Trading tips

A stock trading near its 52-week high is not automatically too late to buy; judge it on extension, news and valuation.

A low P/E screen should carry a second filter on debt, because P/E prices only the equity and ignores what lenders are owed.

Pick chart bars much shorter than your holding period and check one timeframe higher for trend, since detail you will never feel adds false signals.

Moving average crossovers confirm moves that already happened, so use them to filter for trend direction and keep them out of entry timing.

A scheduled release can gap a stock past your stop, so check the calendar before entry and size the position for the gap you could face.

Two ETFs with different names can hold the same stocks at heavy weights, so measure the overlap before counting them as separate bets.

A fair value estimate is a structured opinion; read the assumptions behind it before the headline number.

A green heatmap on a cap-weighted index can hide a day when most stocks fell, so check breadth before reading it as a strong market.

High short interest makes a squeeze possible, but a squeeze needs a catalyst and forced buying that the number cannot show.

A high dividend yield often reflects a falling share price, so check whether earnings and cash flow still cover the payout.

A low P/E marks a stock worth researching; it only means cheap once the earnings behind it hold up.

The pre-market gainers list ranks moves made on thin volume, so treat each name as a lead to research and hold off acting until the open confirms it.

A price target compresses a whole model into one number, so read the estimate changes and the stated risks before paying attention to the target.

In an earnings release, the outlook section tells you more about the next move than the quarter just reported.

When a headline moves a stock, read the company's own release or 8-K before trading, because the conditions and qualifiers never fit in the headline.

Relative volume, today's volume divided by the stock's normal volume, is the useful signal; raw volume alone says almost nothing.

When screeners disagree on a number you would trade on, check the definition each uses and settle it against the company's filing.

A screen tuned on last year's winners fits the past, so review saved screens on a schedule and change them only for reasons you write down.

Every stock screen should filter for volume, dollar volume and spread before it filters for value or growth.

A stock's own move is what remains after you subtract its sector's move, so judge news and earnings reactions on that residual.

A P/E or any other multiple only means something against close peers and the company's own history, since industries differ in growth and capital needs.

When free cash flow keeps falling short of net income, the cash is the better guide to what the business actually earned.

Free cash flow yield is harder to flatter and the better default for mature firms; earnings yield reads fairer for fast growers and for banks.

A P/B under 1 is usually a fair price for equity that earns less than investors require. It becomes a bargain only when returns are set to improve.

A wide gap above the 200-day calls for a smaller position or more patience; the distance alone is no reason to sell.

Paid equity research is worth renewing when its cost is a minor slice of the money it steers and it alters decisions you make.