Why do you need a stock screener, how to choose a tool for the Russian market

If a trader is just starting his journey in the securities market, it will not be easy for him to understand the new specifics of work for him. To help you quickly filter out securities according to the given parameters, special programs have been developed – stock screeners (Stock Screener). They allow you to select securities in the background according to specified criteria. Such programs will be useful not only for beginners, but also for professional brokers and traders.

What is a stock screener, what is the purpose of the application

In order to better understand what a stock screener is, we can take a regular store as an example. Let’s say a person comes to a retail outlet to buy cookies. He walks into a store and sees 50 different kinds of cookies on the shelves. Each of them has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. However, you need to buy cream cookies with filling, and no more than 70 rubles per kilogram. If you start manually sorting through all the products of the store, the buyer will spend a lot of time that can be used for more useful things. As a result, the buyer approaches the seller. He tells him the criteria for the desired product and asks for help with the choice. The seller knows the products of his store very well, so he can easily find the right cookie in half a minute. If a trader searched for it on his own, he would spend 20-30 minutes on the same operation. Screeners work on the same principle. In fact, this is not even a program, but a service that has several dozen filters built into it. Here, the investor/trader is required to tell the screener the parameters of the securities they want to view. The program analyzes the request, sorts through the database of stocks that meet the specified requirements and displays them through the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange Stock Screener interface at https://finbull.ru/stock/:
The word “Screener” itself is of English origin. It comes from the verb to screen, which can be translated as “sift” or “sort”. Another name for the service is Scanner.

The screener does not relieve the investor or trader of the need to understand the securities market and the affairs of a particular company, this tool only filters out shares according to certain parameters, and whether they are set correctly based on the real state of affairs is the responsibility of the protein mind.

How does the screener work?

The stock screener allows you to conduct a primary analysis of stocks using multiples and ratios. Each screener has built-in filters in its software shell. The trader either fills them in manually or selects the parameters from the values ​​offered by the service. Analyzing the entered data, the screener makes a selection of securities that fit the specified criteria. The trader here can set various parameters. It can be:

• fundamental characteristics;
• P/E, P/BV, P/S, P/FCF, EV/EBITDA, E/P multiples, Graham, DuPont, Altman and other estimates;
• the number of shares in circulation;
• securities with great potential according to analysts’ forecasts;
• various criteria for accounting or financial reporting.

It will not be easy for a beginner to understand the interface of some services. Even experienced traders will experience difficulties here. To understand all the specifics of their work, it will take a lot of time. The main negative side of the program is that some screeners may simply not have the filters that are needed. In this case, the monitoring of securities will have to be continued manually or another analysis tool should be used. It should also not be forgotten that the service does not relieve the trader of the need to clearly understand the affairs of the company. Those. completely shift to him the work of searching for securities, as newcomers hope to do, it will not work. Nor should one think that the screener will select the best shares for its owner on their own, which are guaranteed to bring him a large income. It only acts as a kind of filter, filtering out unnecessary securities according to the specified parameters. But at the same time, the program operates within the framework of clearly established parameters and cannot deviate from them. If a trader has set incorrect criteria, only the result of his request will appear on the screen. But at the same time, the program operates within the framework of clearly established parameters and cannot deviate from them. If a trader has set incorrect criteria, only the result of his request will appear on the screen. But at the same time, the program operates within the framework of clearly established parameters and cannot deviate from them. If a trader has set incorrect criteria, only the result of his request will appear on the screen.

How to use the screener

The interface of most existing screeners has the following sections:

• description of the company;
• dividends;
• multipliers;
• financial statements;
• financial ratios;
• liquidity.

Each section has a number of subsections. For example, in the “Description of the company” you can find information about the exchange where the shares are sold, the industry of activity and data on whether the security falls into the indices. A trader can independently configure filters for sections and subsections. This can be done both manually and using templates. In the first case, it is necessary to prescribe specific filter values ​​or choose them among the proposed options.

Some screeners have ready-made solutions for searching for securities. If necessary, they can be changed at any time. Those. if a person searches for stocks first using template queries, and then, if the strategy of his behavior on the market changes, he can go to the filters at any time and adjust the search parameters.

To work effectively with the screener, you first need at least minimal knowledge of the topic. Suppose a trader decides to buy from a broker shares of European companies that specialize in the IT field. They will be traded in euros. The simplest selection can be obtained directly in the application of the
broker itself, because many of them are equipped with their own screeners. To set up filters in this case, you will need to select “Euro” as the currency, and “IT industry” in the company’s characteristics.
A small example of how to use the stock screener. Suppose a trader needs to build a portfolio of US stocks that are traded on the NASDAQ. There is a huge selection of securities here. The procedure in this case will be as follows:

1. First, stocks are selected based on the P/E Ratio criterion. This indicates that the securities are undervalued. By enabling this filter on the skinner, the trader narrows his choice from 3-4 thousand to 100-200 shares.
2. Next, the P/BV filter is turned on. It is recommended to set it to a value greater than 1, but less than some other specific number. Accordingly, the output will be options for securities that are sold above their book value, but, nevertheless, do not exceed this indicator by much.
3. The companies are then compared in terms of ROA and ROE. Thanks to this, the trader can understand how effectively the company uses the investors’ money.
4. After performing all these actions, 5-10 options remain on the screener screen. They are monitored manually, choosing the most promising of them.

Thus, the screener cannot completely replace the mind and understanding of the investment market. It only helps to filter out unnecessary information. Fundamental analysis of stocks in the Russian market, analysis through 4 screeners, how to evaluate data correctly: https://youtu.be/GVzeqKjhTk8

Overview of popular stock screeners for the Russian market

Finvis

This is one of the simplest and most famous screeners among traders. You don’t need to register here. Having entered the service, you can immediately set the value of the filters and start searching for securities. The selection will be updated automatically. Despite the fact that there is only an English version of the screener, it has a simple and intuitive interface. Even those who do not speak English can understand it. The service has three large groups of filters:

1. Descriptive – description.
2. Fundamental – fundamental characteristics.
3. Technical – technical analysis.

Filters belonging to different groups can be combined. This allows you to see all the fields on one screen. Among the shortcomings, it can be noted that stock prices are shown here with a delay of 15 minutes. Also, the portfolio should not contain more than 50 companies.
How to choose stocks in the Finviz screener, choose growth stocks: https://youtu.be/VWIOGoMv4AA

zaks

There are practically no technical analysis filters here. But there are accounting criteria. Thanks to the screener, you can collect characteristics from 18 sections. This allows you to compile your own program. Each of them has another 5 to 15 subsections. Those. a set of settings here allows you to effectively search for securities according to the specified parameters. Of the minuses, it can be noted that not all filters will be available in the free version. For example, it will not be possible to search for companies by rating or growth potential. However, this can be done manually.

Screener from “Markethameleon”

They are easy and convenient to use. As soon as a trader starts filling in the parameter fields, companies matching the already entered criteria immediately appear at the bottom of the screen. The screener comes with detailed instructions for its use, as well as a training video. The only thing is that they are all in English. The free version will not save search results. It will also be impossible to fill in some fields. The latter are mainly related to technical analysis.

Yahoo screener

It comes with ready-made search criteria for securities. You can edit the template at any time if you wish. In any case, the trader will have to fill in some of the fields himself. For beginners who are not familiar with the market, this may seem complicated. Correction of some important parameters, for example, the same growth rates and profitability, will be available only after purchasing the paid version.
Screener for Russian shares: https://youtu.be/hABLk9AVl-g

Screener Comparison

Stock Screener Name	Is it suitable for beginners?	Autocomplete fields	Availability of additional input options
Finvis	+	+	+
zaks	+	–	–
Screener from “Markethameleon”	–	+	+
Yahoo screener	–	+	–

A stock screener is a trader’s assistant. But it’s just a helper. He will not be able to complete the work. The program only searches for securities according to the specified parameters. How competently the criteria are set depends on the skills of the trader himself.