February 13, 2026

Stock Screener Filters Explained: What to Actually Look For

There are dozens of filters you could use on a stock screener. Most of them don't matter for the average person. Here's which ones do, what they mean in plain English, and how to combine them without overthinking it.

Why Most People Get Stuck

You open a stock screener for the first time and there are 40 different filters staring back at you. P/E ratio, EPS growth, beta, Bollinger Bands, MACD crossover, float percentage. It feels like you need a finance degree just to get started.

You don't. Most of those filters exist for very specific strategies that don't apply to someone who just wants to find a few solid stocks to look at this week. The reality is that three to five well-chosen filters will get you 90% of the way there. The rest is noise until you have a reason to use it.

Let's go through the filters that actually matter, one at a time.

The Filters That Matter

1. Price

This is the most obvious one and the one you should always set first. If your account has $500 in it, looking at $200 stocks doesn't make much sense. You'd only be able to buy two shares, which limits your flexibility and makes position sizing nearly impossible.

Set a max price that lets you buy at least 20-30 shares. That gives you room to scale in and out of a position. If you're working with a smaller account, stocks in the $3 to $20 range tend to be the sweet spot.

You should also set a minimum price. Stocks under $1 are penny stock territory and they behave differently than everything else. Wider spreads, lower liquidity, more manipulation. Unless you specifically know what you're doing with sub-dollar stocks, filter them out.

Use it: Always. This should be your first filter on every screen.

2. Volume

Volume tells you how many shares of a stock are being traded each day. It matters more than most beginners realize.

Low volume means fewer people are buying and selling. That creates two problems. First, the spread between the buy price and sell price gets wider, so you lose money just entering the trade. Second, when you want to get out, there might not be enough buyers at the price you want. You end up selling lower than you planned.

A good starting point is 100,000 shares per day minimum. For day trading or short-term plays, you probably want 500,000 or more. The higher the volume, the easier it is to get in and out at the price you see on screen.

Use it: Always. Low volume stocks can trap you in a position you can't exit cleanly.

3. Market Cap

Market cap is the total value of all a company's shares. It's calculated by multiplying the stock price by the number of shares that exist. A stock trading at $10 with 100 million shares outstanding has a market cap of $1 billion.

Why does this matter? Because it tells you roughly how established and stable a company is.

Large cap ($10B+) - Big, established companies. Less volatile, slower moves. Think household names.
Mid cap ($2B-$10B) - Growing companies with some track record. More movement than large caps but less risky than small caps.
Small cap (under $2B) - Smaller, younger companies. Can move fast in both directions. Higher risk, higher potential reward.

There's no right answer here. It depends on what you're looking for. But if you're just getting started, filtering for mid cap and above ($2B+) keeps you away from the most volatile and unpredictable names while you learn.

Use it: When you want to control how risky your results are.

4. RSI (Relative Strength Index)

RSI measures momentum on a scale from 0 to 100. It looks at how much a stock has gone up versus how much it's gone down over a recent period (usually 14 days) and gives you a single number.

Below 30 - The stock is considered "oversold." It's dropped a lot recently and might be due for a bounce.
Above 70 - The stock is "overbought." It's run up fast and might pull back.
Between 30 and 70 - Neutral territory. The stock isn't at an extreme in either direction.

A lot of traders use RSI to find entry points. The idea is simple: if a stock you already like has an RSI below 30, it might be a better time to buy than when RSI is at 65. It's not a guarantee, but it helps with timing.

One thing to keep in mind: a stock can stay oversold for weeks. RSI below 30 doesn't mean "buy right now." It means "pay attention, something interesting might be happening."

Use it: When you want to find stocks at potential turning points, or avoid chasing stocks that have already run up.

5. Percent Change (Recent Performance)

This filter shows you how much a stock has moved over a specific time period. You might filter for stocks that are down 10% or more over the past week, or stocks that are up 5% over the past month.

How you use this depends entirely on your approach. If you like buying dips, filter for negative recent performance combined with oversold RSI. If you like riding momentum, filter for positive performance with increasing volume.

The mistake people make is using this filter alone. A stock that dropped 20% last week could be a bargain or it could be falling for a very good reason. Always pair this with other filters.

Use it: When you have a specific strategy in mind (buying dips, riding momentum, etc.).

Filters You Can Probably Skip (For Now)

These aren't bad filters. They're just not necessary when you're getting started, and adding too many at once usually does more harm than good.

P/E Ratio

Price-to-earnings ratio. It tells you how much you're paying for each dollar of a company's earnings. Useful for value investing, but it requires context. A P/E of 25 might be cheap for a fast-growing tech company and expensive for a utility. If you don't know the typical P/E range for a sector, this filter can mislead you.

Skip until: You're comfortable with fundamental analysis and want to screen for value.

Beta

Measures how much a stock moves relative to the overall market. A beta of 1.5 means the stock tends to move 50% more than the S&P 500 on any given day. Interesting in theory, but in practice, price and volume filters already give you a feel for volatility without needing another number.

Skip until: You're building a portfolio and want to manage overall volatility.

Dividend Yield

The percentage a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its stock price. Important if you're an income investor looking for steady cash flow. Not relevant if you're screening for short-term trades or growth stocks.

Skip until: You're specifically looking for income-generating investments.

Putting It Together: Three Screens That Work

Here are three simple filter combinations for different goals. Each one uses five filters or fewer.

Screen 1: "I have a small account and want to find affordable stocks"

Filter	Setting	Why
Max price	$25	Fits a smaller account
Min price	$2	Avoids penny stock territory
Min volume	200,000	Enough liquidity to trade
Market cap	$500M+	Filters out the riskiest micro caps

Screen 2: "I want to find oversold stocks that might bounce"

Filter	Setting	Why
Max price	$50	Your budget ceiling
RSI	Below 30	Oversold territory
Min volume	100,000	Tradeable liquidity
5-day change	Negative	Confirms recent selling pressure

Screen 3: "I want stable, established companies on sale"

Filter	Setting	Why
Market cap	$10B+ (large cap)	Big, established companies
Min volume	500,000	Very liquid
RSI	Below 40	Pulling back but not in freefall
Max price	$100	Reasonable entry point

💡 Tip: Run your screen, then look at the charts of what comes back. The screener narrows the field. Your eyes on the chart make the final call. If the chart looks messy and you can't identify clear support or resistance, move on to the next one.

Common Mistakes

Using too many filters at once. You set 12 filters and get zero results. Then you start loosening them randomly until something shows up. That's backwards. Start with 3 filters and add more only if you're getting too many results.
Ignoring volume. A stock can look perfect on every other metric, but if it trades 10,000 shares a day, you're going to have a bad time getting in and out.
Screening once and never again. The market changes every day. A screen you ran last Monday will give you completely different results this Monday. Make it a weekly habit.
Treating screener results as buy signals. A screener finds candidates. It doesn't tell you to buy. Always look at the chart, check for upcoming earnings or news, and make sure the setup actually makes sense before putting money in.
Copying someone else's filters without understanding them. If you don't know why a filter is set to a specific value, you won't know when to adjust it. Learn what each filter does first, then build your own screens.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a stock screener?

A stock screener is a tool that filters through thousands of stocks based on criteria you set, like price, volume, market cap, or technical indicators like RSI. Instead of looking at stocks one by one, you tell the screener what you care about and it gives you a short list of stocks that match.

What are the best stock screener filters for beginners?

Start with three filters: a price range that fits your account size, a minimum volume of at least 100,000 shares daily so you can buy and sell easily, and a market cap above $500 million to avoid the riskiest small companies. Once you're comfortable, add RSI to find stocks that might be oversold or overbought.

What does RSI mean in stock screening?

RSI stands for Relative Strength Index. It measures how fast a stock's price has been moving up or down on a scale from 0 to 100. Below 30 is considered oversold, meaning the stock may have dropped too far too fast. Above 70 is overbought, meaning it may have run up too quickly. Traders use RSI to time entries and exits.

How many filters should I use on a stock screener?

Three to five filters is the sweet spot for most people. Too few and you get hundreds of results you can't sort through. Too many and you filter out everything, including good opportunities. Start simple and add filters only when you have a specific reason to.

Can I find good stocks with a small account under $1,000?

Yes. Set your price filter to match your budget, keep minimum volume high so you can exit positions easily, and focus on stocks with real trading activity. A $500 account buying a $3 stock can still get 150+ shares, which is enough to make meaningful percentage gains. The key is using filters to avoid illiquid penny stocks that are hard to sell.

⚠️ Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Stock trading involves risk of loss. Always conduct your own research and consider consulting a financial advisor before making investment decisions.

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