Why pair momentum with margins?
A screen cuts hundreds of stocks to a few dozen worth reading about. Each half covers the other’s blind spot:
- Momentum alone finds stocks rising on a story with no profits behind it.
- Margins alone find fine businesses whose shares have fallen for a year.
Which momentum measures can you use?
- IR3, IR12: 3- and 12-month momentum, how steadily the stock beat its market, ranked 0 to 100 in its region. See the Information Ratio guide.
- 3M %, 1Y %: plain price change over the period.
- 52W Hi %: distance from the 52-week high; −5 means 5% below it.
- EMA50 %, EMA200 %: how far price sits above or below its 50- or 200-day exponential moving average.
- Vol ×: the last session’s volume against its 50-day average.
- Signal class: the chart’s trendline label, such as Breakout or Support.
A rank compares stocks with each other; a return compares a stock with its own past. One of each is a fair balance.
Which margin measures can you use?
- Gross %, Oper %, EBITDA %, Net %: gross, operating, EBITDA and net profit, each ÷ sales × 100.
- FCF %: free cash flow ÷ sales for the latest fiscal year. Are the profits real cash?
- Oper Δ: this year’s operating margin minus last year’s, in percentage points.
- ROE %, ROIC %: profit on shareholders’ money, and on all money invested.
Operating margin and ROIC are good first choices. Net margin can jump on a one-off gain, and ROE can look high just because of debt.
What does an example screen look like?
| Metric | Bound | What it asks |
|---|---|---|
| IR12 | Min 60 | A steadier lead than most stocks in its region this year? |
| 52W Hi % | Min −20 | Within 20% of its yearly high? |
| Oper % | Min 15 | At least 15 of every 100 in sales kept as operating profit? |
| ROIC % | Min 12 | A healthy return on the money put in? |
| ND/EBITDA | Max 2 | Modest debt next to earnings? |
Start loose, see how many pass, then tighten one bound at a time. If one filter empties the list, it is doing all the work.
How does the screener work in Chart in Motion?
- On desktop, open Screener and pick the curated India or US list.
- Choose up to 5 metrics. Each becomes a column.
- Give each a minimum, a maximum or both. A stock must meet every condition.
- Sort by any column, then select a stock to open its chart.
Starting points such as “Quality, low debt” fill in criteria you can edit. Hover a value to see its period and source.
What quietly changes your results?
- Missing values drop out. Net debt / EBITDA is blank for banks, insurers and lenders, so a debt filter removes them all.
- Industries differ. Compare margins within an industry, not across the whole list.
- Reported figures lag. Margins can be months old; momentum updates after each session.
- Ranks are relative. In a falling market, a high rank can belong to a stock falling less than the rest.
What do you do after the screen?
Treat the result as a reading list. Check where price sits in its channel (see the breakout and breakdown guide), read the latest results, and check valuation with the PEG ratio guide.
Chart in Motion does not make buy, sell or hold calls. Passing a screen is not a recommendation, and any figure can be delayed, revised or wrong.
See it in the app
The screener filters a curated India or US list on up to 5 metrics at once. It is part of Pro and Pro+; see pricing. More on the features page.