As a trader, you probably know how much of a challenge it is to find the best stocks. You don’t want something that will represent you poorly or something that will sink your budget. But how do you find out which stocks to trade?
Well, you could use one of the tools that are meant for that specifically. One name that often appears on “top ten” lists is Finviz.
What is Finviz?
This is a research tool or better said a platform where you can research your stock market options. It’s powerful tech-vise and one of the platforms that traders claim is fundamental if you want good results.
The main premise of Finviz is to offer financial analysis better than other tools, in a way that can help traders and investors alike. They offer visualization as well. One of the perks of Finviz is that it comes free, but there are premium plans where you can get more features like real-time data, no ads, intra-day charts and so on.
For an average trader though, free features like quotes, charts, screening, etc. are just enough.
The interface is intuitive, which means that you’ll be able to see the whole stock market in one platform. Your homepage will show you the worldwide stock market, charts and so on. This enables you to see the changes in the market and the conditions too.
Finviz will also provide you with a comprehensive view of the news and various information on trading, released earnings, etc.
How to Use Finviz?
Now that you are better acquainted with this platform, it’s time to learn a bit more about how to use it. As a stock screener, it works similarly to others, but while offering more.
You can read more about how stock screeners generally work by reading this guide: https://www.investopedia.com/investing/getting-started-with-stock-screeners/
However, each one is specific in what it offers.
With Finviz, the best first step is to register for a free account. You can choose to upgrade your plan later, but this free account will give you access to 50 portfolios for each user, some screener presets and customization options.
The next thing you are likely to do is to set up the screener presets, which many traders say is the best feature on the free account. You should find your custom scanners and then save them as screener presets, which is a simple move, easy to find on your screen.
Of course, there are different options here and it will depend on what you need. One recommendation that will do you good is that you should always select the “All” option, as it shows you every configuration instead of just some.
You can adjust some other settings and be on your way of finding active stocks.
Be aware that some results can be quite large, so you’ll need a bit more time to go through them. If you want to lower the number of results you have to interpret, set up your own criteria for businesses and then screen them based on that.
The free account is not only great for its screener, but also for the sheer amount of information you can pick up from the News. Make sure that you check these – you can learn from them and make better decisions based on that.
You’ll also have access to charts and quotes. While you can’t receive real-time data as a free user, you can customize these charts and get information that way.
Finviz Elite
Any Finviz review will tell you that getting the Elite upgrade is a good idea.
And here’s why:
- Real-time data: While the free version offers some really good charts, you can get a lot more if you have real-time data. With that, you also get premarket data. Those two combined can help you make better trading decisions (quicker too).
- Your screener will be advanced: Again, the free version has a pretty good screener, but if you are a bit more advanced in trading, you’ll need the elite version.
- You’ll get alerts: Being the first one there when something happens is really important in the trading world, and having those alerts and notifications set up will make it easier.
All in all, Finviz is a good stocks screener that doesn’t have a steep learning curve, meaning you can sign up and start getting good information right away.