Stock/Market Selection

Quote from toby:

Most of the forum members are talking much about the entry/exit methods i.e. How to trade? When to entry and how to exit?

But few are discussing about the stock selection process; which stocks to trade? I think this is equally important for successful trading especially for small traders with limited capital.

My main criteria are looking at the changes of volume and volatility but I have little success on my selection criteria; always fail to spot the best stocks and markets to trade.

Any comments on this matter?
Thanks!

I like this one:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/investo...04L2Z&Name=High On Balance Volume&Tickers=200

For longs when the major market trend is bullish. Adjust the average volume and price to your liking of course.

I also like:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/investo...50000Z&Name=Big Hi/Low Near Highs&Tickers=200

I use this screen in bullish conditions as well.

I hold my trades for 2-5 days usually.

Banker
 
Quote from toby:

Most of the forum members are talking much about the entry/exit methods i.e. How to trade? When to entry and how to exit?

But few are discussing about the stock selection process; which stocks to trade? I think this is equally important for successful trading especially for small traders with limited capital.

My main criteria are looking at the changes of volume and volatility but I have little success on my selection criteria; always fail to spot the best stocks and markets to trade.

Any comments on this matter?
Thanks!

Great thread. You're absolutely correct, the "stable" is just as important as the "race". I have two "stables", one for scans, and another for compelling stocks. Rather than use scanning programs to find opportunities, I stick with these stocks. I'm comfortabel (not complacent) with these stocks. I know there "hot spots", MAs, avg vol, buy and sell side axes, etc, etc. I've tried scanning programs, and they remind me of dating services trying to find the "right one". Having a stable or harem is much better, IMHO. Every month, I review, remove and recycle these stocks. The determination is based on avg vol, beta and range. I have set minimums for all three, when a stock falls short of two or more minimums, its removed from my screen, and placed in an alert file.

If you would like some of the criteria I use, send me a P/M. Good luck.
 
Quote from hapaboy:


Thanks but that URL doesn't work. Goes to the msn homepage and asks you to download their product....:confused:

Just download the little applet and you will have access to the stock screener. It's free, and it will do exactly what you want it to do. In addition you can run the screen during the day and get results if you so choose. Intraday data is delayed, not real time though.

It's worth downloading, IMHO. The choice is yours of course.

Banker
 
About downloading the MSN stock screener deluxe:

I've done that before, but it doesn't operate from my hard drive; I have to download it every time I want to use it, although it always remembers my lists and their criteria.

I tried contacting MSN about this on their contact form, but when you use that form, it seems to me that they run a scan of your computer, and I'm not comfortable with anyone doing that. So I haven't been able to submit the form and so have not gotten an answer to my question, so maybe you know and can provide an answer:

Once downloaded, is there a way to "login" without downloading again?
 
Quote from gms:

About downloading the MSN stock screener deluxe:

I've done that before, but it doesn't operate from my hard drive; I have to download it every time I want to use it, although it always remembers my lists and their criteria.

I tried contacting MSN about this on their contact form, but when you use that form, it seems to me that they run a scan of your computer, and I'm not comfortable with anyone doing that. So I haven't been able to submit the form and so have not gotten an answer to my question, so maybe you know and can provide an answer:

Once downloaded, is there a way to "login" without downloading again?

What's probably happening to you is that you are getting updated versions of the applet. They do fairly frequent updating, and when there is a new version, you have no choice but to download it. In the past the updates were an option versus a requirement, but that is no longer the case.

I personally don't find the scan uncomfortable. It's probably even lighter than the one done at the Windows update site. I guess if you are truly uncomfortable with the process you can use this screener:

http://www.multexinvestor.com/nscreen/builder.asp

It's very nice and powerful, but the learning curve will be greater. It is free. Intraday scanning is not available, but for EOD it's hard to beat. You can write your own variables etc. too.

I like the MSN screener for sharing ideas because it is so easy to share an exact screen with someone else. There is no option with PowerScreener to create a link to the screen you created in order to share it with others.

I hope this helps.

Banker
 
Agree with Banker, I've tried about all the free screeners and keep coming back to Multex. You'll have a few quirks to learn but once you do, it becomes surprisingly powerful and you can create
some custom indicators also.

DS
 
For the Multex screener, my friend Ace made a pretty cool weighted Relative Strength user variable:

({Pr13W%Chg}+(2*{Pr26W%Chg})+{Pr52W%Chg})/4

It works pretty good for finding the strongest intermediate term price trends. I have lots of custom variables for Multex.

Banker

BTW you can copy and paste the definition above into the user defined variable area if you want to try it out for yourself. In case you didn't know that already.
 
Thank you very much for all your valuable reply!

I have one more question; should I use the same criteria for short-term trading and position trading?

Looking forward for the reply!
 
Quote from toby:

Thank you very much for all your valuable reply!

I have one more question; should I use the same criteria for short-term trading and position trading?

Looking forward for the reply!
With "changes of volume and volatility" as criteria, as per your first post? You could, why not?

BTW, has anyone else other than me experienced that the multex site is just full of bugs? I code javascript from time to time and so I see what their errors are. I've written them a few times over the past few months since they made their changes and never get a response.
 
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