/research/screener is the filter engine — 60+ filterable fields, a library of named presets, AND-combined filtering across the US-listed universe. Screening is the funnel that converts thousands of names into a 10-20-name candidate list. The discipline is in choosing the filter criteria; the technology is just the application.

A stock screener is fundamentally a candidate-narrowing tool, not a buy-signal generator. The goal is converting 500 stocks (the S&P 500 universe) into 5-15 candidates that meet your initial criteria, then doing deep work on those 5-15. Without a screen, you face the cold-start problem of every stock looking equally interesting.

With a screen, you face the filter-design problem: the criteria you choose determine which kinds of opportunities you find. A value-tilted screen surfaces value names; a growth-tilted screen surfaces growth names; a quality-tilted screen surfaces compounders. The screen reflects your investment philosophy, expressed as concrete numerical thresholds.