How to Read a Stock Scanner: A Beginner's Guide

Opening a stock scanner for the first time can be overwhelming. Columns of tickers, percentages, and numbers flashing in real time — it's a lot. This guide breaks it down so you know exactly what you're looking at.

The columns that matter

Most scanners show variations of the same core data:

Ticker — The stock symbol. Obvious, but make sure you're scanning the right market (NYSE/NASDAQ for most day traders).

Price — Current trading price. Day traders typically focus on stocks between $1 and $100 for the best risk/reward.

% Change — How much the stock has moved today. Scanners for day traders usually filter for stocks up 5% or more.

Volume — Total shares traded today. Higher volume means more liquidity and tighter spreads.

Relative Volume (RVOL) — Current volume compared to the stock's average. This is one of the most important columns. 3x+ RVOL means something real is happening.

Float — The number of shares available to trade. Low float stocks (under 20 million shares) tend to move faster and further.

What to do with the results

A scanner result is not a trade signal — it's a list of candidates. Your job is to:

1. Check the chart — is the stock in a clean uptrend or a messy chop?
2. Check the news — is there a catalyst (earnings, FDA approval, press release)?
3. Identify your entry — where would you buy, where is your stop, where is your target?
4. Size your position based on your stop distance and risk tolerance

How AlphaScan Pro simplifies this

Instead of calculating RVOL manually and cross-referencing multiple columns, AlphaScan Pro assigns each result an MCS Score (0–100). The higher the score, the stronger the combined signal. You still do your chart work, but the ranking tells you which candidates to look at first.

Start simple

When you're new, run one scan with 3–4 criteria. Master reading those results before adding complexity. A simple scan run consistently beats a complex scan run inconsistently every time.