eSignal Market Scanners provide a quick and effective way of scanning the 3 major U.S. equity markets (NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ) in real time. When you consider the thousands of listings in the U.S. stock market today, you have an instant grasp of the value of real-time scanners. The scanners are useful for doing the most common type of trading and let you access critical price-performance data as soon as the markets are open.

Every time you run the scanner, you get a concise, easy-to-read list of stocks that are trading candidates. And, the list is based on the latest real-time streaming market data.

Why be restrictive in scan criteria? Because today’s cold stocks could become tomorrow’s hot plays. The best combinations of scan criteria may have the most potent elements of fundamental and technical analysis. For example, filtering stocks for gainers, losers and volume can uncover excellent trades.

Most full-time traders today should be prepared with sets of scan criteria that target particular plays or patterns. Having an updated momentum list ready to go when the pre-markets open can mean the difference between profit and loss. Alternatively, stocks that wobble back and forth between well-defined price levels make great trading opportunities in quiet times.

An equity trader may use the Pre-Market Scan to find his or her best opportunities before the opening bell. This strategy is, by no means, the only way to use Pre-Market Scan, nor is it guaranteed to ensure profits for those who use it. But, for the trader with a moderate amount of experience in the market and an understanding of how the features of the tool work, it can be very effective.

As soon as the market opens (up to a half hour after the open), use the "Percent Gainers" option of Pre-Market Scan, as an example, to make your initial picks. Select as follows:

Using the Rally Scan in conjunction with some key features of eSignal can provide you with superior decision support for momentum trading. At 10:30 a.m.(ET), open the Rally Scan using the modes appropriate to your individual trading strategy and the type of market and day.

Make use of the filtering power of the eSignal Market Scanner by specifying the price and volume characteristics of the stocks that suit your trading style. Enter the Low and High Price, Daily Volume Traded and Daily Average Volume. If you are not sure what to add, try: Low Price = 20, High Price = 80, Volume Traded = 100k for each hour of market activity (12 noon = 250k and Average Daily Volume = 750k).

Copy the stocks from Rally Scan into any Quote or Summary window within eSignal. Some will "die" almost immediately while others will rally up from their morning positions. Use other indicators that give you confidence and trading "edge", including:

The Power Scan is included as part of the Power and Turbo packages. This scan is an extremely flexible, powerful, all-purpose market scanner. You can use it to learn which stocks in the entire stock market are hot and which are in trouble right from the opening bell. By limiting the results to only those stocks that suit your unique trading / investing personality, it allows you to view, in real time, market activity by volume, $ and percent gainers and losers, high / low at 3, 5, 10, 20 days and 52 weeks, abnormal volume, bid / ask spread and more.

Traders can copy results directly into eSignal to track in real time and provide even tighter decision support. Plus, you can access charts, news and company research to learn more about each potential trading opportunity.

Your scanning routine needs to identify setups, measure reward / risk ratios and find the most advantageous execution prices. Build an automatic filtering process that evaluates each stock objectively for these three characteristics. Remember that a single flaw that doesn't fit your trading style may negate an otherwise perfect opportunity.

Understand the Real Purpose of Market Scanning
Traders spend long hours trying to build scans that spit out perfect gems and no losers. This strange obsession actually undermines their considerable efforts. Scans are wake-up calls for your watch list, nothing more and nothing less.

In terms of any judgment concerning which scan appears to work best, we recommend that you look at the long-term returns, as well as recent performance. The scan strategies we presented here are merely computer-generated lists, based on our own interpretations.

Some Questions You Want to Ask Yourself
Keep in mind that the scan strategies presented here are our own interpretations. While we have attempted to illustrate a practical set of rules for each approach, the scans are only the first step. We recommend that you use them to generate an initial list of potential investments that merit further research.

When determining which scan(s) you want to follow, you need to ask yourself the following:

Most importantly, remember that scanning is just a first step. There are qualitative elements that cannot be captured effectively by the very quantitative scanning process. Detailed fundamental analysis of any stock you are considering for purchase is necessary for successful investing.