Swing trading is a popular trading style that involves buying and selling stocks over a short-term period, usually a few days to a few weeks. Swing traders aim to capture price swings in the market and profit from both uptrends and downtrends.

But how do you find the best stocks for swing trading? What are the criteria and strategies to look for? In this article, I’ll share with you some tips and tricks on how to find stocks for swing trading, using both technical and fundamental analysis. I’ll also show you how to use stock screeners and scanners to find opportunities, and what are the best technical indicators for swing trading stocks.

How to Find Stocks for Swing Trading

The first step to finding stocks for swing trading is to screen for stocks with ideal technical and fundamental attributes. You want to look for stocks that have high volume, high volatility, high liquidity, and a reasonable price range. These factors will ensure that you can enter and exit trades easily, and that the stocks have enough price movement to generate profits.

There are many sources for finding stock ideas for swing trading, such as scanning platforms, watchlists, newsletters, blogs, forums, and social media. However, one of the most convenient and effective ways to find stocks for swing trading is to use stock screeners and scanners.

Stock screeners and scanners are tools that allow you to filter and sort stocks based on various criteria, such as price, volume, market cap, sector, industry, earnings, dividends, technical indicators, and more. You can use stock screeners and scanners to find stocks that match your trading style, strategy, and risk tolerance.

Sources for Swing Trading Stock Ideas

Sourcing is the process of finding stock ideas from various sources, such as scanning platforms, watchlists, newsletters, blogs, podcasts, social media, etc. For example, you can find stock ideas from platforms that scan the market for specific patterns, such as Trade-Ideas, TradingView, Scanz, etc.

Sourcing is useful for finding stocks that have the potential to make big moves in the near future. These stocks may not meet all the technical and fundamental criteria that you screen for, but they may have other factors that make them attractive, such as catalysts, trends, themes, etc.

Some of the sources that you can use to find stock ideas for swing trading are:

Scanning platforms: Scanning platforms are websites or software that allow you to scan the market for stocks that meet your criteria. You can use predefined scans or create your own custom scans based on various parameters, such as price, volume, indicators, patterns, sectors, industries, etc. You can also set up alerts and notifications to get notified when a stock meets your criteria. Some of the popular scanning platforms for swing trading are Trade-Ideas, Scanz, TradingView, etc.
Watchlists: Watchlists are lists of stocks that you monitor and track for potential trading opportunities. You can create your own watchlists based on your criteria, preferences, and strategies, or you can follow the watchlists of other traders and experts. You can update your watchlists regularly based on the market conditions and the performance of the stocks. Some of the platforms that allow you to create and follow watchlists are TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Robinhood, etc.
Newsletters: Newsletters are emails or publications that provide stock recommendations, analysis, tips, and insights. You can subscribe to newsletters that cater to your trading style, goals, and interests, or you can sign up for free trials and samples to test them out. You can also compare and contrast different newsletters to find the ones that suit you best. Some of the popular newsletters for swing trading are Trade-Ideas Swing Picks, The Motley Fool, Zacks, etc.
Blogs: Blogs are websites or platforms that publish articles, posts, and content related to stocks and trading. You can follow blogs that cover topics that interest you, such as swing trading, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, market trends, etc. You can also comment and interact with the bloggers and other readers to get feedback and opinions.
Podcasts: Podcasts are audio or video programs that discuss and analyze stocks and trading. You can listen to podcasts that feature experts, traders, analysts, and guests who share their views, experiences, and advice. You can also ask questions and participate in the discussions.
Social media: Social media are platforms that allow you to connect and communicate with other traders and investors. You can follow accounts, pages, groups, and hashtags that post and share content related to stocks and trading. You can also like, comment, and share the content that you find useful and interesting. Some of the popular social media platforms for swing trading are Twitter, Reddit, StockTwits, etc.

Swing Trading Stock Picking Strategies

Once you have a list of potential stocks for swing trading, you need to apply some stock-picking strategies to narrow down your choices and find the best candidates. There are two main types of analysis that swing traders use to pick stocks: fundamental analysis and technical analysis.

Fundamental Analysis for Swing Trading Stocks

Fundamental analysis is the process of evaluating a company’s financial performance, growth potential, competitive advantage, and future prospects. Fundamental analysis helps you to determine the intrinsic value of a stock, and whether it is undervalued or overvalued by the market.

Some of the fundamental factors that swing traders look for are:

Earnings: Earnings are the profits that a company makes, and they are one of the main drivers of stock prices. Swing traders look for stocks that have strong earnings growth, positive earnings surprises, and upward earnings revisions. Earnings reports and guidance are also important events that can trigger significant price movements.
Revenue: Revenue is the amount of money that a company generates from its sales, and it reflects the demand for its products or services. Swing traders look for stocks that have consistent revenue growth, and that are beating or meeting analysts’ expectations. Revenue growth can also indicate market share gains, product innovation, or expansion into new markets.
News Events: News events are any occurrences that can affect a company’s operations, reputation, or outlook. Swing traders look for stocks that are positively or negatively impacted by news events, such as product launches, mergers and acquisitions, lawsuits, regulatory changes, or scandals. News events can create volatility and opportunities for swing trading.
Financial Strength: Financial strength is the ability of a company to sustain its operations, meet its obligations, and invest in its growth. Swing traders look for stocks that have strong financial strength metrics, such as earnings per share (EPS), price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), return on equity (ROE), debt-to-equity ratio (D/E), and free cash flow (FCF). Financial strength can indicate a company’s profitability, efficiency, and solvency.

Technical Analysis for Swing Trading Stocks

Technical analysis is the process of studying the price action and patterns of a stock, using charts and indicators. Technical analysis helps you to identify the trend, support, and resistance levels, entry and exit points, and trading signals of a stock.

Some of the technical factors that swing traders look for are:

Chart Patterns: Chart patterns are formations that appear on the price chart, and they can indicate the direction and magnitude of the next price movement. Swing traders look for stocks that form reversal or continuation patterns, such as cups, flags, wedges, triangles, double tops, double bottoms, head and shoulders, and inverse head and shoulders. Chart patterns can provide trading opportunities and targets for swing trading.
Trends: Trends are the general direction of the price movement, and they can be classified as uptrends, downtrends, or sideways trends. Swing traders look for stocks that are in a clear and strong trend, and that are making higher highs and higher lows (uptrend), or lower highs and lower lows (downtrend). Trends can indicate the momentum and sentiment of the market, and swing traders can trade with the trend or against the trend, depending on their strategy.
Support and Resistance: Support and resistance are the levels where the price tends to bounce or reverse, due to the supply and demand forces in the market. Support is the level where the price finds buyers, and resistance is the level where the price finds sellers. Swing traders look for stocks that are approaching, testing, or breaking support or resistance levels, as they can signal potential reversals or breakouts.
Volume: Volume is the number of shares traded in a given period, and it reflects the activity and interest in a stock. Swing traders look for stocks that have high volume, especially on significant price movements, such as breakouts, breakdowns, or gaps. High volume indicates strong conviction and confirmation of the price action, and it can also hint at institutional involvement.

Using Both Fundamental and Technical Factors

While some swing traders may prefer to use only fundamental or technical analysis, the best swing traders use both types of analysis to find stocks for swing trading. By combining fundamental and technical factors, swing traders can gain a more complete and balanced view of a stock’s potential, and increase their chances of success.

For example, a swing trader may use fundamental analysis to find a stock that has strong earnings growth, positive news events, and financial strength, and then use technical analysis to find a chart pattern, a trend, a support or resistance level, and a high volume signal, to enter and exit the trade.

How to Screen Stocks for Swing Trading

One of the most important skills for swing trading is to screen stocks for potential trading opportunities. Stock screening is the process of filtering and sorting stocks based on various criteria, such as price, volume, technical indicators, fundamental factors, and more.

Stock screening can help you to find stocks that match your trading style, strategy, and risk tolerance. It can also help you to save time and avoid information overload, by focusing only on the most relevant and promising stocks.

There are many tools and platforms that you can use to screen stocks for swing trading, but some of the most popular and useful ones are Trade-Ideas, Scanz, and TradingView. Let’s take a look at how you can use each of them to screen stocks for swing trading.

Trade-Ideas

Trade-Ideas is a powerful and advanced stock screener that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to provide you with trade ideas and signals. Trade-Ideas can scan the market for stocks that meet your criteria, and alert you when they trigger a trading signal, such as a breakout, a gap, a reversal, or a trend change.

Trade-Ideas has a wide range of criteria that you can use to filter stocks, such as market cap, sector, industry, price, volume, performance, dividend, earnings, insider trading, analyst ratings, and more. You can also use Trade-Ideas to scan for stocks based on technical indicators, such as RSI, MACD, Bollinger Bands, moving averages, and more.

To use Trade-Ideas to screen stocks for swing trading, you can go to the Trade-Ideas website, and select the screener tab. You can then choose from the pre-built scans, or create your own custom scan, by selecting your desired criteria from the menus. For example, you can select stocks with a market cap of over $300 million, a volume of over 500,000, a price of between $10 and $50, a performance of over 10% in the past month, and a chart pattern of a cup and handle. You can then sort the results by any column, such as volume, change, or relative volume, and click on any stock to see more details.

Trade-Ideas also offers a premium subscription plan, which gives you access to more features, such as AI-powered trade signals, risk assessment, backtesting, auto-trading, brokerage integration, and suggested entry and exit signals.

Scanz

Scanz is a user-friendly and customizable stock screener that allows you to build your own scanner from scratch. Scanz can scan the market for stocks that match your criteria, and display them in real-time on your screen. You can also use Scanz to create and monitor watchlists, and to access news and SEC filings for each stock.

Scanz has a wide range of criteria that you can use to filter stocks, such as market cap, sector, industry, price, volume, volatility, liquidity, earnings, dividends, analyst ratings, and more. You can also use Scanz to scan for stocks based on technical indicators, such as RSI, MACD, Bollinger Bands, moving averages, and more.

To use Scanz to screen stocks for swing trading, you can go to the Scanz website, and select the scanner tab. You can then choose from the pre-built scans, or create your own custom scan, by selecting your desired criteria from the menus. For example, you can select stocks with a market cap of over $300 million, a volume of over 500,000, a price of between $10 and $50, a performance of over 10% in the past month, an RSI of over 50, and a MACD crossover. You can then sort the results by any column, such as volume, change, or rating, and click on any stock to see more details.

Scanz also offers a premium subscription plan, which gives you access to more features, such as advanced charting tools, integrated brokerage accounts, and news and SEC filings updates.

TradingView

TradingView is a versatile and interactive stock screener that allows you to filter stocks using a scripting language called Pine. TradingView can scan the market for stocks that meet your criteria, and display them on charts with various tools and indicators. You can also use TradingView to create and backtest your own trading strategies, and to access news and social media for each stock.

TradingView has a wide range of criteria that you can use to filter stocks, such as market cap, sector, industry, price, volume, performance, dividend, earnings, analyst ratings, and more. You can also use TradingView to scan for stocks based on technical indicators, such as RSI, MACD, Bollinger Bands, moving averages, and more.

To use TradingView to screen stocks for swing trading, you can go to the TradingView website, and select the screener tab. You can then choose from the pre-built scans, or create your own custom scan, by selecting your desired criteria from the sidebar. For example, you can select stocks with a market cap of over $300 million, a volume of over 500,000, a price of between $10 and $50, a performance of over 10% in the past month, and a chart pattern of a cup and handle. You can then sort the results by any column, such as volume, change, or rating, and click on any stock to see more details.

TradingView also offers a premium subscription plan, which gives you access to more features, such as more indicators, alerts, strategy testing, and priority support.

Conclusion

Swing trading is a fun and profitable way to trade stocks, but it requires some skills and tools to find the best stocks to trade. In this article, I’ve shared with you some tips and tricks on how to find stocks for swing trading, using both fundamental and technical analysis. I’ve also shown you how to use stock screeners and scanners, such as Trade-Ideas, Scanz, and TradingView, to filter and sort stocks based on various criteria.

By using these methods and tools, you can find stocks that have high volume, high volatility, high liquidity, and a reasonable price range. You can also find stocks that have strong earnings, positive news events, financial strength, chart patterns, trends, support and resistance levels, and high-volume signals. These factors will help you to identify stocks that are poised to make big moves with momentum and to capture price swings in the market.

I hope you enjoyed this article and learned something new and useful. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy trading! 😊

How to Find the best Stocks for Swing Trading