In the stock market, finding a win-win strategy is easier said than done. In the current highly volatile market, it is difficult for even an ardent investor to come up with a foolproof approach.
One could take resort to the commonly used techniques to find beaten down stocks that have the potential to recover faster than others. But this bears the risk of disappointment asone could fall into the value trap if the selected stock’s hidden weakness is not identified.
In the stock game, winning means reaching a higher price. So, how about looking for the current winners that have the potential to gain further?
Sounds a good idea? Here is how to execute it:
One should primarily look for stocks that have recently witnessed a price increase. Actually, stocks that have recently seen price strength have high chances of carrying the momentum forward.
If a stock is continuously moving higher, there must be a good reason for the rise or else it probably would have fallen like the losers.So, looking at those that have already won the game and are capable of beating the benchmark that they have set for themselves sounds rational.
Nevertheless, recent price strength alone cannot do the trick. Club together other relevant parameters in your game plan to get the optimum return on your investment.
Here’s how you should create the screen to shortlist the current as well as the potential winners.
Screening Parameters:
Percentage Change in Price (4 Weeks) greater than zero:This criterion shows that the stock has moved higher in the last four weeks.
Percentage Change Price (12 Weeks) greater than 10:This indicates that the stock has seen momentum over the last three months. This lowers the risk of choosing stocks that may have drawn attention due to the overwhelming performance of the overall market in a very short period.
Zacks Rank 1:No matter whether the market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance.
Average Broker Rating 1:This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the stock’s future performance.
Current Price greater than 5:The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5 or higher.
Current Price/ 52-Week High-Low Range more than 85%:This criterion filters stocks that are trading near their respective 52-week highs. It indicates that these are strong enough in terms of price.
Here are seven of the 13 stocks that made it throughthisscreen:
Health Insurance Innovations, Inc. (HIIQ)
AMN Healthcare Services Inc. (AHS)
Neogenomics Inc. (NEO)
Amerisafe, Inc. (AMSF)
CoStar Group Inc. (CSGP)
Coherent Inc. (COHR)
Nanometrics Incorporated (NANO)
Get the rest of the stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and backtesting software.
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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.
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