How to Read a Scanner Card
— a Practical Interpretation Guide
What the scanner card's score, signal chips, and risk flag each mean, and what threshold values they're read against. This isn't a trading instruction — it's how to interpret the site's data.
1. What the Score Means
A card's score is a composite value that rules-based weights and sums 14 technical signals — Bollinger squeeze, OBV accumulation, relative strength, trend, rising volume, an earnings catalyst, and more. It's designed to dock points from stocks that have already risen a lot, and add points for a quiet, compressed "pre-surge" state.
So a high score only means it's closer to a compressed, just-before-breakout state — it isn't a value that guarantees a probability of rising. The score isn't an absolute grade; it's more accurate to read it as a relative rank within that day's universe.
2. The 3 Risk-Flag Tiers — the Actual Trigger Conditions
A card's Watch / Caution / High-Risk badge is set automatically by rule (upgraded if even one condition is met).
| Tier | Trigger Condition (any one) |
|---|---|
| Watch | Doesn't meet the Caution/High-Risk conditions below — few overheating signals, a relatively stable observation stage |
| Caution | ATR 9%+ · RSI 74+ · daily short volume 50%+ · volume 6x+ · earnings within 7 trading days |
| High-Risk | 5-day +30%+ · RSI 82+ · 10%+ overextended above the 20-day high · earnings within 3 trading days |
High-Risk doesn't mean "don't buy" — it's a flag that it's already overheated, overextended, or carries significant event risk. The risk of chasing is covered in the chasing-risk guide.
3. Reading Volume — vol_ratio Buckets
Volume is read as a multiple of the 20-day average (vol_ratio). The scanner treats each bucket differently.
| vol_ratio | General Interpretation | Scanner Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| ~1x | Nothing notable (normal level) | Neutral |
| 1.4–4x + rising volume trend | Gradual inflow of capital | Bonus-point range |
| 3x+ & price stalled | Watch for quiet accumulation | Measured (reference) |
| 8x+ | A volume climax (usually a late signal) | Penalty · caution |
For the principles behind reading volume, see volume analysis and OBV accumulation.
4. Trend Qualification — the Leading-Stock Conditions
- The Stage 2 trend template — price > the 150-day line > the 200-day line, with the 200-day line rising, and near a 52-week high. This means the uptrend has "qualified" (see moving averages).
- A relative-strength (RS) edge of +8%p or more — a large recent outperformance versus the market (the S&P 500) marks it as a leading-stock candidate (see relative strength).
5. Timing Indicators — Reading Overheating and Pullbacks
- A stochastic turning up from below 35 — a sign of a rebound after a short-term dip (a pullback). For indicator details, see stochastic.
- RSI 72+/80+ — the overheated range. Combined with the risk flags (74, 82), this feeds into a penalty and a warning (see RSI).
- Bollinger squeeze — band-width contraction = a compressed, ready-to-move state (the direction isn't set yet, confirm it with another signal).
6. How to Cross-Check — a 4-Page Routine
Don't look at just one card — cross-checking these 4 pages on the site in order makes the interpretation more solid.
- Base-Rate Proof — compares how often that signal actually reached +15% in the past, against the universe
- Today's Scan → cross-check the signal on the individual stock's /stock diagnostic
- Hit Rate — verify past picks' actual outcomes (including failures)
- The VIX Fear Index — check the overall market temperature (regime)
7. 3 Common Misreadings
- Mistaking the score for a buy signal — the score is only a relative rank of how compressed the state is, not a trading instruction.
- Chasing a stock that's already up 5-day +20% — this is exactly the overextended range the scanner docks points for. A late entry carries a large loss risk.
- Over-trusting a base rate with an insufficient sample (⚠) — statistics for a signal with few observations are unstable, so the conclusion should be held back.