A stock screener is one of the most powerful tools in a trader's arsenal. Instead of manually searching through thousands of stocks, you can filter the entire market in seconds to find exactly what you're looking for. Here's how to master stock screening.
What is a Stock Screener?
A stock screener is a tool that filters stocks based on specific criteria you define. Think of it as a search engine for the stock market. You set the rules, and the screener returns a list of stocks that match your criteria.
With FINMARKETIQ, you can screen over 10,000 stocks, 2,000+ ETFs, and 662 cryptocurrencies using 100+ technical and fundamental filters—plus AI-powered pattern recognition.
Types of Screening Filters
Technical Filters
RSI
Find oversold (<30) or overbought (>70) stocks
Moving Averages
Price above/below 50-day, 200-day SMA
MACD
Bullish/bearish crossovers and divergences
Bollinger Bands
Price touching upper/lower bands
Volume
Unusual volume spikes vs 20-day average
Fundamental Filters
P/E Ratio
Value stocks (<15) or growth (>25)
Market Cap
Large cap, mid cap, small cap, micro cap
Revenue Growth
YoY growth percentages
Profit Margin
Net margin, gross margin thresholds
Dividend Yield
Income-focused screening
AI-Powered Filters
Pattern Recognition
Doji, hammer, engulfing, and 20+ patterns
Sentiment Score
News and social media sentiment
Insider Activity
Unusual insider buying/selling
Institutional Flows
13F filing analysis
Fair Value Gap
AI-calculated intrinsic value vs price
Step-by-Step Screening Process
1. Define Your Strategy
What are you looking for? Value stocks? Growth momentum? Dividend income? Oversold bounces? Your strategy determines your filters.
2. Set Your Universe
Choose your asset class (stocks, ETFs, crypto) and any baseline filters like minimum market cap or average volume.
3. Add Technical Filters
If using technical analysis, add indicators like RSI, moving averages, or pattern recognition filters.
4. Add Fundamental Filters
For fundamental analysis, add valuation metrics, growth rates, or profitability thresholds.
5. Review and Refine
If you get too few results, loosen filters. Too many? Tighten them. Aim for 10-50 candidates.
Example Screens to Try
Here are some popular screening strategies you can implement in FINMARKETIQ:
Oversold Growth Stocks
Find beaten-down growth stocks ready to bounce
Dividend Champions
High-yield stocks with sustainable dividends
Breakout Candidates
Stocks approaching key resistance levels
Value + Momentum
Cheap stocks with positive momentum
AI-Powered Screening with FINMARKETIQ
What sets FINMARKETIQ apart is our AI-powered screening capabilities:
- Candlestick Pattern Recognition: Automatically detect doji, hammer, engulfing, and 20+ patterns
- Sentiment Analysis: Filter by news sentiment scores powered by FinBERT NLP
- Insider Trading: Find stocks with unusual insider buying or selling activity
- Natural Language Search: Ask Kobby AI "Find oversold tech stocks with high volume"
- Fair Value Alerts: Get notified when stocks trade below AI-calculated intrinsic value
Pro Tip: Save Your Screens
Once you find a screening strategy that works, save it! FINMARKETIQ lets you save unlimited custom screens and even set up alerts when new stocks match your criteria. You'll never miss an opportunity again.