Stock Screener
Candlefocus EditorA stock screener is a digital tool used by investors and traders to sort through thousands of individual securities and identify those that meet specific criteria based on their own methodologies. With many stock screeners available for free on brokerage sites, such as those offered by banks, and other subscription sites, anyone with an interest in the stock market can benefit from utilizing this resource.
What Does a Stock Screener Do?
Stock screeners can be customized to select specific criteria or parameters that investors or traders would like to use to focus their search. These criteria may include geographic region, market capitalization, type of security (e.g., stocks, bonds, derivatives), sector and industry, current price, relative strength versus the market, analyst ratings, dividend yields, debt-to-equity ratios, and a variety of technical indicators.
Once a criteria is set, the input will be used to filter out a list of securities that meet the requirements and can be studied in further detail. Stock screeners are most beneficial to both fundamental and technical traders, as well as novice and professional investors; they can help narrow down the field of potential investments to save valuable time. For example, if an investor is interested only in large-cap blue-chip stocks that have a high dividend yield and strong potential for capital appreciation, this criteria can be set through a stock screener and will generate a list of security selections that meet the parameters.
In addition to narrowing down the options for investing, stock screeners also allow investors to set up notifications with key parameters. This way, if the predetermined criteria is met (or exceeded), the investor will be alerted of the opportunity. This can be helpful for identifying trading or investment opportunities that are new, volatile, or otherwise attracting market attention.
Takeaway
Stock screeners are useful digital tools that help investors and traders narrow down the field of potential investments to those that meet their criteria. The ability to customize the parameters based on fundamental and technical analysis, and to set up alerts to be warned of investment opportunities, makes stock screeners an invaluable asset to anyone with an interest in the stock market.