Glossary
Sector
Broad market group used to understand wider rotation. Sectors represent established industry classifications (e.g. Semiconductors, Energy, Financials) and are the primary lens for reading which parts of the market are leading or lagging.
Theme
Narrower basket used to track specific narratives, catalysts, or momentum clusters. Themes cut across traditional sector boundaries (e.g. AI Infrastructure, Quantum Computing, Crypto Equities) and tend to be more volatile and story-driven than sectors.
RS — Relative Strength
How much a sector or stock gained or lost versus the S&P 500 over a given period. Positive means outperforming the market; negative means underperforming. For groups with no ETF (Quantum, AI Infrastructure, Crypto Equities), RS is the average of the leader stocks instead.
e.g. SMH up +2.4%, SPY up +0.6% → RS = +1.8%
Hit Rate
The fraction of a group's leader stocks that are individually outperforming SPY today. Prevents you from chasing a sector move driven by a single name. A high Hit Rate means the whole sector is broadly strong, not just one stock.
e.g. 5 out of 7 Semis leaders beat SPY → Hit Rate = 71%
Rel Vol — Relative Volume
Measures whether today's trading activity is above or below normal for the ETF or stock. The calculation depends on whether the market is currently open. During market hours, a raw mid-session volume would always appear artificially low — a stock with 40% of its average daily volume at noon is actually on pace to finish above average. To correct for this, the dashboard uses the volume pace (VP%) method — the same approach used in institutional order management systems like Bloomberg and Fidessa. Today's running cumulative volume is divided by the median historical participation fraction at the same time of day, derived from the last 20+ complete trading sessions. This produces a projected full-day volume that accounts for where in the session you are looking. The 20-day baseline always uses only complete historical sessions, never today's partial data. After market close, the actual full-day volume is used directly and no projection is needed. High relative volume alongside positive RS adds conviction to the move, but does not confirm the source — it could be institutional, retail, news-driven, or algo activity.
e.g. SMH at 11:30am with 35M shares traded. Historical median: 42% of daily volume by 11:30am. Projected full day: 35M ÷ 0.42 = 83M. 20-day average: 60M. Rel Vol = 1.38×
Score
A single composite number ranking each sector or theme. ETF price action carries the most weight (40%), followed by leader stock confirmation (35%), breadth (15%), and volume (10%). All weights are configurable in services/engine/config/settings.yaml.
e.g. Software: RS +2.96%, hit 100%, vol 0.89× → Score 5.57
Signal
A fast-scan label derived from the Score. Use it to triage which rows deserve further attention before opening TradingView.
| Label | Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| HOT | Score ≥ 5 | Strong ETF move, leaders confirming, above-normal volume |
| STRONG | 2 – 4.99 | Clear outperformance with good breadth |
| WATCH | 0 – 1.99 | Slight edge over market, worth monitoring |
| WEAK | < 0 | Underperforming SPY across most signals |
Z-Score — Volume Anomaly
How many standard deviations today's volume sits above or below its 20-day average. Unlike Rel Vol (which is just a multiple), Z-Score accounts for how volatile a symbol's volume normally is — a +2σ spike on a calm stock is more significant than on one that swings wildly every day. Values above +2σ are statistically unusual under a normal-distribution assumption, and often coincide with notable price events, but the cause — news, earnings, institutional flow, retail momentum, or algo activity — cannot be determined from volume alone. During market hours, Z-Score uses the same VP% projected volume as Rel Vol, so both metrics stay consistent and meaningful throughout the trading session rather than drifting lower as the day progresses.
e.g. NVDA at +2.8σ means today's volume is further from normal than ~99% of recent sessions
Timeframes
All RS values are computed over standard lookback windows using daily closing prices. Intraday data (Today column) uses the most recent close vs the previous close.
| Label | Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Today | 1 trading day | Current session vs previous close |
| 5D | 5 trading days | ~1 week |
| 1M | 21 trading days | ~1 calendar month |
| 3M | 63 trading days | ~1 quarter |
| 6M | 126 trading days | ~half year |
| 12M | 252 trading days | ~full year |
Volume Signals
Each row in the Volume Spikes table is automatically classified into one of five patterns based on today's price move, market outperformance (vs SPY), Z-Score, and Relative Volume. Signals are evaluated in priority order — if a stock qualifies for multiple, only the strongest applies. A ★ prefix means the signal exceeds even stricter thresholds and is statistically more significant.
today% ≥ +2% vs SPY ≥ +1% AND ( Z-Score ≥ +2σ OR Rel Vol ≥ 2.0× )
The stock is up strongly while outperforming the market, confirmed by either an elevated Z-Score or high relative volume. Large price moves without volume confirmation fall into Momentum Move instead.
today% ≥ +5% vs SPY ≥ +3% Z-Score ≥ +3σ Rel Vol ≥ 2.0×
An extreme version of the Bullish Breakout where the price surge, volume spike, and market outperformance all exceed even stricter thresholds. This combination can reflect institutional activity, but may equally stem from news, earnings, short covering, options flow, or algo-driven momentum.
today% ≥ +5% vs SPY ≥ +3% Z-Score < +2σ AND Rel Vol < 2.0× AND ( Rel Vol ≥ 1.3× OR Z-Score ≥ +1.0σ )
Strong price move and market outperformance, but below the volume thresholds needed for a Bullish Breakout. Some volume activity is present (moderate Rel Vol or mild Z-Score), but not enough to confirm full breakout conviction. Worth monitoring — if volume follows in subsequent sessions it may upgrade.
today% ≤ −5% vs SPY ≤ −3% Z-Score < +2σ AND Rel Vol < 2.0× AND ( Rel Vol ≥ 1.3× OR Z-Score ≥ +1.0σ )
Strong negative price move and market underperformance, but below the volume thresholds needed for a Bearish Breakdown. Some volume activity is present but not enough to confirm full breakdown conviction. The inverse of Momentum Move.
today% ≤ −2% vs SPY ≤ −1% AND ( Z-Score ≥ +2σ OR Rel Vol ≥ 2.0× )
The stock is falling hard while underperforming the market, confirmed by either an elevated Z-Score or high relative volume. Large drops without volume confirmation fall into Bearish Momentum instead.
today% ≤ −5% vs SPY ≤ −3% Z-Score ≥ +3σ Rel Vol ≥ 2.0×
An extreme sell-off with very heavy volume and significant market underperformance. This can reflect institutional selling, but may also be driven by news, earnings misses, forced liquidation, or cascading stop-losses. Treat with the same seriousness as a Bullish Breakout on the downside.
today% > 0% and < +2% vs SPY > 0% Z-Score ≥ +1.5σ Rel Vol ≥ 1.3×
The stock is quietly rising on above-average volume while beating the market, but hasn't broken out yet. This can be early-stage accumulation — buyers may be building a position without drawing attention.
today% < −0.5% and > −2% vs SPY < 0% Z-Score ≥ +1.5σ Rel Vol ≥ 1.3×
The stock is declining on above-average volume while underperforming the market, within the range that is too mild for Bearish Breakdown but meaningful enough to flag. Not a full breakdown — a sign that sellers may be quietly active.
price > MA20 and MA20 > MA50 (uptrend) 5d or 20d return > SPY (recent strength) today% < 0% and ≥ −4% vs SPY ≥ −3% Z-Score between −0.5σ and +1.5σ Rel Vol ≤ 1.5× price within ±5% of MA20
This stock is in an uptrend, has recently been stronger than SPY, and is now dipping mildly near MA20 without abnormal selling volume. A potential continuation setup if support holds. Requires full trend context — stocks without a confirmed uptrend or recent relative strength do not qualify.
Top Active Groups
A compact card strip above the Volume Spikes table that surfaces which groups or themes have the most concentrated signal activity right now. Each group is scored by combining the direction and intensity of the signals found among its members in the current view. Cards respect the active filters — changing the group type or ETF/Stock toggle updates the cards instantly. Up to 6 groups are shown, sorted from most bullish to most bearish.
e.g. 3 Bullish Breakouts + 1 ★ Strong Bullish Breakout → score = 4 + 2 = 6 → Strong Bullish Theme
| Label | Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Bullish | score ≥ 5 | Multiple high-conviction bullish signals. The group may be in active broad-based accumulation. |
| Bullish Theme | score 2 – 4.9 | More bullish signals than bearish, with meaningful price and volume confirmation. |
| Mixed / Active | score −1 to 1.9 | Mixed signals or low signal count. Some names moving, but no clear directional bias in the group. |
| Bearish Theme | score −4 to −1.1 | More bearish signals than bullish. The group is broadly underperforming with volume behind the weakness. |
| Strong Bearish | score < −4 | Multiple high-conviction bearish signals. Broad selling pressure across the group. |
RSI — Relative Strength Index
A momentum oscillator that measures the speed and magnitude of recent price changes on a scale of 0–100. Values near the extremes suggest the stock may be extended in one direction, but RSI alone does not predict reversals — context matters. Thresholds are configurable in Settings → Indicators. The table shows RSI across five timeframes simultaneously, giving a quick read on whether short-term and long-term momentum agree.
e.g. RSI 1D = 72 with RSI 1W = 68 → sustained bullish momentum across timeframes
| Label | Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Oversold | ≤ threshold (default 30) | Selling has been aggressive — potential exhaustion, but can stay low in a downtrend |
| Middle Low | 30 – 40 | Below-average momentum, leaning bearish |
| Middle | 40 – 60 | Neutral momentum, no directional edge |
| Middle High | 60 – 70 | Above-average momentum, leaning bullish |
| Overbought | ≥ threshold (default 70) | Buying has been aggressive — potential exhaustion, but can stay high in an uptrend |
RSI Timeframes
RSI is computed on five bar intervals, allowing you to compare short-term and longer-term momentum side by side. When multiple timeframes align in the same direction, the signal is more consistent.
| Label | Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 15m | 15-minute bars | Very short-term — useful for intraday timing, noisy |
| 1h | 1-hour bars | Short-term intraday momentum |
| 4H | 4-hour bars | Medium-term momentum, bridges intraday and daily |
| 1D | Daily bars | Swing-trade timeframe — primary signal for most traders |
| 1W | Weekly bars | Long-term trend momentum — slow to change, high conviction when extended |
Earnings History
A row of dots showing the beat/miss outcome for the last several reported quarters, oldest to newest (left to right). Green means the company beat its EPS estimate, red means it missed. Hover a dot for the exact date and surprise %.
Surprise %
How far actual reported EPS came in versus the analyst estimate for that quarter. Positive means the company beat expectations; negative means it missed.
Avg Move %
The average size of the stock's price reaction on the session following each past earnings report, regardless of direction. A high value means this stock historically swings hard on earnings, independent of whether it beat or missed.
BMO / AMC
An estimate of whether the next earnings report will land before market open (BMO) or after market close (AMC), inferred from the hour of Yahoo's reported earnings timestamp. This is an estimate, not a confirmed schedule — Yahoo sometimes uses a placeholder time when the company hasn't announced an exact slot, so treat it as a heuristic rather than fact. No tag shown means the timestamp fell inside market hours or wasn't available.
Reported (lookback window)
Yahoo rolls a company's next earnings date forward to the following quarter the moment it reports, so a stock that just printed would otherwise show a date three months out. The lookback dropdown keeps recently reported companies flagged for N days: they show the date they reported, tagged with a negative day count, and sort above the upcoming names. REPORTED means the actual EPS is loaded. PENDING means the company has reported but Yahoo hasn't published the number yet, so Last Surprise % and Last Reaction % are dimmed - they still describe the previous quarter. Set the dropdown to Hide Reported to see only forward-looking dates. Your choice is remembered and can be shared via the URL.
Last Reaction %
The stock's actual return on the trading session following its most recent earnings report — a directional read on how the market responded to that specific print.
MACD — 15m
A trend-following momentum indicator computed on 15-minute bars. The MACD Line measures the gap between two exponential moving averages; the Signal line is a smoothed version of it. Both values are shown: positive means short-term EMA is above long-term EMA (bullish momentum), negative means the opposite. A MACD Line crossing above its Signal line is a traditional buy signal; crossing below is a sell signal. Use in conjunction with RSI and price action — MACD can lag in choppy markets.
e.g. MACD Line +0.18, Signal +0.05 → line above signal, bullish intraday momentum building
Echo
The part of an overnight move that the previous US session already explains. Asian markets open after the US closes, so their first act is to re-price whatever Wall Street just did. Echo is that mechanical component, estimated from each market's own historical beta to the prior Nasdaq session. Subtracting it is what separates genuinely new information from a delayed reaction to yesterday. Europe needs a second term: it opens after Asia closes, so its echo is measured against the prior US session and the same-day Asian tape together. In practice European indices track Asia far more closely than they track Wall Street's previous close, so leaving Asia out would misread a European market simply following Asia as new information.
e.g. Nasdaq closed -1.33%. KOSPI's beta is 0.44, so about -0.53% of its move was echo.
Overnight Residual
What is left of an overnight move once the prior US session is accounted for. This is the part that carries new information. A large negative residual means that market sold off far harder than Wall Street's lead would justify, which is usually a local or sector-specific event rather than a continuation of US weakness.
e.g. KOSPI fell 5.78% with only -0.53% of echo, leaving a residual of -5.25%.
Residual Z
The overnight residual scored against that market's own history, so markets of different volatility can be compared on one scale. Roughly, -1 is a notable night, -2 is rare and -3 is extreme. Important: this measures how unusual the overnight move was, and it forecasts the US OPENING GAP, not the session that follows it. Across 995 sessions the relationship to the post-open move is effectively zero, so a deeply negative Z is a reason to understand the day, not to assume it keeps falling after 09:30.
e.g. A residual of -5.25% against a 1.7% typical residual gives Z of about -3.1.
Implied Gap
How far S&P 500 futures have moved from their prior settlement, which approximates where the cash index will open. Because futures trade nearly 24 hours, they continuously absorb Asian and European moves, so the implied gap is the single best pre-open read available. Everything else on this page explains the gap rather than adding to it.
e.g. ES at 7700.25 against a 7714 settle implies roughly a -0.18% open.