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

If a trader is just starting his way in the securities market, it will not be easy for him to understand the new specifics of work. To help quickly screen out securities according to specified parameters, special programs have been developed – Stock Screeners. 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, an ordinary store can be used as an example. Let’s say a person comes to a sales outlet to buy a cookie. He walks into a store and sees 50 different types of cookies on the shelves. Each of them has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. However, you need to buy exactly creamy cookies with a filling, and no more than 70 rubles per kilogram. If you start manually sorting through all the products in the store, the buyer will spend a lot of time that can be spent on more useful things. As a result, the buyer approaches the seller. He tells him the criteria for the right product and asks for help with the choice. The seller knows the products of his store very well, so in half a minute he can easily find the necessary cookies. If a trader had looked for it on his own, he would have spent 20-30 minutes on the same operation.Screeners work on the same principle. In fact, this is not even a program, but a service with dozens of filters built into it. The investor / trader is required here to tell the screener the parameters of the securities that he wants to view. The program analyzes the request, in the database it goes through the shares that meet the specified requirements and displays them through the interface Screener of shares of the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange at the link https://finbull.ru/stock/:which meet the specified requirements and displays them through the interface Screener of St. Petersburg Stock Exchange shares at the link https://finbull.ru/stock/:which meet the specified requirements and displays them through the interface Screener of St. Petersburg Stock Exchange shares at the link https://finbull.ru/stock/:
The word “Screener” itself has an 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 from 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 an initial analysis of stocks using multiples and ratios. Each screener has built-in filters in its program shell. The trader fills them in either manually, or selects parameters from the values ​​offered by the service. Analyzing the entered data, the screener makes a selection of securities that meet the specified criteria. The trader can set various parameters here. It can be:

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

A powerful screener that allows you to select stocks based on a variety of parameters from technical and fundamental analysis [/ caption] How fully filled in the filters will determine how accurate the selection will eventually appear on the screen. There are free and paid screeners. In the first case, the investor is basically given a certain test period during which he can test the new service in action. Only after that he is asked to pay for the purchase of the screener. If, for some reason, the acquisition functionality does not suit him, he can refuse the transaction. In this case, he does not have to pay for the time of the test mode. The free period generally lasts from two weeks to a month. This time is quite enough to evaluate the capabilities of the service. Tradingview.com screener for analyzing stocks of foreign and Russian companies:
The main advantage of screeners is that they greatly speed up the search for securities. The trader / investor does not need to monitor the market for hours. He only sets the necessary search criteria into the program, and the service offers him all the options found that fall under the specified parameters. This allows you to significantly save your time. The interface of one of the Moscow Exchange stock screeners
:

However, screeners also have disadvantages. They are not suitable for those people who know nothing about multipliers and financial indicators. And they can even be dangerous if used ineptly.

For the program to be useful, the investor must, at least at an initial level, understand the specifics of the market, and know exactly what he wants to find with the help of the screener. Otherwise, the trader will simply go through options that will not do him any good. Most of the screeners have an English interface. To use the program effectively, you need to understand this language at least on a conversational level. Automatic page translation services are not suitable here. The fact is that during background translation the meaning of the text is often lost or distorted. If this factor is not taken into account, it can lead a trader to sad consequences, up to the loss of his securities and capital.
All filters in the stock screener are set in English – to choose the right stocks you need not only to understand multipliers and fundamental and technical analysis, but also to clearly know the translation of fields [/ caption] The interface of some services will be difficult for a beginner to understand. Even experienced traders will experience difficulties here. It will take a lot of time to understand all the specifics of their work. The main disadvantage of the program is that some screeners may simply not have the filters that are needed. In this case, you will have to continue monitoring securities manually or use a different analysis tool. It should also not be forgotten that the service does not relieve the trader from the need to clearly understand the affairs of the company. Those. completely shift the job of searching for securities to him,as beginners hope to do, it won’t work. There is also no need to think that the screener will choose the best stocks for its owner on his own, which are guaranteed to bring him a lot of 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 his 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 his 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 his screen.

How to use the screener

Most of the existing screeners have the following sections in the interface:

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

Each section has a number of subsections. For example, in the “Company Profile” you can find information about the stock exchange where the shares are sold, the industry of activity, and information about whether the security is included in the indices. The trader can independently customize the filters for sections and subsections. This can be done either manually or using templates. In the first case, you have to register specific filter values ​​or select them from the proposed options.
Fields in the stock screener [/ caption]
In some screeners, ready-made solutions for searching for securities are installed. If required, they can be changed at any time. Those. if a person is looking for stocks first with template queries, and then, if the strategy of his behavior in the market changes, he can go to the filters at any time and adjust the search parameters.
Screener settings [/ caption] To work effectively with the screener, first of all, at least minimal knowledge of the topic is required. Suppose a trader decides to buy shares of European companies that specialize in the IT field from a broker. They will be traded in euros. The simplest sample can be obtained directly in the broker’s application
since many of them have their own screeners. To set up filters in this case, you will need to select “Euro” as the currency, and “IT industry” in the characteristics of the company.
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, the shares are selected according to the P / E Ratio criterion. This indicates that the securities are undervalued. By enabling this filter on the skiner, 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 digit. 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 is using the investors’ money.
4. After completing all these actions, 5-10 options remain on the screen of the screener. They are monitored manually, choosing the most promising from 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 on the Russian market, analysis through 4 screens, how to properly evaluate the data: https://youtu.be/GVzeqKjhTk8

Review of popular stock screeners for the Russian market

Finviz

This is one of the simplest and most famous screeners among traders. You do not need to register here. Having entered the service, you can immediately set the filter value and start searching for securities. The sample 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 filter groups:

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

Description of fields in the FinViz shares screener [/ caption] Filters belonging to different groups can be combined. This allows you to see all 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

Sachs

There are practically no technical analysis filters here. But there are criteria for accounting. Thanks to the screener, you can collect characteristics from 18 sections. This allows you to build your own program. Each of them has from 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”

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

Screener from Yahoo

It comes with ready-made criteria for searching for securities. If desired, it is possible to correct the template at any time. In any case, the trader will have to fill in some of the fields himself. For newbies unfamiliar with the market, this can seem daunting. 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 stocks: https://youtu.be/hABLk9AVl-g

Comparison of screeners

Stock Screener Name	Is it suitable for beginners?	Autocomplete fields	Availability of additional input parameters
Finviz	+	+	+
Sachs	+	–	–
Screener from “Markethameleon”	–	+	+
Screener from Yahoo	–	+	–

Stock Screener is a trader’s assistant. But this is precisely the assistant. He will not be able to completely do the work. The program only searches for securities according to the specified parameters. How well the criteria are set depends on the skills of the trader himself.