Glossary / Scoring & signals

Composite score

Also called: Tapeline Score · multi-factor score

A composite score blends several separate measurements into a single number on a common scale. Each input is placed on the same scale first, then combined by a weighting that decides how much each one contributes.

How it is measured

How is composite score measured?

Every input is mapped onto a shared range so that measurements in different units become addable. The inputs are then combined by weight. The two design decisions that determine everything downstream are which measurements are included and how the weighting is set — and both are choices made by whoever built the score.

Why it matters

Why does composite score matter to a swing trader?

A composite is a summary, and every summary discards information: a mid-range total can mean every input read mid-range, or that opposing inputs cancelled, and the total alone cannot tell those apart. That is why the per-input breakdown matters more than the headline number. The other thing worth knowing is that any composite is only as legible as its disclosure — a score whose inputs are unnamed cannot be checked by the person relying on it.

In Tapeline

Does Tapeline use composite score?

The Tapeline composite runs 0-100 and blends six named factors — Trend, Relative Strength, Fundamentals, Smart Money, Macro and Momentum — weighted most toward Trend and Relative Strength and least toward Momentum. Every ticker's individual factor readings are shown alongside the total, and the ordering of the weights is published while the numeric weights are not.

Tapeline publishes the six factor names and the ordering of their weights. The numeric weights, the scoring equation and the band edges are not published.

Related

See this in the product

The full methodology · Full methodology

Related terms

Momentum
Momentum describes the speed and persistence of a security's recent price movement.
Trend
A trend describes the direction price has generally travelled over an extended window, and how consistently it has travelled that way.
Relative strength
Relative strength is a difference, not a standalone reading: a security's price change over a period, minus a benchmark's price change over exactly the same period.
Alpha
Alpha is the part of a return that is not explained by the benchmark's move over the same period — the difference between what a holding did and what its benchmark did while it was held.

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General information about market vocabulary, written to be descriptive rather than prescriptive. Not investment advice — see the risk disclosure.