StockFetcher Review – A Simple and Effective Scanning Tool

StockFetcher

StockFetcher is a unique stock screener that takes the coding out of building complex, overlapping stock filters. While the tool isn’t flashy compared to most stock screeners, it offers a highly useful array of technical and fundamental metrics. Importantly for day traders, StockFetcher integrates nicely with ongoing technical analysis thanks to filters based on crossovers and other movements in critical indicators.

StockFetcher Pricing Options

StockFetcher is one of the least expensive stock screeners available, starting at just $8.95 per month for a Standard subscription (cheaper than FinViz and other comparable platforms). With that, you get full access to StockFetcher minus “advanced” filters – although what these advanced filters are isn’t specified on the site, and traders aren’t likely to miss them given the wealth of filters and customization options already available. The other limits to note on the Standard plan are that traders can only have 100 saved filters and 100 watchlists, and can only export 200 symbols from a search to Excel.

An Advanced subscription costs $16.95 per month and primarily serves to increase those limits. With an Advanced subscription, traders can have 250 saved filters and 250 watchlists, and export up to 1,000 symbols from a search to Excel.

With either plan, stock data is not truly real-time, but rather delayed by 15-20 minutes.

Also note that StockFetcher can also be used for free without an account. In this case, traders cannot save searches or watchlists, and only have access to the previous day’s close-of-session stock data.

StockFetcher Features

Language-based Filters

The defining aspect of StockFetcher is that rather than requiring traders to use drop-down menus to create complex filters (such as EquityFeed and StocksToTrade), all stock screens are based on a custom language. While this is much like coding in practice, the language used across StockFetcher makes common sense and uses much of the terminology that traders are already familiar with. For example, “EMA(50) greater than 200” is a valid filter.

StockFetcher makes it easy to find other often-used filter phrases with a list published on an easily accessed page. There is also a forum, the main purpose of which is to categorize words used in the filter language into groups so that they can be easily discovered. For traders interested in creating advanced stock screens, there is a PDF usage guide, 175 pages long, that goes into extreme detail about specific use cases with standard and advanced examples.

The advantage to using language-based filters is that traders who are practiced at using StockFetcher can create extremely in-depth, complex stock screens within minutes. Traders can even add code comments to keep track of how screens operate, for easy modification later. The downside is that while the platform is intended to be beginner-friendly, creating modest stock screens that would be obvious in other stock screener programs can require reading though large swaths of the 175-page user manual.

Technical Indicators

StockFetcher boasts a massive library of technical indicators and fundamental measures that can be used in stock screens. The inclusion of phrases such as “crosses above/below,” “approaching,”, and “dropped/gained” in the coding language allows these technical indicators to be compared to one another and to specific values when creating stock screens.

Helpfully, StockFetcher includes a full list of the nearly 200 indicators available in the software. Each of these indicators comes with an information page, where traders can find out more information about what the indicator measures and how it can be called within a stock scan.

Results and Charts

One of the best aspects of StockFetcher is that the results are designed to be informative, rather than to simply lead traders to doing more research in another software package. Stock screener results are displayed as miniature interactive charts, complete with overlays of the technical indicators used in the screen. Alternatively, screener results can be tabulated to get a faster overview or to export results to Excel.

Clicking on any of these charts pops open a new window, where the same chart can be annotated – including with Buy, Hold, and Sell rating indicators. Any chart annotations are permanently saved to the stock’s chart within StockFetcher so traders can keep an eye on a particular stock over time. It’s also possible to view and annotate charts for stocks that have not been identified in a screen, using a standard ticker search function.

Saved Screens and Watchlists

Of course, it’s possible to save complex stock filters after coding them. Stock filters can be named and organized into categories to make them easy to find later. Saved filters can also be searched by name, and clicking on any filter gives a preview of the code that makes up the filter. Saved filters can also be copied to make modified versions of a single master filter.

Watchlists work much as for any stock screening platform. They can be created using the results of a filter search, or by entering stocks manually. It’s also possible to apply a filter only to stocks within a watchlist.

StockFetcher Ease of Use

StockFetcher’s browser-based interface is simple to navigate, with an uncomplicated menu that remains across the top of the screen. Quick-access menu buttons to view the indicators and filter phrases available within StockFetcher make it simple to keep track of the filter possibilities without resorting to the PDF user manual.

The watchlists and saved screens pages offer a moderate degree of customization. In addition to being able to name and tag saved stock screens, traders can customize the display order of saved screens to put often-used screens at the top of the list. For watchlists, it is possible to customize the data presented in the tabular display or to view watchlist stocks as miniaturized charts.

What Stands Out About StockFetcher?

StockFetcher is unique in that the software uses coding, albeit in relatively plain language, to design stock screens. The result of this approach is that StockFetcher is capable of creating extremely complex filters with an ease that most stock screeners are not able to do. StockFetcher also includes versatile charts that can be annotated to keep an eye on stocks over time. Overall, StockFetcher’s approach and interface makes it extremely powerful and relatively easy to use once traders are comfortable with the built-in coding language.

On the other hand, needing to use a coding language to create stock screens can be seen as a significant barrier to entry to this software. Even basic screens take some understanding of how StockFetcher’s language works, and making more advanced screens can require reading through the detailed examples found in the 175-page user manual.

Final Verdict on StockFetcher

StockFetcher is best for day traders and short-term investors who rely on technical analysis or a combination of technical and fundamental analyses to identify potential stock plays. The phraseology included in StockFetcher’s language allows screens to be developed that analyze not only static indicators, but also how indicators are changing relative to a specific value or support level, or in relationship to one another. That said, because StockFetcher does not provide real-time data, the software may have more limited use for swing traders.