The market bounced back Tuesday on headlines about some calming of tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The broad-based rebound is welcome after the rough stretch that followed the CPI release last Thursday.

Stocks have now chopped around since reaching lows in late January, as Wall Street attempts to find a clear direction amid a flurry of uncertainty. U.S. inflation officially climbed from 7% in December to 7.5% in January. With prices remaining at 40-year highs, the Fed is finally set to raise rates and end the super-easy money policies of covid.

On Monday, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told CNBC that the central bank needs to “front-load more of our planned removal of accommodation than we would have previously… Our credibility is on the line here and we do have to react to the data.” The market has been preparing for higher rates for some time now and the 10-year U.S. Treasury is back above 2% for the first time since 2019.

Outside of rates, investors are worried about the possibility of a major conflict between Russia and Ukraine and what geopolitical chaos it might create. There are also lingering covid setbacks weighing down supply chains and preventing full economic comebacks.

The market could remain choppy, especially after three years of strong returns. Luckily, interest rates are poised to remain historically low and the outlook for earnings, revenue, and margins for the S&P 500 are rather impressive (also read: Taking Stock of the Earnings Picture Amid the Market Rebound).

Calling a bottom is extremely difficult and staying on the sidelines can prevent investors from capitalizing on some of the biggest climbs. This means those with long-term outlooks should try to remain on the hunt for strong stocks even during times of uncertainty and volatility.

Today, we utilized our Filtered Zacks Rank 5 Stock Screen to help investors find potential winners halfway through February…

Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks outperform the market in both good and bad times. However, there are over 200 stocks that earn a Zacks Rank #1 at any given time. Therefore, it’s helpful to understand how to apply filters to the Zacks Rank in order to narrow the list down to a more manageable and tradable set of stocks.

Parameters

Clearly, there are only three items on this screen. But together, these three filters can result in some impressive returns.

• Zacks Rank equal to 1

Starting with a Zacks Rank #1 is often a strong jumping off point because it boasts an average annual return of roughly 24.4% per year since 1988.

• % Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0

Positive current quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks.

• % Broker Rating Change over 4 Week equal to Top # 5

Top 5 stocks with the best average broker rating changes over the last four weeks.

This strategy comes loaded with the Research Wizard and is called bt_sow_filtered zacks rank5. It can be found in the SoW (Screen of the Week) folder.

Here are two of the five stocks that qualified for the Filtered Zacks Rank 5 strategy today…

First Northwest Bancorp (FNWB Quick QuoteFNWB - Free Report)

First Northwest Bancorp is a bank holding company engaged in investment activities including in the business activity of its subsidiary, First Fed Bank. The community-focused bank has 16 locations in Washington state, including 12 full-service branches. Alongside its traditional banking offerings, First Fed is expanding its fintech reach to prepare for a digital banking and financial future.

First Northwest Bancorp topped our Q4 earnings and revenues estimates at the end of January and its bottom-line outlook has improved significantly since then. FNWB is part of an industry that is currently in the top 11% of over 250 Zacks industries. First Northwest Bancorp stock is up 38% in the last year and 11% in 2022.

Packaging Corporation of America (PKG Quick QuotePKG - Free Report)

Packaging Corporation of America is one of the largest producers of containerboard and corrugated packaging in the U.S. PKG is also one of the biggest producers of uncoated freesheet. These segments remain crucial aspects of the economy and are not going out of style anytime soon. PKG’s Containers - Paper and Packaging space sits in the top 17% of over 250 Zacks industries.

Like First Northwest, Packaging Corporation beat our fourth quarter earnings and revenue estimates at the end of last month and its consensus EPS outlook has climbed since then. PKG stock is up 9% in 2022 to crush the market and its industry. More importantly, Packaging Corporation’s huge outperformance extends over the past decade.

See the rest of the stocks on this list and start trading the Filtered Zacks Rank 5 (or any of our other strategies) in your own account. Remember, the key to successful screening is finding screens that have produced profitable results in the past. And that's exactly what you get with the Research Wizard stock picking and backtesting program.

Get the rest of the stocks on this list and start looking for the newest companies that fit these criteria. It's easy to do. And it could help you find your next big winner. Start screening for these companies today with a free trial to the Research Wizard. You can do it.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance/