What stocks should i buy

Screening Filters

1. Market Cap ≥ $1 Billion ('market_cap': {'min': '1000000000'})

   • Purpose: Focus on established, reasonably large companies rather than tiny, speculative ones.
   • Rationale:
     • Your goal is to win a short-term competition, but you still want to avoid purely “lottery ticket” microcaps that can be easily manipulated or have unreliable data.
     • Companies above $1B market cap tend to have more analyst coverage, more stable business models, and more reliable price/volume behavior, which makes predictive models more meaningful.

2. High-Risk / Higher Volatility Stocks ('beta': ['HighRisk'])

   • Purpose: Target stocks that move more than the overall market, giving you higher upside potential over a short contest period.
   • Rationale:
     • In a multi-week or few-month competition, volatility is your friend if you’re trying to win. Lower-volatility “safe” stocks are less likely to deliver the big moves you need to outperform classmates.
     • A high beta means the stock tends to move more than the market (both up and down). We’re accepting more risk to increase the chance of a strong gain before May 5.

3. Minimum Liquidity – Monthly Average Dollar Volume ≥ $500,000 ('monthly_average_dollar_volume': {'min': '500000'})

   • Purpose: Ensure the stocks trade enough money each day/month that you can hypothetically enter and exit positions at reasonable prices.
   • Rationale:
     • With a “$1,000,000” portfolio (even if fake), you want names where large orders could realistically be executed without moving the price too much.
     • Higher dollar volume reduces the risk of getting “stuck” in illiquid names that you can’t sell if the price moves against you.

4. Region: United States ('region': ['United States'])

   • Purpose: Limit results to U.S. companies.
   • Rationale:
     • Your class competition is very likely based on U.S.-listed names, and U.S. stocks are generally more familiar, better covered, and easier to research.
     • U.S. markets also have high liquidity and more reliable data, which matters when using predictive statistics like “rise probability” and “predicted return.”

5. Listed on Major U.S. Exchanges ('list_exchange': ['XNYS', 'XNAS', 'XASE'])

   • Purpose: Restrict to stocks traded on the NYSE, NASDAQ, or NYSE American.
   • Rationale:
     • These are the main U.S. exchanges with higher listing standards (financial reporting, governance, etc.) than OTC/pink sheets.
     • This helps avoid very low-quality or opaque names and keeps you in more reputable, tradeable securities that a class competition would typically allow.

6. Predicted 1-Month Rise Probability ≥ 60% ('one_month_rise_prob': {'min': '60'})

   • Purpose: Filter for stocks where a statistical model estimates better-than-coin-flip odds of being higher one month from now.
   • Rationale:
     • For a contest ending in a few weeks/months, the direction over the next month is crucial.
     • By only looking at names with at least a 60% estimated probability of rising, you’re stacking the odds somewhat in your favor rather than picking purely on hope or hype.
     • This does not guarantee gains; it simply focuses on stocks where the model suggests a relatively favorable short-term outlook.

7. Predicted 1-Month Return ≥ 8% ('one_month_predict_return': {'min': '8'})

   • Purpose: Target stocks with meaningful upside potential in the short term, not just a slight expected gain.
   • Rationale:
     • To win a competition, you’re not just trying to beat inflation—you’re trying to beat classmates. That generally requires taking positions with higher potential returns.
     • An 8% or more predicted one‑month return sets a decent bar: the model is signaling not just “likely up,” but “likely up by a material amount,” which better fits the competitive objective.

Why These Results Match Your Competition Goal

• The screen intentionally trades safety for upside: it targets high‑beta (more volatile) stocks with strong modeled upside and a good chance of rising in the near term, which is what you need to have a shot at topping the class by May 5.
• At the same time, it controls for realism:
  • Minimum market cap and listing on major U.S. exchanges filter out the most speculative, illiquid names.
  • Minimum dollar volume ensures you could plausibly move a large notional amount of money in and out, which fits a $1,000,000 portfolio.
• The time horizon alignment is key: using 1‑month rise probability and predicted 1‑month return directly matches the short-term nature of your class competition, rather than focusing on long-term fundamentals that may not play out by your deadline.

If you’d like, I can next help you think through how to diversify among a handful of these candidates (sector mix, number of positions, risk level) to build a competition-ready portfolio.