Help & FAQ
What LowFloatWire is, how the screener works, and what the jargon means.
What is LowFloatWire?
LowFloatWire is a screener and real-time news monitor for US-listed companies with a market cap under $500M. Small, thinly-traded stocks move hard on news — the site pairs a float-aware screener with live press releases, SEC filings, and market headlines so you can see what's moving and why, in one place.
Glossary
- Float / low float
- The number of shares actually available for public trading — shares outstanding minus insider, institutional-locked, and restricted holdings. When the float is small (say, under 10M shares), even modest buying or selling pressure can move the price violently. That outsized reactivity is the core of the low-float trade — and of this site.
- Market cap
- Shares outstanding × share price. LowFloatWire's universe is hard-capped at $500M: tickers above that don't appear in the screener or news spotlight, by design.
- Short squeeze / “Squeeze Setups” preset
- A squeeze happens when a heavily-shorted, low-float stock starts rising and short sellers are forced to buy back shares, fueling the move. The Squeeze Setups preset screens for the raw conditions: sub-$500M market cap, float under 10M shares, price above $1 — sorted by market cap.
- “Microcap Movers” preset
- Sub-$300M companies with float under 20M shares and price above $1, sorted by today's % change — the day's biggest micro-cap movers first.
- “Nano Watch” preset
- The smallest end of the universe: sub-$50M market cap with float under 5M shares, sorted by volume so unusual activity in nano-caps surfaces immediately.
- News significance
- Every story is tagged critical, major, standard, or minor based on how market-moving it's likely to be. Top Stories favors critical and major items; the significance filter on the News page uses the same scale.
- The LIVE badge
- The green LIVE dot next to Top Stories means the real-time news socket is connected and new stories stream in as they break. If it shows “Connecting”, the feed is re-establishing and the page falls back to periodic refresh.
- Sponsored content
- Paid placements are always labeled with a Sponsored badge and carry the advertiser's disclosure. Sponsored placement never affects the screener rankings or the organic Top Stories selection.
FAQ
Why can't I find ticker X?
The universe is US-listed companies under a $500M market cap. If a ticker is missing, it's most likely above that cap, not listed on a US exchange, or recently delisted. Companies that drift above $500M drop out of the screener automatically.
How fresh is the data?
News streams in live over a real-time feed (the LIVE badge shows connection state), with a periodic refresh as backup. Quotes and screener data refresh continuously throughout the trading day.
Is this investment advice?
No. LowFloatWire is informational only — a research and monitoring tool. Low-float stocks are extremely volatile and can move against you just as fast as they move for you. Do your own diligence.
How do presets work?
A preset is a saved combination of filters and sort: activating one (Squeeze Setups, Microcap Movers, Nano Watch) replaces your current filters; hitting Clear returns you to custom filtering. The active preset lives in the URL, so you can bookmark or share any view.
Where does the news come from?
Three streams: company press releases, SEC filings (8-Ks, S-1s, Form 4 insider trades, and more), and broader market news — each tagged with ticker, significance, and sentiment.
Keyboard shortcuts?
Press / or Ctrl K anywhere on the screener to jump to the company search.
LowFloatWire is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice, a recommendation, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Data may be delayed or contain errors. Always verify with primary sources before making decisions.
Still stuck? Reach out @lowfloatwire on X or head back to the screener.