What a screener is and how to use it
A screener is a filter program. It scans hundreds of coins or stocks and keeps only those that meet its conditions. Here's how to work with one.
Why you need a screener
Six exchanges list hundreds of coins, and the US market has thousands of stocks. You can't look through them all by hand. A screener does this work and answers a simple question: where should I look today?
It doesn't answer the question "what should I buy". A screener shortens the list, and the decision stays with you.
Types of screeners
| Type | What it shows | Who it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Price and volume | Gains, drops, turnover spikes | Anyone trading intraday |
| Order book | Walls and large orders | Scalpers |
| Derivatives | Open interest, funding | Futures traders |
| Patterns | Flags, ranges, momentum | Intraday traders |
| Premarket | Gaps before the session opens | Stock traders |
| Arbitrage | Price gaps between exchanges | Arbitrageurs |
| Fundamental | Earnings, dividends | Investors |
How to use a screener
- Define your style. A scalper and an investor need different filters.
- Understand the conditions. The better you know what it selects, the fewer false expectations you'll have.
- Check by eye. Open the chart: where are the levels, what's the market phase, what's the volume?
- Set a plan in advance. Where's the entry, where's the stop, what's the risk? See the article on risk management.
- Check the statistics. How did signals of this type perform before, after fees?
Common mistakes
- Entering on every signal. A screener finds candidates, not ready-made trades.
- Looking only at pretty examples. Signals that failed don't make it into ads. Look at all the statistics, both mean and median.
- Collecting screeners. Two or three you understand beat ten someone else built.
- Forgetting liquidity. A coin with a sharp rise may not let you exit at the price you want.
How to choose a screener
- Does it cover the markets and exchanges you need?
- How fast does the data update?
- Can you change the settings?
- Does it show statistics, not only signals?
- Can you go straight from it to the chart and an order?
In MAMAY, screeners run inside the terminal and their settings are open. See the pages for crypto, US stocks and the Moscow Exchange.
FAQ
How is a screener different from Telegram signals?
A screener works on set conditions you can check and change. Someone else's signal often comes with no conditions and no statistics.
Does a beginner need a screener?
First it's more important to understand the chart, risk and order types. A screener helps once you know what to do with a coin it finds.
Are there free screeners?
Yes. In MAMAY the US and Moscow Exchange stock screeners are currently free, and crypto screeners are part of Pro.