Growth leaders & base breakouts
Also known as CANSLIM / Minervini. Position and swing trades over weeks or months. Fundamentally strong growth stocks near highs, in confirmed uptrends; cash otherwise.
CANSLIM from Investor's Business Daily and Mark Minervini's SEPA both focus on growth leaders breaking out of tight bases during a market uptrend. Traders watch earnings, relative strength making highs before price, quieter pullbacks in a base and a pivot on above-average volume. Minervini also teaches the volatility contraction pattern and tight risk control.
How the setup works
CANSLIM is an acronym: Current quarterly earnings, Annual earnings growth, New products or new highs, Supply and demand, Leader or laggard, Institutional sponsorship and Market direction. The stocks that fit are growth leaders with strong earnings, rising to new highs in a market that is itself in an uptrend.
Minervini's trend template adds structure. Price sits above rising long-term moving averages, well off its 52-week low and close to its 52-week high, with relative strength among the best in the market. Inside that trend, the stock forms a base where pullbacks get smaller and volume dries up. The buy point is the breakout from the last, tightest contraction.
Scans to try
-
90-Day Leadersscreens the multi-month leaders, andNew Highscatches names pushing into fresh high ground. -
Base and trigger scans:
Coiled Springfor the contraction,Range BreakandBreakout Dayfor the day it resolves. -
Volume BuildingandUnusual Volumeflag accumulation before and on the breakout. -
Earnings flags on every ticker, and
Earnings Soonshow when a report is coming, even three days before it. - Sector strength columns answer "is this a leading group" without leaving the grid.
A ZenBot workflow
- Start with
90-Day LeadersandNew Highsto find the leaders. - Approximate the trend template with filters: above the 50, 100 and 200-day SMAs, close to
the 52-week high, and strong
RS 2W. - Use
Coiled Springfor bases that are tightening. - Alert on
Breakout DayorRange Breakfor the move out of the base, and check that volume is above average. - Check
Earnings Soonbefore buying, so a report does not catch you a few days in.
What to watch for
The method depends on market direction. Breakouts in a falling market fail far more often, which is why both approaches say to hold cash when the market is weak. ZenBot does not score earnings quality, so check the fundamentals yourself before treating a technical breakout as a growth leader.