The short version
Pradeep Bonde, who writes as Stockbee, trades short moves. In his view most stocks don't trend smoothly: they jump 10% to 40% in a few days, then rest. He looks for the first day of those jumps with simple scans, judges whether the market is in a mood to reward them with a breadth table of his own, and keeps his holding periods short.
Who he is
Bonde is a swing trader who has written the Stockbee blog for many years and runs a members' community where he teaches his setups. He is known less for a single big result than for teaching: many traders say they learned to trade from his blog and his courses. Several setups that are now common vocabulary among momentum traders, including the episodic pivot, come from his writing.
Momentum bursts
A momentum burst is a move of roughly 8% to 40% over three to five days. Bonde's insight is that these bursts are where most of the money in swing trading is made, and that they tend to start the same way: one strong day, up 4% or more, on rising volume.
His scan for that day is short:
- Up 4% or more on the day
- Volume higher than the previous day's
- At least 100,000 shares traded
He doesn't buy everything the scan finds. He prefers stocks that were not already up three days in a row, had a narrow or slightly negative day just before the breakout, and closed near the high of the breakout day. Then he holds for days, not months, and sells into the burst.
Episodic pivots
An episodic pivot is what happens when news changes how the market values a company: a big earnings surprise, a new product, a change in regulation, a large contract. The stock gaps up, often 10% or more, on volume many times its normal level. Bonde coined the term. His point is that big news takes time to be fully priced in, so the move that starts with the gap often continues for weeks or months, especially when the stock had been ignored before.
The setup has since spread well beyond his blog. Qullamaggie, for one, trades it as one of his three core setups.
US stocks with an episodic pivot this month →
The Market Monitor
Bonde doesn't trade bursts in every market. He keeps a breadth table, the Market Monitor, updated after each session, and reads it before deciding how aggressive to be. Its columns:
- How many stocks rose 4% or more on rising volume, and how many fell 4% or more.
- The 5-day and 10-day ratios of those two counts.
- How many stocks are up or down 25% over the last quarter, 25% and 50% over the last month, and 13% over 34 days.
- The share of stocks above their 40-day moving average.
When breakouts outnumber breakdowns day after day, momentum trades tend to work. When the ratios flip and breakdowns pile up, he trades less or not at all. Very low readings of the share above the 40-day average have tended to come near market lows.
The Market Monitor on US stocks, updated after every close →
Using his method here
- Momentum bursts: tonight's 4% breakouts on rising volume, by his rules.
- Episodic pivots: 10% gaps on heavy volume that held, over the last month.
- Market Monitor: his breadth table on US stocks, a row for every session.
Questions people ask
Who is Stockbee?
Stockbee is the name Pradeep Bonde trades and writes under. He is a swing trader who runs the Stockbee blog and a members' community, where he teaches setups he developed or named: momentum bursts, episodic pivots and anticipation setups, along with a daily breadth table he calls the Market Monitor.
What is a momentum burst?
A short, sharp move that typically runs for three to five days. Bonde's view is that most stocks move in bursts like these rather than in smooth trends, and that a burst often starts with a single strong day: up 4% or more on volume above the day before.
What is Stockbee's 4% breakout scan?
A daily scan for stocks that closed up 4% or more on volume higher than the previous day's, with a minimum volume. From that list he prefers stocks that were not already up three days in a row, had a quiet day before the breakout and closed near the high.
What is an episodic pivot?
A stock that gaps up sharply on news that changes how the market sees it, most often earnings, on very heavy volume. Bonde coined the term. His point is that such news takes weeks or months to be fully priced in, so the move often continues well beyond the first day.
What is the Stockbee Market Monitor?
A breadth table Bonde updates after each session: how many stocks rose or fell 4% on rising volume, the 5-day and 10-day ratios of the two, how many stocks are up or down 25% over a quarter and over a month, and the share of stocks above their 40-day average. He uses it to judge when the market favours momentum trades.