I often talk about pre-leaders or pre-market gainers. These are stocks that are up in pre-market trading. They often make for good trades. This video shows how to scan for them yourself. As to trading them, I will write about that in the future; I suggest checking out Muddy’s post about pre-leaders in the meantime.
Disclosure: No positions. I have a disclosure policy.

#1 by Reaper on August 10, 2009 - 6:45 pm
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In trying to fix my email issue I deleted all the comments (by reverting to a saved version of this website). Sorry for the inconvenience.
#2 by Preston on August 10, 2009 - 7:07 pm
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Thats cool, I wanted to tell the guy that asked about ToS and pre-market scans, it can’t be done. However, though I would like you to verify this, the scans you do there are real time so if you do a scan before the market opens is that not the same thing.
I also started doing the supernova scan and it’s pretty cool as well.
Really great stuff you have here and I’m really learning a lot. I have realized that the amount of stuff I have to learn is enormous and I’m paper trading until I can trade with the right principles and tactics. I trust what you are doing here and know that I’m learning the correct/better way to trade.
Thanks
#3 by Reaper on August 10, 2009 - 8:33 pm
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Preston — I used TOS for trading for 6 months. I never learned how to do more than trade or chart. So I cannot add anything on doing scans with it.
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#4 by Preston on August 10, 2009 - 9:14 pm
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Michael, when you click on top percent gainers, if you could enter a percent in there what would it be. I use 30% and then scan, maybe thats not the same thing as your doing, keep in mind I’m trying to learn so please tell me right or wrong what I”m doing. There are so many options, top 10 sizzlers Etc., but I keep the parameters on the price and volume the same so it’s just the tab you have for top 10% gainers that I can’t figure out.
Anyway, lol, I guess thats why you say what you said above. I have learned several scans that do work so I will keep fooling with it until I can upgrade my broker.
#5 by Reaper on August 10, 2009 - 9:16 pm
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Preston – there is no option for the % you want. The market scanner just lists top % gainers and sorts by percentage gains. I like 10% as a cutoff for stocks that I will watch throughout the day; there is no button or option for that. I just don’t copy over the stocks with less than a 10% gain to my watchlist.
#6 by Preston on August 10, 2009 - 9:47 pm
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Ahhhh, ok. Thanks again. I have created several of your type of scans and then watchlist from them so I’m better than I was, which was nothing when I started reading this blog.
It’s a good feeling when I start to see some of the same stocks you have on your watchlist, now I just need to learn to trade them. I will not join Tim until I understand more about this, I cannot mindlessly follow nothing.
Have a good night and I will do my homework on the stocks you have out tonight.
#7 by Chris on August 10, 2009 - 9:50 pm
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Thanks for the info guys. It seems I’m stuck without pre-market leaders or HOD scans in real time until I can get the cash for IB.
#8 by betheball on August 10, 2009 - 11:42 pm
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Bastard, you deleted my post…and I said so many nice things about you as well….
Would love to see more posts of this nature in regards to IB. Particularly curious if you use their charts? If so would love to see you talk through your chart setups. I have poked into IB charts and given up a couple of times…..
#9 by Reaper on August 11, 2009 - 9:10 am
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Chris — IB doesn’t have the HOD list. That is Scottrade only (among common brokers).
BTB — you want it, you’ll get it! More videos of using IB will come.
#10 by robert on August 12, 2009 - 8:14 am
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Thanks for the video. Any chance you could copy/paste the pre-market gainers into your blog? *wink wink* =D
#11 by Reaper on August 12, 2009 - 8:42 am
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No Robert — not that I have any real objections to doing that, but it would take valuable time during the most important part of the trading day.
#12 by robert on August 12, 2009 - 11:38 pm
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Understood Reaper. Hopefully, I’ll have an IB account by the end of the year.
#13 by RT on December 1, 2009 - 5:48 pm
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Thanks for the helpful info. The list will not copy/paste onto another page for me (I do know how to copy/paste), its just nothing tranfers over, any thoughts on that?
Also, what volume do you look for during market hours?
Thanks again.
#14 by Reaper on December 1, 2009 - 5:54 pm
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I don’t really know what to say about the copy/paste. It works for me and I don’t know why it wouldn’t work for you.
During market hours I usually use a few hundred thousand as the minimum volume. I have another scanner set up with that default in there … depending on what you are looking for you may want to set it a bit higher or lower.
#15 by Rob on December 28, 2009 - 4:05 pm
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Hey reaper-explain to me that last hour of cgen. With that kind of volume at 3:08PM taking it up- that just can’t be short covering…was just prof day traders taking it up, or computer generated Hi-freq trading? Then it ran right down to same price-seems odd. Not Prof money mng that need to fill their biopharm mutual funds w/positions I don’t think. I don’t have a position it in-just watching it w/complete fast
nation…
#16 by Reaper on December 28, 2009 - 4:24 pm
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Rob: we can speculate all we want, but that was unusual activity and I don’t know why it happened. BTW, next time leave a comment on the most recent post if discussing current stocks in play, so other people can see it and comment.
#17 by Don on February 12, 2010 - 12:39 pm
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Ctrl c/v wasn’t working for me either so I asked IB support. Highlight the stocks as instructed, then right click, then left click on “copy”, then go to the target page, right click, left click on “paste”.
Reaper, thanks for the tips!
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