News
Aggregated news feed from 97+ sources with stock filtering. See headlines only for stocks matching your price, volume, float, and technical criteria.
Most news feeds give you two bad options: watch everything and drown in irrelevant headlines, or limit yourself to a watchlist and miss news on stocks you haven’t discovered yet. Scanz gives you a third option - filter news by stock characteristics. Want to see headlines only for stocks gapping 10%+ pre-market? Or low-float stocks with unusual volume? The News feature makes that possible.
By applying the same 260+ filters available in the Scanner, News surfaces headlines for exactly the stocks matching your trading criteria. Instead of reacting to news after the move happens, you see relevant headlines in context - attached to stocks that already meet your setup requirements. The combination of real-time news aggregation from 97+ sources with dynamic stock filtering creates something unique: a news feed that adapts to market conditions and your strategy.
This guide covers how to use News effectively, from understanding the interface to building filtered configurations that surface the headlines that matter to your trading.
Understanding the News Interface
When you open News, you’ll see a familiar Scanz layout with some news-specific additions.
The Sidebar organizes your news access. Your saved configurations appear under “My News” - these are custom news scans you’ve built and kept. Below that, “Prebuilt News” offers ready-to-use configurations organized by theme: Crypto, Earnings, Upgrades, Downgrades, Stock Splits, Mergers, All News, Biotech, FDA, and Cannabis. Each prebuilt represents a curated combination of news type filters and sometimes keyword filters designed for specific trading interests.
The Filter Bar works identically to the Scanner. Click “Show Filters” to reveal it, then add any stock filter to restrict which companies’ headlines appear. Each filter shows as a chip with the metric, operator, and value. Filters combine with AND logic - a stock’s news only appears if the stock passes every filter you’ve set.
The Top Toolbar provides quick controls specific to news. The search boxes let you filter by ticker (enter symbols directly) or by headline content (keyword search). Market and Security Type dropdowns filter by exchange and instrument type. The News Type selector is critical - it controls which categories of news you see. Sound toggle enables audio alerts when new headlines match your filters.
The News Table displays matching headlines in reverse chronological order. Each row shows publication time, ticker, headline text, and contextual data about the stock (2-day price change, dollar volume, trade count, exchange). Click any headline to expand it. Click the ticker to see more news for that symbol or open QuickView for deeper analysis.
News Types: What Each Category Contains
Scanz aggregates headlines from 97+ sources into four main categories. Understanding what each contains helps you filter for news that matches your strategy.
News captures traditional financial journalism - articles from major outlets, press releases, analyst commentary, and market coverage. This is where you’ll find earnings announcements, FDA decisions, contract wins, management changes, and the breaking stories that move stocks within seconds. Day traders catching momentum and swing traders identifying catalysts spend most of their time here.
Filing provides direct access to SEC filings and regulatory documents - the primary sources that news articles are written about. An 8-K filing can move a stock before journalists even write about it. Form 4 insider transaction filings reveal when executives are buying or selling. 13F filings show institutional positioning. For traders who want primary sources rather than interpretations, filings provide information first.
The key filing types each serve different purposes. The 8-K covers material events that companies must disclose immediately - these often contain the actual news that becomes tomorrow’s headlines. The 10-K (annual report) and 10-Q (quarterly report) provide deep fundamental detail. Form 4 filings show insider transactions within 2 business days of occurrence - insider buying, in particular, has historically been a bullish signal. The SC 13D indicates someone has acquired 5%+ of a company with activist intent, often preceding significant corporate actions.
Web News expands coverage beyond traditional financial media to include financial blogs, market commentary sites, and smaller online publications. Sometimes these sources break news first or provide analysis you won’t find elsewhere. The signal-to-noise ratio is lower, but the broader net occasionally catches valuable information.
Promo isolates promotional content - sponsored articles, paid placements, and marketing pieces. This content often targets low-float, low-price stocks and can drive short-term price spikes followed by crashes. The category is clearly marked so you can either focus on promoted stocks (for momentum trading with appropriate caution) or exclude them entirely (to avoid pump-and-dumps). Either way, knowing what’s being promoted in the small-cap space provides useful context.
How News Filtering Works
This is the feature that transforms News from a generic feed into a trading tool. The filters don’t search within headlines - they filter which stocks’ headlines appear based on the stocks’ current characteristics.
When you add a filter like “Volume RH >= 500,000”, you’re telling News: “Only show me headlines for stocks that currently have 500,000+ shares traded during regular hours.” The news itself isn’t filtered by volume - the stocks are. You see headlines for high-volume stocks only.
This distinction matters for how you think about building news configurations. You’re not searching for news that mentions “high volume” - you’re restricting headlines to stocks that currently exhibit high volume. The news could be about anything (earnings, partnerships, analyst ratings), but it will only appear if the associated stock passes your filters.
All 260+ filters from the Scanner work in News. Price filters establish your tradeable universe. Volume filters ensure liquidity. Change filters focus on moving stocks. Float and market cap filters target specific company sizes. Technical filters like VWAP or RSI can even be applied, though they’re less commonly used in news scanning than in direct stock scanning.
Filters update in real-time. A stock that didn’t meet your criteria at 9:30 AM might meet them by 10:00 AM as volume builds - and when it does, its news will start appearing in your feed. This creates a dynamic news experience that adapts to evolving market conditions throughout the day.
Configuring News Types and Filing Types
The News Type selector in the toolbar controls which categories of news appear. You can enable any combination of News, Filing, Web News, and Promo. Most traders keep News and Filing enabled as their baseline, adding or removing categories based on what they’re looking for.
For momentum trading and catalyst identification, News plus Filing covers the essential sources. Add Web News for broader coverage at the cost of more noise. Include Promo only when specifically monitoring promotional activity in small-caps.
When Filings are enabled, an additional Filing Type selector appears. This lets you narrow to specific filing types rather than seeing all SEC filings. The most commonly monitored filing types are 8-K (material events), Form 4 (insider transactions), and SC 13D/G (significant ownership positions). You can also filter for specific report types like 10-K, 10-Q, or registration statements like S-1.
The granularity matters because SEC filings vary enormously in significance. An 8-K might announce a transformative acquisition or a routine board change. A Form 4 showing the CEO buying $5M in stock means something different than a departing executive’s automatic sales. By selecting specific filing types, you can focus your attention on the documents most likely to contain tradeable information.
Saving and Managing News Configurations
Creating a custom news configuration involves setting up your filters and news type selections, then saving that combination for reuse.
To save a new configuration, set up your filters and news type preferences, then click the Actions menu (three dots) and select “Duplicate News Scan.” Name your configuration something descriptive - “Pre-Market Gapper News” tells you more than “News 1” when you’re quickly switching between setups. Your saved configuration appears under “My News” in the sidebar.
Managing saved configurations is straightforward. Click any saved configuration to load it instantly. To modify one, load it, make your changes, then use Actions > Save to update the existing configuration, or Actions > Duplicate to create a new variant while preserving the original.
Building multiple news configurations for different scenarios makes sense. You might have one for pre-market gapper catalysts, another for monitoring SEC filings on larger-cap stocks, and a third for earnings season. Quick switching between these configurations lets you adapt your news monitoring to what you’re trading at the moment.
Example Configurations
These configurations demonstrate how news type selection and stock filters work together. Each is ready to use - configure it and start surfacing relevant headlines.
Pre-Market Catalyst Scanner
What it finds: News explaining why stocks are gapping significantly before the open.
| Setting | Value | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| News Types | News, Filing | Real catalysts, not promotional content |
| Percent Change PM | >= 10% | Significant gap to attract attention |
| Volume PM | >= 100,000 | Enough pre-market interest to matter |
| Last Price | >= $1 | Avoid sub-penny stocks |
| Last Price | <= $20 | Day trading price sweet spot |
When to use: 6:00 AM to 9:30 AM Eastern. Headlines help you understand why stocks are gapping - earnings beats, FDA approvals, contract announcements, analyst upgrades. This context helps you gauge whether the gap is justified or likely to fade.
How to trade it: Run the configuration starting around 7:00 AM. Focus on stocks with clear news catalysts rather than just momentum. When you find a gapper with a strong catalyst, you have an edge - you know what’s driving the move and can assess whether it has continuation potential.
SEC Filing Monitor
What it finds: Primary source regulatory filings before they become news articles.
| Setting | Value | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| News Types | Filing only | Primary sources only |
| Filing Types | 8-K, Form 4, SC 13D | Material events, insider trades, activist positions |
| Market Cap | >= $500M | Larger companies with reliable filing patterns |
| Volume FD | >= 200,000 | Active stocks |
When to use: Continuous monitoring, particularly around earnings season and major corporate events. Filings often publish before press releases, giving you an information advantage.
Key patterns to watch: 8-K filings can contain significant news before it hits wire services - acquisitions, earnings revisions, executive changes. Form 4 filings showing insider buying are statistically bullish, especially when multiple insiders buy or when the purchase represents significant capital. SC 13D filings signal activist involvement and often precede significant corporate actions.
Earnings News Stream
What it finds: Earnings announcements and reactions as they happen.
| Setting | Value | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| News Types | News, Filing | Announcements plus official reports |
| Prebuilt | Earnings (or headline search: “earnings”) | Focus on earnings-related headlines |
| Volume FD | >= 500,000 | Active stocks |
| Last Price | >= $5 | Quality threshold |
When to use: Pre-market (6:00-9:30 AM) for before-market earnings, after-hours (4:00-8:00 PM) for after-market earnings. During earnings season, this becomes your primary news configuration.
What to look for: Headlines distinguishing beats versus misses. Guidance matters more than the quarterly number - look for forward-looking language. Check the associated stock’s extended hours price action to see how the market is interpreting the news.
Low Float Catalyst Finder
What it finds: News driving moves on low float stocks where supply/demand dynamics are most pronounced.
| Setting | Value | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| News Types | All (including Promo) | See everything driving low-float moves |
| Float | <= 15M | Limited share supply |
| Percent Change FD | >= 10% | Already moving |
| Relative Volume | >= 3 | Well above normal |
| Last Price | >= $1, <= $20 | Volatile but not penny stocks |
When to use: Any session, but particularly valuable during regular hours when volume is highest.
Important distinctions: With all news types enabled, you’ll see promotional content alongside real news. Look for specific, verifiable catalysts - dollar amounts, partner names, approval details. Be skeptical of vague “breakthrough” or “revolutionary” headlines without substance. The promotional filter being visible (rather than hidden) is intentional - knowing when a low-float move is news-driven versus promotion-driven changes how you size and manage the trade.
Biotech/FDA Monitor
What it finds: FDA decisions, clinical trial results, and biotech catalysts.
| Setting | Value | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| News Types | News, Filing | Announcements and official FDA letters |
| Prebuilt | FDA or Biotech (or headline search: FDA, “phase 3”, “clinical trial”, approval, PDUFA) | Biotech-specific events |
| Last Price | >= $1 | Minimum quality |
| Volume FD | >= 100,000 | Active stocks |
When to use: Continuous monitoring if you trade biotech. FDA decisions often come after market close, so extend monitoring into after-hours.
What moves biotech stocks: FDA approvals can send stocks up 30-100%+ depending on drug commercial potential. Complete Response Letters (rejections) typically cause 30-70% declines. Phase 3 trial success or failure creates similar binary outcomes. PDUFA dates (FDA decision deadlines) are known in advance - the information edge comes from catching the decision as it’s announced.
Tips for Effective News Trading
Speed Matters, But Context Matters More
News moves stocks in seconds. Enable sound alerts so you hear when new headlines match your filters rather than relying on manual checking. But speed without context leads to mistakes - clicking through to read the full article before trading often prevents you from reacting to misleading headlines. “Company Announces Partnership” could be a $100M deal or a meaningless press release.
Combine News with Scanner
Running News alongside Scanner gives you the complete picture. News tells you why a stock is moving. Scanner tells you how it’s moving - price, volume, technicals. Together, they provide both the catalyst and the confirmation. A stock up 15% on heavy volume with a clear news catalyst is a different trade than one moving on no apparent news.
Filter Aggressively
An unfiltered news feed is useless for trading. Add stock filters to limit headlines to actionable opportunities. It’s better to miss some news than drown in irrelevant headlines. If you’re seeing hundreds of headlines per hour, your filters are too loose.
Learn Filing Patterns
SEC filings are primary sources - more reliable than news interpretations. Learning to quickly parse 8-K filings and Form 4 transactions gives you an edge. The trader who reads the filing first, before waiting for the news article, has the information advantage. Key sections in 8-Ks are Item 2.02 (Results of Operations), Item 5.02 (Management Changes), and Item 8.01 (Other Events).
Build Configuration Sets
Different market periods call for different news monitoring. Build separate configurations for pre-market catalyst hunting, regular hours monitoring, earnings season, and specific sectors you trade. Quick switching between saved configurations lets you adapt without rebuilding from scratch.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| No headlines showing | Filters too restrictive | Relax stock filters or expand news types enabled |
| Too many irrelevant headlines | Filters too loose | Add price, volume, or float filters to narrow results |
| Missing news on stocks I’m watching | Wrong news types enabled | Enable all relevant categories (News, Filing); check that no keyword filter is accidentally set |
| Headlines seem delayed | Normal aggregation behavior | News aggregation has slight inherent delay; use Filing type for fastest access to primary sources |
| Sound alerts not working | Sound disabled or browser blocking | Check the Sound/No Sound toggle in toolbar; ensure browser allows audio from app.scanz.com |
| Filing type dropdown not appearing | Filing news type not enabled | Enable “Filing” in the News Type selector to reveal filing type options |
Related Features
News integrates with the broader Scanz workflow:
- Scanner - Find stocks matching your criteria, then check news for catalyst context
- Signals - Get alerted when specific market events occur
- Alerts - Set price alerts on stocks with interesting news for entry timing
- Watchlists - Save stocks from news discoveries for continued monitoring
- Filter Reference - Complete documentation of all available filters