Introduction

Scanners are among the core features of StocksToTrade. They provide a real-time view of all the stocks that meet a very specific set of criteria.

There are two main types of scanners available:

• Basic Scanners - a set of pre-set criteria established by Timothy Sykes to conduct efficient stock research in real time.
• Custom Screener - a scanner builder that allows you to fully customize all of the scanner parameters according to your needs.

The anatomy of the scanner results

Scanner results will be similar for both types of scanners, as they rely on the same display mechanism, regardless of the search criteria used to find stocks.

Note: A single scan widget is allowed per tab.

Adding, moving, sorting, and removing columns.

All stock tables in StocksToTrade 2.3 allow adding, moving, sorting, and removing data columns from the display (this is also applicable to sidebar widgets in Chapter 4).

• To add a column, simply right-click on any of the column headers. This will display the column menu: 

You may select any column you require from the wide range of options available.

• To move a column, simply drag the desired column to its preferred position.
• To sort a column, click on the column header; you will notice an arrow that indicates whether sorting is ascending (arrow pointing up) or descending (arrow pointing down)
• To remove a column, right-click and select Remove "<Column Name>", where "<Column Name>" indicates the label on the header of the column you wish to remove.

Scanner information

You may obtain details about the current scanner by hovering over the Information icon () at the bottom of the scan widget window.

This will provide you with the top-level criteria for the current scan:

Filtering down results

Scanners offer a primary layer of filtering by matching all stocks that meet the criteria for the current scan. 

Results can be refined by utilizing a secondary layer of filtering.

This is accomplished by clicking on the Filter Current Results button:

A dialog will pop up allowing you to insert the filtration values according to your specific needs; this filter can be applied by clicking on "Filter Now" and cleared by clicking on "Clear:"

Pausing scanner

At any time during the live session, you may pause the current scanner, resulting in a frozen snapshot of its current state. This is achieved by checking the box at the top of the scanner widget:

Unchecking the box will re-enable real-time updates on the selected scanner.

Basic Scanners

Basic scanners provide a selection of preset scan criteria based on Timothy Sykes' winning penny stock strategies.

The Basic scanners are disabled by default and must be actively enabled to display the necessary scanner.

Opening the list of available scans is achieved by clicking on the Scans button

This will display a menu featuring the complete list of available preset scanners organized by category:

For the full list of Basic Scans and their usage, please refer to Appendix A.

Custom Screeners

Custom Screeners are the most powerful feature of StocksToTrade 2.3. They allow you to create your own criteria to align with your strategy needs for researching and finding suitable stocks in real time.

You can access the Scanner builder by clicking on the Screener button.

Screener Builder

After clicking on the Screener button, you will be presented with the Screener Builder tool:

Here we will create a simple scan that looks for stocks with the last price greater than or equal to $1.25!

Clearing the filter parameters

You can clear the filter at any time by clicking the Clear button.

Saving a Custom Scan

Once you have finished creating a custom scan, you can choose to save it for later use.

Note: Custom Scan parameters are only remembered while the current tab is open. When the tab is closed, all unsaved scan parameters will be lost.

To save your custom scan, simply click Save and provide a descriptive name for it.

You can reload any saved scans by clicking on the name of the scan under the Screeners section in the top right corner of the widget:

Running the filter

The currently loaded filter can be run by simply clicking on the Run button.