The model's call is its prediction of whether a stock will do better or worse than IVW, a fund of the S&P 500's growth stocks, over the next two weeks. A stock can rise and still trail it. Each call is a number from −100 to +100 and a word. The further from zero, the stronger the lean: Strong Outperform (+50 to +100): a firm call that it will do better than IVW. Outperform (+20 to +49): a lean toward doing better. Neutral (−19 to +19): no clear lean either way. Underperform (−49 to −20): a lean toward doing worse. Strong Underperform (−50 to −100): a firm call that it will do worse than IVW. Only +50 and above, or −50 and below, is a firm call. The stock page shows anything weaker as a lean, not a call. Calls are graded right or wrong against real prices, and the track record publishes every grade, misses included. A rank is a stock’s place among every stock we track, so rank 1 is the market’s rank 1. On three rankings we leave some stocks out because their figure cannot be read the normal way. The list can then start below 1 or skip numbers, the page says how many stocks were left out, and the count after “of” is still the whole market. P/E ratio. Left out when the trailing P/E is under a third of the forward estimate, a sign the past year’s earnings will not persist, which makes the stock look far cheaper than it is. Also left out when the trailing figure cannot be checked against a forward estimate. That is not a claim the figure is wrong; we just could not check it. Return on equity. Left out beyond ±600%, or when the company has negative equity. When equity is near zero or below it, the ratio stops describing how profitable the company is. Debt to equity. Left out when the company has negative equity. The figures are real (some well-known companies have negative book equity), but the ratio means nothing for them.
