A stock trader who's up nearly 200% this year shares the filter that finds high-conviction plays, and explains how he doubles down during earnings season using the same process
Laila Maidan
Investing, Markets
James Hatzigiannis' trading journey began at 18, influenced by his father's software work.

He faced challenges during COVID-19 but rebounded in 2023 with a refined strategy.

Hatzigiannis uses a detailed stock filtering process and focuses on significant positive news.

James Hatzigiannis made his first trade when he was 18. He was exposed to the futures market early because his father was a software developer who built options pricing software for investment banks.

His first book on the subject was "How to Make Money in Stocks" by William O'Neill, which set him on his journey to becoming a full-time trader. He began observing chart patterns and price movements based on his fundamental knowledge. And at the age of 18, he set up an account on TD Ameritrade and deposited a small amount of savings to buy shares of Nike, a brand that he liked. It was a set-it-and-forget-it bet that gradually brought in gains.

After graduating in 2016 with a bachelor's in business administration, he went to work in a sales-type role for a small futures broker in Chicago and would trade options on the side. He found some success in the first few years but eventually lost his gains throughout 2020, trying to trade options in a volatile market.

"I started off very well," Hatzigiannis said. "But I got really cocky, and as you know, Covid happened, and it was bad timing, and with options and swing trading, I was putting my whole account into one short-term call, and I just blew up my whole account. And it was multiple trades in a row. It just wasn't one trade that blew me up."

By June 2021, his trading strategy had wiped him clean of cash, so he returned to work for a healthcare startup and didn't trade for two years until he saved enough to try again in April 2023. This time, he stuck to the spot market, both day trading and swing trading. He also began looking for more educational content. In August 2023, he signed up for Mark Minervini's Private Access program, where he learned proper risk management, which allowed him to stay in the game. He also learned from a recent US Investing Champion trader, Goverdhan Gajjala, how he finds volatile stocks. He incorporated bits of information from each source to build his process.

Since 2023, he hasn't blown up any accounts. According to his brokerage 1099 form viewed by Business Insider, he ended last year with a gain. This year, he entered the US Investing Championship competition in February, and he's so far up by 197.2%, according to the competition founder and records viewed by BI.

Filtering stocks

Hatzigiannis doesn't filter stocks down to a handful of tickers. Instead, he uses lower thresholds that could maintain a list of hundreds of tickers. The first filter includes stocks that have moved up by a minimum of 1% from the previous day's close. He then orders the list by those that moved up the most versus the prior day's close.

His next filter is stocks trading above $1 to avoid any really volatile penny stocks. From there, he checks to be sure that the stocks have more than 1 million shares trading in volume so that there's enough liquidity to exit a trade.

He uses Thinkorswim's trading deck, which allows him to preview news headlines by hovering over an icon on the stock to see why the price may have moved. If there's a positive catalyst, it increases his conviction for a trade.

He's generally looking for stocks moving off significant positive news that could be a game changer for the company, such as adding a big client, contract, partnership, passing a clinical trial, or positive earnings release. This year, a bonus point if the stock is tied to the AI or semiconductor theme, he noted.

All this is done before the stock market opens. During this time, he reviews the daily charts of the top contenders to see which ones have wide gap-ups and what the volatility looks like in premarket trading hours. Gap-ups happen when the price jumps from the previous day's close, causing a wide gap between two candles.

He looks for a volatility contraction pattern during pre-market hours, which is when consolidation begins to occur as price swings tighten and volume drops relative to selling pressure. Often, he will use the pre-market high to mark a resistance point on the chart. Once consolidation tightens and a breakout to the upside occurs, he will set a buy limit order at that breaking point.

He doubles down with this filter by using it during earnings season as well. Stocks that make it to the top and also have positive earning headlines are a high-conviction bet unless they have already run up by more than 50% in the two weeks before the release, which could indicate the news may already be priced in. He then looks for one of three additional criteria:

He avoids stocks with institutional ownership above 500 because this indicates that funds have already piled into the stock, driving its price up.

To find earnings data points, he will browse TradeTheNews.com, Benzinga, MarketSmith, The Fly, and Earnings Whisper.

On April 9, he spotted Laser Photonics Corp (LASE) in the top five of his list at about 6:30 a.m. CT after its price spiked. The headline news was that the company announced a large order from defense contractor L3Harris Technologies for laser tower marking and engraving systems.

He determined that $2.48 was a resistance point based on where selling pressure appeared during the previous month's chart. He purchased shares during pre market hours slightly after 7:00 a.m. between $2.41 to $2.43 after the stock's price consolidated from a big move up and buying volume began to pick back up. He sold half his position at $2.89 and continued to hold the remainder under he sold up until $3.91. The whole trade took about an hour.

The chart below marks his entry and exit points on the chart.

Using the same strategy on the same day he also made a bet on Rail Vision (RVSN) after the stock's price increased during premarket hours and it appeared on his chart. Headlines indicated that the company secured an order for AI-Powered Switch Yard Systems. He purchased shares at 8:35 a.m. CT at market open between $2.18 and $2.20. He got excited about the news and jumped in, anticipating buyers would flood in, but demand didn't absorb the selling pressure, and the stock lost momentum. He exited his trade at between $1.96 to $1.98
James Hatzigiannis' trading journey began at 18, influenced by his father's software work.
He faced challenges during COVID-19 but rebounded in 2023 with a refined strategy.
Hatzigiannis uses a detailed stock filtering process and focuses on significant positive news.
James Hatzigiannis made his first trade when he was 18. He was exposed to the futures market early because his father was a software developer who built options pricing software for investment banks. His first book on the subject was "How to Make Money in Stocks" by William O'Neill, which set him on his journey to becoming a full-time trader. He began observing chart patterns and price movements based on his fundamental knowledge. And at the age of 18, he set up an account on TD Ameritrade and deposited a small amount of savings to buy shares of Nike, a brand that he liked. It was a set-it-and-forget-it bet that gradually brought in gains. After graduating in 2016 with a bachelor's in business administration, he went to work in a sales-type role for a small futures broker in Chicago and would trade options on the side. He found some success in the first few years but eventually lost his gains throughout 2020, trying to trade options in a volatile market. "I started off very well," Hatzigiannis said. "But I got really cocky, and as you know, Covid happened, and it was bad timing, and with options and swing trading, I was putting my whole account into one short-term call, and I just blew up my whole account. And it was multiple trades in a row. It just wasn't one trade that blew me up." By June 2021, his trading strategy had wiped him clean of cash, so he returned to work for a healthcare startup and didn't trade for two years until he saved enough to try again in April 2023. This time, he stuck to the spot market, both day trading and swing trading. He also began looking for more educational content. In August 2023, he signed up for Mark Minervini's Private Access program, where he learned proper risk management, which allowed him to stay in the game. He also learned from a recent US Investing Champion trader, Goverdhan Gajjala, how he finds volatile stocks. He incorporated bits of information from each source to build his process. Since 2023, he hasn't blown up any accounts. According to his brokerage 1099 form viewed by Business Insider, he ended last year with a gain. This year, he entered the US Investing Championship competition in February, and he's so far up by 197.2%, according to the competition founder and records viewed by BI. Filtering stocks Hatzigiannis doesn't filter stocks down to a handful of tickers. Instead, he uses lower thresholds that could maintain a list of hundreds of tickers. The first filter includes stocks that have moved up by a minimum of 1% from the previous day's close. He then orders the list by those that moved up the most versus the prior day's close. His next filter is stocks trading above $1 to avoid any really volatile penny stocks. From there, he checks to be sure that the stocks have more than 1 million shares trading in volume so that there's enough liquidity to exit a trade. He uses Thinkorswim's trading deck, which allows him to preview news headlines by hovering over an icon on the stock to see why the price may have moved. If there's a positive catalyst, it increases his conviction for a trade. He's generally looking for stocks moving off significant positive news that could be a game changer for the company, such as adding a big client, contract, partnership, passing a clinical trial, or positive earnings release. This year, a bonus point if the stock is tied to the AI or semiconductor theme, he noted. All this is done before the stock market opens. During this time, he reviews the daily charts of the top contenders to see which ones have wide gap-ups and what the volatility looks like in premarket trading hours. Gap-ups happen when the price jumps from the previous day's close, causing a wide gap between two candles. He looks for a volatility contraction pattern during pre-market hours, which is when consolidation begins to occur as price swings tighten and volume drops relative to selling pressure. Often, he will use the pre-market high to mark a resistance point on the chart. Once consolidation tightens and a breakout to the upside occurs, he will set a buy limit order at that breaking point. He doubles down with this filter by using it during earnings season as well. Stocks that make it to the top and also have positive earning headlines are a high-conviction bet unless they have already run up by more than 50% in the two weeks before the release, which could indicate the news may already be priced in. He then looks for one of three additional criteria: He avoids stocks with institutional ownership above 500 because this indicates that funds have already piled into the stock, driving its price up. To find earnings data points, he will browse TradeTheNews.com, Benzinga, MarketSmith, The Fly, and Earnings Whisper. On April 9, he spotted Laser Photonics Corp (LASE) in the top five of his list at about 6:30 a.m. CT after its price spiked. The headline news was that the company announced a large order from defense contractor L3Harris Technologies for laser tower marking and engraving systems. He determined that $2.48 was a resistance point based on where selling pressure appeared during the previous month's chart. He purchased shares during pre market hours slightly after 7:00 a.m. between $2.41 to $2.43 after the stock's price consolidated from a big move up and buying volume began to pick back up. He sold half his position at $2.89 and continued to hold the remainder under he sold up until $3.91. The whole trade took about an hour. The chart below marks his entry and exit points on the chart. Using the same strategy on the same day he also made a bet on Rail Vision (RVSN) after the stock's price increased during premarket hours and it appeared on his chart. Headlines indicated that the company secured an order for AI-Powered Switch Yard Systems. He purchased shares at 8:35 a.m. CT at market open between $2.18 and $2.20. He got excited about the news and jumped in, anticipating buyers would flood in, but demand didn't absorb the selling pressure, and the stock lost momentum. He exited his trade at between $1.96 to $1.98