Day Trading Stock Picks – US and Canadian Lists

21 thoughts on “Day Trading Stock Picks – US and Canadian Lists”

1. I am curious if you have a recommendation on one or two stocks for day trading without changing the stock every week? Thank you

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   • Hi John.
     If you monitor the list each week you will notice it changes very little. The stocks generally stay the same and the stats are just updated. Which is the point of this list/screen! They move well most of the time.
     Therefore,as recommended in the article, pick one and stick with it. Look at a 1-minute chart of each (or whatever you use) and see which one suits your strategies best. All are acceptable…once you pick one there is no reason to look at anything else unless the conditions in the stock you are trading dramatically deteriorate.

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2. Hi Cory!

   I decided to try out day trading US stocks, for the simple reason that, altough i’m doing ok day trading Forex, i like the idea to be able to choose stocks that are more likely to trend in any given session. Shaping my trading skills after yours, i can say that i became mainly a trend trader, and trends are where my skills really shines. I followed your stock picks for a while, and examining charts of the stocks that you provide i can see that they move FAR better than an average day on EURUSD (or should i say, i see more reliable opportunities on average, since Forex trends are usually far more choppier than stock trends, for what i see). I am not yet very familiar with things like monitoring the Level 2, or using market orders to remove liquidity fast when needed, but i think it’s something i could get a grasp on easily with a bit of practice. I see that hotkeys are widely used by stock day traders for rapid execution, which is something i never had to worry about trading Forex.

   It is my understanding that stocks data are not free, and brokers only provide a time limited trial of their platform, so paper trading becomes an issue without an account opened (free data on TradingView is pretty broken and full of gaps on the 1m, i don’t find it reliable for testing purposes). Do you have a solution for being able to look at some reliable charts without having to deposit with a broker just yet? If not, i guess i will have to open a small account with a Bahamas broker and practice trading with very low share size.

   Another question i want to ask you is, why do you only consider stocks priced at 5$ or more? Any reason why you don’t pick stocks in the, let’s say, 2-4$ range, or is it just to narrow it down to a handful of stocks?

   And again, how do you choose the one stock that you will trade for the week from the list that you publish? Do you look at recent sessions and see which one moved the better on average, and trade it all week?

   I will definitely play around with the scanners to see if i can find stocks that i like by myself, in the meantime i will keep following your picks.

   And thanks for publishing your picks every week, i can see how valuable this is for stock traders!

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   • By the way, when i look at the larger cap stocks (big companies), i can definitely see the institutional prints (chopped up and more unpredictable trends, many false breakouts targeting stops, all the stuff that i see daily on the Forex charts but i don’t see on the smaller stocks).

     It looks like trading smaller stocks is “easier” for experienced retail traders, probably at the cost of less available liquidity (not a problem for most retail traders).

     I’m not in any way saying that trading smaller stocks is easy, it’s just that the competition is a bit more fair than playing with the “big boys”.

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     • I agree with that…in many cases.

       There are big volume stocks that move cleanly, though. It is just a matter of finding them. Most of the stocks on the list, with big volume, are there because they have nice enough movement to trade.

       Nothing is ever easy in trading, but there are stocks that are easier. I liked the smaller caps for a long time. I still do trade them occasionally, but if I can get a clean mover with lots of volume, that is even better.

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   • As for brokers and practicing, Patrick posted this in a comment elsewhere. Basically, by depositing $50 you can get access to everything ThinkorSwim has to offer. This will give you enough to start practicing…you can use a simulation account within your live account.

     “ThinkorSwim also has an “OnDemand” button that allows you replay a day in the simulator. For those who have the demo platform, you’ll sometimes have delayed data or limited features which might not unlock this for you. So I’ve found that depositing the minimum of $50 in a TD account grants you full access to the platform – well worth it IMO and cheaper than other simulator alternatives. The downside to ToS is although it is very robust, it has a steep learning curve and a bit of a resource hog.”

     I would agree that given the wide range of stocks out there, it is typically easier to find something that suits your eye. I wouldn’t say trading stocks is easier, but there is more option. The down side is that it can overwhelming deciding which stock to trade. Narrow it to one, and trade if for the week. I have been trading the same stock for the last 4 months, everyday.

     I actually prefer stocks over $20 or so. With $5 stocks, they may move 3% a day, but that is 15 cents over the course of a day. Each wave may only be 5 or 6 cents. By the time you get a consolidation, punch into the stock, and then get out, that doesn’t leave a lot of margin for error. You for sure have to give the stock at least a 3 or 4 cent stop, and then you try to make 6 or 8 you are trying to capture a huge portion of the daily range.
     Now, a $20 stock, that moves 60 cents. It is much easier to pop in and out for 10 or 20 cents gains, while only risking 5-10, or whatever. You don’t have to be as precise, because the price is moving more.

     Yes, the stock I trade is just one that suits my eye. It has good trending movement usually, but also it tends to have clean transitions (can see the trends slow, reverse, and breakouts aren’t usually choppy). Once I find one I like, as long as it stays “nice”, I will trade it forever. If the movements become harder to trade, I find something else. No stock is perfect. I still have lots of losing trades and the odd losing day, but for the most part me and the stock have to get along.

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3. It is funny (and sad, very sad) how many times I read Cory’s articles, know what the right thing to do is and completely ignore it anyway. I tried stocks in play, then I went to trying to trade 5-6 of these stocks at a time (6 charts on my screen, trying to get every move in each one), narrowing it down to 3 or 4 that I traded better, narrowing again down to 2 and here I am, down to one stock that I trade well. It took me months to figure this out – checking previous trading results, trying to find consistency and pulling out some hair in the process. The whole time Cory has said over and over, just pick one. Luckily one thing I’ve listened to from the beginning was to trade small.

   I’m not sure if it’s just sort of human nature to “trial and error” the unknown (but kind of knowing the results from others who have experienced it anyway) or if I’m just that thickheaded and stubborn. Regardless, I look at it positively now and as much as I tell myself I’m going to follow or listen to someone experienced to the T, there’s always that part of me that wants to go against the grain. So, again, I think it’s crucial to keep size small through all of these moments of honing the process to later, hopefully, learn for yourself what you already knew and continue to develop.

   A big takeaway I got from this specific process was how greedy and FOMO-ish (I know, that’s not a word) I really am. I don’t see myself as a greedy person in the day to day and definitely not FOMO driven. But the fact that it kind of irked me emotionally that I would be limited to 1 stock and it might not have the big move I want and that another stock in the realm of thousands would make that big move and I’d miss it. If you think about it, it’s absurd. It leads to overtrading, mis-sizing risk (stocks in play can be $200 or $2 with crazy slippage) and just an overall sense of getting lost in the whole process.

   So, how many more months is it going to take for me to know what I already know? I don’t know but I hope to continue to develop positively in this way and come to realize all of my misgivings and bad proclivities.

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   • You have captured the essence of some very common problems.

     It becomes a bit easier after you see consistent results from doing the same thing over and over again. For example, let’s say you only trade 1 stock (like I do typically). Most days are pretty uneventful (but still fun) and you make some money. Most days are like this. Then one day, that stock has crazy moves and you have a massively profitable day. Then the next day you go back to making your normal profit. Maybe several months or a year later you have another massive day. You do well most of the time, and extremely well a small portion of the time.

     Once you do something consistently, you get to see that doing something consistently you will actually end up in the right place at the right time every so often. If we continually try to change things all the time, we will likely never be in the right place at the right time. Also, if we are changing things all the time we probably won’t be able to capitalize on a good opportunity even if it slaps us in the face because we have no consistently profitable method for doing so. By changing all the time we lose everything–the consistent wins and the big wins.

     So we need to stick with something to see the benefits. And of course, we all know this, but that doesn’t make it easy. The continual stream of new exercise equipment and diets let’s us know that sticking to something is very hard and is a major problem for most people. It’s another reason trading is tough.

     In regards to trial and error… no one wants to be good by chance. What that means is that people like to feel like they are good at something because they are actively involved in the process of being good. If I tell you a method and you just follow it and make money, you are not engaged in the process and it feels unrewarding. You want to forge your own path, and try to replicate the results in on your own terms. Also, it is only through trial and error that you really get to see how something works. If we just copycat, we never find out how a thing works which means we haven’t mastered it and will likely lose money when any small variable changes. I think we all know this, and that is why sometimes we test out so many things only to end up back at what we agreed with in the first place. We had to get the experience of what doesn’t work we can stick to what does…which relates back to the first point.

     To help with the second point, since most of us want to feel like we are good at something (and want to take credit for it) we need to adopt a mind frame that removes that element. For example, I try not to think of myself as a good trader (ego). Rather, I am just a trader who uses a good system (no ego…I am just a button pusher for the system). It is a small shift, but a massive and profound one. As a button pusher we there is no bias or fear or greed. We are just executing a profitable system that we have thoroughly tested. Related to the point prior, though, most people don’t want to give credit to their system, and therefore they don’t stick to it. They want to think of themselves as a great trader, which in their mind is making on-the-fly trades and trying to outsmart the market and even their own systems. …and of course, we know that doesn’t work.

     So our quickest path to consistency is humility in realizing we are just a button pusher for a good system. In order to stick with the system, we need to trust that system and know how it works. This is what the practice time is before we start live trading. Practice doesn’t need to be a journey into testing out every system and variable imaginable, rather is about trading a few strategies and practicing how they can be adapted to most market conditions (and also learning when not to trade).

     Some food for thought 🙂

     I love your line: “So, how many more months is it going to take for me to know what I already know?”
     While I feel I have a hold of my trading (most of the time), this question does still apply in many other aspects of my life. As I am sure we can all relate haha.

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     • Hi Patrick and Cory,

       a great comment with a great answer!
       I had the same problem (actually, i didn’t completely eradicated it), i was always thinking of doing more, changing things, finding the “perfect” solution to my trading problems. For example, from day one i knew that i shouldn’t let losing trades affect me BEFORE having collected enough data to gauge the validity of my approach. And yet, every 2 or 3 losing trades i was changing bits and pieces, trying to “fix” something and probably ending up breaking it more. Cory knows, i would e-mail him periodically asking for his opinion on things like day trading multiple Forex pairs, day trading multiple timeframes, how to change my active trade management, and even changing markets (here i am, a Forex day trader reading an article about day trading Stocks, lol). A few weeks ago i started day trading Futures, now i am back to my old beloved EURUSD, and i found that when i try to change something instead of keeping it nice and simple, i always underperform.

       I became pretty good at analyzing the markets (after months and months of studying and practicing), and yet i was still letting losing trades affect my concentration and ability to stay cool. I started having several winning days, followed by one or two big losing days, that made me question EVERYTHING about my trading methods. The methods were not at fault, my mind was, since it looked like the more i was “on fire”, the more difficult became dealing with losses when they inevitably occurred. I knew that was part of the game, but knowing something and fully accepting it, is very very different. Now i completely understand why in the trading world traders often say “the real challenge is not a technical one, is a psychological one”.

       The first thing that helped me was understanding that “not trading” is fine! I was literally expecting in my mind to close a number of trades on each session, and after staring for an hour at my screens without taking a single trade, i was starting feeling edgy and uneasy, resulting in poor and forced trading decisions. Now i completely embraced the fact that i don’t have to trade every swing, and i don’t have to trade on every market condition. I became really good in isolating turning points (both pullbacks and trend reversal points, thanks to Cory help and patience in correcting my early mistakes), and became good in spotting patterns early on giving me a chance to position myself in a good position for eventual breakouts (front running). Speaking of patterns, i embraced the notion that front running patterns (especially bigger patterns) giving me a huge risk reward (3:1, 4:1, 5:1, which i consider HUGE for day trading), i HAD TO expect about half of them (or more) failing, and that was normal because the nature of setting this kind of r:r was that they required a strong breakout momentum that was not always backed by the market. So i stopped trying to change the formula. Most importantly, i stopped trying placing trades on choppy conditions, or even conditions that i didn’t like. Now, when i can’t identify a clear trending opportunity, or a clear pattern opportunity, i simply stand aside. I no longer feel like i missed something if not placing a single trade on a 2 hour session. Instead, i look back at the session, and i try to identify good setups with the benefit of hindsight, and i try to learn something from it. And i feel good about controlling my emotions and having preserved my capital, knowing that “i survived to trade another day, and the market will still be here tomorrow”.

       In trading, more is not necessarily better (quite the opposite it seems).

       I still remember something that Cory wrote on an e-mail after i asked him about trading for a firm.

       “The way of the firm is: Keep it simple. Making consistent money (by doing all things consistently) matters more than being busy.”

       That’s a great line and summarize this particular problem about “wanting to do more, and adding more, and more of this and more of that…”

       I believe this is a personal journey that every trader has to go through, because reading about it or hearing about it is not same as experiencing it and then acknowledging it.

       Another thing i want to add is that when i stopped trying to mirror somebody elses trading (be it Cory or other traders), i started becoming a better trader myself. Because after learning something from the great traders out there, is about taking that information and shape it in a way that works with who we are and how we look at the markets. That is something that new traders should really understand as soon as possible, because if we don’t learn how to flow and be completely in tune with our methods, we will never be able to be in tune with the markets.

       And finally, Patrick, is good to see you are doing well! I remember reading your posts of frustration alongside mine, many months ago, and we have come a long way since then.

       You can’t succeed without strong passion and determination

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       • Well said. 🙂

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4. I did a search that combines both volatility and ATR and came up with a handful, though some might be questionable due to low volume. I selected above 400k, definitely harder to trade. But sometimes these stocks have high relative volume. I call the low volume ones the gentle giants, BPMC and IPGP, and they might appeal to those with slower reflexes. NKTR, OLED, and ANET also hit my radar (all above 1M shares daily). OLED is in price shock and NKTR is a rocket. There are a plenty of others, but we can’t trade them all. A good variant on BAC might be TWTR since it has more range. 1000-share positions can skim $200 pretty quick.

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5. Hi,
   Thank you for all the useful information you post on your website. Would you be posting Canadian stock picks in the future? It’s often difficult to find good Canadian stocks for day or swing trades.
   Thanks

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   • I hadn’t planned on it. But I could look into compiling a short list of Canadian day trading stocks with good volume and movement. Will see what I can find. The main problem is a lack of good scanning resources on Canadian stocks…although I do have one that may work well. We shall see. Hopefully on the next update, or the one after, I will be able to add that.

     I lay out how to find Canadian swing trading stocks in my Stock Market Swing Trading Video Course. Using the StockRover screener and looking through the top percentage performers on the TSX over the last 6 months and 1 year.

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   • Canadian day trading stock list has been added. Thanks for the suggestion.

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6. Question:
   How did you screen for average day range (30) on TV please? I cant find it in the list of filters. Is this a custom setting?

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   • Not sure I understand your question. At the time of your question, TV is not on the list.
     All settings on Stockfetcher (the software used to scan for these stocks) use custom settings. A “how to” link is provided at the bottom of the article showing you how to set up the scan.
     The average day range (50) of TV is 2.0%, at the time I am writing this.

     To find the average day range of a stock that is NOT on the list, you first need to set up the scan as shown in the How To. Then, input any stock symbol in the Symbol box on the left-side of the Stockfetcher homepage. Click the search icon. The stock will show up, along with a list of your saved screens/scans. Click on the scan includes the Day Range criteria. Your scan criteria will be shown on the chart so you can see the average day range.

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7. Question…How can I study the course with my iPad?.. Also is it available online, or can I copy / burn the course to a dvd?.. Seriously interested..
   Thanks

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   • Hi Manny,
     All the eBooks are in PDF and the videos are in AVI format, so they can be watched from any device (would recommend a universal video player like VLC if using a MAC). You can download the course up to 5 times to get onto your various devices. You may burn the course onto dvd as well, if you wish, for personal use.
     Have a great holiday season!
     Cheers,
     Cory

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8. NVDA for the week

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9. how do you show more than 5 stocks on free stock fetcher

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   • You won’t be able to see more than 5 with the free version, but you can see a different 5. When you run the screener (per the instructions here: http://vantagepointtrading.com/how-to-find-volatile-stocks-for-day-trading/ …. alter it slightly to your preference), click on different variables on the chart to sort the entire list (even the ones you can’t see) by that variable. For example, click volume to sort by volume. This will produce a different 5 than clicking on Average Day Range, which will sort the list by that criteria, likely providing a different list of 5. So basically by sorting you can see more of stocks that are on the list.

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