In the last decade, there has been an influx of retail stock market investors. The emergence of discount brokerage platforms such as Robinhood as well as access to tools such as stock scanners has made it easier for the retail investor to buy and sell stocks.
A stock scanner is basically a platform where investors can identify stocks and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) based on their investment criteria and strategy. There is a good chance that a well-established brokerage house will have a stock scanner that will be provided to users. However, there are several independent platforms that provide a subscription-based stock screening service to investors.
Here we take a look at some of these stock scanners that are available to investors.
StocksToTrade
The first stock scanner on this list is StocksToTrade. It has built-in proprietary algorithms and scanners that will help the user unlock real-time trading opportunities. Built by day traders and swing traders, STT is designed to be efficient with a focus on speed and an easy to use interface.
Using the StockToTrade platform, one can easily find stock-specific information related to its SEC filings, earnings and current CEO among others. STT’s ORACLE is a 24/7 stock scanner that can be leveraged to make big trading moves.
ORACLE analyzes several past winners and based on this back-tested data it will show you similar favorable conditions that the user can view and take a trading decision given the information.
StockToTrade’s platform is available for $7 for a 14-day trial period. It is then priced at $179.95/month or $1899.50/year.
Ziggma
One of the newest players in this space, Ziggma is a next-generation investment management platform. Its multi-asset screener allows the user to choose between equities, ETFs, and bonds. Ziggma not only provides you access to stocks in the U.S. markets, but its stock scanner also has details about various other equity markets such as China, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
Here, you can filter stock based on various options that include index, sector, and industry. Further, you can also shortlist stocks based on multiple metrics related to valuation, growth, and profitability.
The company has a proprietary software that leverages back-tested data and ranks stocks according to a Ziggma score based on the above-mentioned metrics. According to Sigma, its proprietary scores are based on institutional grade, algo-based analysis. It employs machine processing to carry out fundamental analysis on several data points, saving valuable time for users.
Atom Finance
Atom Finance is another stock scanner that is now providing investors with premium access for $1 in the first 60 days. After the trial period is over, the subscription fee is $9.99/month. Using Atom Finance’s intuitive platform users can find investment opportunities by gaining access to its extensive database of company metrics and financial data.
You can select from Atom Finance’s robust list of screening filters. These include valuation multiples, company financials, growth rates as well as projections. After you have identified a list of stocks for investments, you can create a watchlist to track their performance over time.
Users can also identify the perfect entry opportunity by populating charts and graphs for analysis. Atom Finance provides users with alerts for company events and investor documents as well as real-time news that will keep you up to date with the latest information.
TD Ameritrade
The only broker to make this list is TD Ameritrade. It was one of the first brokers to offer commission-free trading for investors. TD Ameritrade has six platforms and its thinkorswim platform is a stock scanner that integrated data analysis with trading.
According to TD Ameritrade, the thinkorswim desktop platform is a professional-level trading platform where you can use tools to perform analysis as well as test strategies. It also has onboarding tools such as thinkManual and other tutorials to help you get started. The thinkorswim desktop is a fully customizable, downloadable software application.
You can also try out strategies on TD’s robust paper trading platform before allocating real money in case you are a beginner trader.
Finviz
With monthly organic page views of over 5.1 million, Finviz is one of the most popular stock scanners in the world. Its stock screener has a variety of options where you can first filter companies based on the exchange, sector, industry as well as the country they trade in. You can then filter stocks based on metrics such as market cap, dividend yield, analyst recommendations, average volume as well as target prices.
For example, you have the option to look at tech stocks part of the S&P 500 with a trading volume of over 1 million shares that are trading at a discount of 30% to analyst estimates. Finviz’s free platform is quite powerful and it also provides access to more sophisticated tools via a subscription.
Stock Rover
One of the stock scanners that is gaining in popularity is Stock Rover, an investment research and analysis tool. It’s a web-based platform and Stock Rover uses several standard desktop UI conventions, making it a functional and easy-to-use screener.
Stock Rover allows the user to evaluate competing investment options. It computes fair values and margin of safety as well as warns users about certain trends while scoring companies for growth, quality, sentiment, and value.
You will also get detailed equity research reports allowing users to conduct a thorough analysis before making an investment decision.
The final takeaway
A dynamic and easy-to-use stock scanner should accelerate investment decisions for retail investors. While some of these platforms are better for fundamental analysis they might not be the best option for technical traders.
You should know that every scanner is dependent on user inputs which will help you filter stocks and make an investment or trading decision quickly.