Stock trading has never been more popular in the U.S. With trading volumes consistently reaching 10 billion per day, it’s clear that we have entered a golden age for stocks. The widespread move to zero-commission trades, ushered in by upstart platforms such as Robinhood and SoFi, continues to bring more and more retail investors into the market.
Unfortunately, many retail traders struggle to trade successfully. A lack of baseline knowledge and research is driving much of this lack of success. Fortunately, there’s never been an easier time to learn how to trade successfully, as countless trading tools are now on the market and accessible even to beginning traders.
One of the most game-changing tools that traders of any level can benefit from is a stock screener. To help you find the stock screener that’s best for you, this article will cover the 5 best stock screeners on the market, including popular options such as Trade Ideas, TradingView, and TC2000.
1) Trade Ideas
Up first is Trade Ideas, which is one of the best platforms out there for short- and medium-term trading. While Trade Ideas has a wide array of advanced trading tools, this article will focus on its stock screener.
One of the great aspects of Trade Ideas is how it’s powered by AI, via its robo-advisor engine, Holly Grail. This tool enables you to analyze countless potential trading scenarios.
Trade Ideas’ stock screener deploys this technology to provide excellent stock scanning capabilities. It delivers real-time data from the markets, including both stocks and ETFs. With pre-defined channels, it’s easy to filter through many different sectors.
Another pro to Trade Ideas is that it has both a browser and desktop program, so you can use one or the other depending on your preference or if you’re on the go.
Pros
- AI functionality for better results
- Automated trading features
- Customizable scanners
Cons
- Limited fundamental research data
- Fairly high fees
2) TC2000
TC2000 has been around for over twenty-five years and, during this time, it has established itself as one of the top-tier stock screeners on the market.
TC2000 is a truly high-quality stock software option for traders of all levels, even winning an award in 2019 for “favorite standalone analytical software for $500 or less” (from Techincal Analysis of Stock & Commodities magazine).
TC2000 does have a broker component, but at present we’ll focus on its screener. One of the most comprehensive charting platforms around, TC2000 spuports over one-hundred indicator values, custom scans, customizable layouts, and prebuilt layouts. This saves you lots of time as you can quickly load and customize any given number of scans and layouts.
Traders can use an array of technical indicators and different drawing tools to set up their own preferred charts, as well as use pre-made charts. In this way, it combines the best of both worlds.
TC2000’s scanner also uses real-time data and allows traders to find stocks that are trending and may potentially move quickly one way or another based on trading volumes.
TC2000 is not only robust but also one of the more affordable screeners out there, making it worth considering for almost all traders.
Pros
- Robust screener and scanner
- Real-time data
- Pre-made charts plus almost limitless customization
Cons
- No backtesting
- No AI tools
3) TrendSpider
TrendSpider is one of the world’s smartest trading software when it comes to automating your in-depth technical analysis. The platform’s market scanner produces dynamic watchlists based on priority technical data.
With TrendSpider, you can quickly find your ideal trading setup with flexible scans. You can use one of 20 built-in scans or create your own. While not quite as fast as Trade Ideas’ scanner, the one-minute chart is more than sufficient for most traders.
One neat feature you won’t find with other stock screeners is TrendSpider’s multi-timeframe analysis, which allows you to bring together multiple timeframes on a single chart.
Some of the charting features are unique to TrendSpider, such as the Ichimoku Cloud, MACD Cross, and blue Raindrop scanner.
Pros
- AI-powered algorithms
- Free education at TrendSpider University
- Continuous improvement
Cons
- Slow loading charts
- Viewing several charts at once is difficult
4) FinViz
FinViz is a comprehensive platform that provides a variety of tools, including stock screening, market research, and visualization. For the purposes of this article, we’re focusing on the stock screening capabilities.
FinViz offers robust scanning and screening as it supports multiple filter and chart styles while also offering real-time data (for premium members). These tools allow traders to identify potentially lucrative trading opportunities and make well-informed decisions based on robust data.
The stock screener is arguably FinViz’s strongest asset, and it allows users to scan more tan 8,500 stocks and ETFs through nearly 70 filters.
In addition, FinViz offers various stock charts, including daily, bar, candlestick, and other advanced charts with 17 different indicators. Premium members also have access to interactive charts.
One of the only drawbacks is the lack of pre-built screeners, which most of its competitors offer.
Nonetheless, FinViz is a great option to consider for just about all traders, especially as they have a free version, unlike many of their competitors.
Pros
- Market visualization
- Robust screener and scanner
- Intraday data
- Backtesting up to 24 years
- Free version available
Cons
- No pre-built screeners
- Limited chart overlays & indicators
- No auto-saving
- Outdated interface
5) TradingView
TradingView is a relatively affordable stock screener compared to some of its competitors. Nonetheless, it still provides considerable value.
One neat thing about TradingView is how unique it is. You can’t really find anything like it among its competitors. That’s because TradingView offers a community-driven model that allows you to exchange trading ideas and easily learn from others.
TradingView offers multiple screeners, including for stocks, forex, and crypto, making it more versatile than some of the other screeners reviewed.
TradingView’s screener provides critical data while also offering a great variety of presets, including “Most capitalized,” “Volume leaders,” “High-dividend,” “Unusual volume,” “Overbought,” “Oversold,” “Earning this week,” and many more. These filters allows users to quickly and easily access key data and trends, thus enabling them to make smarter and better-informed trades.
What’s really great about TradingView is that you can use these screeners without even signing up for an account. Thanks to its massive and growing community, however, many people enjoy signing up and joining in on the trading discourse.
One of the only downsides is that if you want to use real-time indicators and charting, you will need to sign up for a subscription. Signing up may be well worth it, though, so you can take advantage of all the advanced tools that TradingView has to offer.
Pros
- Screener access without signing up
- Desktop and mobile compatibility
- Wide asset range covered
Cons
- Limited brokerage support
- Expensive premium tiers
Conclusion
After extensive research, these are the top five best stock screeners on the market today. Investors who commit to detailed research will always have an advantage over those who pick at random. Of course, traders don’t necessarily need to know everything about a given company. The information you need depends on your overall investment strategy.
So, when considering a scanner, think about your needs and preferences and choose accordingly. With so many free and low-cost options available to today’s investors, there’s no excuse not to have the latest market data.