Set the maximum that fits how you trade; there is no single right number.
A Float Turnover of 1 means a full float’s worth of shares has traded today. When that happens early in the day, the stock is getting a lot of attention. Read more in the float rotation guide.
Are low float stocks the same as high short interest stocks?
Short sellers can add fuel when a heavily shorted, low float stock starts to run, because some of them have to buy back. It doesn’t happen every time, and it can reverse fast.
What is considered a low float?
Most traders use under 20 million shares. Some use 10 million or less. There is no official cutoff.
Is there a low float stock screener for free?
You can try Trade Ideas with a free account, just an email, no card. Live access is for a limited time.
Which low float stocks are moving today?
Sort a Top List by Relative Volume with a Float maximum. Top Lists update every 15 seconds, so the list changes as the day goes.
Low float stocks with high short interest: how do I find them?
Add Short Float with a minimum, like 20, next to a Float maximum. Those names can move hard when shorts buy back, and they can reverse just as fast.
Why do low float stocks get halted so often?
Because they move fast. A quick run outside the allowed price band triggers a volatility pause. Keep the Halt alert in the same window so you see it as it happens.
