Swing Trading Scanner

Stocks setting up over days: pulling back to a daily average, basing in a tight range, or breaking a multi-day high. For tool comparisons, see best stock scanner for swing trading.

Set Change From 50 Day SMA (%) (MA50P) above 0 for an uptrend and Change From 20 Day SMA (%) (MA20P) between -2 and 1 for stocks near the 20-day. Sort by Daily RSI (DRSI).

Consecutive Days (Up) counts up or down days in a row. A stock down several days that turns green today is a recipe, not a single alert: Consecutive Days plus Change From The Close.

1. Build a Top List (Screener) with Change From 50 Day SMA above 0 and Consolidation at a min of 5.
2. Add Price and Dollar Volume.
3. In TI Pro, add Crossed Daily Highs Resistance with the same filters.
4. Check the list each evening.

Pullback in an uptrend. Above the 50-day, back near the 20-day.

Base breakout. A tight multi-day consolidation, then a break of the range.

52-week high. New yearly highs with volume.

200-day reclaim. A stock crossing back above its 200-day.

Oversold bounce. Daily RSI under 30 turning up.

Change From 50 Day SMA (%) (MA50P) above 0: in an uptrend. Consolidation (ConDays) 5 or more: basing. Position in Range (1 year) (RY) above 90: near the yearly high. Daily RSI (DRSI) under 40: pulled back.

Many swing traders build the list in the evening. Top Lists in the Web Dashboard work for that. The next day, alerts in TI Pro tell you when a name on the list breaks out.

Some use intraday alerts to time a swing entry, like Crossed Above VWAP (CAVC) for a VWAP reclaim or 15 Minute Opening Range Breakout (ORU15) for an opening range break.

Fibonacci 62% Buy Signal (FU62) fires on today's range, not a multi-day move, so it times a dip during the day rather than finding a multi-week pullback.

Swing trades often hold through earnings by accident. Check the Earnings Date filter; see the earnings scanner.

Example numbers, not a real trade

1. In the evening, a Top List shows stocks above the 50-day with Consolidation at 7 days or more.
2. One stock has traded in a $2 range for nine days, on light volume.
3. The next morning, Crossed Daily Highs Resistance fires as it clears the top of the range on heavy volume.
4. A swing trader might buy the break with a stop under the base and hold for days.

A starting point: Price $10 and up, Dollar Volume over $10 million a day, Change From 50 Day SMA above 0, and Consolidation at 5 or more days. Tighten or loosen from there.

Most swing traders build their list in the evening. A Top List in the Web Dashboard keeps the last session’s values after the close, so you can sort by any filter and pick the five or ten names to watch the next day.

Save each setup as its own Top List. That way the evening routine takes minutes.

Swing trades sit through overnight gaps. Average True Range (ATR), Average True Range, tells you how far the stock moves in a normal day. Many swing traders set the stop at one to two ATRs and size the position so that stop equals a fixed part of the account.

Example numbers, not a real trade

1. A stock is 6% above its 50 day and up 18% over 20 days.
2. It drops 4% over three days. Daily RSI is 41.
3. The next morning, it crosses back above yesterday’s high: CDHR fires.
4. Buy at $73.40, stop at $70.90 (one ATR of $2.50 below), hold for days.

Earnings Date (EarningD) shows how many trading days until a stock reports. A max of 5 shows stocks reporting this week. Many swing traders skip them or close before the report, since an earnings gap can jump right past a stop.

Sector Breakout (from Close) (SBOC) fires when a stock is beating its sector since yesterday’s close. Swing traders like stocks that lead their group, since a strong group tends to carry its members.

Stock Composite Rating (SCR), the Stock Composite Rating, scores stocks from 30 to 100 on more than 15 mostly technical measures plus key fundamentals. A min of 90 keeps only the top rated, a quick way to trim a long swing list.

A swing trade that goes with the longer trend has an easier time. Change (20 day, %) (U20DP) shows the 20 day change, and Change From 200 Day SMA (%) (MA200P) shows where price sits against the 200 day. Long swings above the 200 day and short swings below it is a simple rule many traders follow.

• A close below the 20 day: Crossed Below 20 Day Moving Average (CB20) fires on the cross.
• A target at the prior swing high.
• A trailing stop under each new higher low.
• A time stop: if the trade has not worked in five to ten days, many traders close it.

Everything on the Top List side of this page runs in the Web Dashboard, in a browser. That covers the evening scan. The alerts for timing entries during the day run in TI Pro.

1. Sunday: run each saved Top List and pick ten names. Note the level that would trigger each one.
2. Each evening: drop names that broke down, add new ones, and update the trigger levels.
3. During the day: let the daily alerts in TI Pro tell you when a trigger level is crossed, instead of watching charts.
4. Friday: review open trades against their stops and time limits.

Swing traders see more gaps than day traders, since every trade sits overnight. Gap (%) (GUP) in the morning shows which names on your list gapped. A gap up through your trigger level means the entry price is gone; many traders wait for the first pullback instead of chasing.

Gap Down Reversal (GDR) and Gap Up Reversal (GUR) fire when a gap reverses through yesterday’s close, an early sign the gap is failing.

Swing positions need liquidity on the way out too. Average Daily Volume (3 month) (Vol3M), the 3 month average volume, is steadier than a short average and better for picking stocks you may hold for weeks. Yearly Standard Deviation (YSD) shows how much a stock moves in a normal day in dollars, which helps size positions so no single stock carries too much of the account.

Overnight gaps can jump your stop.

Test your rules in a simulated account first.

• Holding a swing trade through earnings by accident.
• Using day trading stops on swing trades, where normal daily moves knock you out.
• Too many positions at once in the same sector.
• Buying extended stocks far above their averages.