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Short side scan · tested as a short trade

52-Week Low Screener

This scan finds stocks that closed below their lowest price of the previous 52 weeks. Chalni tests it as a short trade.

Run this scan in the live demoFree, no sign-up. The demo uses made-up sample data.

The exact rule

Type this in Chalni: new 52 week low

  1. Close < 52-wk low

Find US stocks where the closing price is below the 52-week low (before today).

Formula view
# tested as a short trade (profit when price falls)
close < lowest(low, 252, before_today)
Example chart: 52-week low breakdownDaily candles of a made-up sample stock with 52-week low (before today). The shaded day is the day the scan fired.
  • 52-week low (before today)
  • Shaded day: the scan fired
Example from Chalni's made-up sample market, not a real stock. It shows the most recent time this scan fired in the sample US market, picked whether or not the trade worked.

What it means

At a new 52-week low, every buyer of the past year is losing money. Some of them sell to get out, which can push the price lower still. That is why breakdowns to new lows can keep going.

Value buyers like this list for a different reason: it shows what is out of favour. Whichever way you use it, check the reason behind the fall.

How traders use it

  • Short sellers look for breakdowns on high volume in weak sectors.
  • Long-term investors use it to find beaten-down companies to study, not to buy right away.
  • Be careful shorting stocks that many others are already short: they can squeeze up fast.

Watch out for

  • Stocks at their lows can bounce sharply (short squeezes).
  • A short trade can lose more than you put in. Always use a stop.

Test it before you trust it

Every scan in Chalni sits an exam. First it runs on older data, the practice: each time it picks a stock, the stock is held for 10 trading days and 0.2% is paid in costs. Then it runs on newer data it has never seen, the exam. A scan that only works in practice has just memorised the past.

See the practice and exam results for this scan in the demo (on sample data; real data comes at launch).

Questions

Is it good to buy stocks at 52-week lows?

It is risky: prices at new lows often keep falling for a while. Some investors look for bargains there, but they wait for signs of a turn.

What is a short trade?

Selling borrowed shares to buy them back later at a lower price. You make money if the price falls and lose money if it rises.

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