Watchlists
Organize and track stocks that matter to your trading. Create custom watchlists, add tickers with instant autocomplete, and monitor real-time data across all your positions and opportunities.
Watchlists are your personal stock tracking system within Scanz. While the Scanner finds new opportunities and Alerts notify you of price movements, Watchlists let you organize and monitor the stocks you’re actively following - whether that’s positions you hold, setups you’re watching develop, or sectors you track regularly.
Think of watchlists as your trading dashboard. Instead of searching for the same stocks every day, you build collections that reflect how you trade. A day trader might have “Morning Gappers” and “Breakout Candidates” while a swing trader organizes by “Tech Longs” and “Earnings This Week.” The data updates in real-time, so you always see current prices and volume without refreshing.
Understanding the Watchlists Interface
When you open Watchlists from the main navigation, you’ll see two main areas:
The Sidebar displays all your watchlists under “My WatchLists.” Click any watchlist name to view its contents. The currently selected watchlist is highlighted. Next to the “My WatchLists” header, you’ll find a plus button (+) for creating new watchlists.
The Main Panel shows the selected watchlist’s contents. At the top, you’ll see the watchlist name along with an Actions menu (three-dot icon) for managing the list. Below that is the “Add Tickers” field for adding new symbols. The data table displays your stocks with sortable columns showing real-time information.
The default columns show Time (last update), Ticker, Last Price, Volume (Full Day), and Exchange. You can customize which columns appear using the Columns button in the upper right.
Creating and Managing Watchlists
Creating a New Watchlist
Click the plus button (+) next to “My WatchLists” in the sidebar. A dialog appears asking for the watchlist name. Enter a descriptive name that reflects the list’s purpose - “Earnings This Week,” “Biotech Runners,” or “Core Holdings” tells you at a glance what’s inside. Click Create to add the new watchlist.
Managing Existing Watchlists
Click the Actions menu (three-dot icon) next to any watchlist’s name to access management options:
- Set Default makes this watchlist load automatically when you open the Watchlists feature
- Rename WatchList changes the display name without affecting the stocks inside
- Duplicate WatchList creates an exact copy with all the same tickers - useful for creating variations like “Tech Growth - Conservative” based on an existing list
- Delete WatchList removes the list entirely (stocks are only removed from this list, not from Scanz)
Adding and Removing Tickers
Adding Tickers
The “Add Tickers” field at the top of the main panel provides instant search. Start typing a symbol and an autocomplete dropdown appears showing matching stocks. Each result displays:
- The ticker symbol (e.g., AAPL)
- The company name (e.g., Apple Inc.)
- The exchange (e.g., NQNM for NASDAQ)
Click any result to add it immediately. The stock appears in your watchlist with real-time data populating within moments. You can add multiple tickers in sequence - the field clears after each addition so you can keep typing.
Removing Tickers
Each row has a checkbox on the left side. Select the stocks you want to remove, then use the bulk actions to delete them from the watchlist. Alternatively, right-click a row to access removal options.
Customizing Columns
Click the Columns button in the upper right to customize what data displays. The column selector organizes available fields into categories:
Price - Last Price, Open, High, Low, Close, Bid, Ask, Spread, % Spread, Range, % Range, % on the Bid, % on the Ask
Change - Dollar change and percent change across different sessions
Liquidity - Volume metrics and trade counts
Technical - Moving averages, VWAP, RSI, and other technical indicators
Capital Structure - Market cap, shares outstanding, float
Short Interest - Short interest data and days to cover
Financials - Revenue, earnings, P/E ratios
Security Info - Exchange, sector, industry
News - Recent headline indicators
My Columns - Custom column configurations you’ve saved
Click any column name to add it to your display. Columns showing “Selected” are currently visible. Click “Go Back” to return to the category list.
Real-Time Data Display
Watchlist data updates continuously during market hours. The table displays:
- # - Row number for quick reference
- Time - When the data last updated (showing the current session time)
- Ticker - The stock symbol
- Last Price - Current price, colored green for gains
- Vol FD - Full Day volume (all sessions combined)
- Exchange - Where the stock trades (NASDAQ, NYSE, etc.)
Click any column header to sort by that field. Click again to reverse the sort order. This lets you quickly see your biggest gainers, highest volume stocks, or sort alphabetically by ticker.
Using Watchlists with Other Features
Watchlists integrate throughout Scanz to filter and focus other features:
Scanner Integration - When building scans, you can add a Watchlist filter to limit results to stocks on a specific watchlist. This is powerful for monitoring breakouts or setups only among stocks you’ve pre-qualified.
Alerts - Set price alerts on watchlist stocks to get notified when they hit your target levels without constantly monitoring the screen.
News - Filter the News feed to show only headlines for stocks on your watchlists, cutting through the noise to see what matters.
Quick Access - The global search bar at the top of Scanz searches your watchlists alongside individual symbols, making it fast to pull up stocks you track regularly.
Tips for Effective Watchlist Management
Keep lists focused. A 500-stock watchlist defeats the purpose. Aim for 10-30 stocks per list so you can actually watch them. If a list grows too large, split it into subcategories.
Use descriptive names. “Watchlist 1” tells you nothing. “Pre-Earnings Plays” or “Oversold Bounces” immediately communicates the list’s purpose, especially when you return to it days later.
Review and prune regularly. Stocks that made sense last month may no longer fit your thesis. Remove completed trades, failed setups, and stocks that no longer meet your criteria. Fresh watchlists stay useful.
Create session-specific lists. A “Pre-Market Gappers” list and “After Hours Earnings” list let you focus on different opportunities at different times rather than scrolling through one massive list.
Duplicate before modifying. If you have a working watchlist and want to try variations, duplicate it first. You can always delete the copy, but you can’t easily recreate a list you’ve modified beyond recognition.
Troubleshooting
Stocks not appearing after adding Wait a moment for the data to load. If the stock still doesn’t appear, verify you selected the correct symbol from the autocomplete (some tickers have multiple listings across exchanges).
Real-time data seems delayed Check your internet connection. Watchlist data streams continuously and requires a stable connection. The Time column shows when each row last updated - if times are stale, try refreshing the page.
Cannot find a watchlist Scroll through the sidebar - watchlists appear in the order created. If you have many watchlists, consider renaming them with prefixes for organization (e.g., “01-Day Trading,” “02-Swing Setups”).
Accidentally deleted a watchlist Watchlist deletions are permanent. There’s no undo. This is why the Duplicate feature exists - copy important lists before making changes.