Where I Find Stocks To Trade
In trading, correctly picking your entry and exit points is only half the battle. More importantly, you gotta be sure you’re playing the right stocks! To find the right stocks, I use just a few different websites.
Download this cheat sheet to learn where to find stocks to trade.
Below is a list of websites I check every night to find what’s in play—and by in play I mean stocks that moving 30-300%/day and have plenty of trading volume so that I can get in and out easily. The time it takes to research varies (anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours) dependingon market conditions (during boring markets, there’s not much volatility, during bear markets, there aren’t many bullish plays, during bear market spikes (hopefully we get one in the next 2 weeks, there are tons of plays because I look to short into the brief spurts of strength, etc).
I’m sure there’s a way to model everything and/or use pure screening software, but that’s not my game—I just stick with what I know. Once you start practicing the PennyStocking process, you’ll see that anybody can do this—no assembly required.
Yahoo! Finance —this is the grand daddy of financial websites and you should plunder it for information. On the left hand side, I scroll down and click Price % Gainers and I look at each day’s biggest winners. I’m looking to see which big movers will continue to run and which ones will break down. This simple list is where I get 90% of the stocks I trade. Price % Losers doesn’t interest me because I’ve found that big losers are much more unpredictable.
StockCharts.com — I use all the various stock scans to see all the various chart patterns – 52-week highs, $ gainers, gap ups, whatever. 99% of these charts are too messy / unpredictable so I ignore them. I’m looking for very clean-looking charts. I’m working on a charts page for this site so you can see examples of what I’m talking about—it should be up within a few days.
Clearstation —I use the tag and bag to see all the various charts—best trends this week, stocks in new uptrends, etc. Again, just looking for interesting charts with enough trading volume (at least 500,000 in daily trading volume).
And, even though the financial media doesn’t give them any respect—internet message boards are great places to do research. Particularly hype research. TheLion.com (more specifically one message board–Wall Street Pit) and InvestorsHub (more specifically one message board Zeev’s Turnip Patch) are the two best places—Yahoo has message boards, but they’re not great for finding stocks, they’re mostly just spam and amateurs looking to brag about their winners and comfort themselves over their losers.
After I find the stocks in play, I write down all the tickers that interest me and then do full investigations on them—fundamental, technical, and the message boards. Yes, the chart/price action is what interests me initially, but then I want a story to back it up and people who believe that story to back it up even more. In smallcaps and microcaps, it’s all one big self-fulfilling prophecy (many people can’t understand this) so as long as the hype is believable, the price action is predictable.
Certain types of news influence stocks in different ways (buyouts usually lead to little volatility aka I ignore them, FDA news leads to big gains, but I don’t understand the science nor can I predict how successful any drug will be (despite all the BSers out there, nobody does) so I usually leave those alone unless they’re big winners for several days in a row—then I might look to short, newsletter/analyst mentions lead to wild swings—the hype only lasts for so long—so those are my favorite kinds of plays to short, earnings can really power a stock—I hardly ever short these, instead I look to buy these plays if and when their trading volume proves to me that their outstanding earnings have forced people to view the company more positively, etc.
Everybody seems to like to play the same stocks, GOOG, CROX, BIDU (or maybe they just like to write about them), but if you’re willing to look beyond the most actively traded issues, you might be surprised as to how much easier it is to trade stocks that everyone and their mother aren’t playing.
Hey Everyone,
As many of you already know I grew up in a middle class family and didn't have many luxuries. But through trading I was able to change my circumstances --not just for me -- but for my parents as well. I now want to help you and thousands of other people from all around the world achieve similar results!
Which is why I've launched my Trading Challenge. I’m extremely determined to create a millionaire trader out of one my students and hopefully it will be you.
So when you get a chance make sure you check it out.
PS: Don’t forget to check out my 30 Day Bootcamp, it will teach you everything you need to know about trading.
thanks
Cheers!
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Tim, check this out. I was trading SGNL 1 minute. Flubbed the first entry. Then sold on accident on the second, too early. Why. PDT makes me get really good at finding trades, but not doing trades. So, I can find good trades-have more practice at it, but little practice executing trades. Platforms concentrate 90%, on helping traders find trades, but like 10% in trading them. I had two more chances to enter, but….thanks to the SEC, for helping out the sharks instead of the common man with their arcane rules. Now I have to wait, 3 days to trade again. How does that help?
Tim you probably get a S!%^ load of feedback. Just want to say thanks for going the extra mile with these posts it really helps out. Its nice to say with my own time and research and looking at this i am on the right tracks and have ordered about 20 books that you refer to in your videos and more. And i aim to become a subscriber soon!
Cheers tim, have a beer on me.
His screenings is useless if you cannot short. He prefer shorting and making money out of people misfortune.
I don’t know what to think about Tim, he has some good information and I’m sure he knows his stuff, no doubt, but every time I read his replays or hear him talk he comes across as a prideful jerk. Be a little nicer Tim, people will pay for your stuff and class more. When looking for a teacher or mentor in an area you want someone to learn from yes but nobody wants to be a student of “a” hole.
He’s not a jerk he’s just high on life, he’s living the dream!
I signed up for your silver membership to get answers to questions like my last one…. NOT to pay you to try and sell me more crap…………
silver is not personal Q&A, thats my PRO plan, silver has 170+ videos…i suggest u watch them as that will answer all your questions and more…put some effort into this please
It has ben a while since this list was compiled, are there any modifications or additions to your resource list?
Thank’s,
WilliamF
yes its called timfundamentals part deux a dvd where i go over my research process for several hours
What is a replacement for Clearstation’s TagAndBag? ETrade has killed the site since they bought them…
reading the old posts are very helpful..wow….
old friends like Reaper are here too…wow…
it is fun to read how people think and wanna play stock
also Tim and Reaper’s comments and response..
K tim, here is my question. I know how to find these stocks. You have explained them very well. But I suck at research. Putting the story together. You know..finding out why it has gone up so much. What the news was etc. I already bought the pennystocking DVD but it didn’t explain this…this is what I want to learn…how to research the stocks that are in play. Do you have a differn’t DVD I should buy?
Cash, Im not sure why TIM uses eTrade pro, I heard a rumor stating he got stuck with it a while back. But you should be able to pay nothing except commission on trades for the services used. Tim recommends TOS (thinkorswim) and i use TOS.
Right now I’m glad I didn’t get em of course, but anyway Guido at TOS said that it’s not possible to borrow stocks that are under $3. He said that’s Penson’s rule. Help me here Tim. I just don’t get it. BY THE WAY, I MADE $861 AFTER COMMISSIONS YESTERDAY SHORTING USS! My first daytrading these penny stocks in months and my first trade using TIM Alerts. Thanks man.
mark, deal with it, sometimes u can borrow, sometimes u cant, SCON doesnt interest me in the least though, its not up enough
Could anybody find shares of SCON?
anyone get in on SCA the past 2 days?
anyone get in on SCA?
I was watching ALUS earlier, but it has such a low float and spread that I didn’t want to play it.
I was just reserving shares but I would definitely short it now. It’s negative on the day at the end of the day.
any possible plays coming before the close timmay?
If TOS didn’t allow Mark to short stocks under $3, that is a concern.
ALUS – Anyone notice this one? Up more than double in just a week.
Mark – you shouldn’t be shorting SCON today anyway.
TIM SYKES. Please tell me what I can do. TOS just denied my scon request and said Penson doesn’t allow shorting stocks that are under $3. I can one day, and the next day I can’t. Why?
word
MNKD has a BIG gap to fill. Then short it back down!
mnkd broke out this morning @3.25…next resistance is 4.25
MNKD just popped through its channel at 3.30. Room to run. I’m long on this right now.
yeah, i didn’t get shares when the trading desk opened for ToS yesterday so i didn’t even bother watching it anymore.
IVVI jiggy. Nice Sykes-type chart, but very low volume. I’ll pass.
take that back i may be thinking about a cash account rule where even though you bought and sold and made profit you can use that money right away to buy again.
Looks like SOLR might be setting up again. Get ready to pull the trigger under $12.10
It was the PDT rule that locked me out. I now have over $25,000 in my account so I don’t think it will happen again but I’m not sure. Don’t want to risk it.
Same rules apply as I am an american citizen with a US brokerage account.
its not the pdt rule. theres another sec rule that i don’t know the specifics of but you can buy and sell the same stock over and over within a certain time frame. I think its part of using margin and that the money is in limbo when you’re getting in and out fast.
Oh wow, that would be great. I remember in Tim’s book he mentioned it was great when he was living in Spain and the market opened in the afternoon.
Do they have PDT rules in Germany? We lucked out in Canada with no similar restrictions.
bigjim, when you got locked out of your margin account, was that the PDT rule or a different one?
Ha, I live in Germany. Given the time change the market here doesn’t open until 3:30 in the afternoon. I have all day to research and the evening to trade. Works out well. Sucked when I lived in Hawaii…Market opened there at 3 o’clock in the morning…
Yes, yes— I still have a lot to learn. I’m on DVD 3 of PennyStocking…
It’s really hard getting out of bed at 5am to get in on the good shorts lately.
USS coming back down to the $2.50 trigger pull range again. Gotta be careful though…don’t want to day trade the same stock too many times the same week. I got locked out of my margin account and could only trade cash for 90 days.
not enough volume on that one for me Jake
See Reaper… $2.50 in, $2.61 out… 3,000 shares = +$300 in 5 minutes.
Nothing like your smashing success with the stock but I wasn’t able to short.
a $400 a day profit on a couple stocks makes me over a quarter million a year…
Am I the only one here going long on SKNY? Now I feel dumb for a $0.02 gain over 4 hours 😛
Not a Tim stock so I didn’t post here but I have been scoring BIG on SOLR…buying in the $12.05 range and selling out in the mid $12s. Did it several times over the last week an banked over a grand. Seems like it shot up now and may be outta play.
I just bought 10,000 shares of ETFC. I have made thousands trading that one for 20-30 cents. Anything below $3 has been GREAT for me.
I use Etrade and rarely get in on the shorts Tim recommends but have made a lot of money using his methods and recommendations combined with my own techniques refined after nearly 20 years of active trading…
Best of Luck!
lunch money
why, big jim? why?
Going long on USS again at $2.50 for a nuther quarter
Nobody got in on CNEX? I tried but couldn’t get shares.
Tim – don’t worry. I’ve got my money split between TOS and IB evenly now. I’ll try Grace out with a measly 100k and see how it is before closing any accounts. If he doesn’t work out, I’ll try Genesis Securities — they are cheap like Interactive Brokers, but better platform/service/borrows (just not as good as Jon claims to be–he says none of his clients has ever had a forced buy-in).
You’re right about treating brokers like overworked whores — use ’em and lose ’em. I have so far tried and left Etrade, Scottrade, Ameritrade, SogoTrade, and am now with IB and TOS.
goode, try him out first, probly divide up your accounts, not sure what borrow scene is like these days with real brokers
I use TOS software, but i just opened an account and TIM recommends TOS. As far as the pattern day trader, optionsXpress does NOT inforce the 3 trade rule. I have a ROTH with them thats *above* 25, but when i opened the account it was *less than* 25k and made sometimes 10 or so a day on that account. The SEC rule was in place also. I also have an individual account i just moved, and made move than 3 a day on that small account over 10k.
I must warn you thou, OX rarely has the shares that are hard to get, customer service sucks, and you can’t short a stock under $5… which is why i moved to TOS.
can you believe that, no shorts under $5… buncha communist.
TIM – thanks for the refer to Jon. He’s getting me set up with an account. A penny a share, but I’ll take that to get awesome borrows. Looks like I’ll be leaving TOS and maybe IB. That’s good news to everyone else who’ll have access to more shares to short!
bestdeception – look at the daily candlestick chart. There is resistance at .45 and .60. it broke thru .45 so now .60 is resistance. Anyway, it is not worth shorting today.
Do most of y’all use ToS for day trades? I currently use E-Trade and am wondering if you can reserve shares through them. I am obviously new and have been laying back watching all the magic happen and waiting to make my first short trade.
Reaper, I see the sellers lined up at $.48. Is there something else you’re looking at for resistance?
Nice call Notesguy. My take is that I’d want to see it up big another day, or at least up some more today. I read serious resistance at $0.45.
Hey what you guys think about NPLA? It went up about 115% yesterday and it’s been up an additional 42% today. A short-sell candidate soon?
yeah all have to. ToS was a little iffy about keeping up with your day trade but now they have it automated with a counter. I wouldn’t want to make it a practive to try and get away with more then 3 because you think your broker won’t nail you if you only go over by one.
Does anyone know if all brokers fully enforce the pattern day trader rule or are their some exceptions?
LVL 2 shows huge buy imbalance on SCON. 15k bid @ 2.26, 12k @ 2.20. That would keep me from playing it.
Tim, I have a MAC Book Pro but most apps are for Windows. You can use boot camp or Vmware and install Windows XP or Vista. I prefer XP. What do you guys recommend to identify your entry into a trade? I’m having a difficult time spotting entry points. I’m using the TOS software.
Went short on BBSI at 16.10 thanks to lmsmith. Down to 15.67 now. Can’t get any shares of SCON or any of the others on the list now.
When would you act on SCON? It is right at yesterday’s close now.
I have 1000 shares reserved, was waiting for a spike to short, next time I know is under $ 2.50.
Take a deep breath and don’t force a trade
TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND DON’T FORCE A TRADE !!!!
I pretty much wrote off USS as being all syked out for the day.
MITI i have shares reserved and its seeing a little movement.
I was tempted to get a short in at the open and ride the panic…wasn’t set up yet. What you expecting USS to be doing the rest of the day. I really don’t see much more downside and no reason for upside. I still have 200 shares reserved.
no u dont short USS on a bounce, it could go right back up to $4…nor do u buy it here, there’s no edge either way
https://www.macupdate.com/ look for the apps you want for mac
has anyone tried reserving shares of USS to short? I’d short on a bounce to $3.
Any chance USS will pop back to around $3 by EOD today?
Scon may be in play .. $0.01 above yesterday’s close. But not an ideal play. IB has plenty of shares.
Thanks for the quick response. Is the 100/mnth for etrade pro worth it or would you suggest something else for a person starting out? Dude you are the man and once I make a million your way I owe you a round of golf. You teach me how to trade and I can teach you how to play, cause from what we saw in wsw was some steller play by you.
nope, everything is free, u dont need any of that expensive crap
Tim other then etrade pro that you said you pay 100 a month for do you pay for any other market services or do you use all free services.
your model pic is hot! you should make her into a talking TIMpic!
Thanks for the reply Tim.
these are the kinds of charts i play:
https://www.timothysykes.com/charts/
greta big ups, great big downs–as u’ve read in my book, it’s when i get away from these simple patterns i lose $ trading. what works best is to find a big winner, wait for some sideways price action and bet on a 10-30% fall. thats it. nothing more.
I love threads like this… a complete trading idiot (ME) can actually grasp this stuff… I’m coming from the grassroots level… so excuse my ignorance as I learn this game (and have fun in the process).
Is there a link to your “chart page” examples?
Please and thank you.
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
When looking at the list of potential plays on Yahoo! Finance –> “Price%Gainers”, what exactly are you looking at/for?
Are thses good sites to visit if you trade in Canada? If not, can you (or anyone else) recommend other sites I can research?
its not tough, just scan through all the patterns, and if nothing fluffy is up 50-200% in a few days dont worry about trading
That really give lot of places to look and lot more patience to scan and find stocks. If thats the only job then its good but not for a full time worker..
Thanks for sharing this info.. It helps to pick and find our own stocks.. You are good timmy..