Premarket gappers template (Trade Ideas): stop the junk first¶
Most premarket scanners fail for one reason:
people filter for % gap and nothing else.
That gives you a list full of: - wide spreads - illiquid garbage - random movers with no real attention
This page gives you a clean starting template you can copy, then tighten.
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The baseline template (80/20)¶
If you only do three things, do these:
1) Liquidity floor (so you can actually trade it) 2) Spread sanity (so you don't get chopped by bad fills) 3) Premarket participation (volume / RVOL so it's actually in play)
Recommended baseline constraints: - Price range: pick something you can trade (example: $2 to $20) - Dollar volume: set a minimum (example: $5M+ premarket or a "today" proxy) - Volume today / premarket volume: set a minimum (varies by lane) - RVOL: use as a gate, not a magic number - Exclude obvious junk: (optional) ETFs, ultra-low price, extreme spreads
What this looks like in the Top List config¶
Use the existing premarket gap list workflow tutorial and copy the "lane" concept:
Then use a broad pool + a filtered "high quality" pool:
If you want the full step-by-step: - Premarket gap list workflow
3 variants (pick one lane)¶
Variant A Small-cap momentum (highest noise)¶
Use more guardrails, not fewer.
- Higher minimum volume
- More aggressive spread limit
- Consider float constraints (because behavior changes)
Related: - Guide: float + short float - Guide: liquidity filters
Variant B Mid-cap "clean movers"¶
Best for most people.
- Moderate volume threshold
- Moderate spread limit
- Focus on RVOL + clean ranges
Related: - Guide: stocks in play
Variant C Large-cap news-driven¶
If you trade big names:
- Prioritize dollar volume
- Lower spread sensitivity (already tight)
- Focus on catalyst + sustained volume
Noise reducers (do these before adding fancy alerts)¶
- Add time-of-day constraints (premarket vs open behaves differently)
- Use relative volume as an "in-play" gate
- Rank your list: focus on the top 10-25 names
Backtest the lane (a concrete OddsMaker example)¶
Backtesting gappers is tricky because the “universe” changes every day — but OddsMaker is still useful for validating: - whether your filters are doing anything - how sensitive your lane is to time-of-day - whether you should tighten/loosen RVOL/liquidity gates
A realistic first test (good enough to stop guessing): - Session: regular hours - Entry window: 9:30 AM → 10:30 AM (or whatever you actually trade) - Filters: your baseline gappers constraints (price + liquidity + spread sanity + in-play volume) - Trigger: a simple continuation trigger (new highs / range expansion) or “holds above VWAP” style logic, depending on your lane
In OddsMaker (“Backtest Strategy”), set your entry time window explicitly:
Optional: add a regime filter so you don’t trade gappers on dead tape¶
If your gapper lane dies on low-momentum days, add a quick tape gate like S&P Change 30 Minute (%).
OddsMaker walkthrough: - OddsMaker backtesting
Next¶
- If your list is empty: Empty gap list troubleshooting
- If your list is a firehose: Too many alerts / too many results
- If you want a clean daily routine: Premarket gap list workflow