How Our SEC Catalyst Scanner Works

Overview: Why SEC Filings Are the Best Pre-Market Edge

Most traders react to price moves. By the time a stock shows up in a screener, institutions have already positioned. SEC EDGAR is the one place where material information must be disclosed publicly — and it's available to everyone at the same time.

The problem: EDGAR processes thousands of filings nightly. Sorting signal from noise manually is impossible before a 4 AM pre-market open. That's what our scanner does automatically.

Data Source: SEC EDGAR RSS Feeds

We pull directly from SEC EDGAR's official RSS feeds — the same primary source used by Bloomberg terminals. Every filing that hits EDGAR overnight is captured and processed. No third-party data vendor, no delay, no markup.

Filing types monitored every night:

Gap Score (0–10): How We Rank Each Ticker

Every ticker that appears in an overnight EDGAR filing gets a Gap Score from 0–10. This is not a simple filing-count metric — it's a weighted composite of five independent signals:

1. Filing Recency & Impact Weight

Filings processed within the last 6 hours before the scanner runs get full recency weight. 8-K filings score highest (earnings surprise, merger). Form 4 clusters score based on number of insiders and transaction size. Late filings (NT) are flagged as risk signals.

2. Volume Signal vs 30-Day Average

We pull the last 30 days of volume data from public market sources and calculate each ticker's volume ratio. A stock trading at 5x its 30-day average volume alongside a material filing is a high-conviction setup. Ratio of 10x+ triggers a "block volume" flag.

3. Insider Signal Strength

Form 4 filings from the same ticker within a 48-hour window are clustered. A single insider buy scores low. Three or more different insiders buying within 48 hours scores maximum insider weight — this pattern historically precedes positive announcements.

4. Short Interest (Squeeze Potential)

Short float and days-to-cover are pulled from public short interest data. Tickers with >15% short float combined with a positive catalyst filing score additional squeeze multiplier — the combination creates forced covering pressure.

5. Filing Sentiment Score

We extract the raw text from each SEC filing and run a keyword sentiment pass. Phrases like "record revenue," "strategic merger," "insider acquisition" score positive. Phrases like "going concern," "material weakness," "SEC investigation" score negative. The sentiment score adjusts the final Gap Score up or down.

Squeeze Radar: Short Interest + Catalyst = Forced Covering

A short squeeze requires two ingredients: high short interest and a catalyst that forces short sellers to cover. Our scanner finds tickers where both conditions exist simultaneously.

• Short Float %: percentage of the float held short — above 15% is elevated, above 30% is extreme
• Days to Cover (DTC): at current average volume, how many days for all shorts to buy back — above 5 days is high risk for short sellers
• Squeeze Stage: Early / Building / Primed / Critical — based on price action vs short interest trend
• Catalyst match: when a high-squeeze ticker also has a positive EDGAR filing, the score multiplies

Insider Cluster Detection: Form 4 Pattern Recognition

A single insider buy can be routine — pre-planned 10b5-1 sale, compensation adjustment. Three or more insiders from the same company buying within 48 hours is statistically significant and historically correlates with positive unreported events.

Our pipeline clusters all Form 4 filings by ticker and date window, then flags any ticker where 3+ unique insiders appear. These tickers get the highest insider signal score regardless of their base Gap Score.

Block Volume Signal: Institutional Positioning Indicator

We calculate each ticker's volume ratio: today's volume divided by its 30-day average. A 5x+ ratio alongside a catalyst filing suggests institutional positioning — someone large is building or exiting a position before the news is fully priced in.

Options Activity: Call/Put Flow on Catalyst Picks

For our top 15 gap candidates each morning, we check public options market data for unusual activity signals:

• Volume/Open Interest ratio >3x: far more contracts trading than exist as open positions — indicates a sweep, not normal retail activity
• Bullish flow: call volume significantly outpaces put volume — market participants are betting on upside
• Bearish flow: put volume dominant — caution signal even on a positive catalyst
• Estimated premium: total dollar value of call options traded — large premium ($500K+) indicates institutional-sized orders

Track Record: How We Measure Accuracy

Every pick is logged the morning it's published. We then check the next trading day's open, intraday high, and closing price. Outcomes are categorized:

• Win: ticker moved +2% or more from the scanner publication price
• Hit +5%: reached +5% intraday high at any point next session
• Miss: returned less than +2% or went negative

These stats are updated automatically every morning and displayed on the scanner's Track Record section. No cherry-picking — the full evaluated dataset is shown.

Free vs Premium: What Each Tier Includes

The free tier is free forever. We monetize through Premium subscribers who want the full dataset — not by paywalling the core signal.

Frequently Asked Questions