How do you judge a trade before you take it?
You grade the specific entry rather than arguing about the strategy in general. Take the ticker and the date you are considering, check which measured setups actually fired on that bar, add what the market was doing and where the chart sits, and you get a score with its reasons attached. The value is not the number. It is being told, before you commit, that nothing measurable supports the trade you were about to take.
Based on the same process behind every Library report. How we test.
The question is about this bar, not the idea
A strategy backtest answers whether a rule works on average. It does not tell you whether tonight's specific candidate is a good instance of it. Those are different questions, and traders routinely answer the second one with a feeling. Grading an entry forces the specific version: on this ticker, on this date, what evidence exists?
What the grade is built from
Three inputs. First, setup evidence: every setup in the tested library is checked against that bar, and the ones that fired bring their own measured track record with them. Second, market context: the regime and breadth on that date, from the same data as the previous chapter. Third, chart location: how extended price is, where it sits against its 200-day average and its 52-week high, and how the volume compares. Those combine into a score out of 100, banded from strong alignment down to stand aside, with each component shown as points added or subtracted so you can see what drove it.
An unmeasured day cannot score well, on purpose
If no setup in the tested library fired on that bar, the grade is capped in the lowest band no matter how good the chart looks. That will feel harsh the first time it happens to a trade you like. It is the honest answer: you would be taking a position with no measured basis, and a scoring system that flattered it would be worse than useless. Often that verdict is the single most useful output of the whole exercise.
It ends with a plan, not just a number
A grade you cannot act on is trivia, so the output includes the levels: the entry, a stop derived from recent structure and volatility rather than from a round number, and profit targets expressed as multiples of the risk you are taking. Deciding those before you enter is most of what separates a planned trade from a hopeful one.
No hindsight, ever
You can grade a past date, which is the fastest way to build trust in the thing, and the grade uses only what was knowable on that date. Nothing after the evaluated bar is allowed into the score. That is what makes checking your own past entries a fair test rather than a flattering one.
How to use this
- Grade the entry you are actually considering, not the strategy in the abstract.
- Read the components, not just the score. Knowing whether the market or the chart dragged it down tells you what to wait for.
- Treat a stand-aside verdict on an unmeasured day as information, not an insult. It is telling you the trade has no measured basis.
- Grade a handful of your own past entries. It is the quickest honest read on whether your instincts line up with the evidence.
- Set the stop and target before you enter, every time.
Common questions
How do I know if a specific trade is worth taking?
Check whether any measured setup actually fired on that bar, what the market backdrop was, and where the chart sits. A trade with no measured setup behind it is a discretionary bet, whatever the chart looks like.
What does an Edge Check score mean?
It is a score out of 100 combining setup evidence, market context, and chart location, shown with the points each component contributed. The bands run from strong alignment down to stand aside.
Why did my trade score badly when the chart looked great?
Usually because no measured setup fired on that bar, which caps the grade in the lowest band. A good-looking chart with no measured basis is exactly the trade the grade is designed to flag.
Can I grade a trade I already took?
Yes, and it is the fastest way to calibrate. Grading a past date uses only the data available on that date, so nothing after the fact leaks into the score.
Is a high grade a recommendation to buy?
No. It reports historical alignment with measured setups, for research and education. Past alignment never guarantees the next outcome, and position sizing remains your decision.
The public demo needs no account: pick a date and see the setups that fired, the score, the reasons, and the trade plan levels.