The goal of intermediate-term trading analysis should be: 1. To get a good measure of the market's strength, and 2. To identify the best stocks to trade. TM offers several intermediate-term analysis tools to help you identify the next winner. Using a combination of a stock's fundamental and technical aspects, top candidates are screened and analyzed for ideal chart patterns to identify ideal entry points. This lesson will walk you through the process of selecting top IT candidates using our proprietary lists and tools.

The Top-Down Approach

For thorough analysis, a top-down approach from the overall market to individual stocks is recommended.

Market:

Having a feel for the strength of the market should be the first step in your analysis. This is where our Market Stats page will give you detailed information on market breadth for the day, including volume and new 52-week lows and highs. Taking note of accumulation and distribution days in the market, as well as measuring the bias in these moves, will help you identify conviction a market move may or may not have had.

In addition, Mark Boucher's Top RS and EPS New Highs List, found on our Indicators page, lists the top stocks that meet his criteria for being in the top 15% of RS and ER ranking. Mark uses this list as a barometer for the overall market. When he begins to see it consistently produce numbers over 20, it is a bullish indication. In addition to this, there is Boucher's Intermediate-Term Timing Signal, which is a system unto itself for measuring the strength of the market with numerical indications that recommend shifting funds to take advantage of bullish and bearish scenarios.

Groups:

After measuring the market, the analysis moves to identifying strength and weakness in the different groups of stocks. This portion of the routine is crucial for knowing where money is flowing into and out of. Knowing the strongest sectors to allocate capital to is like taking the path of least resistance in the markets. Ideally, we want to catch shifts early on in their stages, so keeping track of the different groups on a daily basis increases our chances of this.

The following lists contain information on where the top RS and ER stocks are located:

Mark Boucher's New High RS Industry Sector Concentration

New High RS Group Concentration

New High RS Sub-group Concentration

In addition to the above information, the Proprietary Momentum list provides a quick read on the stocks that are moving right now, with a proprietary formula that is feeding off of the top 0.2% of the market. This is the way to identify what's hot now.

Individual Stocks:

The most crucial aspect for success with the intermediate-term trading method is the stock selection. TM offers a plethora of resources on the Indicators page, including the Stock Scanner, which is at the heart of the selection process. IT selections are based on a combination of top fundamental and technical criteria. In our nightly Intermediate-term Trader's Report, we use a strict set of criteria to screen for candidates that will have the most potential to succeed.

The following lists also are screened for potential IT candidates: Mark Boucher's New Highs list, Stocks Building a Base, New 52 Week Highs. Keeping track of the stocks that meet top fundamental and technical criteria is also an excellent way to measure the market's strength as a whole.

• A 12 Month RS of 83 or better.
• An EPR rank 80 or better. We like to see earnings improve at least 30% from the same quarter a year ago.
• Last closing price of $12 or higher.
• Average trading volume of 100,000 shares.

In addition, we look for revenue to come in 20% greater than same quarter of previous year, and return on equity to be at least 17%.

Using TM's Stock Scanner

The following are recommended variables used to screen for IT candidates on TM's stock scanner.

1. Closing Price: >12. A closing price of $12 or more will filter out the smaller, and typically riskier, stocks in the database. There is no need to fill in the box for a maximum closing price, unless you are looking for a specific range. For example, if you were seeking only low-priced stocks, you would add a <= variable of maybe 20.

2. 50-day Average volume: > 1000. Volume figures are expressed in hundreds, so you will want to leave the last two zeros off in the number you are screening for. For example, 100,000 shares would be 100. As in the Closing Price variable above, if you were specifically screening for small caps only, you might want to put a maximum variable of 300 in the <= box.

3. EPR: 80. The Earnings Performance Ranking is the company's earning per share growth performance from the last reported period, compared to the same quarter a year ago, ranked against TradingMarkets 5000 stock database. Ranks are from 1 to 99, with the higher numbers representing stronger earnings growth.

4. RS (12 mo): > 83. The RS is measuring the relative strength, so an RS of 83 will screen for the stocks that have outperformed 83% of the database. Even if a stock has a bullish pattern, the chances of it working out are less if the RS isn't high as well. Earnings may be the driving force behind stocks, but RS will tell you what's driving now.

5. Closing Price > 50 Day MA, and Closing Price > 200 Day MA. This filter will screen for stocks that are trading in the upper portions of their ranges. When analyzing chart formations, it important that the stock be within 15% of its 52 Week High for a breakout.

6. Sort by Sub Sector. In accordance with your research into Groups, this filter will narrow the field to ensure your selection will be within the strongest of groups. Leaving this filter blank will give you a range of all stocks in the database that meet the criteria, and can be beneficial for gauging the whole market.

Though the criteria used for scanning ideal IT candidates is fairly straightforward, don't feel discouraged from tweaking the scanner to find setups out of the ordinary. There have been many lessons written on this site for special circumstances using the scanner, and in bad markets like the one we've been having, select swing trading can be a great means to pull in some dollars. Other than that, there is no real need for IT traders to set variables for the ADX, DMI, Price Chg, and 3 and 6 month RS's. If you are unable to do the scans for a period of time, you can always catch up by re-setting the default dates above the scanner for the time period you were away.

Downloading The Data Into Excel

Those more comfortable working with their data in Microsoft Excel can do so by following these steps:

1. Open your Microsoft Excel program.

2. Select your scanning variables along with the "Export to Excel" field.

3. Hit "Start Search," and the data will automatically download into Excel format within your web browser.

Once in the Excel environment, you can manipulate the data by selecting Data, then Filter, then Auto Filter.

Once you have selected Auto Filter, you should see pull-down tabs at the head of each column. These pull-down menus will allow you to sort the data in whatever way works best for you. For example, if you imported a hundred candidates and wanted to see them ranked by EPR, you would set the filter and let Excel do the rest. This manipulation can be extremely beneficial when sorting through a large number of candidates, as well as gaining further insight into the strength of the market.

Summary

TM's resources for intermediate-term traders are convenient and vast. Using a top-down approach to your analysis will ensure a thorough breakdown of the markets, making sure your final decision to set up in a stock is made with confidence. Not only are TM's tools beneficial, but commentary from Boucher, Truebenbach, and Kaltbaum will give you insight from their experience, keeping you out of danger and on the road to to profits.

Best of luck with your trading.

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