By Ben Brinneman

Contributor

05/21/13 — 12:46 PM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Stockpickr ) — Trading stocks can be a dangerous thing unless you know how to manage your positions and pick your stocks. In fact, finding the correct stock to pick is 75% of the difficulty.

Using a popular stock screener the right way can rapidly narrow your search and sort out stocks with the potential to move in a big way in the near future. My preferred screener is Finviz for its clean design and the easy way it lets you view stocks quickly.

Here are some tips for using a stock screener such as Finviz:

Sort by current volume over 200,000 or more. This will keep you out of anemically traded stocks. Any stock that pops on light volume typically sells off soon after.

Sort by U.S. stocks only. ADRs do not have the same accounting standards as U.S. stocks, and their financials can be misleading, which can eventually cause the stocks to tank quickly.

Sort by price over $2 on (on the far right on Finviz). This will keep you out garbage stocks.

Sort by the % Change column to get the stocks that have increased the most in value.

You should be looking for stocks that are starting to turn upwards in momentum over a three-month chart, which is previewed as you hover over the ticker symbol on Finviz.

Here is an example of what I look for in a great chart that is ready to take off. When that stock curls up above the trend below which it was selling previously, it can then really kick into high gear as shorts get squeezed and momentum swings and day traders enter the stock. The beauty in this strategy is that your stop is right at the point that it took off.

And here is a video I made about using the Finviz screener.

—Written by Ben Brinneman in Charlotte, N.C.

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Trader Ben Brinneman, featured on MarketWatch, Bloomberg and Reuters, resides in Charlotte, N.C. and is the owner of C Squared Trading. Brinneman started his career trading bonds for U.S. Bancorp and was an analyst for a wealth management firm. Brinneman and his team at C Squared Trading have taught hundreds in a one-on-one mentorship setting via Skype or live in Charlotte.