My experience with Momentum Swing Trading (French Stocks) – Looking for feedback
Hi everyone,
I'm making this post because I started trading **Momentum swing trading on French stocks** in April 2026, and I'd really like to get feedback from people who have experience with this type of trading.
I'm not trying to sell anything or claim that I've found a "holy grail" strategy. Quite the opposite—I’m looking for constructive criticism so I can improve my approach while it's still in its early stages.
# Who am I?
I'm 26 years old, from France, and currently studying Finance and Wealth Management.
I've been interested in the stock market since the COVID crash in 2020. Like many people, I started by watching countless YouTube videos and taking online courses.
For several years I mainly invested passively (ETFs, DCA, etc.), but over time I realized that this investment style simply didn't fit my personality. I wanted to take a more active role in managing my portfolio.
That's what naturally led me toward swing trading.
*(For those wondering: I invest through a French tax-advantaged account called a PEA, which only allows me to buy European securities. European UCITS ETFs tracking the S&P 500 are eligible, and I personally own the* ***BNP Paribas Easy S&P 500 UCITS ETF EUR Acc (FR0011550185)****.)*
# Here's what I've learned and how I trade
I've attached screenshots throughout this post (screeners, charts, and my trading journal) so you can see exactly how I select, analyze, and manage my trades. Feel free to refer to them while reading.
# 1 - Portfolio Structure
My portfolio is intentionally very simple.
* **50%** of my capital is invested in an **S&P 500 ETF** so that I'm always exposed to the market.
* The remaining **50%** is allocated to swing trading.
The goal isn't to replace passive investing, but to try to generate additional returns through an active allocation.
My long-term objective is to **try** to outperform the market. I'm fully aware that only a few months of results are nowhere near enough to prove that a strategy actually works.
Within the swing trading allocation, I hold a maximum of **five positions at the same time**, representing roughly **10% of my total portfolio per position**.
# Money Management
Before even talking about stock selection, I believe money management is the single most important aspect of trading.
My rules are:
* Maximum of 5 open positions.
* Around 10% of my portfolio allocated to each position.
* Initial stop loss around 10% below my entry price (roughly **1% of my total portfolio at risk**).
* Minimum profit target around **15%**, while trying to let winners run as long as momentum remains strong.
As the trade progresses, I gradually move my stop loss higher.
# 2 - Stock Selection
To find potential trades, I use **five different TradingView screeners**. Sometimes I slightly adjust the filters depending on market conditions.
The screeners are only used to build a **watchlist**. They never trigger a buy by themselves.
# Screener #1 - Top Performing French Stocks
Criteria:
* Price above €5
* 3-month performance above 30%
* Average 30-day volume above 300,000 shares
This screener simply identifies French stocks already showing strong momentum.
# Screener #2 - +100% in 6 Months
Same idea, except the stock must have gained more than **100% over the last six months**.
# Screener #3 - Top 3-Month Performance
Criteria:
* 3-month performance above 70%
* 50 SMA above the 200 SMA
* Average 90-day volume above 300,000 shares
# Screener #4 - 4% Breakout
This is my main screener and the one I check first every morning—and several times throughout the day.
Criteria:
* Daily gain above 4%
* Market capitalization above €100 million
* Price above the 50-day moving average
It helps me spot stocks that are breaking out during the trading session.
# Screener #5 - High Relative Volume
Criteria:
* Price above the 50 SMA
* 1-month performance above 10%
* Volume increase above 10%
* ADR above 2%
I use this screener alongside the previous one every day.
To summarize, the first three screeners provide a broad market overview, while the last two are my daily tools.
The screening process is only the first step. I generally focus on stocks that appear in multiple screeners before moving on to chart analysis.
# 3 - Do I Buy or Not?
Most of the work actually happens during the technical analysis.
Here's what my charts usually look like.
I mainly use:
* Jack Corsellis Relative Strength Line (compared with the CAC40)
* Moving averages (10 / 21 / 50 / 200)
* Supertrend
* Volume
* RSI
No single indicator is enough for me to enter a trade.
Instead, I try to find several bullish signals lining up before taking a position.
# Example: Genfit
I bought Genfit on **June 18th, 2026**, at **€10.60**, with an initial stop loss of around 10%.
The setup looked excellent to me:
* Range breakout
* Strong Relative Strength Line
* High trading volume
* Positive Supertrend
* Well-aligned moving averages
Unfortunately, I was stopped out just before the stock made its real breakout.
Looking back, I probably should have waited for a pullback before entering.
It's frustrating, but that's part of trading.
Not every breakout succeeds.
# 4 - Current Results
Since I started this strategy in April, I've opened **4 positions**, generating an overall return of **+40.75%** with a current **Profit Factor of 18.5**.
I'm fully aware that four positions are nowhere near enough to validate a strategy.
It's still far too early to draw any conclusions.
These are simply my first results.
# Trade Performance
* Soitec: **+122.65%**
* Vallourec: **+11.52%**
* Eutelsat: **+31.56%**
* Genfit: **−9.34%**
# Overall Strategy Performance
**+40.75%**
My trading journal shows **six closing transactions** because the Soitec position was sold in multiple stages, but those transactions correspond to **four actual positions**.
The current **Profit Factor is 18.5**, but obviously this statistic isn't meaningful with such a small sample size.
For comparison, the **S&P 500 is up roughly +9.3% year-to-date**.
If my current allocation (**50% S&P 500 ETF / 50% Momentum strategy**) had been in place since the beginning of the year, my overall portfolio performance would currently be around **+25%**.
Again, this is only a snapshot in time—not proof that the strategy will outperform over the long run.
Here's my Excel trading journal if anyone is interested. It includes all the dates, entries, exits, prices, and statistics. *(Feel free to use AI to translate it lol.)*
For context, I started testing this strategy with a relatively small portfolio of **€4,000**.
# 5 - Final Thoughts
That's pretty much it!
I'd really appreciate any feedback, criticism, or suggestions you might have.
This strategy is still very new, I've only taken a handful of trades, so it's obviously far from being validated.
Maybe it's beginner's luck—who knows—but so far the results have been encouraging.
I'd love to discuss screeners, setups, risk management, or simply exchange experiences with other swing traders.
Most importantly, **please don't hesitate to criticize my approach**.
If you spot any biases, flaws, or weaknesses that I haven't noticed yet, that's exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for.
I'd much rather have my strategy challenged today than realize three years from now that I was making the same mistakes all along.
Thanks in advance to everyone who takes the time to read and reply.
Finally, I'd especially like to connect with **French-speaking traders** (or anyone trading a similar momentum strategy) so we can exchange ideas on a regular basis.
Thanks !