Imagine having the ability to scan through the thousands of stocks and indices available and being able to find the right trading opportunity. It's possible by using the market scan portion of Real Time Markets. It's possible to search throughout the seemingly endless sea of stocks on the major exchanges and find just what you're looking for.

That's because the market scans feature puts control in the hands of the user. The parameters of the stock are determined by the person at the controls. The scan operates under the procedure of filling in criteria in the main market scan box.

The user is asked to start by designating the exchange (NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ, etc.) to be searched. From that point the user will walk their way through the scan, answering questions that further define the stock being sought. Qualifications may include a range for the stock price, a minimum volume, a minimum percentage or dollar change, a percentage within the day's high or low, volatility, earnings per share, market cap, whether or not the stock is optionable, and the range of high and low prices. The layout of the scan can be adjusted and modified to best suit the user and the type of trade being searched for.

Once the filter has been set up, the user accepts the criteria and the tool goes to work. The filter will then scan the exchange and reveal the list of candidates that match the criteria. Once the list is produced, the user can go through the list of stocks, check the list against other technical indicators and see if a potential trade exists. If a trade occurs, you can thank the market scan for helping churn the information together to produce a potentially winning concoction.