One desk, three readings
Every weekday, this desk reads each name it covers three separate ways and scores each reading from 0 to 100. The readings answer three different questions: what is this name doing right now, what is the business underneath it, and what do its long-dated options look like. A score is a description — a measurement, like a temperature. Scores describe; they never recommend.
Swing: the short read
Swing is the short-horizon reading — the next few days to weeks — built from the name’s recent price action: how it has been moving, and how that compares with the market around it. A high Swing score says the recent action has been orderly and strong; a low one, weak or messy. It says nothing about the business: a fine company can post a poor Swing score in a rough month.
Position: the long read
Position is the long-horizon reading — the business itself, over quarters and years — built from the company’s reported fundamentals: what it earns, how it grows, what it owes. A high Position score describes a business whose reported numbers are strong and durable; a low one, numbers thin, strained, or deteriorating. It says nothing about this week’s price: a strong business can be having a terrible month, unnoticed.
LEAPS: the long-dated options read
LEAPS is the options reading, built on long-dated contracts — options expiring many months from now. It asks whether those contracts offer a clean, measurable way to hold a long view: a contract that actually trades, time enough on it, a cost visible up front. High means a contract setup that reads cleanly; low means contracts expensive, thin, or short on time. It reads the contract; it never suggests buying one.
The average — and when the views argue
The headline number is the average of the views that scored, and the page always shows how many that was — 3 of 3, 2 of 3. Do not expect the views to agree: they answer different questions, so disagreement is information, not error. A name can read soft on Swing and strong on Position at once — a good business in a bad month. The average compresses that story into one number; the three scores underneath tell it properly.
Confidence: how much stands behind the score
A confidence label sits beside the scores, answering a different question: not what the desk sees, but how much verified data stands behind the seeing. High means the scores rest on a full set of verified data; lower, that some data behind a view was thin or missing. A score can be marked provisional — an early read in pencil, firming up as more verified data lands. Hold it lightly until it does.
Why a score is sometimes blank
A blank is a choice, not a missing page. Every score is built only from data we can verify; when the data behind one isn’t available — or isn’t solid enough to stand behind — we leave it blank instead of guessing. A name can carry some scores and not others. A blank Swing means the recent price history couldn’t be verified for the session. A blank Position means the reported figures the score needs were incomplete. A blank LEAPS — the most common blank — means one of two requirements was missing: a long-dated contract we can measure, or a current valuation we’re willing to stand behind.
HELD: when no value prints
Some names carry the label HELD where an estimated value would normally sit — the same discipline applied to valuation. The desk prints an estimated value only when it can verify one it is willing to stand behind; when it can’t, no figure prints. A stated answer, not a gap. A HELD name still carries its Swing and Position readings — and no stood-behind valuation means no LEAPS score.
The For and Against lines
Under every name sit two short lines: For and Against — the desk’s case each way, in plain words. The strongest point the data makes in the name’s favor, and the strongest point against. They exist so no score stands unexplained: every number traces to a sentence a reader can weigh. A high score with a serious Against line is a different picture from the same score without one.
Worked example — Reading one line end to end
From the Oct 15 final-hour snapshot (as of 2:27 PM ET). Micron Technology (MU) — the day’s strongest average.
| View | Score |
|---|---|
| Swing | 48 |
| LEAPS | 71 |
| Position | 79 |
| Average (3 of 3) | 66.0 |
| Confidence | Medium · provisional |
Start with the disagreement. The long reads carry this line: Position 79 — a business whose reported numbers read strong. LEAPS 71 — a long-dated contract, expiring December 2027, that reads cleanly. Swing 48 is the soft spot, and the Against line says why: the price sat about 8% below its 50-day average that afternoon, a short-term trend working against the name. The For line pointed the other way: roughly 15% of open room up to the next weekly level. The average, 66.0, blends all three over 3 of 3. Medium confidence, marked provisional — a real read on verified data, in pencil rather than ink. Nothing on the line tells anyone what to do; it says what the desk saw, three ways, on Oct 15.
Terms in this lesson: Valuation · Expiry · Premium
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