Common Questions

Screening is the automated filtering process—you set criteria like earnings growth or valuation ratios, and the system identifies stocks that match. Stock picking is what you do next: reviewing those screened results, understanding the company's story, and deciding whether to buy. Think of screening as narrowing your search from thousands of companies to a manageable list you can actually research.

Not necessarily. Most screening platforms (like Finviz, Yahoo Finance, or your broker's tools) have visual filters—you click checkboxes instead of writing code. That said, understanding the logic behind your criteria matters more than the technical execution. We cover how to design screening logic and interpret the results, regardless of which tool you use.

Building a basic screening system takes a few weeks once you understand the core metrics. The real work is testing and refining—trying different criteria combinations, seeing which screens actually catch good opportunities, and adjusting based on market conditions. Most investors spend 4-8 weeks getting comfortable with their system before using it for real decisions.

Absolutely. Combining approaches is actually smart—screening for fundamentally sound companies (good earnings, reasonable debt) that also show positive price momentum often catches better opportunities than either approach alone. We cover how to layer these criteria without making your screen too narrow or too broad.

That's normal—no screen is perfect. The goal isn't to catch every good stock, it's to find reliable candidates worth researching. We teach you how to backtest your criteria (checking how they would've performed historically) and adjust them when results drift. You'll also learn to recognize when market conditions have changed and your system needs tweaking.

The screening methodology works anywhere. The metrics and principles we cover—earnings analysis, valuation ratios, debt assessment—apply to Canadian stocks, US stocks, and most global markets. We focus on the logic so you can apply it using the screening tools and data sources available for whatever markets you're interested in.