Premarket Trading
The pre-market session runs 4:00 AM–9:30 AM EST. For swing traders, the critical window is 8:00–9:15 AM — when meaningful gap data is available and Scanner C runs its quality check before the open.
What Moves Stocks Pre-Market
Earnings releases: Most companies report earnings before or after market hours. Pre-market gaps on earnings are the highest-volume, highest-risk gap type. Gate 6 (no earnings within 14 days) prevents you from being blindsided by this.
Sector/macro news: Crude oil price changes, Fed announcements, economic data (jobs report, CPI). These move entire sectors simultaneously — which is why the RS Tracker is part of the Sunday workflow. Sector tailwinds can produce multiple qualifying setups in the same week.
Company-specific news: Contract wins, FDA decisions, analyst upgrades, partnership announcements. These are the best gap catalysts — specific, verifiable, and company-contained rather than macro-driven.
The Scanner C Pre-Market Workflow
Scanner C runs in ThinkorSwim's Stock Hacker from 8:00–9:15 AM. It scores gaps 0–10 based on gap size (3–15% range), prior 5-day run (NVTS guard), relative volume, and gap candle structure.
Pre-market volume is typically 10–20% of regular session volume. Bid-ask spreads are wider. Price can swing dramatically on small volume. Never trade a stock pre-market unless you understand you're getting a worse fill than you would at 9:31 AM. The OPERATOR system enters at the open or intraday — not pre-market.
Scanner C (SwingGate_GapCatalyst) is in your TOS Script Library. Install once in TOS → Stock Hacker. Run Monday mornings. If a high-quality gap appears mid-week on a macro event, you can run it then as well.