SEC Filing Cheat Sheet

Which filings move stocks — backed by data, not opinion.
Catalyst Edge · September 2026 · catalystedgescanner.com
28,650+ Picks Backtested
12 Form Types
8 Catalyst Signals
60 days Lookback

SEC Form Types — Ranked by Edge

Hit rate = % of picks that moved 3%+ within 1 trading day of filing. Ranked from highest to lowest edge.

#1

AW

AW
HIGH
75.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
16 Picks Tested

#2

NT 20-F

NT 20-F
HIGH
57.8% 3%+ Hit Rate
90 Picks Tested

#3

F-1

F-1
HIGH
52.5% 3%+ Hit Rate
282 Picks Tested

#4

F-1/A

F-1/A
HIGH
50.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
28 Picks Tested

#5

40-F

40-F
HIGH
50.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
16 Picks Tested

#6

20-F/A

20-F/A
HIGH
50.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
12 Picks Tested

#7

F-3

F-3
HIGH
48.2% 3%+ Hit Rate
398 Picks Tested

#8

25-NSE

25-NSE
MODERATE
40.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
30 Picks Tested

#9

F-3/A

F-3/A
MODERATE
38.9% 3%+ Hit Rate
36 Picks Tested

#10

8-K/A

8-K/A
MODERATE
36.3% 3%+ Hit Rate
933 Picks Tested

#11

SC 14D9

SC 14D9
MODERATE
35.3% 3%+ Hit Rate
34 Picks Tested

#12

PRE 14A

PRE 14A
LOW
34.7% 3%+ Hit Rate
554 Picks Tested

#13

10-K

10-K
LOW
34.5% 3%+ Hit Rate
938 Picks Tested

#14

20-F

20-F
LOW
34.5% 3%+ Hit Rate
342 Picks Tested

#15

8-K (Material Event)

8-K
LOW
34.2% 3%+ Hit Rate
7,277 Picks Tested

Material event disclosure. Companies must file within 4 business days of a triggering event — earnings surprises, executive changes, M&A, material agreements, or bankruptcy. The broadest and most impactful catalyst form.

#16

6-K (Foreign Issuer)

6-K
LOW
33.9% 3%+ Hit Rate
6,780 Picks Tested

Foreign private issuer report. Equivalent to 8-K for non-US companies. Contains material events, earnings, and regulatory updates for ADRs and foreign-listed securities.

#17

10-12B

10-12B
LOW
33.3% 3%+ Hit Rate
12 Picks Tested

#18

F-10

F-10
LOW
33.3% 3%+ Hit Rate
12 Picks Tested

#19

DEF 14A

DEF 14A
LOW
32.6% 3%+ Hit Rate
1,075 Picks Tested

#20

25

25
LOW
32.6% 3%+ Hit Rate
337 Picks Tested

#21

DEFA14A

DEFA14A
LOW
31.8% 3%+ Hit Rate
1,456 Picks Tested

#22

10-Q

10-Q
LOW
31.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
4,341 Picks Tested

#23

8-A12B

8-A12B
LOW
29.9% 3%+ Hit Rate
214 Picks Tested

#24

RW

RW
LOW
29.4% 3%+ Hit Rate
68 Picks Tested

Registration withdrawal. Company pulling a previously filed registration statement. Can mean abandoned offering (bullish) or regulatory issues (bearish).

#25

10

10
LOW
28.1% 3%+ Hit Rate
846 Picks Tested

#26

DFAN14A

DFAN14A
LOW
25.9% 3%+ Hit Rate
108 Picks Tested

#27

PREC14A

PREC14A
LOW
25.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
32 Picks Tested

#28

15-12G

15-12G
AVOID
22.7% 3%+ Hit Rate
88 Picks Tested

#29

Form 4 (Insider Trade)

4
AVOID
19.2% 3%+ Hit Rate
1,643 Picks Tested

Insider trading report. Officers, directors, and 10% holders must disclose buys/sells within 2 business days. Insider buying clusters are historically one of the strongest directional signals.

#30

SC TO-I

SC TO-I
AVOID
18.6% 3%+ Hit Rate
86 Picks Tested

#31

S-4

S-4
AVOID
16.4% 3%+ Hit Rate
414 Picks Tested

#32

10-12G

10-12G
AVOID
14.3% 3%+ Hit Rate
14 Picks Tested

#33

SC TO-T

SC TO-T
AVOID
13.8% 3%+ Hit Rate
58 Picks Tested

#34

SC 13E3

SC 13E3
AVOID
10.5% 3%+ Hit Rate
38 Picks Tested

#35

F-4

F-4
AVOID
9.1% 3%+ Hit Rate
22 Picks Tested

#36

F-4/A

F-4/A
AVOID
0.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
10 Picks Tested

Catalyst Signal Tags — Ranked

Filing text is scanned for catalyst keywords. These tags predict which filings have real momentum.

FDA Clearance
69%
13 picks
Record Revenue
54%
68 picks
Dividend
46%
54 picks
FDA Approval
42%
115 picks
Cash Flow Signal
42%
899 picks
Patent / IP
39%
285 picks
Merger / Acquisition
33%
976 picks
Share Buyback
32%
506 picks
Restructuring
26%
23 picks
Cost Reduction
19%
70 picks

Timing Playbook

Entry Rules

  • → Pre-market scan at 4:00 AM ET. Filings posted overnight (8 PM – 6 AM) have the cleanest gaps because retail hasn't reacted yet.
  • → Wait for the first 5-minute candle. Don't chase the opening print. Let the initial liquidity shake out.
  • → Volume confirmation. Entry only if pre-market volume is 2x+ the 10-day average by 9:00 AM.
  • → Score threshold. Our pipeline uses a minimum composite score of 12 (gappers) or 14 (moat core) — tickers below this threshold underperform.

Risk Management

  • → Stop loss: 3% below entry. If the catalyst thesis is wrong, the move reverses fast. Cut early.
  • → Position size: max 5% of portfolio per catalyst play. These are event-driven, not convictions.
  • → Take profit at +5% or EOD. Most filing-driven moves complete within 1 session. Don't hold overnight unless the catalyst has multi-day legs (M&A, FDA).
  • → Never average down on a catalyst reversal. If the thesis breaks, the entry was wrong.

Filter Criteria

Minimum thresholds used by the Catalyst Edge pipeline to separate signal from noise.

FilterGappersValueMoat Core
Min Price$3.00$5.00$5.00
Min Avg Volume250,000500,000500,000
Min Market Cap$300M$300M$2B
Min Score121214
Max Recency720 min——

Red Flags

Forms & Signals to Avoid

  • 424B2 (Structured Notes) — 9.5% hit rate. Worst performer across all form types. Almost always dilutive.
  • Form 4 with only sells — Insider selling without a corresponding catalyst tag is a distribution signal, not a catalyst.
  • Filings tagged: "offering", "private placement", "default", "bankruptcy", "delist", "going concern" — These are automatically excluded by the pipeline for a reason. They have negative expected value.
  • Stale filings (>12 hours old) — The edge decays fast. Filings older than 720 minutes have significantly lower hit rates.
  • Low volume + high score — A strong filing on a stock with no liquidity means you can't exit when the thesis breaks.

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Telegram: @CatalystEdgePro · Data from SEC EDGAR. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

© 2026 Catalyst Edge

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