Swing trading stocks can be a lucrative strategy to profit from short-term price movement. However, it can be challenging to determine the best stocks for swing trading.
This article curates and explores the top stocks for swing trading. The selection is based on the stock's volatility, performance, and liquidity. We have also identified the best swing trading platform to give you an advantage in the stock market.
Best Stocks for Swing Trading at a Glance
Here are the best stocks for swing trading in 2024.
| Day trading Stock | Code | Price (As of 14 feb) | Market Cap | Hedge Fund Holders |
| Paypal | NASDAQ: PYPL | $77.26 | $87.41B | 532 |
| Amazon Inc | NASDAQ: AMZN | $99.7 | $1.02T | 884 |
| Microsoft Corporation | NASDAQ: MSFT | $272.17 | $2.026T | 973 |
| Apple | NASDAQ: AAPL | $153.2 | $2.4T | 802 |
| Meta Platforms Inc | NASDAQ: META | $179.48 | $465.35B | 709 |
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc | NASDAQ: AMD | $85.95 | $138.58B | 380 |
| Alphabet Inc | NASDAQ: GOOG | $94.95 | $1.21T | 721 |
| Salesforce | NYSE: CRM | $169.96 | $169.96B | 487 |
| Netflix | NASDAQ: NFLX | $359.96 | $160.31B | 411 |
| Cabaletta Bio | NASDAQ: CABA | $8.77 | 282.08M | 26 |
Pros and Cons of Swing Trading Stocks
Swing trading can be rewarding when done in the right way. However, there are significant risks.
Here are the advantages and drawbacks of swing trading
- Flexible _ Your capital is not tied down for an extended period, unlike long-term trading.
- Convenience _ Traders can take advantage of short-term price fluctuations.
- Potential for High Profits _ Swing trading allows traders to benefit from medium-term price trends. This can be more profitable compared to other short and long-term strategies.
- Higher Transaction Costs _ Many trades are subject to high transactional costs.
- High Risks _ Abrupt market reversal can lead to losses and chances of overnight and weekend risks are higher.
- Missing Out on Stocks _ Traders miss long-term opportunities due to their preference to trade short-term.
Paypal (NASDAQ: PYPL)
Paypal is one of the largest fintech companies globally, started operations in 1998 and merged with eBay in 2002. The two companies quickly grew, and Paypal eventually spun off eBay in 2015. Paypal continues to develop, with many acquisitions and the creation of a super app where you can trade cryptocurrencies.
The company owns Xoom, an international remittance company, and Venmo, a person-to-person payment platform. It provides electronic payment solutions to merchants and consumers, with 426 million active users in 2021.
This renowned firm generated $25.3 billion in revenue in 2021, an 18% increase year on year.
The PYPL stock has seen a 52-week price range of between $66 and $122, giving it a P/E ratio of 36.79. Its 1-year target is $104. The stock experiences high volume and relative volatility, which makes it a good option for swing trading.
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN)
Amazon is a leading online retailer with one of the highest e-commerce aggregators. It was founded by Jeff Bezos and went public in 1997. Besides online retail, Amazon operates various businesses, including Web services and advertising businesses.
The company recorded $386 billion in net sales and $578 billion in online gross merchandise volume. It saw a rapid rise in market cap in 2021, buoyed by the covid pandemic. However, 2022 was a rough year that plunged the stock price by 50%.
The stock has a positive YTD performance of 18.69% and $81.43 and $170 52-week range. The company continues to seek business stability, and the stock provides great value for swing traders.
Microsoft Co (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Microsoft is renowned for its Windows operating system and office productivity suite, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen with headquarters in Redmond, Washington. It develops consumer and enterprise software including the Azure platform, LinkedIn, and cloud-based office suite.
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The company’s annual revenue for 2022 recorded a 17.96% increase from 2021. Growth is poised to continue in the short-medium term with a sustainable momentum making it great for swing traders.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)
Apple is a multinational technology company that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics and other online services. The company was formed in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
The AAPL stock has a positive five-year performance of 294%. The YTD performance is 17.9% showing a positive price momentum. Apple’s overall sales for the last quarter of 2022 declined by 5% compared to 2021. The macroeconomics, production issues, and a strong dollar weighed negatively on sales. In fact, Amidst the surge in AAPL stock, investors are flocking to the best ETF platforms to capitalize on Apple's impressive performance."
Although a blue chip stock, the increased market volatility, liquidity, and fast growth of the tech sector make the AAPL stock a good candidate for swing trading. Product announcements, macroeconomics, financial report releases, legal disputes, and product effectiveness will likely drive price movement in the coming days.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META)
Meta (formerly Facebook) is the largest social networking platform globally, founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. It filed its IPO in 2012, seeking to raise $5 billion. The company rebranded to Meta in anticipation of taking advantage of the metaverse and has over 2.9 billion active users monthly using Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.
The Meta stock plunged by 60% in 2022 as the company struggled to pivot towards the Metaverse. The development of virtual reality, augmented reality, and the metaverse will likely drive price volatility across the year.
Share prices have a positive YTD. It has had highs of $236 and lows of $88 in the past 52 weeks. The stock has enough liquidity and price action for swing trading.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc(NASDAQ: AMD)
AMD is one of the oldest semi-conductor manufacturers in the world. Being headquartered in Santa Clara, California, it manufactures a wide range of products, including chipsets and GPUs.
The focus on high-performance computing and graphics products has earned the company multi-billion contracts with manufacturers like Oracle and Microsoft.
The stock plunged by 70% from the highs of 2021 due to difficulties in the semiconductor industry. However, the company is looking to strengthen its financial model, diversify the business and capitalize on the accelerated data center momentum.
The gaming industry, cloud computing, and cryptocurrency mining growth also provide a ready stock market for AMD products. Chip wars between the US and China also affect price swings; however, competition from Qualcomm and Intel makes for an interesting market.
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Alphabet Inc is a holding company that owns the search engine giant Google, formed in 2015 after Google’s restructuring. Besides the search engine, Alphabet operates the cloud business segment, Waymo, and YouTube.
About 85% of revenue was generated from ads and the remaining 15% was generated from the cloud business, smart home products, hardware, and Youtube.
Going forward, Google looks to use AI in searches and beyond. Alphabet shares witness massive trading volumes daily. There are also periodic price shifts, making the stock an excellent prospect for swing trading.
Salesforce (NYSE: CRM)
Salesforce is a saas based platform providing technology tools for managing customer data, sales, marketing, and support. The company was formed in 1999 by Marc Benioff. It held its first IPO in 2003, raising $110 million. Since then, the company has experienced growth and good revenue.
The platform has a large ecosystem of third-party apps and partners. Its 52-week range value is between 126.3-222.16. Salesforce stock has gained more than 27% this year. The promise of cloud computing, innovations, and competition makes the CRM stock a good prospect for swing traders.
Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX)
Netflix is a streaming media company offering video content from a library containing films, series, and TV shows. The company was founded in 1997 by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings with headquarters in Los Gatos, California.
It has 223 million subscribers in more than 190 countries and they pay a monthly fee to access its extensive range of content.
This highly prestigious platform saw 26 million new subscribers in 2020 during the covid 19 pandemic. This motivated Netflix to continue to invest in producing original content and acquiring exclusive rights to popular video content.
The 52-week range of Netflix is 162.7- 402.8 with a P/E ratio of 36.16. Swing traders could take advantage of these factors and seek trading opportunities.
Cabaletta Bio(NASDAQ: CABA)
Cabaletta Bio is a biotechnology company incorporated in 2017 with headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennslyvania, discovers and develops targeted cell therapy products to potentially cure patients with autoimmune conditions. The therapies aim at improving patient outcomes through cutting-edge research and development.
The one-year performance for this stock is positive at 223.6%, while the YTD is -5.19%. Its 52-week price range is between $0.59 and $12.88, with a Beta of 1.17. The stock has had great momentum in the 52-week range, outperforming the stock market.
The Best Stocks Platforms for Swing Trading
| Name | Score | Visit | Disclaimer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 9.8 | Visitplus500.com | 82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | |
 | 8.7 | Visitetoro.com | Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. | |
 | 9.1 | Visitinteractivebrokers.com | ||
 | 7.6 | Visittdameritrade.com | ||
 | 6.5 | Visittradestation.com |
Interactive Broker - Best for Active Swing Trading
Interactive Broker (IBKR) offers stocks from over 90 different markets. Swing traders have an extensive selection of stocks, including Asian and European exchanges.
This platform is endowed with a rich selection of analysis tools to help traders find opportunities in the market.
The SmartRouting functionality helps in routing trades without compromising on speed. The feature offers a continuous evaluation of orders, re-routing them dynamically while seeking to achieve optimal execution.
IBKR’s powerful trading technology and advanced platforms best suit active swing traders. The mobile app has over one million downloads and great customer reviews.
| Account minimum deposit | $0 |
| IBKR PRO fees | $0.0005 - $0.0035 per share. |
| KYC Required | Yes |
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Price | Free |
| Investment types | Stocks, Forex, Crypto, Futures, Options, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Hedge Funds |
| App | Yes |
TD Ameritrade - Best for Swing Trading Beginners
TD Ameritrade provides a user-friendly and robust platform for trading stocks. It boasts advanced features like customizable stock screening, technical analysis tools, charts, and market insights, making it an ideal tool for traders.
TD Ameritrade's mobile application has over one million downloads on the Android Play Store. Customers have praised the app for its intuitive interface, tools, user-friendly interface, and accessibility for beginners.
| Account minimum deposit | $0 |
| Stock trading commission | 0% |
| KYC Required | Yes |
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Price | Yes |
| Investment types | Stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Futures, Forex, Bonds |
| App | Yes |
TradeStation - Best for Professional Swing Trading
TradeStation packs a powerful platform across multiple devices to cater to asset trading. The company supports high-quality fills through speedy trade execution and connection to a dozen stock markets.
It is an easy-to-use and intuitive platform for easy stock trading. The trader also gets powerful analysis tools on an advanced platform with fast execution.
| Account minimum deposit | Any amount |
| Commission | 0% |
| KYC Required | Yes |
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Price | Free |
| Investment types | Stocks, ETFs, Options, Futures, Crypto, Bonds, Mutual Funds |
| App | Yes |
What Are Swing Trading Stocks and How Do They Work?
Swing trading is a short-term strategy that seeks to profit from a stock's price fluctuations within a few days or weeks. Stocks that qualify for swing trading experience price movement, trending behavior, and high volatility.
A platform like TradeStation and Interactive Broker will allow you to open a brokerage account to begin buying and selling stocks.
Many of these stock trading platforms charge zero commissions for swing trading; however, other charges will apply.
How Much Money Do You Need to Get Started Swing Trading Stocks?
Many online trading platforms do not require you to have a minimum balance to start trading but, the majority of investors start with $5000 - $10,000.
It’s also possible to start swing trading with $100, perhaps, it will limit the trading activities. Before investing a vast sum of money, consider your risk appetite, starting capital, trading expertise, and of course, trading platform.
Are Swing Trading Stock Platforms Safe?
Trading platforms authorized and regulated by FINRA are considered safe. These platforms further ensure the safety of assets and funds by segregating funds, using data encryption, and securing data. TradeStation and Interactive Brokers are considered the safest platforms for swing trading.
Most platforms are part of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects clients’ securities. Some providers, like Interactive Broker, also offer insurance cover for the securities they hold.
Trading platforms, however, are not without risks. Cyber security, market volatility, and technical failures are inherent risks that stock trading platforms face.
