A Bollinger Band squeeze is a period of unusually low volatility, when the bands around the price narrow. Volatility tends to come in cycles, so quiet stretches are often followed by larger moves. A squeeze does not say which direction, so the useful screens add a trend filter.
Last updated: October 2026.
How Bollinger Bands work
Bollinger Bands are drawn around the 20-day average price, two standard deviations above and below. When prices swing widely the bands spread out. When prices go quiet they tighten.
The screener gives you three fields:
- BB Width (%): band width as a percentage of price. Low values mean consolidation, and high values mean expansion.
- BB Position: where price sits in the bands. 0 is the lower band, 1 is the upper band.
- Above BB Upper / Below BB Lower: price outside the bands, which means it is stretched.
The screen, step by step
- Select your exchanges.
- Set BB Width (%) to a maximum of 5 (the "Tight" preset).
- Turn on Above SMA 200 to prefer squeezes in an uptrend.
- Set a minimum market cap so the bands are measured on liquid stocks.
- Save the screen and review it when stocks break out: add Vol / Avg of 2 or more on the day.
Open this screen directly. The values come from end-of-day prices.
Reading the squeeze
| Observation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tight bands, price above SMA 200 | Consolidation inside an uptrend, a breakout up is the more likely resolution |
| Tight bands, price below SMA 200 | Consolidation in a downtrend, direction less clear |
| Tight bands, then price above the upper band on volume | Possible breakout in progress |
| Tight bands in a low-volume stock | Often just illiquidity, not a signal |