April 14, 2021

What about Td Ameritrade scanners and screeners?

Can they make you a successful day trader?

As a day trader, either beginner or experienced, the chances are that you would have come across the words stock scanners and stock screeners.
You have probably been wondering how they can impact your trading and if they are worth adopting into your trading plan. If you have all these questions or more about stock screeners and scanners running through your mind, not to worry because we have got all the answers right here for you. And does TD Ameritrade really have both scanners and screeners available?

First things first, what are stock screeners and stock scanners?

As the famous saying goes, always look before you leap. But in this instance, learn before you adopt. Get it?

What are stock screeners?

If you are familiar with the stocks market, you will know that choosing “good” stocks is no easy task considering the ocean of stocks out there.
Also, the increasing number of companies and volumes of data that need to be analyzed before making any decision makes it almost impossible to pinpoint the perfect stock to trade. You will have to sift through a sea of valuable and unimportant data to arrive at a reasonable conclusion.

Speaking of sifting data, there is where stock screeners come into play. Stock screeners are trading tools built to identify and focus on stocks that check all the boxes in your trading plan.
In straightforward terms, stock screeners scout the market and point you in the direction of stocks that meets your stock trading criteria or standards.

You can think of stock screeners as effective filters that can help you narrow your search or zero in on companies you are looking to invest in. As such helping you to keep tabs on only stocks that meet your set specific financial parameters.

Interestingly, all you have to do is fill in specific parameters about the kind of stock you are on the lookout for, and the screener will provide you with a list of stocks that match your requirements.

What is a stock scanner?

As the name implies, stock scanners are trading software that scouts the stock markets in real-time and displays new stock alerts in a streaming format.

As a day trader, you are always on the lookout for as many opportunities as possible. To not miss out on any important alert and save yourself the pressure of surfing and juggling between different web pages, you can leverage stock scanners in your trading.

Experienced traders will attest that looking for trading opportunities is not a rosy experience because of its monotonous nature, making it boring sometimes. Think about it, wouldn’t you instead let dedicated software help you watch out for specific stocks while you keep your eyes on the bigger picture?
That dedicated software is known as a stock scanner, and it will help you deal with the difficult task of scouting the markets for important information and major alerts. You see, it saves your time, energy, and sanity.

What can a stock scanner do for you?

As we mentioned earlier, stock scanners are software that will almost instantly analyze multiple stocks and fish out stocks that meet your criteria. Unlike stock screeners, stock scanners go further to display the results on your screen.

For instance, you can ask a stock scanner to search for stocks that are making all-time highs and lows at a and boom; you will be “flooded” with results in no time. Their incredible speed and accuracy make them an invaluable asset and a game-changer in the stock market.

With all we have discussed so far, you should be able to tell the difference between stock scanners and stock screeners. Having grasped the difference between these two amazing trading tools, let’s quickly add that stock screeners were developed at a time when the internet was at its infant stage.
Back then, stock screeners were used to search for stocks that meet specific trading criteria (such as stocks that have gone above a moving average) every time traders login to their accounts. And they were primarily used for long-term trading.

On the other hand, stock scanners are a product of advancements in technology and the internet revolution in stock trading. While stock screeners and scanners may seem alike, stock scanners are powerful programs that search the markets and display feeds in real-time.

While these terms are easily interchanged or misused by many traders, it’s always best to understand the technical difference between them.

What are the best stock scanner and screeners?

Having understood the difference between stock screeners and stock scanners, one question that is probably racing through your mind, what is the best one?

Before we go into my top pick for each, I would like to mention that these are my favorite screeners and scanners after trying different ones throughout the years.

Top Scanners

Now, considering the avalanche of stock scanners out there, it’s almost impossible to tell which stock scanner is the best. However, I did narrow it down to two options and that is the Trade Ideas Scanners and TC2000. These scanners have the top features in the market and are by far the most reliable in my experience. Another thing that makes them great is how customizable they both are. In regards to pricing, TIs scanners are a little more expensive but that would have to be because of their AI capabilities. I would highly recommend you look into both and compare their pros and cons before making a decision.

Top Screeners

When it comes to screeners, there are plenty of free and paid versions out there, obviously, the free versions being the more limited option. But in my humble opinion, the screeners from ThinkorSwim are far superior.
TD Ameritrade is one of the biggest online brokers that has been in business for a very long time for beginner stock traders.

They offer various trading options and unique tools for prospective traders seeking a relatively smooth journey in the stock markets. TD Ameritrade has a robust website and mobile apps through which it offers its services. Not to mention its renowned thinkorswim stock screeners (also known as TOS stock screeners).

What’s the big deal about the TD Ameritrade stock screeners?

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More on TD Ameritrade thinkorswim platform

Thoughtfully, the thinkorswim platform is customizable. It allows traders to adjust the platform’s settings to their specifications. That way, traders can get quick access to their favorite features.

Contrary to popular misconceptions, the customization features on the TD Ameritrade website is limited. On the other hand, there’s no limit to how much customization you can do on thinkorswim. You can customize virtually everything from the tools on each page to the background color, fonts, parameters, indicators, and the list goes on.

So are they scanners or screeners? Well if that wasn’t clear earlier, the answer is, screeners. TOS offers one of the best screeners in the market, they allow you to scan previous data but are not true scanners like mentioned before because they do not pull or update live as true scanners do.

In conclusion

To answer the question, can scanners and screeners make you a successful day trader? One can say yes.
However, you must complement whatever knowledge you have about stock scanners with the right trading education on risk management and consistency. Only by combining those three, can boost your chances of becoming a more successful stock trader.

To learn more about stock scanners and how you can integrate them into your trading strategy, you can check in with the day trader chatroom free course.