M.no scanner... alot of diff. reasons...for oil and gas..i've followed some stories for quite some time....most of these have targets based on todays production or near future...but if they are scheduled to ramp up in the years ahead....then the story interests me and I track it...just like any story whether it be bird flu or whatever.I locate the stocks in that area and watch, watch watch for signs. For trading stuff i watch the chart patterns for breaks or building patterns combined with volume. I always watch for the avg's to be taken out and then watch for the consistancy of poss. accumulation.....followed eventualy by the break of a tri, dt or whatever.....Even some indicators don't help as some of the best breaks come when you think the stock is too overbought.....Some stocks i keep core holds ,others a quick profit is good enough.............difficult to explain in a brief note.......Take dee I ment last night...the lt targets are 7-9 but with ramp up.....according to the analyst this is starting to happen with first target 2.50 st....now as it ramps they up the target...so lt the bet is good for a core hold and a trade based on the break this am....how high will the break go...avg. vol was met early...so it could pus 1.80 to 2 if the prev high falls......until then I'm up .09 and don't care about selling but some may flip as it moves thru the prev high. So what next...if it double topped then you have to make your own choice based on why you may have taken the trade on. In the case of nvax or pdg...the choice was easy because they offered up a big run.....but not all do......In the case of dee based on lt target how long will it take to draw down gas inventories...1,2, seasons...not sure and short term does the market hold up?Will the dollar rally and bring commodities down??? ............anyhow no simple explanation I guess. I watch alot of charts and read volumes to pick up leads to follow and watch to see if I like what i see in the chart or action.......how about you...how to you determine a buy/sell