The universe of stocks

There are about 3,000 stocks in Russell 3000 and it is supposed to cover 98%. The other 2% are small stocks that you do not want to trade. Most of us should stick with the top 2,000 stocks (Russell 2000) or even the top 1,000.

The smaller 1,000 stocks may not survive. That's how some vendors say their system is great but not actually great; most do not consider survival bias by not taking out the delisted stocks.

The chance of out-of-business for larger companies is far less than very small companies. Also, there are more bankrupt companies than mergers or acquired that usually perform better. 

How am I be sure? I've tested it out. You can do it easily if you've a historical database.

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