Although the CAN SLIM Investing System is built for longer-term investment periods, its rules can still apply in a swing trading environment. Take breakouts from consolidations. Prior uptrends are a must. Sideways action that resists giving up much ground is preferred. High Relative Strength Ratings are a key statistic for limiting your universe to the best prospects. And volume gives you confirmation that institutions are accumulating shares. The twist added by swing trading is the timeframe. Rather than consolidations that are typically five to seven weeks at a minimum, you might be looking at half that time or even less. The flexibility in looking at shorter time frames comes from lowered profit goals. A prior uptrend of 30% or more needs the longer time frame of a sound base structure before continuing for similar sized gains or better. But if you are looking for a gain of 5% to 10%, the requirements are much less. By the same token, volume characteristics of a breakout also can have a shortened time frame. Rather than the 50-day moving average of volume as your threshold for heavy turnover, look to the volume of the shorter consolidation area for clues. If the breakout volume can surpass the recent activity, that can be a sufficient confirmation of strength.