Can you guys please suggest a few NYSE stocks that are consistently suitable for intraday trading? I am not a stock trader but would like to backtest a system on several NYSE stocks that are consistently active with good volume during the day. Thank you in advance.
Honestly, I think that as long as the stock has an avg daily volume of at least 750k it can be used for intraday activity. Just watch them for a few days to see how the specialist trades it. some of them keep the action erratic just to discourage day traders from getting involved.
Ah, they do that on purpose then? I screen for volume and volatility, but I suppose you can have the wrong kind of volatility. Anyone have any other criteria they use for intraday picks? Any excuse to troll for new ideas.
As you'll see when you watch these stocks more closely, volatility will be only a starting point. Three stocks with very similar volatilities can trade very differently. One will move smoothly from one price level to another, generally in 2 or 3 cent increments, others will just freeze the book when the SPoos move, wait for it to settle, then print a bunch of trades at some price in the direction of the SPoos, and the third may move the bid/ask in the direction of the SPoos, print some shares in the opposite direction, then gap to the SPoos. Which one is better? I guess that depends on your trading style. I know traders that can make money on any of those by really knowing that specialist and how he trades the stock. Check the 3D map at www.nyse.com to see where your stock trades. You may find that the post is shared by some other stock, so you can expect that the specialist will tend to trade the thing in bunches on the smaller stock, as he works between both books.