SEC Filing Cheat Sheet

Which filings move stocks — backed by data, not opinion.
Catalyst Edge · November 2026 · catalystedgescanner.com
26,849+ 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
100.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
8 Picks Tested

#2

RW

RW
HIGH
54.7% 3%+ Hit Rate
106 Picks Tested

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

#3

20-F/A

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

#4

F-3

F-3
MODERATE
44.4% 3%+ Hit Rate
234 Picks Tested

#5

F-1

F-1
MODERATE
40.9% 3%+ Hit Rate
220 Picks Tested

#6

PRE 14A

PRE 14A
MODERATE
36.9% 3%+ Hit Rate
802 Picks Tested

#7

PREC14A

PREC14A
MODERATE
35.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
40 Picks Tested

#8

20-F

20-F
LOW
32.5% 3%+ Hit Rate
228 Picks Tested

#9

10-K

10-K
LOW
29.9% 3%+ Hit Rate
896 Picks Tested

#10

8-K/A

8-K/A
LOW
29.7% 3%+ Hit Rate
730 Picks Tested

#11

6-K (Foreign Issuer)

6-K
LOW
29.2% 3%+ Hit Rate
6,879 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.

#12

DEF 14A

DEF 14A
LOW
29.1% 3%+ Hit Rate
1,328 Picks Tested

#13

8-K (Material Event)

8-K
LOW
28.9% 3%+ Hit Rate
7,111 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.

#14

10-12G

10-12G
LOW
28.6% 3%+ Hit Rate
14 Picks Tested

#15

25

25
LOW
28.2% 3%+ Hit Rate
482 Picks Tested

#16

10-Q

10-Q
LOW
26.6% 3%+ Hit Rate
2,589 Picks Tested

#17

10

10
LOW
25.7% 3%+ Hit Rate
474 Picks Tested

#18

DEFA14A

DEFA14A
LOW
25.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
1,765 Picks Tested

#19

25-NSE

25-NSE
AVOID
23.1% 3%+ Hit Rate
26 Picks Tested

#20

Form 4 (Insider Trade)

4
AVOID
19.7% 3%+ Hit Rate
1,609 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.

#21

8-A12B

8-A12B
AVOID
16.7% 3%+ Hit Rate
192 Picks Tested

#22

SC 14D9

SC 14D9
AVOID
16.7% 3%+ Hit Rate
60 Picks Tested

#23

F-10

F-10
AVOID
16.7% 3%+ Hit Rate
12 Picks Tested

#24

SC TO-I

SC TO-I
AVOID
16.5% 3%+ Hit Rate
170 Picks Tested

#25

15-12G

15-12G
AVOID
16.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
50 Picks Tested

#26

S-4

S-4
AVOID
15.6% 3%+ Hit Rate
448 Picks Tested

#27

DFAN14A

DFAN14A
AVOID
14.3% 3%+ Hit Rate
168 Picks Tested

#28

F-1/A

F-1/A
AVOID
14.3% 3%+ Hit Rate
14 Picks Tested

#29

SC TO-T

SC TO-T
AVOID
13.9% 3%+ Hit Rate
72 Picks Tested

#30

F-4

F-4
AVOID
10.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
20 Picks Tested

#31

40-F

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

#32

SC 13E3

SC 13E3
AVOID
0.0% 3%+ Hit Rate
58 Picks Tested

Catalyst Signal Tags — Ranked

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

Restructuring
75%
8 picks
Record Revenue
54%
24 picks
Cost Reduction
46%
48 picks
FDA Clearance
38%
24 picks
Patent / IP
36%
265 picks
FDA Approval
36%
69 picks
Dividend
34%
41 picks
Cash Flow Signal
31%
603 picks
Merger / Acquisition
30%
931 picks
Share Buyback
26%
448 picks
Contract Award
20%
10 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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