Where Power Moves Fits
The first six lessons built a research sequence. Power Moves adds a way to compare current evidence across companies within a selected research universe.
Stock Sage
Finding fundamentally qualified research candidates
Research
Investigating the company
52-Week Low
Understanding price context
Watchlists
Monitoring research candidates
Charts
Understanding price history and momentum
Power Moves
Comparing current supporting evidence across companies
- 1
Research Universe
- 2
Power Moves
- 3
Compare Current Supporting Evidence
- 4
Rank Results
- 5
Investigate Individual Companies
- 6
Fundamentals + Valuation + Chart + Current Evidence
- 7
User Judgment
Power Moves does not replace the research process. It helps focus it.
What Power Moves Is Designed to Do
Power Moves examines multiple categories of current market and company evidence. Instead of asking only, “Did this stock go up?” it considers recent price strength, relative strength, trading activity, technical confirmation, news or catalysts, insider activity, analyst changes, price-target trends, and earnings surprise.
A stronger result means more supporting evidence under the Power Moves methodology. It does not establish that the company is undervalued, fundamentally superior, should be purchased, will continue rising, or will produce a profitable options trade.
Running Power Moves
- 1Go to Power Moves.
- 2Choose the applicable watchlist or research universe. The Stock Sage Watchlist is an available choice.
- 3Select Run Power Moves.
- 4Allow Power Moves to evaluate available data.
- 5Review the ranked results.
- 6Open individual companies when additional detail is desired.
Run Power Moves is a user-initiated research step here; this lesson does not imply an automatic schedule or a particular processing time.
Understanding the Results Table
The confirmed results table includes the following information. Stock-selection checkboxes also support the next research step.
Rank
Rank organizes results according to the Power Moves scoring methodology. A higher position means the company scored more strongly relative to the other evaluated companies under the available Power Moves evidence.
Rank #1 means the highest Power Moves ranking within that evaluated result set. It does not mean “best investment.”
Official Score
The Official Score is the Power Moves score calculated from usable data available to the system. Scores are normalized to 100 using only factors for which usable data is available. Missing data is not automatically treated as a negative signal.
No score level automatically means buy. This lesson does not define thresholds or reverse-engineer the calculation.
The Official Score summarizes the Power Moves evidence. It is not a valuation or price target.
Rating
Rating provides the application's descriptive interpretation of the Power Moves score according to the existing methodology. It does not change the score into an investment recommendation. This lesson does not invent rating categories or thresholds.
Confidence and Coverage
Confidence
Provides context about the strength or completeness of the evidence behind the result according to the existing Power Moves methodology. This lesson does not assume its exact formula.
High Confidence in the available evidence is not the same as certainty about the future.
Coverage
Shows how much of the Power Moves factor set had usable information. Less than 100% can mean one or more factors lacked usable data; it is not a measure of investment quality.
Always look at the score together with its Coverage.
Why Missing Data Matters
Because Power Moves normalizes scores using factors with usable data, a missing factor is not automatically assigned a negative interpretation.
Company A
Usable information: most Power Moves factors
Coverage: 100%
Company B
Usable information: fewer Power Moves factors
Coverage: 80%
Both can receive scores, but Company B's result is based on a smaller portion of the factor set. That does not automatically make Company B worse.
Missing information and negative information are not the same thing.
The Individual Power Moves Report
Opening an individual result provides more detail about how the result was constructed. The component table shows each Factor, its Points Earned, and its Maximum. This lets the user look beyond one overall score.
| Factor | Points Earned | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Individual Power Moves factor | Contribution shown in report | Available maximum shown in report |
The overall score tells you how the factors came together. The component report helps you see where the support came from.
The 11 Power Moves Components
5-Day Strength
Examines relatively recent price strength over approximately the latest five trading days under the Power Moves methodology. It provides recent momentum context, but does not prove that strength will continue, the stock has bottomed, the company is undervalued, or the stock should be purchased.
1-Month Strength
Looks at price strength over a broader recent period. Comparing it with 5-Day Strength can show whether strength is very recent or also visible over a somewhat broader period, without creating an automatic trading rule.
Relative Strength vs SPY
Compares the stock's relative performance with SPY, a widely followed ETF that tracks the S&P 500. It asks approximately, “How has this stock been performing relative to the broader market reference?” Outperformance does not guarantee future outperformance.
Relative Strength vs Sector
Provides context for performance relative to the stock's sector comparison. It can help distinguish a broad sector move from different relative behavior within the sector, but does not establish fundamental superiority.
Relative Volume
Compares current or recent trading activity with the stock's more typical activity under the Power Moves methodology. Higher activity may indicate increased attention, but activity alone does not establish whether that attention is positive or negative.
More activity does not automatically mean a better investment.
Technical Confirmation
Represents technical-price evidence incorporated by the existing Power Moves methodology. Its underlying formula is not assumed here. Review the actual chart and broader research rather than treating this component as an automatic buy signal.
News / Catalyst
Considers applicable news or catalyst information. A catalyst may be a company announcement, business development, industry event, or other material development. It is not necessarily positive, so investigate what actually happened.
If news contributes to a Power Moves result, find out what the news actually is.
Insider Activity
Considers applicable transactions or activity involving company insiders. It can provide context, but insiders may buy or sell for many reasons; neither activity guarantees appreciation or decline.
Analyst Changes
Considers applicable changes in analyst expectations or opinions. These changes are information about evolving professional expectations, not certainty; analysts can be wrong and can change their views again.
Analyst changes are information—not certainty.
Price Target Trend
Considers applicable changes in analyst price-target information. Improving or weakening trends can reflect changing expectations, but targets remain estimates, just like the analyst 52-week estimate discussed in Lesson 5.
Earnings Surprise
Considers how reported earnings compare with the applicable expectation. A positive surprise exceeded that comparison; a negative surprise fell below it. One surprise does not tell the company's whole story, so return to longer-term earnings and fundamentals.
Institutional Ownership %
The user may enter an Institutional Ownership percentage beside a stock and select Recalculate. This does not alter the Official Power Moves Score. Power Moves can instead display an Adjusted Score showing how the result would change if institutional ownership were temporarily used as a proxy for the missing institutional-activity factor.
Institutional Ownership
Approximately how much ownership is associated with institutions.
Institutional Accumulation
Evidence about whether institutions are actively increasing positions.
Ownership is not the same as institutional accumulation.
Official Score vs Adjusted Score
Official Score
- The official Power Moves result
- Uses available Power Moves factor data
- Remains unchanged when Institutional Ownership % is entered
Adjusted Score
- A what-if research result
- Shows how the result could change if entered ownership temporarily proxies for the missing institutional-activity factor
- Does not replace the Official Score
Do not confuse a user-calculated Adjusted Score with the Official Power Moves Score.
Fictional Ownership Example — Summit Industrial (SMI)
Suppose fictional Summit Industrial has an Official Power Moves Score of 58, while institutional activity data is unavailable. The user enters an Institutional Ownership percentage and selects Recalculate, and Power Moves displays an Adjusted Score.
Official Score
58 — unchanged
Adjusted Score
Separate what-if view
The adjusted result does not establish that institutions are currently buying SMI, that the adjusted score is more accurate, that SMI should be purchased, or that SMI will rise.
Ownership is not accumulation.
Understanding Rank — A Fictional Example
What does ABC's #1 rank mean?
Among the companies evaluated in that result set, ABC received the strongest Power Moves score. It does not mean ABC is automatically the best investment.
Rank #1 means first in the Power Moves results—not first in future investment performance.
Selecting Stocks and Options Sage
Selection checkboxes let the user select applicable companies for a supported next step. One confirmed next step is Send Selected to Options Sage. Selection does not mean buying a company and does not change its Power Moves score.
- 1
Power Moves
- 2
Identify Interesting Current Evidence
- 3
Select Company
- 4
Send Selected to Options Sage
- 5
Options Research
Sending a stock does not mean a call or put should be purchased or sold, does not place a trade, and does not guarantee a profitable options trade. Lesson 9 will teach Options Sage in detail.
Power Moves can help identify what to investigate next. Options Sage performs a different part of the research process.
Power Moves + Fundamentals
Stock Sage
“Does this company meet the Stock Sage fundamental qualification requirements and applicable price-screen conditions?”
Power Moves
“What current supporting evidence is present across the Power Moves factors?”
A fundamentally strong company can have a weak Power Moves result. A company with a strong Power Moves result may still require substantial fundamental and valuation research.
Stock Sage — Fundamental Qualification
+
Power Moves — Current Supporting Evidence
+
Chart — Price Context
+
Company Report — Additional Research
=
More Questions Answered
Fictional Complete Example — Northstar Technologies (NST)
Suppose fictional NST appears at Rank 2 with an Official Score of 61, High Confidence, and 91% Coverage.
Rank
2
Official Score
61
Confidence
High
Coverage
91%
Relatively Strong Contributions
- 5-Day Strength
- Relative Volume
- Technical Confirmation
- Earnings Surprise
Weaker Contributions
- Price Target Trend
- Insider Activity
What has Power Moves established?
NST currently has multiple pieces of supporting evidence under the Power Moves methodology.
What has it not established?
It has not established that NST is undervalued, should be purchased, will rise, is fundamentally superior, or will produce a profitable options trade. The next step is to investigate NST further.
What Should You Investigate After Power Moves?
- 1Why is the stock showing strength?
- 2What does the company report show?
- 3What do the fundamentals show?
- 4What does the chart show on Daily, Weekly, and Monthly timeframes?
- 5Is the stock attractively valued relative to its own history?
- 6What news or catalyst contributed to the result?
- 7What does the earnings history show?
- 8How complete is the Power Moves coverage?
- 9Are any important factors missing?
- 10Does the company deserve continued research?
A Power Moves result should generate research questions, not end them.
A Repeatable Power Moves Routine
- 1Choose the research universe or watchlist.
- 2Run Power Moves.
- 3Review Rank.
- 4Review Official Score.
- 5Review Rating.
- 6Review Confidence.
- 7Review Coverage.
- 8Open interesting companies.
- 9Examine the component breakdown.
- 10Investigate why the strongest factors are strong.
- 11Notice missing or weak factors.
- 12Use Institutional Ownership % only as the supported what-if input when appropriate.
- 13Keep Official Score and Adjusted Score separate.
- 14Return to fundamentals, valuation, charts, and company research.
- 15Send selected companies to Options Sage only when additional options research is desired.
The Complete Power Moves Workflow
- 1
Watchlist / Research Universe
- 2
Run Power Moves
- 3
Rank + Official Score
- 4
Confidence + Coverage
- 5
Component Breakdown
- 6
Optional Institutional Ownership What-If
- 7
Fundamental + Valuation + Chart Research
- 8
Optional Options Sage Research
- 9
User Judgment
Power Moves helps prioritize research. It does not make the investment decision.
Knowledge Check
Choose an answer for each question, then check your response.