MARKET CONTEXT

When the Market Is Closed

The U.S. stock market is open Monday–Friday, 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM Eastern Time (excluding holidays).

When the market is closed, the app will:

• Display the last session's data: Price, context, score, chart, and volume from the most recent trading day
• Show "Market Closed" status instead of the "Next refresh" countdown
• Hide the refresh countdown: Since there's no new data to fetch, the countdown is not shown
• Keep the chart visible: The price chart and volume bars from the last session remain visible for reference

When the market reopens, the app automatically resumes live updates every 30 seconds.

3. Pre-Market & Continuity Note

Between 4:00–9:30 AM ET, the app shows a Pre-Market Context card. It uses EMA20 and VWAP on pre-market 2-minute bars to give an early bias: Bullish, Bearish, or Neutral. Data has ~15 min delay.

Between 9:30–10:00 AM ET, a Continuity Note appears:

Colors: BULLISH = green, BEARISH = red, NEUTRAL = yellow. (continuation) = green, (reversal) = yellow.

Early session bias: From ~9:38 AM (4+ bars), if the full session context is not yet computed, the app shows an early bias based on price vs session open. This helps spot reversions sooner (e.g., pre-market bullish but price dropping below open at 9:38).

When Session (early) is NEUTRAL: Price is near the session open. The app shows a bold tip: Price near open. Wait for full context (~10:12 AM) or OR breakout before acting. Do not act on early neutral alone — wait for the full context or a clear OR breakout.

4. Block-by-Block Breakdown

Block 1: Context Label (The Big Answer)

This is the most important thing on the screen. Read this first, every time.

The background of the entire page also changes color to match.

Block 2: Operational Phrase

Directly below the context label, a phrase tells you what's "allowed":

This is a permission system, not a signal. It tells you the type of trade that fits the context — not when or how to execute.

Block 3: Why This Context?

A one-line explanation showing the four conditions checked:

This is by design — it keeps you out of uncertain markets.

Block 4: Levels (2M Chart)

Quick read: Compare price to EMA20 and VWAP.

Block 5: Reference Range (1x ATR)

Displayed as two numbers, e.g.: 600.60 — 601.90

This is calculated as: Price - ATR to Price + ATR

Think of it as a box around the current price:

Important: The reference range is NOT a target, prediction, support, or resistance level. It just shows how much room price has to move before the move becomes "unusual" for current volatility.

Block 6: Score (0–100)

The score is a confidence meter for how strongly the indicators agree.

How the score is built:

• Starts at 50 (neutral baseline)
• Bullish context: starts at 60, adds points for strong EMA slope (+up to 20), price > VWAP (+10), normal volatility (+10). Max = 100.
• Bearish context: starts at 40, subtracts for strong EMA slope (-up to 20), price < VWAP (-10), adds for normal volatility (+10). Min = 0.
• Neutral context: stays around 50–55.

What to do with the score:

5. Price Chart with Volume Bars

The app displays a real-time price chart showing the last 30+ 2-minute candles with volume bars below.

Price Line

The white line shows the closing price of each 2-minute bar over time. This helps you visualize:

• Trend direction: Is the line going up, down, or sideways?
• Price movement: How much has price moved in recent bars?
• Support/Resistance: Where price has bounced or stalled

Volume Bars

Below the price line, you'll see colored bars representing the number of shares traded (volume) for each 2-minute period.

Important: Volume bars have two independent properties:

• Bar height = Volume level — how many shares were traded. Taller bars = more trading activity.
• Bar color = Price direction — whether the price went up or down during that candle. The color does NOT indicate volume level.

This is a standard convention in trading charts — volume bars are colored to match price direction so you can quickly see if high or low volume coincided with price going up or down.

Example: A tall green bar means lots of shares were traded AND the price went up — strong buying interest. A short green bar means few shares were traded but the price still went up — weak buying interest. The height tells you "how much activity," the color tells you "which direction."

Time Labels

At the bottom of the chart, you'll see time labels showing when each bar occurred. This helps you:

• See the exact time of price movements
• Identify patterns during specific market hours
• Track how recent the data is

Volume Status Text

Below the time labels, you'll see text like "Volume: High 60%+" or "Volume: Normal 30%+".

This shows how the last bar's volume compares to the tallest visible bar in the chart:

• Very Low <10%: Almost no volume — the bar is barely visible
• Low 10-30%: Below normal activity — the bar is small
• Normal 30-60%: Healthy trading activity — moderate bar size
• High 60-80%: Above average interest — relatively tall bar
• Very High 80%+: Very strong activity — near the tallest bar

The color of this text matches the volume level (green for high, yellow for normal, red for low). This percentage directly reflects the bar height you see on the chart.

6. Volume Status Indicator

Below the price chart, you'll find a Volume Status indicator and a block showing all possible volume levels as colored chips.

How Volume Status Works

The volume status compares the last bar's volume to the tallest visible bar in the chart. This means the status directly matches what you see in the chart — if a bar looks small, the status reflects that.

Volume Status Levels

This block displays five volume levels based on bar height relative to the tallest bar:

How to use it:

• The chip that matches the current volume level will be highlighted
• The volume text below the chart matches the last (rightmost) bar
• Use this to quickly assess market interest and activity
• High volume often accompanies significant price movements
• Low volume may indicate lack of conviction or waiting for news

Volume and Context:

• High volume + Bullish context: Strong bullish move may be developing
• High volume + Bearish context: Strong bearish move may be developing
• Low volume: Market may be indecisive, wait for clarity

7. Winrate by Regime

The app tracks how accurately the context predictions match actual price movements. Winrate is displayed separately for each regime (Trend Continuation and Expansion Reversal) using rolling trading-day windows.

How Winrate Works

The system automatically:

1. Records context changes: When the context label OR regime changes, it records the context, score, regime, and price at that moment
2. Evaluates predictions: When the next change occurs, it checks if the previous context was correct:
   • Bullish context: Win if price went up, Loss if price went down
   • Bearish context: Win if price went down, Loss if price went up
   • Neutral context: Not evaluated (doesn't count as win or loss)
3. Filters by confidence: Only evaluates high-confidence contexts (score ≥55 for Bullish, ≤45 for Bearish)
4. Separates by regime: Trend Continuation and Expansion Reversal are tracked independently

Regime-Separated Display

The winrate section shows two columns:

• Trend Continuation — Winrate for signals where the engine detected a sustained trend (bullish or bearish with base score ≥60)
• Expansion Reversal — Winrate for signals where the Momentum Shift Engine detected an intraday reversal (momentum shift score ≥25)

Each column shows:

• 7D (primary): Rolling 7 trading-day winrate — the main metric
• 30D (secondary): Rolling 30 trading-day winrate — for longer-term stability comparison

Minimum Sample Rule

If fewer than 20 signals (wins + losses) have been evaluated in the window, the winrate percentage is not shown. Instead you'll see "Insufficient" with the current sample count (e.g., "n=13 (min 20)"). This ensures displayed winrates are statistically meaningful.

Reading the Winrate Display

Replay Mode: Session Winrate

In Replay mode, the winrate shows Session Winrate by Regime — calculated from that single day's context changes. The minimum sample is lowered to 1 (since a single day has limited signals). The 30D row is hidden since only one session is evaluated.

Important notes:

• Uses trading days (not 24-hour clock) — weekends and holidays are excluded
• Trend and Expansion regimes are never mixed in the same winrate calculation
• Only high-confidence contexts are counted (score ≥55 for Bullish, ≤45 for Bearish)
• Contexts lasting less than 5 minutes or more than 60 minutes are excluded
• Price movement must be significant (≥0.3× ATR) to count as a win or loss

8. Understanding ATR and Volatility

What is ATR(14)?

ATR = Average True Range. It measures how much price typically moves per 2-minute bar, averaged over the last 14 bars (~28 minutes).

• Small ATR = quiet, low-movement market
• Large ATR = active, high-movement market

ATR is relative to price

An ATR of 0.50 means very different things for different symbols:

Formula: ATR ÷ Price × 100 = ATR as a percentage

ATR Percentage Guide

Typical ATR values by symbol (2-minute bars, approximate)

Note: These are estimates. Actual values change with market conditions.

How the app uses ATR internally

The app has a volatility filter built in:

1. It calculates the current ATR(14)
2. It calculates the average bar range over the last 50 bars
3. If current ATR > 2x the average → volatility is "Elevated"
4. When volatility is elevated → context is forced to Neutral, even if EMA and VWAP agree on a direction

This protects you from trading in chaotic conditions where the trend is unreliable.

9. How Context Is Decided

The context engine runs two parallel modules — the Trend Engine and the Momentum Shift Engine — then passes their outputs through a Regime Decision Layer to produce the final context.

Step 1: Trend Engine (Base Score)

The Trend Engine uses a traffic light system. All conditions must agree for a green or red light. Any disagreement = yellow (Neutral).

Step 2: Chop Filter

Before the Momentum Shift Engine runs, the engine checks for choppy (ranging) conditions. If price has crossed VWAP 5 or more times in the last 20 candles (~40 minutes), the market is considered choppy and the context is forced to Neutral regardless of the base score. This reduces whipsaw losses in sideways markets.

Step 3: Momentum Shift Engine

Runs in parallel with the Trend Engine. It detects confirmed intraday expansion reversals — moments when strong momentum shifts occur even though the trend indicators may still be negative.

Four conditions are evaluated (each worth +10 points):

The Momentum Shift Score ranges from 0 to 40.

Step 4: Expansion Stickiness

Once an Expansion Reversal triggers (MSS ≥ 25), it remains active for up to 5 candles as long as residual momentum is still present (MSS ≥ 10). This prevents the regime from flickering off too quickly after a valid expansion reversal signal.

Step 5: Regime Decision Layer

The engine classifies every candle into one of three regimes:

Why Neutral is the most common context

Because the conditions are strict by design. It only takes one indicator to disagree (or the chop filter to trigger) and the context becomes Neutral. This is intentional — it keeps you out of ambiguous and choppy markets where losses are most likely.

10. How the Score Works

The final score combines outputs from the Trend Engine (base score) and the Momentum Shift Engine (momentum shift score). The calculation depends on which regime is active.

Trend Engine — Base Score

Bullish context:

Bearish context:

Neutral context:

Momentum Shift Score (0–40)

Calculated independently by the Momentum Shift Engine. Each of the four conditions (VWAP Reclaim, Range Expansion, Volume Expansion, Acceleration Flip) contributes +10 points.

Final Score — Dynamic Scaling (Option B)

When an Expansion Reversal is active (Momentum Shift Score ≥ 25), the final score uses dynamic scaling based on the actual momentum shift score — not a fixed bonus:

Example: BaseScore = 35, MomentumShiftScore = 30 → FinalScore = max(35 + 30, 65) = 65. A stronger momentum shift produces a higher score, reflecting conviction.

For Trend Continuation and Neutral regimes, the final score equals the base score (no momentum boost is applied).

11. Context Change Alerts

When the context switches (e.g., from Neutral to Bullish, or Bullish to Bearish), the app displays a colored alert banner:

The alert includes a timestamp showing when the change was detected. You can dismiss it by clicking the X button.

Key point: The alert fires when context changes, not every refresh. If the context stays the same, no alert appears.

12. Watchlist (Context Scanner)

The watchlist lets you monitor multiple symbols at once (up to 12).

Watchlist columns:

How to use the watchlist:

1. Select a symbol from the dropdown
2. Click + Watchlist to add it
3. Click any watchlist row to switch the main view to that symbol
4. Click X to remove a symbol

The watchlist refreshes every 2 minutes alongside the main view.

Reading the watchlist at a glance:

• Green rows (Bullish) = symbols with confirmed uptrend context
• Red rows (Bearish) = symbols with confirmed downtrend context
• Yellow rows (Neutral) = symbols to ignore for now

This lets you scan for opportunity across multiple symbols without switching one by one.

13. Replay Mode (Historical Simulation)

Replay Mode allows you to simulate past market days using historical 2-minute candle data. This is perfect for:

• Learning: Practice reading context signals without real-time pressure
• Analysis: Review how the app's context matched actual price movements on specific days
• Backtesting: See how context changes aligned with price action in historical scenarios

How to Use Replay Mode:

1. Select Replay Mode: Use the "Mode" dropdown at the top and select "Replay"
2. Choose a Date: A date picker will appear. Select any past trading day (the app defaults to the last trading day)
3. Watch the Simulation: The app will automatically advance through the day's 2-minute candles, showing context changes as they occurred

Replay Controls:

When in Replay Mode, you'll see control buttons next to the date picker:

Replay Status Information:

When in Replay Mode, you'll see:

• Replay Mode: Shows the selected date and progress (e.g., "Replay Mode: 2026-02-13 — Progress: 15/195")
• Progress Counter: Shows current position (e.g., "15/195" means candle 15 out of 195 total candles for that day)
• Price Timestamp: Shows the exact time of the current candle being displayed

Tips for Using Replay Mode:

• Pause to Analyze: Use the pause button to stop and analyze a specific moment in detail
• Rewind to Review: If you missed something, use rewind to go back and see it again
• Fast Forward Through Quiet Periods: Use fast forward to skip through periods with little action
• Compare with Live Mode: Switch between Live and Replay to compare current market conditions with historical patterns

14. Your 10-Second Routine

Every time you check the app, follow this exact order:

15. Common Scenarios and What They Mean

Scenario 1: Strong Bullish

Context:     BULLISH (green)
Phrase:      Allowed trades: CALL continuations only
Why:         EMA20 slope positive · Price > EMA20 · Price > VWAP · Volatility normal
Score:       85

Scenario 2: Weak Bullish

Context:     BULLISH (green)
Phrase:      Allowed trades: CALL continuations only
Why:         EMA20 slope positive · Price > EMA20 · Price > VWAP · Volatility normal
Score:       62

Scenario 3: Neutral — Conflicting Signals

Context:     NEUTRAL (yellow)
Phrase:      No trades recommended — wait for clarity
Why:         EMA20 slope negative · Price < EMA20 · Price > VWAP · Volatility normal
Score:       52

Scenario 4: Neutral — Elevated Volatility

Context:     NEUTRAL (yellow)
Phrase:      No trades recommended — wait for clarity
Why:         EMA20 slope positive · Price > EMA20 · Price > VWAP · Volatility elevated
Score:       55

Scenario 5: Context Just Changed (Alert Visible)

Alert:       🟢 SPY switched to BULLISH CONTEXT — Look for CALL continuations
Context:     BULLISH (green)
Score:       75

Scenario 6: Strong Bearish

Context:     BEARISH (red)
Phrase:      Allowed trades: PUT continuations only
Why:         EMA20 slope negative · Price < EMA20 · Price < VWAP · Volatility normal
Score:       15

Scenario 7: Tight Range Before a Move

Context:     NEUTRAL (yellow)
Price:       691.92
EMA 20:      692.51
VWAP:        690.00
ATR(14):     0.49
Ref Range:   691.43 — 692.41
Score:       52

Scenario 8: Expansion Reversal

Context:     BULLISH (green)
Regime:      Expansion Reversal
Phrase:      Allowed trades: CALL continuations only
Score:       72
MSS:         30 (VWAP Reclaim + Range Expansion + Volume Expansion)

Scenario 9: Choppy Market (Chop Filter Active)

Context:     NEUTRAL (yellow)
Regime:      Neutral
Phrase:      No trades recommended — wait for clarity
Score:       52
Note:        Chop filter active — price crossed VWAP 6 times in last 40 min

16. What This App Does NOT Do

The app's job is to answer: "Is the current environment favorable, and if so, in which direction?"

Everything else — timing, sizing, risk management — is your responsibility.

17. Contact Us

Have questions, feedback, or need help? Use the Contact Us form in the app to send us a message directly.

• Click the "Contact Us" button in the app header
• Fill in your name, email, and message
• Your message will be sent to our support team at info@racdgroupcorp.com
• We'll respond as soon as possible

18. Glossary

This guide reflects the app as of February 2026. The app updates data every 30 seconds during market hours (9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET, Monday–Friday). Features include: pre-market context (4:00–9:30 ET) with continuity note and early session bias (9:38+), real-time price chart with volume bars, volume status indicator, regime-separated 7D/30D winrate tracking (Trend Continuation and Expansion Reversal), Momentum Shift Engine with expansion stickiness, chop filter for ranging markets, and confidence-based filtering.