TickerGuard
Buy Day today: Neutral (51) Mixed market breadth · no major macro event

Backtested Scanners

Qullamaggie: Episodic Pivot (original rules)

Read the study: Episodic Pivots: An AI Blind-Read 1,499 SEC Filings — And Was Most Wrong When Most Confident

3 Hits · last calculated September 20, 2026 Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)

Methodology & criteria

A gap nobody saw coming: the original rules of Swedish trader Kristjan Kullamagi ("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. Our backtest also shows which of these finds were the better ones — we flag that per hit in the "Gap" column and with an "Earnings" badge.

What this scanner checks

  1. The Gap Required

    The stock opens at least 10% above the prior close — a sudden jump, not a gradual climb.

  2. The Volume Required

    Daily volume runs at least three times the 20-day average. Without that surge, the gap doesn't count.

  3. 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.

  4. 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 Kullamagi himself trades the opening range intraday, so our open-price entry is an approximation. A hit is a find, not a buy signal.

🔔 Watch scanner
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.

What the backtest says about the hits

  • Gaps on quarterly earnings were the better ones: +4.8% per trade at a 55% hit rate versus +3.7% at 43% without earnings. We mark them in the "Gap" column with an "Earnings" badge.
  • The most rewarding size class was a gap between 30% and 50%: +6.8% per trade versus +3.9% across all hits, and +11.5% on a 120-trading-day hold. That is why we highlight this band. Above 50%, the hit rate fell to 35%.
  • Holding longer beat the base exit historically: 120 trading days returned +7.3% per trade versus +3.9% for the partial sale after three days — but with far fewer winners (16% instead of 48%) and correspondingly longer dry spells.
  • Gaps on a takeover offer did not pay as a trade: +0.6% per trade at a 35% hit rate, because the price sticks to the offered figure.

Terms in This Scanner Explained

(16)
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. Scanners that run without the global filters still include them; that is noted below their hit list. 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. The cap does not apply to scanners that run without the global filters; that is noted below their hit list.
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.

View all terms in the Scanner Glossary

Hit List

Filter

Rating (traffic light)

Stage

Funda Rating

Piotroski

Columns

This scanner's columns

Extra columns

Tip: clicking a column header sorts the table by that column; a second click flips the direction.

Qullamaggie: Episodic Pivot (original rules)
Symbol Signal Age (Days) Gap Earnings Avg/Y 3Y Volatility Stage Funda Rating Piotroski MktCap Industry AI Rating Deep Dive Deep-Dive Report Bankruptcy Check 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
FEIM Frequency Electronics Inc 5 33.1 % Earnings 07/09 +353 % ⚠ Wildest 10% 92 % Stage 2 C 52 3 of 9 0.8 $ Communication Equipment Neutral — — 0/3 Technology 85.50 $ +28.1 % +9.2 % +206.7 % −21.8 % +14.0 % 94 4 8.0 % 8.3 % 0.65 110.9 14.2 11.6 13.2 — 1.25 485.5 — 38.2 % 3.7 % 12.9 % 3.1 % 0.14 — +26.3 % 5 0.0 % 0.0 % 7.9 74.2 % 11.4 % —
ANF Abercrombie & Fitch Company 16 20.6 % Earnings — +43 % 67 % Stage 1 B 59 4 of 9 6.2 $ Apparel Retail – — — 0/3 Consumer Cyclical 135.80 $ -33.1 % -29.5 % +62.3 % −32.9 % +18.0 % 26 28 4.9 % 5.3 % 0.97 13.6 10.2 1.2 4.7 10.9 3.62 6.9 8.0 % 63.7 % 10.0 % 39.2 % 13.6 % 0.96 38.8 % +6.4 % 6 0.0 % 0.0 % 9.7 106.8 % 13.6 % 3.9 (12)
RZLV Rezolve AI plc 17 13.6 % — -25 % ⚠ Wildest 10% 104 % Stage 4 C 52 6 of 9 0.9 $ Software - Infrastructure – — — 0/3 Technology 2.30 $ +0.4 % -10.7 % -68.1 % −70.2 % +304.3 % 29 42 6.1 % 7.1 % -0.10 — 0.0 17.8 3.7 — — 0.0 — 51.8 % -106.9 % -98.7 % -22.9 % 0.64 — +2,224.2 % 5 0.0 % 0.0 % -0.5 14.6 % 12.2 % 4.4 (5)

Price Chart

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 September 20, 2026. The data basis is fundamental data and SEC filings (10-K annual reports and 10-Q quarterly reports).

Currently, 3 stocks pass this scanner's criteria (as of September 20, 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 Kullamagi ("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 Kullamagi 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.

Related scanners

Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.

Was this page helpful to you?