Breakout & Setup
Qullamaggie: Episodic Pivot (original rules)
Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
A gap nobody saw coming: the original rules of Swedish trader Kristjan Kullamägi ("Qullamaggie") for the episodic pivot, which we formalized from his published criteria and backtested from 1976 through 2026 on a survivorship-bias-free price database. Three mandatory pillars establish the gap, the volume, and a quiet setup beforehand; the fourth delivers entry and stop.
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The Gap Required
The stock opens at least 10% above the prior close — a sudden jump, not a gradual climb.
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The Volume Required
Daily volume runs at least three times the 20-day average. Without that surge, the gap doesn't count.
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The Quiet Before Required
Over the last 126 trading days, the price gain stayed under 30%, and the last 63 trading days had no earlier gap of 10% or more — the surprise is still unspent.
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Entry and Stop Signal
Entry is the open of the gap day, the stop is that day's low. If the stop sits more than 1.5 times the ADR away, we throw the signal out.
We show US-listed stocks with an unadjusted close of $1 or more, 20-day median dollar volume of $3 million or more, and a 20-day ADR of 4% or higher. Because the setup is rare, hits stay on the list for 20 trading days. Source: price data. · No global trading filters — this strategy checks the entire stock universe purely against its own criteria (mega caps over $50B included).
Important: Even this stronger setup is no guarantee: we compute on daily bars even though Kullamägi himself trades the opening range intraday, so our open-price entry is an approximation. A hit is a find, not a buy signal.
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The Criteria in Detail
Pillar 1 — The Gap (required)
- The open sits at least 10% above the prior day's close.
Pillar 2 — The Volume (required)
- Daily volume runs at least three times the 20-day average volume.
Pillar 3 — The Quiet Before (required)
- The price gain over the last 126 trading days (roughly half a year) stayed under 30%.
- The last 63 trading days had no earlier gap of 10% or more.
Pillar 4 — Entry and Stop (signal)
- Entry is the open of the gap day.
- The stop is that day's low; if it sits more than 1.5 times the ADR away, we throw the signal out.
Terms in This Scanner Explained
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- ADR (Average Daily Range)
- The average daily swing of a stock in percent - measured over 10 or 30 trading days (columns "ADR 10D/30D"). An ADR of 5% means: on a normal day the gap between the intraday low and high runs about 5%. Traders look for movement - that is why stocks with an ADR under 1% are filtered out globally. Not to be confused with ADR meaning "American Depositary Receipt" (a US certificate for foreign shares) - here ADR always means the daily swing.
- AI Classification
- Our company-by-company assessment of the AI boom based on SEC filings (the last four quarterly 10-Q reports and two annual 10-K reports): "Sells AI" (AI is a revenue source), "Threatened" (AI is a concrete business risk), "Uses AI" (operational use), or "Neutral" (no material AI exposure). Every classification requires at least two direct quote citations - otherwise the column shows "-". Not a quality judgment or a buy recommendation; the full file is on the stock page, methodology at /stocks/ai-rating-methodology.
- Analysis (Full Company Analysis)
- If the Analysis column shows "Read," there is an in-depth TickerGuard company analysis for this stock: business model, scanner findings, quarterly results, evidence from SEC filings, plus opportunities and risks. One click opens it directly.
- Avg/Yr 3Y (Average Annual Return)
- The stock's average annual return over the past 3 years. Shows at a glance whether a stock delivers over the long run or just had a short hot streak.
- Earnings Date
- The date of the next quarterly earnings report. Price gaps in either direction are common around this date - that is why we color it red when it is 7 days away or less, and yellow when it is 14 days away or less: elevated risk for fresh positions.
- EPS (Earnings per Share)
- Quarterly earnings divided by the number of shares outstanding. The most important growth metric: if EPS rises strongly over several quarters, the company is earning more money per share.
- Free Cash Flow (FCF)
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures - the money left over for everything else (debt paydown, acquisitions, or buybacks). Consistently positive free cash flow is one of the most honest signs of a healthy business model.
- Funda Rating (Fundamental Rating A+ to F)
- Our proprietary fundamental rating from 0 to 100 points with a school-grade rank from A+ to F. 50 points is the average across the universe, 100 the best possible score. Every stock is scored against all others by percentile: growth in earnings and revenue, earnings surprises, analyst estimates, and quality criteria such as margins, cash flow, and balance-sheet strength. Grades: A+ from 95, A from 75, B from 55, C from 45, D from 25, E from 5, F below — A/A+ are the fundamentally strongest stocks in the universe.
- Gap
- The stock opens well above or below the prior close - a gap appears on the chart. Gaps are caused by overnight news (earnings, contracts, studies) and show that the valuation has shifted abruptly.
- Market Capitalization (Mkt Cap)
- The market value of the company: share price x total shares outstanding, shown here in billions of dollars. Micro caps (< $0.3B) are small and volatile, mega caps (> $200B) are heavyweights. Our scanner universe is deliberately capped at $50B - we look for stocks with room to run.
- Net Margin
- How much of revenue is left as profit? Net income divided by revenue, in percent. A 20% margin means: out of every dollar of revenue, 20 cents is left as profit. Rising margins are a strong quality signal.
- Opening Range High/Low
- The high and low of the first minutes of trading (e.g., the first 5 or 60 minutes). Qullamaggie buys breakouts above the opening-range high and sets the stop at the day's low - an entry with clearly defined risk.
- Operating Cash Flow (OCF)
- The cash that actually flows into the company from day-to-day operations - without accounting effects such as depreciation. A company can report book profits while still burning cash; operating cash flow reveals that.
- Piotroski F-Score
- A balance-sheet health check developed by Joseph Piotroski: 9 yes/no criteria covering earnings, cash flow, leverage, and efficiency produce a score from 0 to 9. Scores of 7 or higher are considered financially very solid, scores under 3 a warning sign.
- Sector & Industry
- Two levels of industry classification: sector is broad (e.g., Technology), industry is narrow (e.g., Semiconductors). Many strategies watch industry strength, because strong stocks are almost always found in strong industries.
- Stage (Weinstein Stages 1-4)
- Stan Weinstein divides every price chart into four stages: Stage 1 = basing (sideways after a downtrend), Stage 2 = uptrend (the only buying stage), Stage 3 = topping, Stage 4 = downtrend (avoid, or short candidate). Measured against the 30-week line (150-day moving average) and its slope.
- Stress RS (Strength on Stress Days)
- A stress day is a day on which both the overall market and the stock's own sector fell at least 0.5%. Stress RS counts on how many of these days the stock still closed green (shown as "g/n" = green days out of n stress days) and turns that into a rating from 1 to 99. High values point to buyers stepping in even on weak days - often a sign of institutional accumulation.
Hit List
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| Symbol | Signal Age (Days) | Gap | Earnings | Avg/Y 3Y | Stress RS | Stage | Funda Rating | Piotroski | MktCap | Industry | AI Rating | Deep Dive | Deep-Dive Report | Sector | Price | YTD | 6 Mo. | 1 Year | Off High | Price Target | RS | EPS Rating | ADR 10D | ADR 30D | Beta | P/E | P/E (f) | P/S | P/B | P/FCF | PEG | EV/EBITDA | EBIT Margin | Gross Margin | Net Margin | ROE | ROA | Debt/Eq | Equity Ratio | Sales +/Y | Growth Score | Div. Yield | Payout Ratio | Altman Z | Inst. % | Short % | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GSM Ferroglobe PLC | 0 | 16.4 % | 08/04 | -8 % | 51 5/23 | Stage 4 | D 44 | 4 of 9 | 0.8 $ | Other Industrial Metals & Mining | – | — | — | Basic Materials | 4.20 $ | -19.6 % | -33.5 % | +4.2 % | −40.4 % | +87.5 % | 26 | 14 | 5.7 % | 5.2 % | 1.02 | — | 29.6 | 0.6 | 1.3 | — | 9.51 | 3.5 | — | 33.2 % | -8.1 % | -16.2 % | -2.8 % | 0.36 | — | -18.8 % | 5 | 1.8 % | 7.6 % | — | 58.2 % | 2.1 % | 4.0 (2) |
| PLTR Palantir Technologies Inc. | 1 | 15.5 % | 08/03 | +244 % | 72 7/25 | Stage 4 | A 85 | 8 of 9 | 388.8 $ | Software - Infrastructure | – | — | — | Technology | 158.40 $ | -34.3 % | -40.4 % | -8.6 % | −48.3 % | +12.0 % | 10 | 93 | 5.3 % | 4.9 % | 1.56 | 187.4 | 84.0 | 63.2 | 47.3 | 115.8 | 1.76 | 142.3 | 46.2 % | 84.1 % | 43.7 % | 32.6 % | 14.7 % | 0.03 | 82.9 % | +56.2 % | 8 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 14.6 | 62.4 % | 3.6 % | 2.9 (25) |
| W Wayfair Inc | 1 | 23.1 % | 08/03 | +16 % | 8 2/31 | Stage 4 | D 39 | 3 of 9 | 14.2 $ | Internet Retail | – | — | — | Consumer Cyclical | 107.60 $ | -15.5 % | -5.0 % | +46.0 % | −22.1 % | -17.6 % | 56 | 13 | 6.5 % | 6.8 % | 2.98 | — | 30.7 | 1.1 | 3,082.9 | 26.8 | 23.50 | 107.7 | 0.4 % | 30.4 % | -2.4 % | 0.0 % | 3.7 % | -1.28 | -99.0 % | +5.1 % | 3 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | -4.4 | 113.3 % | 18.1 % | 3.8 (35) |
| VOYG Voyager Technologies, Inc. | 1 | 21.3 % | 08/03 | — | — | Stage 2 | D 39 | 3 of 9 | 0.0 $ | Aerospace & Defense | – | — | — | Industrials | 34.70 $ | +28.5 % | +6.5 % | +1.7 % | −44.1 % | +55.2 % | 55 | 50 | 8.1 % | 10.7 % | — | — | 0.0 | — | 6.4 | — | — | 0.0 | -126.7 % | 13.6 % | -72.9 % | -54.1 % | -11.1 % | 1.38 | 34.9 % | +15.4 % | 2 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 4.2 | 69.7 % | 21.7 % | — |
| IBTA Ibotta, Inc. | 1 | 24.5 % | 08/12 | — | 92 10/25 | Stage 2 | D 33 | 4 of 9 | 0.8 $ | Software - Application | – | — | — | Technology | 35.30 $ | +35.6 % | +53.5 % | -0.2 % | −22.5 % | +35.9 % | 50 | 4 | 6.1 % | 5.8 % | -0.58 | — | 24.7 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 11.5 | — | 2,688.0 | — | 78.4 % | -2.2 % | -2.3 % | -0.9 % | 0.10 | — | -6.8 % | 6 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 5.6 | 50.9 % | 28.9 % | 3.8 (9) |
| CMCO Columbus McKinnon Corporation | 4 | 36.6 % | 07/29 | -21 % | 3 1/29 | Stage 4 | D 42 | 3 of 9 | 0.6 $ | Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery | – | — | — | Industrials | 21.50 $ | -18.0 % | -18.3 % | +53.3 % | −39.4 % | +28.1 % | 27 | 78 | 6.5 % | 6.5 % | 1.39 | — | 10.9 | 0.4 | — | — | 0.46 | 9.8 | — | 35.1 % | -21.3 % | -19.7 % | 2.6 % | — | — | +23.9 % | 2 | 1.5 % | 13.4 % | 4.6 | 100.3 % | 28.1 % | 4.0 (4) |
| MANH Manhattan Associates Inc | 5 | 16.0 % | 07/28 | -10 % | 46 5/25 | Stage 4 | C 51 | 5 of 9 | 11.2 $ | Software - Application | – | — | — | Technology | 192.10 $ | -24.9 % | -21.2 % | -11.0 % | −48.3 % | +9.3 % | 13 | 30 | 4.8 % | 4.7 % | 0.93 | 57.9 | 36.2 | 10.0 | 59.6 | 28.2 | 2.30 | 38.2 | 23.0 % | 55.8 % | 18.7 % | 96.2 % | 24.5 % | 0.39 | 27.7 % | +3.8 % | 6 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 7.8 | 113.3 % | 6.4 % | 4.2 (10) |
| AVTR Avantor Inc | 5 | 16.7 % | 08/07 | -17 % | 13 2/22 | Stage 4 | D 31 | 7 of 9 | 9.2 $ | Medical Instruments & Supplies | – | — | — | Healthcare | 13.40 $ | -17.7 % | -11.1 % | +14.8 % | −36.7 % | +6.3 % | 29 | 19 | 4.1 % | 4.7 % | 0.89 | — | 16.9 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 20.9 | — | 112.6 | 6.3 % | 31.8 % | -8.8 % | -9.4 % | 2.8 % | 6.00 | 47.9 % | -3.4 % | 3 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 5.1 | 101.6 % | 10.1 % | 3.8 (21) |
| HURN Huron Consulting Group Inc | 5 | 10.5 % | 07/30 | +5 % | 85 10/29 | Stage 4 | B 56 | 3 of 9 | 2.4 $ | Consulting Services | – | — | — | Industrials | 149.70 $ | -44.7 % | -46.9 % | +17.0 % | −50.6 % | +27.2 % | 9 | 52 | 6.3 % | 5.3 % | 0.12 | 25.7 | 17.8 | 1.4 | 6.1 | 20.7 | 1.52 | 13.9 | 9.3 % | 32.7 % | 6.5 % | 23.3 % | 8.6 % | 2.23 | 25.0 % | +14.3 % | 4 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 6.8 | 109.6 % | 4.2 % | 4.8 (5) |
| CBZ CBIZ Inc | 5 | 16.8 % | 07/29 | -14 % | 94 12/29 | Stage 4 | C 47 | 5 of 9 | 2.9 $ | Specialty Business Services | Threatened | — | Industrials | 54.80 $ | -39.7 % | -38.4 % | -12.6 % | −61.0 % | -6.2 % | 13 | 74 | 6.4 % | 5.4 % | 0.93 | — | 13.5 | 1.1 | — | 10.4 | 1.35 | 13.5 | 25.6 % | 14.5 % | 4.4 % | 8.1 % | 3.8 % | — | 40.9 % | +52.1 % | 3 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 6.0 | 100.6 % | 8.4 % | 4.7 (3) | |
| OPK Opko Health Inc | 6 | 11.3 % | 07/30 | -3 % | 28 3/22 | Stage 3 | D 37 | 4 of 9 | 1.0 $ | Diagnostics & Research | Neutral | — | — | Healthcare | 1.40 $ | +15.9 % | +16.2 % | +7.1 % | −5.6 % | +236.5 % | 57 | 26 | 4.6 % | 5.0 % | 1.48 | — | 53.8 | 1.8 | 0.9 | — | 93.65 | 19.8 | — | 19.6 % | -12.4 % | -16.9 % | -5.5 % | 0.33 | — | -14.9 % | 2 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 2.0 | 27.2 % | 7.9 % | 4.1 (7) |
| CLF Cleveland-Cliffs Inc | 9 | 12.9 % | 07/20 | -10 % | 22 3/23 | Stage 1 | D 43 | 3 of 9 | 7.7 $ | Steel | – | — | — | Basic Materials | 12.70 $ | -16.0 % | -31.8 % | +31.1 % | −35.6 % | -4.5 % | 68 | 1 | 6.0 % | 6.5 % | 2.12 | — | 29.7 | 0.4 | 1.1 | — | 0.43 | 29.4 | -2.9 % | -1.1 % | -4.6 % | -18.6 % | -1.7 % | 1.33 | 28.9 % | -3.0 % | 1 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 4.3 | 84.0 % | 14.8 % | 3.1 (13) |
| DOMO Domo Inc | 9 | 36.0 % | — | -28 % | 20 3/25 | Stage 4 | C 47 | 4 of 9 | 0.2 $ | Software - Application | – | — | — | Technology | 3.80 $ | -73.4 % | -67.9 % | -76.7 % | −86.8 % | +0.8 % | 2 | 42 | 18.3 % | 12.0 % | 1.80 | — | 0.0 | 0.5 | — | 855.0 | — | -6.3 | — | 74.9 % | -17.4 % | 0.0 % | -10.5 % | — | — | +0.6 % | 3 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | -33.1 | 65.1 % | 11.6 % | 3.6 (5) |
| AIRJ AirJoule Technologies Corporation | 10 | 16.7 % | 08/12 | -28 % | 76 9/29 | Stage 3 | D 25 | 4 of 9 | 0.4 $ | Building Products & Equipment | – | — | — | Industrials | 6.00 $ | +27.7 % | +19.2 % | +44.8 % | −30.0 % | +59.8 % | 79 | 5 | 10.4 % | 12.0 % | 0.84 | — | 33.7 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 | — | — | 0.0 % | -28.8 % | -2.6 % | — | — | — | 4 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 7.7 | 22.8 % | 12.1 % | 4.5 (2) |
| UTZ Utz Brands Inc | 11 | 89.0 % | 07/30 | -18 % | 47 3/16 | Stage 4 | D 30 | 2 of 9 | 1.2 $ | Packaged Foods | Neutral | — | Consumer Defensive | 14.10 $ | -30.9 % | -22.9 % | +9.9 % | −50.8 % | +0.8 % | 12 | 15 | 4.4 % | 4.1 % | 0.83 | — | 18.2 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 23.9 | — | 18.6 | — | 25.4 % | -0.6 % | -1.2 % | 0.3 % | 0.07 | — | +2.1 % | 4 | 1.8 % | 30.9 % | 3.6 | 85.9 % | 11.5 % | 4.2 (11) | |
| FWRD Forward Air Corporation | 11 | 14.8 % | 08/10 | -29 % | 37 5/29 | Stage 4 | D 27 | 4 of 9 | 0.5 $ | Integrated Freight & Logistics | – | — | — | Industrials | 15.40 $ | -47.7 % | -43.3 % | -48.6 % | −56.0 % | +25.9 % | 7 | 88 | 5.9 % | 7.3 % | 1.36 | — | 19.9 | 0.2 | — | 10.0 | 0.65 | 13.0 | — | 20.5 % | -3.7 % | -69.1 % | 2.1 % | — | — | +0.8 % | 1 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 2.8 | 108.3 % | 11.5 % | 3.7 (6) |
| AMC AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc | 12 | 13.4 % | 08/10 | -32 % | 4 1/24 | Stage 3 | D 41 | 3 of 9 | 2.7 $ | Entertainment | Uses AI | — | Communication Services | 2.70 $ | +33.3 % | +20.8 % | -6.0 % | −47.5 % | -6.3 % | 76 | 42 | 15.0 % | 12.2 % | 2.28 | — | 122.0 | 0.5 | — | 117.9 | 12.22 | 29.4 | — | 18.2 % | -10.6 % | 0.0 % | 2.1 % | — | — | +4.6 % | 3 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | -1.5 | 35.8 % | 5.6 % | 2.7 (7) |
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Quarterly Figures
No quarterly data available.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Episodic Pivot by Swedish trader Kristjan Kullamägi, in the exact form we back-tested for you — the consolidated rule set from his published rules, not a loose approximation.
All scanners are recalculated daily across the entire stock universe — most recently on 6. August 2026. The data basis is fundamental data and SEC filings (10-K annual reports and 10-Q quarterly reports).
Currently, 17 stocks pass this scanner's criteria (as of 6. August 2026).
No global trading filters — this strategy checks the entire stock universe purely against its own criteria (mega caps over $50B included).
The Episodic Pivot is the second setup from the published rules of Swedish trader Kristjan Kullamägi ("Qullamaggie"), and it looks for stocks gapping up hard out of quiet trading. It requires an open at least 10% above the prior close, backed by at least three times the 20-day average volume — without that volume surge, the gap doesn't count. The stock also has to have been "boring" beforehand: under a 30% gain over the last 126 trading days (roughly half a year), with no earlier 10%-plus gap in the preceding 63 trading days — otherwise the surprise is already spent. Entry is the open of the gap day, the stop is that day's low; if the stop sits more than 1.5 times the ADR away, we throw the signal out. We backtested these exact rules from 1976 through 2026 on a survivorship-bias-free price database: 2,843 trades, a 48.2% win rate, +3.89% average return per trade, and a −0.31% median. That's clearly the stronger of the two Qullamaggie setups, and it's what carries the combined result (4,400 trades, +2.79% average per trade) — though even here, the best 5% of trades account for 80% of total cumulative return, so a lot rides on a few very large winners. Two caveats remain: we compute on daily bars, while Kullamägi himself trades the opening range intraday, so our open-price entry is an approximation. And the liquidity filter (20-day median dollar volume of $3 million or more) is strict enough to exclude roughly two-thirds of the example charts his followers post. A hit is a find, not a buy signal. Source: price data.
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Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.