A premarket stock screener is a tool that helps you find those premarket movers that fit your strategy. From there, you can do your due diligence and decide whether the stock fits on your watchlist.
Checking what happens before the market opens can lead you to some great trading opportunities. As they say, “the early bird gets the worm.” You can get ahead of other traders and spot the day’s hot stocks before they do.
Just be careful — there isn’t as much liquidity in premarket. It can be hard to exit your position, and price moves can be deceptive. Like I always say, ‘Buy in pre, sell in pre.’ If you hold on too long, your trade could collapse in the revealing light of day.
Premarket is a big part of my trading day. By looking at premarket movers, I know where the action is, and I can hit the ground running when the market opens.
What are the best premarket stock screeners, and how can they help you spot great trades? Let’s dive right in!
What Is a Premarket Stock Screener?
A premarket stock screener is a tool that scans premarket data to find stocks that you want to trade. It scours through thousands of stocks that are active in the premarket and gives you a handful of stocks that fit your trading preferences. This helps you identify which stocks to dive deeper into, so you can make informed trading decisions and maximize your results.
Learn more about the ins and outs of stock screeners in my guide to the basics of stock screeners.
Importance of Using a Premarket Stocks Screener
Using a screener for premarket stocks helps you identify the assets that fit your criteria.
This helps narrow things down so you can do your due diligence and dig up more details on these securities before stock market hours begin, giving you a leg up on the other traders.
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Why Do You Need a Premarket Stock Screener?
You need a premarket stock screener because it’s indispensable for trading. It does the heavy lifting when you’re looking for stocks to trade in the premarket, giving you more time to research them before market hours start.
This is how I build my watchlist every day.
Different stock screeners excel at different things. Check out my list of the best screeners for penny stocks and best screeners for OTC stocks. I also have a list of the best overall stock screeners.
Advantages of Premarket Stock Screeners
The primary advantage of a premarket stock screener is that it helps you identify the right stocks to trade according to your strategy during premarket hours. You do this by customizing its screening tools with the criteria that fit your trading strategy.
Plus, a premarket stock screener saves your filters, so you don’t have to rebuild them every day. You can just deploy whichever one best suits your strategy at the time.
How We Evaluated These Best Premarket Stock Screeners
There are lots of stock screeners available to use, but not all of them are right for premarket screening.
Here are two criteria when picking premarket stock screeners:
- Pricing: Most of the best premarket stock screeners are paid apps. Find one that suits your budget while still meeting your trading needs.
- Customizability: Stock screeners live and die by their criteria. The best screener platform should be customizable enough to meet your trading needs.
These aren’t the only criteria you can use when picking screeners. Check out my guide to the best stock screener criteria for additional ways to refine your search.
Best Premarket Stock Screeners for 2024
Here are my picks for the best premarket stock screeners:
- StocksToTrade — Best Overall Premarket Stock Screener
- MarketWatch Stock Screener — Best Web-Based Premarket Stock Screener
- Market Chameleon — Best Stock Screener for Premarket Reports
- Benzinga — Best Premarket Stock Screener for News Monitoring
- Barchart — Best Premarket Stock Screener for Customization
There’s no rule that says you need to pick just one. Try them all and stick with the ones that work best for you!
1. StocksToTrade — Best Overall Premarket Stock Screener
My first premarket stock screener pick is StocksToTrade.
StocksToTrade tops my list because it’s what I use every day. Whenever you see me doing my Premarket Prep sessions, I’m using StocksToTrade.
StocksToTrade is a powerful screener that lets you build scans that identify premarket movers and narrow them down further to determine which stocks deserve your focus the most.
You can build your own scans, or you can use trader-built scans that let you trade like the pros. StocksToTrade also has a powerful news scanner that helps you identify news catalysts and events that might trigger price movements.
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2. MarketWatch Stock Screener — Best Web-Based Premarket Stock Screener
My second premarket stock screener pick is MarketWatch.
MarketWatch is a lightweight, web-based stock screener offered alongside MarketWatch’s host of other tools. It doesn’t have as many features as paid screeners, but it lets you filter stocks by various technical and fundamental indicators quickly.
MarketWatch offers a dedicated premarket screener that shows you the leaders and laggards before each trading day. This gives you a good idea of which stocks to pay attention to before the market opens.
3. Market Chameleon — Best Stock Screener for Premarket Reports
My third premarket stock screener pick is Market Chameleon.
A Market Chameleon subscription gives you access to its Pre-Market Movers Report. It provides a ton of real-time information on stocks that are moving in premarket. It’s accessible 24/7 and updates every five minutes to give you a clear picture of market trends and help you make informed trading decisions.
4. Benzinga — Best Premarket Stock Screener for News Monitoring
My fourth premarket stock screener pick is Benzinga.
Benzinga takes real-time news feeds up a notch by letting you filter for specific titles or stock parameters. This means you can cut through the noise and only see the news articles relevant to your trading strategy. You can also use this filter to spot news catalysts for trading opportunities you hadn’t considered.
Benzinga’s news feed also has a squawk box — pretty much an audio news feed. It gives you audio breaking news updates, so you won’t miss important news catalysts when you’re otherwise occupied.
5. Barchart — Best Premarket Stock Screener for Customization
My fifth premarket stock screener pick is Barchart.
Barchart offers customization in spades. You can create your own layouts, ensuring you only see the information you need and nothing else. Being able to organize your desktop helps you focus and minimizes the clutter on the screen.
Barchart also gives you a dedicated premarket scanner that lists the most active stocks, gainers, losers, and gappers before the markets open. You also get a news feed containing articles relevant to those stocks.
Final Thoughts
Premarket stock screeners help you identify stocks to watch before the market opens so you have more time to do your due diligence. Checking out the premarket movers helps you establish a trading plan early in the day, giving you a leg up on other traders.
Here’s an extra stock scanner recommendation for you: millionaire trader Matt Monaco’s Alpha Scanner. A former software engineer, Matt brought those skills back to build a screener based on his profitable trading style.
The Alpha Scanner is filled with live mentoring sessions, trade alerts, and more. Find out if his life’s work can be your trading edge…
Sign up to join the next Alpha Scanner LIVE broadcast!
Premarket Screener FAQs
What Are the Key Features of a Premarket Screener for Common Stocks?
A premarket screener for common stocks typically includes tools to filter stocks based on daily volume, pre-market data, and specific performance metrics like Pre-Market Gainers. These screeners allow traders to analyze how common stocks are performing in the pre-market session, which can be crucial for making informed decisions during regular trading hours.
How Do Advanced Trading Strategies Like Iron Condors Function in Market Screeners?
Advanced trading strategies such as Iron Condors and Vertical Spreads are often monitored through market screeners that provide detailed pre-market data and analysis on options. These strategies involve understanding the spread between various option strike prices, which can be identified through screeners that offer insights into shifts during pre-market hours.
How Important Is Volume Data in Understanding Pre-Market Trading?
Volume data, including Share Volume and 20-Day Average Volume, is critical in understanding pre-market trading dynamics. Screeners that track daily premarket volume and extended hours volume offer insights into potential price movements and liquidity, helping traders make more strategic decisions based on volume trends observed before the regular session.
What Role Does Inflation Data Play in Pre-Market Analysis?
Inflation data such as core inflation, food inflation, and inflation reports significantly influence pre-market trading, especially for stocks sensitive to economic indicators. Premarket screeners that can filter news alerts or provide updates on inflation readings help traders anticipate market reactions and adjust their strategies accordingly during the pre-market session.
How Can Premarket Screeners Help with Sector-Specific Stocks Like Biotech?
Premarket screeners are particularly useful for tracking sector-specific stocks like biotech stocks, which can be volatile and react quickly to company news or clinical updates. Features like Breaking News Alerts on Small Cap Stocks or specific filters for biotech equities can assist traders in spotting potential pre-market movers based on the latest developments in the sector.
How Do Stock Indexes and Premarket Equities Inform Trading Strategies?
Stock indexes like the Nasdaq-100 Pre-Market Indicator provide a snapshot of market trends before the regular session begins, aiding traders in understanding broader market movements. Premarket trading of equities gives insight into how particular stocks may open based on pre-market data. These indicators are crucial for adjusting strategies, especially when aligning with extended hours screens that show real-time movements across different markets.
What Are the Implications of Odd-Lot and Form-T Trades in Market Analysis?
Odd-lot trades and Form-T trades, which are executed outside of normal trading hours or involve less-than-standard share quantities, can indicate nuanced market behaviors or investor sentiments that aren’t reflected in regular equities trade. Analyzing these trades helps identify patterns or anomalies in market liquidity and investor behavior, which could influence strategies during the regular trade and post-market trading sessions.
How Do Upcoming Earnings and Economic Indicators Influence Pre-Market Trading?
Upcoming earnings reports are significant drivers in pre-market equities trading as investors anticipate company performance, potentially leading to volatility. Economic indicators like retail sales and inflation reports, including cooler inflation or countdown to consumer inflation, also play a critical role by providing context on economic health and consumer sentiment. These factors combined can lead to significant shifts in both the current pre-market session and regular trading hours.
How Can Premium Features and Advanced Trading Strategies Enhance Trading Outcomes?
Premium features in trading platforms, such as Barchart Premier, offer advanced analytical tools and custom screens that can filter stocks based on specific criteria like Descriptive Price Volume or dollar volume trading. Advanced trading strategies like Iron Butterflies, which are designed to profit from minimal price movement, can benefit from such detailed analyses, particularly when assessing the minimum rule or shares minimum required for trading.
How Do Sector-Specific Stocks and Earnings Reports Impact Market Dynamics?
Biopharmaceutical companies, clinical-stage gene editing companies, and digital health companies often experience heightened volatility around first-quarter earnings or major announcements due to their high risk and innovation-driven nature. Investors use tools like Barchart Sales and Barchart Opinion to gauge market sentiment and potential investment risks, utilizing pre-market indicators to adjust positions based on the latest industry developments.
What Role Do Custom and Extended Hours Screens Play in Trading?
Custom screens and extended hours screens are essential for traders who need to adapt quickly to changes in the market outside of normal trading hours. These tools allow traders to filter European stocks, bearish stocks, or specific securities like 2024 recession-proof stocks, helping them make informed decisions based on real-time data and pre-market activity, thus optimizing their trading strategies for better risk management and potential gains.