StockQuirks Frequently Asked Questions

Are you a recommendation service?

No. We focus on a fixed 'Select List' (300+) of the most tradable stocks, identify ones that may have a 'tailwind' due to historical seasonal patterns, institutional accumulation/distribution, or price chart patterns that have accompanied good moves in the past. You may use our service to confirm or reject trades from a recommendation service you subscribe to, to further evaluate trade candidates you've come up with from your own analysis, or you can use our weekly Focus Lists as a list of good trade candidates for further investigation.

Why do you provide analysis on only a few hundred stocks, and not all of them?

Talk to or read the accounts of successful traders and one of the most common traits you'll find is that they focus on a small seldom-changing list of stocks over time, and get to know each stock on that list very well.

The intent of StockQuirks is to provide a list of good candidates for building such focus lists. Subscribers are encouraged to select a small group of stocks from our limited list of active tradable stocks. Watch them, research them, and get to know how they move and respond to earnings announcements, seasons, and news. Knowing the stocks you trade as well as you know your spouse or kids puts you in greater control of your success rate.

If you have a suggestion on a stock you'd like to see us cover, email support@stockquirks.com. We will investigate it and consider adding it to our list.

How do you pick the stocks you in your Select List?

The StockQuirks Select List stocks are mostly hand-picked. In general, each stock must be actively traded and tradable. By this we mean:

• Good average daily volume
• Options should be available, and the options should have reasonable bid/ask spreads, volume, and open interest.
• The stock should display regular trading/consolidation ranges as well as clear trends
• The stock is periodically/frequently mentioned in business news
• The stock has shown up on selection screens/active stock lists on various financial sites
• The stock shows up on lists of recent purchases by institutions
• The stock's volume displays signs of significant accumulation/distribution
• The stock price should be greater than $10, which is the minimum price level required by many institutions
• The stock shows cyclical and/or seasonal tendencies
• The stock often makes significant moves around quarterly earnings announcement

You'll find some stocks on our list that are priced less than $10, have less than 12 years of history, or don't have options offered. These however were picked because they met most of the other requirements.

How should I pick short-term trading candidates from your list of several hundred?

Read these helpful articles:

• Understanding our Select Lists
• Understanding our Focus Lists
• A sample weekly Focus List
• Understanding our individual Stock pages
• A sample weekly individual Stock page
• Picking trade candidates using StockQuirks

Do I need to know how to trade options to use the StockQuirks service?

No. While stocks/ETFs on our service usually have actively-traded options on them, you don't need to trade options, or even know anything about them, to benefit from this service. Stocks that have options on them are usually very good candidates for active trading by themselves (the options exchanges generally decide to offer options on specific stocks because they are actively-traded).

How about covering more low-priced stocks?

Low-priced stocks don't usually have regular price patterns or good volume. This is often because their low price prohibits many mutual funds from investing in them, and active participation by the large institutions is an important component of good candidates.The low-priced stocks we do cover were picked because they seem to be the rare exceptions.

What types of options positions is this service good for?

Nearly all. Because of the time-decay aspect of options, you really want to focus on the short-term characteristics of the underlying stocks, and that's the whole focus of this site.

When you consider entering long option positions, covered calls, debit and/or credit spreads, writing puts, straddles, iron condors, etc., you need evaluate the relatively short-term movement potential of the stock itself.