Small-Cap Momentum Trader's Toolkit

The scanner setups, level-2 patterns, and risk rules behind sub-$10 small-cap momentum trading. Gap-and-go, breakout, and reversal.

Scanner setups

• Pre-market gap scanner config for Trade Ideas, Finviz Elite, and DAS Trader — exact parameters used by full-time traders
• The float-rotation alert: when daily volume exceeds float by 2x, the stock is in true price discovery
• News-catalyst filtering: separating real catalysts from pump letters and paid promo
• End-of-day continuation scanner: stocks closing in top 5% with rising RVOL — base rate stats included

The three core setups

• Gap-and-go: pre-market preparation, 9:28 ORB plan, first-pullback entry, runner management
• VWAP reclaim continuation: how to fade the fade when the dip buyers show up at VWAP
• Backside short: the textbook parabolic exhaustion with stuffer print confirmation

Level 2 + tape

• How to read T&S in a thin small-cap without being faked out by spoof orders
• The 'stuffer print' tell that marks the top of a parabolic move 75% of the time
• Reading bid stacking vs. ask refresh — what reveals real demand vs. headfake

Risk rules

• The 2% rule modified for small-caps: stop placement on hard-to-borrow shorts and runners
• Daily loss limit and tilt protocol: the 3-strike rule that prevents account blowups
• Position sizing by ATR, not by share count — the spreadsheet to compute it live